CJ: It’s because I’m a “new” publisher

by Sapphire (September 27, 2005)

So after being told yesterday that my merchants must be delinquent in their payments to CJ, I wrote my merchants and was assured they were not.

Then the lady from CJ wrote to inform me that, after further research, she’d found that my account is under some sort of quality check because (even though the account is months old) July/August was the first month I’d qualified for payout. Now, there is something in the terms that basically says there might be a delay of unspecified duration on your first check, but… well, let’s discuss for a moment the magic that is communication.

How hard would it be to put a little notice on one’s account stating, “We know you’ve reached payout, but we’re now going to take three months/six years/til hell freezeth over to screen your account to make sure you’re in compliance with all of our rules”. I’m not sure what they’re looking for - probably since I’ve never been good at thinking like a scammer - but I assume they’re looking for stuff that’s been dun wrong to ‘em in the past. I can understand that.

I would like to know how long it takes. That doesn’t seem like too much to ask. Even if they said something like 3-6 months, it would be better than having no clue. It would have saved both me and CJ a lot of time and trouble - I would’ve waited patiently, if I’d known that’s what the deal was. It’s amazing, really: through the magic of communication you can tell someone what to expect, and they can in turn expect nothing more, nothing less. Generally, in my experience, when people insist on being vague, it’s because they really don’t have any intention of honoring their commitments. If I didn’t personally know so many people who’ve been paid by CJ, I might have started calling the authorities in California. Seriously. And that would have wasted even more people’s time.

I’m assuming at this point that this is what the holdup is, and I just need to be patient. I just wish someone could have told me that in the first email response. Instead, over the course of weeks and two separate threads of very slow email communications, I was told it was my fault for not sending my tax info in, then told they were looking into it. Then nothing. Then a phone conversation that finally brought results.

Another little complaint - and CJ is far from the only business to have this issue - is that when you call about a problem on your account, it seems to me the person helping you should have access to every part of CJ’s computer files that might help her answer the question. But at least she did follow up to me and then get back to me with her findings, after conferring with other departments or whatever.

Moral of the story: got problems or questions about your CJ account? Call ‘em. Don’t even waste time on the emails. And if you’ve never been paid before, expect some sort of unspecified delay.

Posted in Affiliate Marketing
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