I'm not trying to start any controversy here--I just want to see if maybe I'm imaging things, or if others new to the PTC, PTR programs, have felt taken advantage of. First, I bought 10 referrals from a member on e-bay. After waiting over a week, 4 unreturned e-mails, and finally, a threat of negative feedback, he finally returned my mail, offering a refund instead of the referrals. Maybe I should've known better, but I tried my luck at buying e-bay referrals again, directly from the owner of the site I wanted the referrals at. Two weeks, after day after day of, "You'll get them tomorrow," I mailed the site owner, stating I would either need my referrals or my money back--THEN, I finally got the referrals (how convenient.) Three out of three times, when I tried to run an ad on a particular site, something went wrong. Twice, the links didn't work, and the first time, "the ad was lost." The webmaster, always VERY nice and friendly prior to my noting the mistakes, was very brief and cold towards me by the third time I contacted him about errors--as though he was ticked I kept catching on that my ads weren't running properly. I have also never gotten a new referral from being a goldmember on his site, and I've been one for.. 3 or so weeks now. I have a feeling that some of this has to come from revealing to some of these webmasters that I'm new to these programs, because I do need a little help getting started. Am I making mountains out of molehills? Does it usually take people weeks to get their referrals, and do ads just happen to often get run wrong? I won't mention any programs, because maybe it is just me.... or, is it?

It should NOT take weeks for you to get your referrals! If that webmaster does not have the referrals right then and there, then they have no business selling something that they don't have on ebay.

And, being rude to you is unacceptable. Most of us, webmasters, try to be as courteous as possible to ALL members. After all, YOU make or break our programs! We need you in order to run our businesses!

You do not seem to be out of line or over-reacting. This should not be happening.

As far as Gold Member referrals go, this really depends on how old the program is, how many members they already have, how many Gold Members they have and how much advertising of their site they do.

If you have joined and paid for a Gold Membership on a site that is 2 years old or has 20,000 members, you are going to get a lot less referrals for your Gold Membership than say a site that is fairly new or their member count is on the lower end.

Of course, the webmaster has to advertise their site too!

Hope some of my ramblings help!

I would ask what program it is in, but that is upto you if you want to say which program


As to the person selling Referals on Ebay then doing the refund biz, sounds like he didnt have permission to be selling them in the first place.

I agree,


i do not think that any excuse is good enough for not providing a buyer what they pay for.

Also, when you order an ad, there is no reason not to send it out right, and when the webmaster makes a mistake, they can compensate that in one way or another.

Also, i think the webmaster should comply with the ad ordered in a timely manner, or email the buyer about the reason of the delay.

just my 2 cents

I'd list the sites, but I actually like the webmasters, and understand they have a lot going on. And, I know I have a sensitive nature, and might perceive somebody being "mean" or "cold" to me, when their simply tired, or not in the best mood. I do think to have to threaten neg. feedback, and ask for money back, to get referrals I've paid for is a wee bit ridiculous. Not to mention, so is never having a single ad run correctly. HOWEVER, maybe there were legitimate reasons for all of this. That's why I'm asking around to see if others have had similar problems. I'm 6 months pregnant--one might imagine how I take things much more personally than intended!

As far as referrals go, last I heard, the site only had members in the 1,000's. Maybe I need to remind the webmaster that I have a goldmember account? I don't know. I'm feeling burned.

First, congrats on your pregnancy!

Second,
Tired or not, it is the webmasters responsibility to respond to all members with courtesy (well, okay, maybe not the ones they find CHEATING - I do not mean you!! That is just a general statement!). Anyway, if they are too tired and feel that their response will be rude or short, they should wait until morning or after coffee or whatever it takes before they respond.

As far as your Gold Membership, there is NOTHING wrong with sending the webmaster an email just to check on your Gold Member status. It will only take them a minute to double check your account to make sure that your URL is in the rotation and assure you that you will be getting referrals.

