Former iBill Employee Email..

[Lee]

Just got this email which i thought was quite funny...

Please take the time to read and review my email below.

Please post and circulate if you feel the desire to as many webmasters and website owners as my intentions are indicated below:

My Sincerest Apologies

After a time with iBill (and now no longer there for differences of opinions) I have come to realize something that I should have come to grips with earlier in my carreer with them. That no matter how hard you work for a company, embrace its values (in this case there are non), and hold on to the very fabric of what you feel is right (I was dead wrong), I was expendable.

Although I can not reveal myself to anyone directly in this letter, I am positive there are those out there that know who I am, I am writing this letter to apologize for my naivety, self assuredness in a failed company, and all of the bridges that I have burned along the way.

I know how all of the clients (mostly former) of iBill feel. After servitude of defense on the behalf of iBill and believing all of the lies that I was told, I begged and pleaded with anyone that I spoke with that iBill is the leader in online transaction processing. I was a fool. I am very, very, very, sorry that I believed all of the lies that iBill fed to me in the form of a feeding bag with the strap tightened so tight around my neck (the strap being their veiled assurances).

I feel terrible that even towards the end of my carreer with iBill and the millions of dollars that they owe their clients that they felt the need to put together “settlements” that basically strong armed and blackmailed any client that was owed money in to a guarantee to place iBill on their websites again to continue receiving monies that were owed to them anyway.

Now after my separation, I know exactly how any iBill client that is owed money feels, for, they now owe me money that they are refusing to pay in a fair and equitable way.

They can change their ticker symbols and post to the boards terrible thoughts about other separated iBill employees. The fact of the matter remains no matter who owns iBill and feels that they can “turn things” around. It will never happen. iBill is a doomed company no matter who will float them money. What a sorry existence.

Well, I got off the beaten path. My whole thought when writing this was to apologize to all of those clients and former clients that I tried to hold on to in the name of iBill, I was wrong, and I sincerely hope that you will accept my apology.

Sincerely,

formeribill@comcast.net

No matter how many people on the various boards told these people the exact same thing that this person just mailed out, they chose not to beleive it.

Guess they found out the hard way in the end [shrug]

Regards,

Lee

[Paco]

I have little (more like zero) empathy for the person that was once employed by Ibill.

LOL ... blind faith makes me laugh (while feeling piety for the fools that extend it).

In the words of procam: Do something today instead of complain if you mean the words you typed and then come back and tell us wtf you actually did about it!

I prefer it this way: action speaks louder than words!

[Nad]

Sorry that it took you so long to see what I saw over a year ago.. they can only keep on ruining a once valued name and the lives of people associated with it.

Good riddens to bad rubbish... best of luck to you and you new career goals...

btw.. didn't I tell you it was a lost cause?

[justnuts]

You are a little harsh there, Paco. Maybe you have never worked for someone or something that evoked this kind of passion in you.
I feel for this guy.
He put his all into a company he believed in. There is nothing wrong with that. At first, I believed in iBill. I remember them when things were great. We were all making gobs of cash and iBill was rock-solid.
What a shame!!
Hey Former iBill Guy- People reading this post should be lucky enough to have someone as passionate as you working for them.
Good Luck. Congratulations on your new-found freedom.

[XXXWriterDude]

You are a little harsh there, Paco. Maybe you have never worked for someone or something that evoked this kind of passion in you.
I feel for this guy.
He put his all into a company he believed in. There is nothing wrong with that. At first, I believed in iBill. I remember them when things were great. We were all making gobs of cash and iBill was rock-solid.
What a shame!!
Hey Former iBill Guy- People reading this post should be lucky enough to have someone as passionate as you working for them.
Good Luck. Congratulations on your new-found freedom.

Must agree with these sentiments.

Sometimes people just make mistakes. The fact is, we make them, we learn from them, we move on.

Don't make the mistake of judging someone too harshly for believing in a cause. At least he did believe in something, no matter how misguided it was. Fact is, not many people in the world believe in anything.

