[Ribkin]

Hi everyone,

I would like to share my story about Bookmaker.com.

I am an affiliate of bookmaker.com. I earned some commission ($455) and bookmaker.com refused to pay it out claiming that I have to bring at least 10 active players within a week to request a payout. They introduced these unfair rules the same month I earned that commission. Ok. Fine. I requested to terminate the affiliate agreement and pay my commission according to their Terms and Conditions Clause 7, which said:

7. Term of the Agreement

The term of this Agreement will begin upon our acceptance of your
Affiliate Program application and will end when terminated by either
party. Either party may terminate this Agreement at any time, with or
without cause, by giving the other party written notice of termination.
Termination of this Agreement will be effective immediately upon the
provision of such written notice. You are only eligible to earn
commission on sales occurring during the term of this Agreement, and
commissions earned through to 11.59 pm GMT on the date of termination
will remain payable only if the related deposit is valid.

They did not reply for about two weeks and then I found that they changed that Clause.


Now it says:

The term of this Agreement will begin upon our acceptance of your
Affiliate Program application and will end when terminated by either
party. Either party may terminate this Agreement at any time, with or
without cause, by giving the other party written notice of termination.
Termination of this Agreement will be effective immediately upon the
provision of such written notice.

As you can notice, they removed last sentence that says that I am eligible for my commission.
They replied telling me that I still have to bring 10 active players to request the payout. They also told me that if I want to terminate the agreement, my funds "will be diminished to zero."

Now, the bookmaker that is rated A+ is acting in a very unprofessional way changing rules so that they do not have to pay commission I earned.
I filed the complaint with SBR for the second time now, but I do not think they will be willing to help as they seem to be affiliated with bookmaker.com very closely since they rate this SCAM bookie A+.
Can anyone suggest what can be done in this situation? I have contacted couple of egaming magazines and several popular betting websites. I assume the only way to fire back is to spread this story as much as possible to prevent gamblers and affiliates from dealing with this bookmaker.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
Regards,
Oleg
P.S. I attached a screenshot of my affiliate account which shows my commission.

[sportsbetwin]

My understanding was the you need 10 active players (betting within the same week) to get a commission payout at Bookmaker, Diamond and Cris.

Its BS but I won't promote them because of this. Plenty of other books do the right thing by their affiliates but not this mob.

By the way do not expect any help or sympathy from anyone at this forum - it is not the place for affiliate problems. There are plenty of affiliate forums - you will at least get some attention there.

[Ribkin]

Originally Posted by sportsbetwin

My understanding was the you need 10 active players (betting within the same week) to get a commission payout at Bookmaker, Diamond and Cris.

Its BS but I won't promote them because of this. Plenty of other books do the right thing by their affiliates but not this mob.

By the way do not expect any help or sympathy from anyone at this forum - it is not the place for affiliate problems. There are plenty of affiliate forums - you will at least get some attention there.

I know it is BS, but, ok, they set the rules. I requested to terminate the agreement, which clearly stated that they have to pay out the balance. And what did they do? They quickly changed the terms to avoid paying. And this is unfair...

[mihaita666]

strange, bookmaker is a bookie to trust, normally...

[sportsbetwin]

I must say i didn't read the fine fine print. It does surprise me if they say you need 10 players but they will give you your commissions if you end the agreeemnt with less than that. Alot of books will require 4-5 signups and this is to prevent affiliate fraud- I understand that. But if they allow you to do what you say was originally in the agreeement then they are opening themselves up to affiliate fraud.

I am not disputing you - it just doesn't make sense to me. Obviously that is why they removed it and I understand that your gripe is that they have made that change retrospective.

[andywend]

Ribkin,
Since you're looking for some free money from Bookmaker, you have to play by their rules.

If the $455 you claim that you're owed was from a deposit of funds or from gambling winnings, then I would most certainly be concerned.

However, since this is NOT the case, this thread does not change the way I feel about Bookmaker (top notch book, lightning fast payouts, mediocre customer service).

All in all, their A+ rating is deserved.

[siabdo23]

the golden rule ...who got the gold sets the rules

[cankid]

sorry about your bad experience but as someone mentioned you wont get much sympathy or guidance here

[frankthetank]

I have symphaty for you. anytime a company changes the rules mid race is really lame. also, it is an obvious management brain storm to make affiliates try to get more players. but instead, they just pissed off 50% of affiliates that bring in 30% of the bacon. They are basically saying, hey you, you are not worth our time unless you make us more $. If they hired two people to help with affiliate payouts and amangement it would dolve this prob. and at CR rates it would be VERY cheap to do so. But, cutting off ones nose to spite the face is a common practice in corps. They will realize this in lets say a year and repeal it. Until then gl. -Frank

[nenad]

rule no1= trust no one

[316316]

Yeah agree... Espaecailly when financial issue... Trust no one..

[poker_dummy101]

so any update?

[raddle_snake]

I don't think that bookmaker can be trusted? not yet tested but when I read all complaints about that book, better to stay with my bookie.

[solepride]

how do you become an affiliate?

[BChrisB]

Okay, well low and behold the same thing happened to me with Bookmaker.

I never noticed this 10 active player requirement until just requested a payment.

This is VERY bad practice !!!

First of all, I have a hand full of sign-ups with Bookmaker, never once (even prior to this requirement) had 10 active players. If your a webmaster and/or affiliate and send a referral to a company or website you should be compensated for your efforts.

Here is the bottom line, this is a VERY poor business decision and whoever approved this must have had the intention to flat steal from 1000's of webmasters who make a very small income from referrals.

