Is anyone else not getting paid by Python Pays?

Hi folks,

I was wondering if anyone else is having trouble getting paid by Python Pays.

For several years, GayGeek had very poor organization of our finances. We cashed the checks that arrived, but paid little attention who was getting our traffic, how much we were getting paid per click, and most importantly, who wasn't paying us at all.

Last fall I spent several weeks wrestling with our books and putting everything in order. I learned that Python Pays owed us a chunk of money (not huge, but significant) that they hadn't paid. They had never paid out and the money had been slowly accumulating over time. I don't recall what the holdup was, but when contacted they said they'd make an immediate payment. And sure enough their website quickly indicated that a payment was in the works.

I forgot about the issue until two weeks ago during a periodic review of our books. I noticed that the payment had never arrived. Since then I have been aggressively trying to contact someone on their end with no luck. My attempts to use the contact form in the affiliate site have gone unanswered. I called their toll-free number yesterday, but got a woman who refused to connect me with anyone. (She said she wouldn't connect me unless I could name the person I wanted to talk to. And something about her answering for many businesses so she wouldn't even send me to someone's voice mail).

I have a few more e-mail addresses I'm willing to try, but since it's been 24 hours since I popped off the last e-mail without a reply I am not hopeful I'll get a response. At this rate I'll be pulling their sites from GayGeek within a week or so and posting a warning on this forum that they're deadbeats.

Anyone else having trouble collecting from Python Pays? Or had trouble in the past? I'd like to hear about how you are resolving or how you resolved the issue.

Otherwise, I suggest you check your books regarding Python Pays. You might find that they owe you money they claim was sent out.

--Aaron

PS, I'm also having a similar issue collecting from Boner Bucks (aka Digital Ventures) who runs Amateur Straight Guys, albeit it with a much smaller amount. They dicked over affiliates in the past when they ran Straight Guy Cash, but they made good on their debts to GayGeek so we decided to give them another shot. Now we're having trouble with them again, and if they don't answer my e-mails or phone calls shortly they're gonna find their sites yanked too.

i dont promote them sorry so cant help you :(

Getting our wires on time. Talk to shaft over there, he'll get you sorted.

You hear anything from them GG?

How exactly do they owe you - do they claim to have sent money, but you've seen no check?

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Originally Posted by GayGeek

PS, I'm also having a similar issue collecting from Boner Bucks (aka Digital Ventures) who runs Amateur Straight Guys

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There's a real shocker! I wouldn't do business with those guys again in a million years. I'm absolutely shocked every time I see someone promoting ASG after what they did a few years ago.

Sorry to hear you're having trouble with other programs. I show I was always paid by Python Pays (check issued from Web Clicks). However, I stopped promoting them a while back due to slow sales. Hopefully you'll get it straightened out.

No word from Python yet. On the 11th I sent an e-mail to Mike with Python, he's our account manager according to the website. I haven't heard back from him (or anyone for that matter).

On Monday I'll send out a message to our remaining contact with the company. Assuming he doesn't get back to me, on Friday we'll yank all their websites and I'll take some sort of aggressive action against them on GayGeek. Probably posting a warning to web surfers not to deal with their company or somesuch.

At GayGeek we pride ourselves on providing accurate information about the list we list, so I don't wanna just yank everything and let surfers actively researching their sties to fend for themselves. At the same time, I don't want to send them any traffic.

I'll probably flag their sites as closed and have their pages display a warning that they are not a reputable company to do business with. Python probably wouldn't care if we yanked their listings, but they might take notice if we actively start telling people not to deal with them.

As for talking to Shaft, he's the last e-mail contact I have with Python. So we'll see if he can get things straightened out or not. I'll know more next week.

As for Doug and Jay, we've sent them only a trickle of traffic. I have way more sites listed on GayGeek that I can actively promote, and struggle to even keep up with our new listings. So Doug and Jay has received little attention to me. I normally wouldn't care about the money they owe us (only $25.44), but their website says they sent us a check and if they did then I want my money. Because if they're not going to pay us then I want to terminate our relationship with them before that amount becomes significant.

I'll keep y'all informed how things develop.

--Aaron

PS, Incidentally, I had a billing issue with Rainbow Revenue. During all this bookkeeping that they thought they sent us a small check last year that never arrived. I contacted them regarding the matter and they said they had some software issues around that time and had problems getting all their checks out. They responded quickly, apologized profusely, and immediately resent the check. I like getting my checks on time, but if mistakes happen then that's the sort of customer service I want to deal with. None of this "talking to operators at toll-free numbers that refuse to connect me with a real person or a voicemail" shit.

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Originally Posted by Bill

You hear anything from them GG?

How exactly do they owe you - do they claim to have sent money, but you've seen no check?

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No, they pay us on time. We get our wires on time consistently. Talk to Shaft there, he can help you with that stuff i think.

