Hi All
There were a few points raised in this thread and I would like to make a few things clear where there seems to be misunderstanding.
I think it best to clarify these issues before we use up all of CM's thread space!
Fortune Lounge and Fortune Affiliates are 2 separate companies.
Neither of us are in serious financial trouble.
Fortune Affiliates (not Fortune Lounge) was having profitability issues with our model for commissions and so we updated this.
This was only done to correct a profitability issue.
As correctly pointed out by CM there is a big difference between "financially viable" and in "financial trouble".
We may not have expressed ourselves that well in earlier messages but we are NOT in financial trouble just trying to correct an unbalanced commission formula.
We are not reducing commissions for Affiliates but rather sharing profits and losses where applicable.
We did NOT breach contract in anyway, this was perfectly according to the agreement you signed, and I struggle to believe that you would have kicked up as much of a fuss if the change had benefited you.
So this is actually a case of "we don't like the change" rather than "Fortune Affiliates breached contract".
Many Affiliates were consulted and asked for input, the fact that you may not have been does not mean no one else was asked.
We are not "shafting" anyone and have never and do not take kindly to being called names, when we are trying to be honest and ensure the most profitable future for all of us.
Many of the analogies raised here are also flawed in that the comparisons are between apples and oranges.
We are not changing how much we pay or which products we pay for.
We are changing the way commissions are added up which speaks to the way in which risk is absorbed.
For the longest time we have been absorbing the bulk of the risk and now that we want to share it more evenly Affiliates are saying it is not fair.
Even with the change Affiliates still get the lion's share of the profit.
The assumption that Fortune Lounge must have pressured us into this or be in financial trouble themselves is very wrong.
This is not to say that we were not pressured to correct this but our clients have no real interest or say in how much money Fortune Affiliates takes home.
There are too many assumptions, too little info and too many misunderstandings.
The overriding point is that as costs in the industry have increased Affiliates have enjoyed the same arrangement all along (which was designed around a lower cost of business).
Now as we try to address this (as this is a partnership even if some Affiliates in this thread would like to argue otherwise) and share some of these costs, some Affiliates are not prepared to accept this.
We have always helped our partners out when they have had profitability issues in the past and been more than understanding.
The idea that this is the biggest thing ever in the industry is both flattering and insulting!
In other words these Affiliates have no problem with us making changes or the split being unfair as long as it is in their favor.
In terms of bringing the players into this, as some of you seem to want, this is a strange request at best.
Since when did you rely on player's opinions to make decisions about your business?
Do you always try and involve players when there are disagreements with an Affiliate program?
Bad mouthing our clients to get us to react is not appreciated.
There is no breach, no moral issue or any other emotive word like this.
Everything we did was 100% legal and in accordance with the agreement you signed when registering.
Instead of assuming, perhaps read over the agreement you signed and check into the law before accusing us of illegal activity.
This point has been raised and addressed in many threads and our standpoint has been made clear.
We have not done anything illegal or against our original terms and conditions.
The point raised about increases in commission not being viewed as a "unacceptable change" rings very true.
The idea that the same Affiliate can post saying he/she "figures" FL is in trouble based on feelings and words and then post that they can't think of a solution because they don't have enough info shows their true colors - someone who is trying to fight and prove they are right without concern for the facts or actually being right.
And in terms of giving back players or e-mail addresses will Affiliates then pay us back commissions?
Please do not post in player section about this; this is ultimately a player forum.
CM did the right thing by moving into a separate thread.
Moving this thread back into a public player thread is a bad idea because this is not a player issue and players are likely to confuse Fortune Lounge and Fortune Affiliates as many Affiliates have already.
The requests to move the thread as well as some of the posts here seem more out of a sense of revenge or spite than actually trying to address, understand and resolve an issue.
This is getting ridiculous.
We do not want to keep this thread going in circles but rather to address these points and end this here and now.
Rehashing of these points will not help to create a resolve only taint the issue further and escalate emotions.
Please feel free to mail us any queries you may have on this.
Please feel free to use either
davids@fortuneaffiliates.com or
marck@fortuneaffiliates.com address.
Thanks.