Asda and M&S pet insurance - overdue payments!!!!!!!!!!

**gunneradt** · 05-07-10

It's about time OMG got some payments out of these 2 merchants.

I have transactions going to February - this is not on.

**gunneradt** · 12-07-10

quite honestly the way OMG is handling this is awful

and I hope OMG is not sitting on the money which seems quite popular with networks at the moment

**OMG Network** · 13-07-10

Hi Gunneradt

Thank you for your recent post.

As you are aware we have had delays recently on validations on the Asda campaign but the good news is this has all been resolved.

Asda validations are available in your login so you can see what your pending commission is for these sales. We are currently waiting for payment for these. As soon as we receive payment from merchants we release this to affiliates in the nearest payment run. Please be assured that we do not sit on affiliate payments and never have done.

M&S work on a 90 day validation period so you will see that the most recent invoices have been raised and we are waiting for payment on these also.

As always we are happy to discuss any queries with you so that you get an instant response and feel reassured that we are working with affiliates to ensure that they are paid swiftly.

Should you wish to discuss anything further I am more than happy for you to call me directly.

My contact details are below

Jodie Lowthorpe
Digital Marketing Director
01603 697 726

**gunneradt** · 13-07-10

M&S are way past 90 days

Im waiting for one as far back as February.

Given that some of these asda transactions are so old a rejection reason would be good

where can I find this?

regards

**lauriebred** · 13-07-10

OMG have always been amongst the best payers in the business in my experience.

Personally I would find a 90 day validation period a great dis-insentive to promoting a merchant, particularly if cash flow was an important factor. Can you not switch the business elsewhere?

**OMG Network** · 14-07-10

Thanks for the positive feedback Laurie - is always nice to hear.

Gunneradt - In terms of the Asda rejections. We do not have detail from the client on reasons for individual rejections.

For the extended validation period on M&S - this is more and more common for insurance merchants as they need to build in a longer validation to identify any fradulent activity. We work closely with all of our clients to ensure realistic and reasonable validations are in place for both merchant and affiliate. In this instance, M&S also have to wait for third parties to provide stats back so this coupled with the need to have a reasonable period to monitor fraud means that the most workable solution for M&S is to have a three month validation.

In terms of payment - we are waiting on payments for the invoices you have specified. As previously mentioned as soon as we receive affiliate payments these are paid out in the next available payment run.

Should you have any further questions I think it would be a good idea to discuss these over the phone.

Regards
Jodie Lowthorpe

**gunneradt** · 14-07-10

Im sorry but the fraud thing is the biggest c&b going and is just used by merchants to delay payment.

Can you tell me what day in July 90 days from February is? Because that's how long Ive been waiting for one payment from M&S.

I think I agree with lauriebred - a clearout of some of these poorer merchants is required. And there has still not been a proper explanation for the asda pet fiasco - since their urgent, pressing, vital maintenance turned out to be 'oops we've run out of budget'

**OMG Network** · 14-07-10

I'm sorry that you feel that way. The fact is we operate this programme on a 90 day validation period to be confident that there is no fraudulent activity.

February activity was invoiced in May and we are waiting for this payment from the merchant. This is a separate point to the validation period. As soon as payment is received you will receive this in your next payment run.

If you decide that you do not wish to work with merchants that have a longer validation period then of course we will respect that decision.

Jodie Lowthorpe
Digital Marketing Director.

**gunneradt** · 14-07-10

so you think a 5 month payment period is acceptable?

The fraud thing is a nonsense.

**lauriebred** · 14-07-10

Originally Posted by gunneradt

I think I agree with lauriebred - a clearout of some of these poorer merchants is required. And there has still not been a proper explanation for the asda pet fiasco - since their urgent, pressing, vital maintenance turned out to be 'oops we've run out of budget'

I didn't say that there should be a clearout, but that long validation periods can be a disincentive to affiliates. Each one of us must make our own decisions which ones to work with, based on our own circumstances.

**lauriebred** · 14-07-10

Originally Posted by gunneradt

so you think a 5 month payment period is acceptable?

The fraud thing is a nonsense.

Fraud, sadly, is very real and possibly the biggest single threat to the whole affiliate model. It will probably affect brokers like M&S far more than insurers because the latter will be aware of it sooner than the former, hence the need for longer validation periods for brokers. Simples.

**gunneradt** · 14-07-10

explain how it works

if there's money in it Im off to Nigeria!!!

**lauriebred** · 14-07-10

Originally Posted by gunneradt

explain how it works

if there's money in it Im off to Nigeria!!!

It's really easy, and you can make a fortune at it without doing any work. All you have to do is ....(cont. on P94)

**gunneradt** · 15-07-10

ha ha

Im sure it is

**PhiltheBear** · 21-07-10

Originally Posted by lauriebred

Fraud, sadly, is very real and possibly the biggest single threat to the whole affiliate model. It will probably affect brokers like M&S far more than insurers because the latter will be aware of it sooner than the former, hence the need for longer validation periods for brokers. Simples.

Having spent some considerable period as a fraud consultant to various financial/city companies I feel that I can say, with some authority, that 90 days is excessive. A credit card chargeback, assuming all the online checks have been fulfilled, should never take longer than 42 days. At the outside it should be possible to verify a transaction of any sort within 60 days. If M&S have a problem they've got one of the major credit agencies just down the road on the same industrial estate.

The fact is that either they are receiving premiums for insurance - in which case they have nothing to hold them up - or they are not - which case they reject the deal. Please can someone explain to me exactly how they can be defrauded? (And if the argument revolves around false claims that's nothing to do with the sale of the policy and shouldn't be a reason for not paying commission).

I have no problem with any other insurers on my sites. I've never encountered a 'wait' problem until a recent Asda sale went through (or rather didn't and is still parked). But I wait for M&S payments at least a month longer than from anyone else. I can understand OMG not wanting to upset what must be a pretty large customer but M&S wait times are excessive.