Thank you so much, and I think I'll sign up with your site! I just saw your url in your signature. Now I need to figure out how to leave my url in my signature... Heck, I need to figure out how to leave a signature! I, myself, am quite tired. Thanks for the congrats on the pregnancy. I have my first ultrasound tomorrow! I'm anxious and nervous.

The exchanges between this webmaster and I went from this: (the first error)

"I was wondering about you!

LOL!!!

I cannot run an ad if I do not know who you are..

HA HA!!! Sorry for the misunderstanding...Stay safe and warm!! "


To this: "It is working now..

There was a typo.. only 8 people clicked at that point..

You are fine now!!!"

(Cut and paste right from my e-mail)

Does it seem a little less friendly to you? I try to give the benefit of the doubt, but if I'm not the only one that sees it, then maybe there really is a problem between us. <YAWN> Appreciate all your help! <hugs>

Well, honestly, only the second response really sounded a little "off" to me. In all fairness, sometimes it is really hard to interpret "meaning" or "tone" in emails! They could have been angry, sarcastic, or a number of different emotions. I don't really think that the last email there sounded rude, or at least that is not how I would take it, but everyone is different!

See, I think we all need a variety of smiley faces so that they can help to interpret our mood!!

Cuz they could have meant:

I cannot run an ad if I do not know who you are..

or

I cannot run an ad if I do not know who you are..

or

I cannot run an ad if I do not know who you are..

I would really just try to take this one as well meaning and let it go at that. Hopefully future correspondence with this webmaster will go better!


By the way, thank you for signing up at my site!!

AND, you can edit your signature in the control panel.
Click on My Controls, and look at the list down on the left side of your screen. There is a link to "edit signature"

Good luck with your ultrasound!! It should be very exciting!!!!

Thanks.. I got the url in, just haven't made it link. SO tired. Pregnancy and sleep don't mix well. Maybe the whole exchange thing was confusing. Just showing how he went from "keep warm" and "lol," in the first reply, to, "You're fine now!!!" But, even my boyfriend said he didn't see anything strange about it. I know what you mean, not being able to convey emotions in e-mail. That's why I like my Yahoo account--because it has emoticons. Like I said, I give people the benefit of the doubt, and I probably was just being sensitive. I think, maybe, if there was an error in linking my ad the first time, he just maybe forgot to fix it before the second time? In any case, I'm learning fast, and before long, I won't be the ignorant newbie anymore! (Let's hope!)

Good luck with your site! Hope you do very well. You should.

I need to get off this board already. Sheesh. Addictive!

VERY addictive!!! Have a great night!! Get you and that baby some sleep!!

I have a strong feeling I know who this webmaster is and he's never been the "King" of people skills

hmmm dont see the second responce as being rude just probably in a rush too many emails to answer or somethign of that nature. Dont take it personally there are some that DONT even answer you lol But all the good ones do as for the ebay offers, I feel awful for you haveing to go thru all that! If you buy soemthing off of ebay there is a time limit usually stated on how long till you get your referals. They should NOT be selling soemthing they arent allowed to sell. I have only had positive experiences with my ebay wins but I wouldnt be giving out any good feedback to soemone that treated me like that. As for gold memberships, I am gold in many sites and you do NOT get referals in your downline very fast. It all has to do with how many gold members there are and how many people are in the program. they rotate your name as people join , with some you could get 1 or 2 a month some maybe 1 a year . I look at all my gold memberships and see the differences in some I have one that only has 10 people under me and I have advertised like mad , payed the gold membership, ect ect ect but then another one has 38 so it really all has to do with how big they areand how much they advertise , how many people join a day ect.
I wish you the best with the baby congrats and I hope you make a little extra money with this as I myself know haveing kids gets expensive
Ps . if you join a program as it is launched and are gold from the biggining you will get many more people in your downline because you were there first. Just make sure it is a w/m that has a lot of people in their other programs and you will see a fast buildup
Good luck to you hugssssssss, debbie (touches the belly cause I cant resist )