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Originally Posted by GayGeek

PS, I'm also having a similar issue collecting from Boner Bucks (aka Digital Ventures) who runs Amateur Straight Guys, albeit it with a much smaller amount. They dicked over affiliates in the past when they ran Straight Guy Cash, but they made good on their debts to GayGeek so we decided to give them another shot. Now we're having trouble with them again, and if they don't answer my e-mails or phone calls shortly they're gonna find their sites yanked too.

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Doesn't surprise me at all.

I would yank their sites already. They've changed their program name several times over the course of about 4 years or so. Each time it's the answer "we hired a new company to manage our affiliate program."

maybe mike is out sick, having family problems, on vacation or even no longer working there. it's always a good idea after a couple days to email someone else...

This is exactly the kind of thing that makes me nervous as a webmaster, you never know whose gonna pay and who won't.

A company can seem like something really great, you work hard to promote them, and WHAM! sorry no money for you shithead.

I hope things work out for ya GayGeek.

You can rely on getting paid reliably and on time if the pay site is using CCBill's affiliate program, or some other 3rd party program that pays you directly. On my pay sites we don't write the checks to affiliates since we never see the money. CCBill takes it out and before they pay us and then they pay the affiliates.

Not sure if other credit card processors have this feature, but you can rest assured if the pay site is using CCBill.

The other thing to keep in mind is the history and track record of the pay site. Do searches on this site and others to see if there have been problems with the pay site.

python/dollarmachine have been doing their own payouts since DMR, their processor from the 90's, folded without paying anyone.

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Originally Posted by JakeCruise

You can rely on getting paid reliably and on time if the pay site is using CCBill's affiliate program, or some other 3rd party program that pays you directly. On my pay sites we don't write the checks to affiliates since we never see the money. CCBill takes it out and before they pay us and then they pay the affiliates.

Not sure if other credit card processors have this feature, but you can rest assured if the pay site is using CCBill.

The other thing to keep in mind is the history and track record of the pay site. Do searches on this site and others to see if there have been problems with the pay site.

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Originally Posted by basschick

python/dollarmachine have been doing their own payouts since DMR, their processor from the 90's, folded without paying anyone.

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Python has paid me on time, every time since I was in this business. However, I have to admit that it has been a real bitch getting in touch with anyone there lately.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JakeCruise

You can rely on getting paid reliably and on time if the pay site is using CCBill's affiliate program, or some other 3rd party program that pays you directly. On my pay sites we don't write the checks to affiliates since we never see the money. CCBill takes it out and before they pay us and then they pay the affiliates.

Not sure if other credit card processors have this feature, but you can rest assured if the pay site is using CCBill.

The other thing to keep in mind is the history and track record of the pay site. Do searches on this site and others to see if there have been problems with the pay site.

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I personally highly suggest promoting CCBill. They pay, the webmaster does not. They offer you all of the tools to follow your pay. There is no possible way that they can skim stats or screw you over. Everything is so very automated. And they are reputable. This is why many of the successful webmasters ONLY promote sites who use CCBill as a primary processor. We do the same. We only promote CCBill sites or know for a fact and can prove that site is loyal and honest.

I have contacted GayGeek.com regarding the payment issue. I will look into this for him and make sure everything is running smoothly for him. If anyone else has any questions or concerns feel free to contact me directly. My name is Billy and I will do my best to help you out.

My contacts are below

ICQ - 366 209 517
email - billy@marketingfolk.com

I am pleased (and embarrassed) to report that the missing payment has been tracked down. It was the result of a double (triple, really) error in our books.

- The payment was initially recorded on the wrong date. When I searched for the payment later, I wasn't looking in the date range at which it had been recorded.

- The payment was never added to our payments listings in the GayGeek database. (We use this information to analyze per click income, determine who isn't paying us, etc.)

- The discrepancy between the two lists was missed when I went over the entire 2008 set of payments that GayGeek received.

Truly embarrassing, really. I royally botched this one. It wasn't until Billy@Marketingfolk.com responded directly to me stating the check had been cashed that I dug far enough in our records to find the missing payment.

So I wanted to post and absolve Python Pays from any financial improprieties regarding this matter. Say what you want about their poor response to customer service issues, the error here was mine and mine alone.

--Aaron

PS, Now Boner Bucks is another matter. After the Python Pays fiasco I dug a lot more deeply to see if I could find that check. That one has never made it into my books in any way, shape, or form.

I am working hard to fix any customer relation issues we may have. If anyone has any questions or concerns with Python Pays please email me directly. Glad the payment issue was resolved. Thanks

Thats kinda why I asked you "what kind of payment error" guy - I was curious as to exactly what type of payment dispute we were talking about.

This is what I asked - "How exactly do they owe you - do they claim to have sent money, but you've seen no check?".

Anyway, these things happen.