[Dzinerbear]

Yeah, I'll echo the last couple of people. And sometimes jobs are like failing marriages - it's so difficult to see what's happening right in front of our faces because we're so entrenched in it. No matter what our friends tell us, our own self-defense mechanisms will only allow us to receive, digest, and process what we're capable of handling in the moment, and when we can do better, we do.

Losing your job, getting fired, being structured out of a company is one of the hardest things a person can go through. It fucks most people up to their core and takes a while to recover. Saying, "Your company was fucked up to begin with" doesn't help.

And to the writer of the e-mail, well, now you know better, so you can do better. Don't beat yourself up for what you did or believed in the past, just beat a hasty path away from it.

Cheers,
Michael

[Paco]

First off, yes, I have been and am still in a situation similar (actually, it is worse - A sibling of mine is maliciously attacking someone I know.
I have not sat back while the two battle it out, but rather I am supporting that which is right! I do not believe in supporting something wrong merely because we share the same genes).

Also, I have been employed by many fuckers (Canadian Engine Rebuilders Ltd. Alberta) and I have taken action against - Environment Canada was informed of their methods of discarding chemicals. I appeared at the locations and showed evidence.
The pricks are out of business!

Yes, I too am a passionate person and very dedicated (but only to those that deserve), and because I am, I take action!

Question for Nad: what course of action have you taken or do you plan to take? (Many web masters & companies have kicked around the idea of taking action against (class action suit) IBill, and I am sure your support will help, greatly.)

Yes, the abuse you received or experienced from them is saddening, but something must be done (as you should agree).

Yes, people do make mistakes, everyday. I believe what follows is most important.


I am tryly sorry if I have offended some peeps.

[basschick]

this guy stood up for his belief in a company that hundreds of people let him know had terrible support and weren't paying anyone. sorry - i think after the first few people said they weren't getting paid, i'd have to look into their complaints. after the first 25 or 50, i'd have to consider that the company i was working for did not have the values i felt they did.

i feel no sympathy for this guy. all the problems everyone had every day with ibill meant nothing to him nor did the mainstream news articles - he apparently considers anyone who pays him an ultimate authority. then he gets fired and NOW he knows the truth???

there is not one rep at ibill who didn't hear about what was going on. the people who sound nice and are sincere while working for a company with no ethics or plans to pay anyone is what ropes webmasters into signing up or staying with that company.

his being fired didn't make ibill the bad guys. nothing large changed at the company when he was fired. his selfish point of view that everything they told him was okay really WAS is all that changed. a person who overlooks reality for either a paycheck or his need to believe harms a lot of people's lives.

[Paco]

basschick, thank you for putting it in words which I was not able to come-up with and for showing me that I am not the only one with that mentality, nor afraid to post it.

I am shocked and very disappointed more have not expressed their true opinions and their views, after all the bicth'n and whining about IBill from others, this thread should be massive.

I guess all the 'fuck ibill' threads (excluding those from basschick), from here on, are nothing but trivial.

[justnuts]

Hey Bass Chick-

You are making some serious assumptions in your post. You say that the problems that iBill caused as a result of not paying anyone meant nothing to Mr Former iBill. This guy did what he thought was right. After finally realizing that iBill was not doing much to turn itself around, he took responsibility for his actions. He was a man about it- very UNLIKE iBill's management team.
Having been an employee there, I do know that everyone I worked with felt horrible. Many of those people stayed with the company long enough to make sure that their clients were safe. Others stayed with the company with the hopes of everything turning around. Years ago, PayCom recovered after losing their merchant account. If you think we hung around for a paycheck, think about this- we lived on commission. Commission dried right up after iBill's merchant account was frozen. Our paychecks went to shit almost overnight.

Having gone through this debacle at IBill, I can understand why some folks hung-on. Management sold us the same bill of goods they sold their clients.
In fact, who are we to say that they won't eventually pay clients? Personally, I wouldn't trust them to hold much more than a bag of human waste.
BUT- I do know that they have reached agreements with some clients & began paying them in installments.
Being pissed off at iBill is totally justified. If you need to blame someone at the company, blame the folks who took over when Penthouse entered the picture. Your sales people had no control over what happened; nor did they have knowledge of what was happening until after the merchant account was frozen for several days. After that, your sales people only knew what upper management told them.
The sales people I worked with were all solid people. They fought for their clients; they cried when clients called crying; they put their jobs on the line by fighting with management; they really cared.

