Ok, this is not a full post – more like an open question.
A while ago I wrote about internet marketing, ethics and dishonesty. I had quite a lot of say, and pretty much finished writing the post. However, afterwards I decided I’m not going to publish it for now because some people may feel it is a bit controversial.. and I was not in the mood for that at the time (just before SM201). I will use it at some point, but not just yet.
Anyway, that post relates to the following…
What do you do when you buy a product through a big internet marketer’s affiliate link because of a bonus he promised, only to receive nothing, and be repeatedly ignored by the said marketer and his team? This happened to me once before with regards to a bonus I didn’t care about, and again, recently – with a bonus I very much wanted and deliberately purchased the item through the link because of it.
Would you wage war? Write furious blog posts, let everyone know on forums, point fingers, etc? In this situation, it’s more likely I would be more damaged than the other party – we are talking after all about a big marketer and I – well – I am not one just yet.
Would you track him down (phone, personal email address) and demand the bonus? This is much easier than most people believe, and if I wanted to, I could probably track down almost every person I wanted to. However, this is a dirty trick which – personally – I’d never do. I also highly doubt it would result in the desired effect.
Or do you just accept the fact you won’t get the bonus and remember never to buy anything from said big marketer?
Even though I tend to be militant by nature, and have occasionally been trigger happy even when I should not have been, I will probably pick the third option. Accept my loss and move on.
I’m curious what others think.
Any thoughts?