What to do?

[scriptmonkey]

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Without being too specific, I'm owed around 19K by one merchant who have left the network involved.

These commissions date back to May this year.

Despite sending weekly emails to the network asking what's happening, and being told, 'we're looking into it', I don't think I'm going to get this money, what should I do next? Any advice appreciated.

[ChrisJohnson]

19k!

That's a lot to have been waiting on for around 6 months. When did the merchant leave the network, and were your sales confirmed at all during this time before they left?

[confuscius]

Name and shame the merchant and the network is the appropriate action in this case. Such incompetance should be public knowledge.

Alternatively, set up a fighting fund and test whether networks have a duty of care towards their affiliates via legal action.

No doubt the various network reps will flame me.

[MattSweet]

Can't really give you any constructive advice... Just wanted to say that letting a merchant rack up that much in unpaid commissions (dread to think the bill for the entire programme) is a massive fail in the duty of care the network has to affiliates.

Could there be some kind of negligence claim against a network there? Although I have made that up based on common sense so its probably wrong...

Why did they leave the network? Did they go bust or just close without paying....

[Hero]

did they leave the network or did the network close them down for non pay? If the former, then the network should have a payment plan in place. If the latter, then the network has already started legal procedures to secure the money.

Unless they went into administration/liquidation.

Basically, you need the network to let you know why they closed and what they're doing about the outstanding invoices. If you can't get an answer, then consider approaching the AMC (although we wouldn't normally deal with payment issues, it might be the right forum to help investigate matters)

[scriptmonkey]

When did the merchant leave the network, and were your sales confirmed at all during this time before they left?

About 3 months ago and around 10K confirmed, the rest are pending (they should have been confirmed in the period since the merchant left the network), but there's no reason for them to be rejected (I know this).

Name and shame the merchant and the network is the appropriate action in this case. Such incompetence should be public knowledge.

Not at this time, I don't want to prejudice any chance I may have to get the money.

Why did they leave the network? Did they go bust or just close without paying....

They closed on that network, but, they're on another network as well, my links were switched and I'm 'earning' on that network, but I'm pretty sure the story will be the same a few months down the line.

Unless they went into administration/liquidation.

They remain open on another network, so they're not bust, they also have a large offline presence and don't look to be going out of business anytime soon.

[Hero]

they're on another network as well, my links were switched and I'm 'earning' on that network, but I'm pretty sure the story will be the same a few months down the line.

That's your leverage point. Stop promoting them and tell them that you won't resume until past payments from both networks have been sorted out. Flag the issue up on the other network - they might not necessarily know they left the other network with outstanding invoices.

I think this can be used as an example - I've seen it very often that affiliates switch links and keep promoting bad payers, thinking it's a network problem, rather than a client attitude.

These are the kind of issues that I'd love for the AMC to be able to sort out - one network flagging up client payment issues and the other networks agreeing not to take them on until all issues are resolved. My personal opinion of course.

[scriptmonkey]

Thing is, they were 'late' payers, not bad payers, but, since leaving the one network, they just haven't bothered dealing with their outstanding payments. (they were already on the other network and had been for a long time).

Trust me, I'm not actively promoting them any more (since this issue arose), just getting the 'expected' sales from existing sites.

I'd imagine that their contract with the other network wouldn't allow for them to be closed for issues outside of the contract?

[Hero]

I'd imagine that their contract with the other network wouldn't allow for them to be closed for issues outside of the contract?

Networks do their due diligence before accepting a client onboard - by running credit scores and getting info on outstanding payments. I'm not saying that they wouldn't take them on as a result of these, but they would certainly have less leniency on payment delays, would have smaller min payment requirements, bigger deposits and whatever other payment securities they implement. All in trying to protect both the affiliates and themselves from efforts to do a runner.

On another thing that might add more complexity - quite frequently, the payment issues might be as a result of an agency acting as the client and having signed the contract. So the network invoices the agency, the agency invoices the client, the client takes their time paying the agency, the agency takes their time after than paying the network and the delays can be not just 6 months, but much longer.

[macbook]

I am in the same boat with a merchant who has moved network and not paid o/s invoices since May. Network advised approaching MD of the company. The company concerned isnt very far away from you scriptmonkey. Are we in the same boat?

[frozenwaste]

Use (or threaten to use) Money Claim Online:

Money Claim Online

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

Can be used if claim is under £100k - know a couple of people who've used this service successfully.

[alphawave]

Use (or threaten to use) Money Claim Online:

Money Claim Online

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/web/mcol/welcome

Can be used if claim is under £100k - know a couple of people who've used this service successfully.

This looks promising or you may have to sue and 19k isn't small claims.

[Michael_Anthony]

Here's my system for dealing with unpaid invoices from merchants..

1) Emails and a threat to stop all traffic.
2) Stop all traffic, advise them that their name and details will be publicised. Make sure that this message gets through to the director(s) of the company, which you can find via Companies House. There's no point threatening a middle man who may not even pass the message on. The threat needs to get to the person whose company reputation will be damaged.
3) Issue small claims proceedings. If the amount is too big, issue the proceedings for just one month's invoice so that it falls within the small claims maximum. The company can't afford to ignore this because if they do not submit a defence, the claim will be awarded in your favour and a court order for payment will be issued, resulting in a CCJ (County Court Judgement) against them. This will seriously impact the company's credit rating and ability to borrow in the future.

This usually does the trick, although I've often used other approaches such as connecting to the MD via Linkedin and then making the threats through there - if you have a good reputation and lots of connections, they'll soon see how big the potential threat is and will usually cough up.

Finally, and perhaps obviously, if the company concerned genuinely has no money, which is often the case with merchants who skip networks leaving a load of unpaid bills, you may very well not get anything anyway.

I use a service called CreditFocus before extending credit to any merchants, which gives you a credit score and snapshot of their accounts. It's saved me a fortune over the years.

And don't forget, networks can go bust any time, and usually if they are in trouble, couldn't care less about anyone left unpaid. Take action now and chase the merchant, NOT the network.

As for your comment about not wanting to upset them in case you prejudice your chances of getting paid - forget it. A good negotiator does not need to be liked. These people are taking you for a mug and you need to get paid.

Good luck with it and feel free to contact me personally if you want any more help.

[confuscius]

And don't forget, networks can go bust any time, and usually if they are in trouble, couldn't care less about anyone left unpaid. Take action now and chase the merchant, NOT the network.

If the contractual relationship is with the network then how can legal action be taken against the merchant, from a legal perspective? Could someone clarify the logic of the contractual relationships.

[dc000000]

If the contractual relationship is with the network then how can legal action be taken against the merchant, from a legal perspective? Could someone clarify the logic of the contractual relationships.

The merchant has benefited from the sale and the network claim they haven't been paid. It would be up to the merchant to prove they have paid the network? I'm guessing but that's how I understand it.
I had asimilar situation to this, albeit for a a minor sum by comparison. The merchant had moved and the first network said they'd done everything possible to recover outstanding commissions but to no avail.
I wrote to merchant explaining the situation together with an invoice. Guess what happened - they sent me a cheque by return of post Sometimes the merchant is as much in the dark as we are.