[Paco]

Many of those people stayed with the company long enough to make sure that their clients were safe.

So they informed all their clients of IBill's practices and how it would be in there best interest to dump IBill? As far as I see it, there is no safer solution.

The sales people I worked with were all solid people. They fought for their clients; they cried when clients called crying; they put their jobs on the line by fighting with management; they really cared.

Again: enough to assist all those that kicked around the idea of class action? Or even pursue one on their own losses.

[basschick]

they aren't charges at all because we're not in court. but he didn't take responsibility because he's not paying anyone. he is admitting his culpability, which is a very different thing. he's not even using his name to do it.

you don't think that a customer service rep who talked to clients all day during a period where NO ONE was getting paid couldn't figure out that maybe... just maybe... there was a problem somewhere? ibill was fucking up long before penthouse but the employees were making excuses loooong after penthouse. they were just fucking up differently.

the only kind of person that would listen to the company over all those webmasters is someone who is not looking reality in the eye. and whether it was for money or because the person is truly guillible and places faith in people instead of building trust based on performance... either way, the person who does this harms OTHER people.

regardless of what the bank did, here's what ibill didn't do: they didn't communicate with their webmasters! they lied, they postponed, and often they ignored. THAT is the biggest problem, and there is no excuse for it whatsoever. when maxcash's money was locked up by the FTC, they were unable to pay affiliates for months, but they kept communication going at all times, and no one ever blamed them. lots of people didn't even take down their links.

a smart rep - or a pragmatist - would have left because if you're a rep, the ONLY longterm thing you have is your own reputation.

keeping the clients safe? there are people who losts their houses, their cars, their credit ratings - because ibill couldn't be honest. in my reality, and in the reality of everyone who didn't get paid, no one kept the ibill clients either safe or informed.

i was around when paycom didn't pay for a while. it was for 3 1/2 months - not a year. paycom paid off their webmasters quickly, not over a long period of time. they didn't have an agreement, they just paid whoever they owed. paycom didn't come up with a new product and pretend it was something separate to get new webmasters' money - paycom dedicated their money to getting back on track instead. their FIRST priority was in getting their company back on their feet and keeping it there. and because of that, that is exactly what happened.

and that is why so many were willing to trust them later.

Hey Bass Chick-

You are making some serious assumptions in your post. You say that the problems that iBill caused as a result of not paying anyone meant nothing to Mr Former iBill. This guy did what he thought was right. After finally realizing that iBill was not doing much to turn itself around, he took responsibility for his actions. He was a man about it- very UNLIKE iBill's management team.
Having been an employee there, I do know that everyone I worked with felt horrible. Many of those people stayed with the company long enough to make sure that their clients were safe. Others stayed with the company with the hopes of everything turning around. Years ago, PayCom recovered after losing their merchant account. If you think we hung around for a paycheck, think about this- we lived on commission. Commission dried right up after iBill's merchant account was frozen. Our paychecks went to shit almost overnight.

Having gone through this debacle at IBill, I can understand why some folks hung-on. Management sold us the same bill of goods they sold their clients.
In fact, who are we to say that they won't eventually pay clients? Personally, I wouldn't trust them to hold much more than a bag of human waste.
BUT- I do know that they have reached agreements with some clients & began paying them in installments.
Being pissed off at iBill is totally justified. If you need to blame someone at the company, blame the folks who took over when Penthouse entered the picture. Your sales people had no control over what happened; nor did they have knowledge of what was happening until after the merchant account was frozen for several days. After that, your sales people only knew what upper management told them.
The sales people I worked with were all solid people. They fought for their clients; they cried when clients called crying; they put their jobs on the line by fighting with management; they really cared.

[tombarr]

We just got an email from another rep at IBill making overtures to us saying they want to get some kind of payment agreement working.

I am going to assume it is more of the same strong arm that was being used a few months ago...

send us $XXXX dollars processing every month and we'll start paying you out in monthly installments.

Gonna see what he wants but I suspect this is it again.