Another issue, your job as an affiliate is to refer sign-ups. THAT'S IT !!! It's Bookmaker's job for player retention. I've had quite a few sign-up's who just stopped playing (reflective of my stats.) So my question is this. Why is Bookmaker penalizing an affiliate for their incompetence to retain players?

Dear Bookmaker,

This is a very bad practice and is going to hurt you in the long run. You ask ANY affiliate manager from ANY successful company and this will tell you that LAST THING you ever want to do is damage your credibility to your affiliates. Affiliate marketing is almost every companies bread and butter on the internet. Especially for sports books.

Of all the book's out there you'd be the last I'd ever expect this from. Always (until this issue) have been top notch. I honestly can say other than Pinnacle I never trusted a book as much as you. Bad decision.


I'm going to comment on this later. My words right now are just venting.

P.S. Can some forward this to affiliates@bookmaker.com and see if we get a response from them?

[Raven66]

You cannot be trusted, my little first poster.

[BChrisB]

Well if it wasn't for this issue happening to me I wouldn't have had to post in the first place.

First post or my 1000th post makes no difference. The FACTS say it all. I'm not disputing anything other than a REALITY. To say I cannot be trusted for being a first poster is a rather arrogant thing to say considering I'm not stating anything other than the fact that BOOKMAKER changed their affiliate agreement to require 10 active players in a prior week for an affiliate to be granted the money that they rightfully earned

[sportsbetwin]

It's in their terms and conditions - you gotta read them. No one is going to make you promote them.

Give 5 friends $50 each to open an account and make some bets - easily solved.

[Ribkin]

Originally Posted by andywend

Ribkin,
Since you're looking for some free money from Bookmaker, you have to play by their rules.

If the $455 you claim that you're owed was from a deposit of funds or from gambling winnings, then I would most certainly be concerned.

However, since this is NOT the case, this thread does not change the way I feel about Bookmaker (top notch book, lightning fast payouts, mediocre customer service).

All in all, their A+ rating is deserved.

I am not looking for free money. I am looking to get my commission!!! I made bookmaker.com profit and just want my share as agreed in affiliate contract. I have no clue what you are talking about, but you praise Bookmaker.com and give it A+ until you run into a scam yourself. I won't change my opinion. Open your eyes. If company treats its affiliate who make them money this way, I just can imagine how they can treat punters who win some nice amount of money... Think about it!

[Ribkin]

Originally Posted by cankid

sorry about your bad experience but as someone mentioned you wont get much sympathy or guidance here

I did not come to this forum to look for sympathy. I came here for an advice on how to deal with a bookmaker who is not playing by fair rules. That's it!

[Ribkin]

Originally Posted by sportsbetwin

It's in their terms and conditions - you gotta read them. No one is going to make you promote them.

Give 5 friends $50 each to open an account and make some bets - easily solved.

You are not getting things right. We did read the terms and conditions. But then they changed them. Put minimum number of active punters we have to bring every week. Ok, fine. The make the rules, but we have the right not to agree and terminate the agreement and get our balance paid. That's what I did. And they had this condition written in their TCs. If I close account, they pay me my balance. But, when I pointed to this condition, they quickly removed it and send me an email saying that if I close my account, I won't get a damn thing. Now, is it fair? I have screenshots of their TCs before and after I sent my request. It is a low, low, low quality management and scam bookmaker. That's all I can say!

[sportsbetwin]

No problem.
I am an affiliate - signed up about a year ago and that was their terms and conditions at the time.
I accept they may have been different when you signed up.

[Glitch]

looks like sportsbetwin is offering a solution to your debaucle. not criticizing your understanding of the situation....

someone asked how do u become an affiliate- they have a link on their homepage.

as far as this issue is concerned- i would get on livechat and present your situation, copy and paste the agreement that you agreed to.
some really dumb chick will give you a brief runaround saying she cant help you and this and that- ask why they changed the policy (she will say she doesnt know) then tell you you need to talk to a supervisor and ask what his name is. she might let you, probably not- she'll pretend like she went to go talk to him. call them up, ask for the guy- keep a log of the livechat and know what day you copied and pasted that.

if he doesnt help you- his answer would probably be most helpful in figuring out your next course of action or a solution to this problem....the problem of a change/descrepancy in the terms of service/agreement.

but uhhh theyre chillin in costa rica and they dont care that much about one person. once you find the actual answers to WHY the policy was changed WHAT you can do about it from their perspective- things might run a lot smoother for you. PS. its like 4 in the morning so this is probably mostly jibberjabber and im not a lawyer- but ive dealt with a lotta customer servants.

you might just gotta do what that guy said tho and get some friends/relatives to sign up and give them the money if you have to- minimum deposit is 25 dollars. goodluck

[Ribkin]

Just a quick update. Now I cannot even log in to my Bookmaker.com affiliate account anymore. You all know what that means, right? It is a shame that owners of this site make their ratings based on what kind of affiliate commissions they get and relationship they have with bookies and not on the real facts. Hopefully, this post will help some punters and even affiliates to stay away from bookmaker.com and other similar bookies. I am not going to name any of them, but you should get the point... location, jurisdiction, etc. Just think who you are dealing with and try to understand how you are going to get you money back in case they don't pay you.

[the2112]

hi, has the situation been resoved ? i totally sympathise with you on that.

[will2survive]

[will2survive]

too funny

[frankthetank]

The new affiliate guy Keith keith@bookmaker.com is a real a$$hole. They are stealing peoples money so never refer any of your friends there if you want to get any type of credit. aweful business model and unprofessional people work at Bookmaker.

[BChrisB]

Ribkin
I know this post is a year old but do you still have a copy of the old terms??

[DIF]

It seems bookmaker.com is not alone by this rule. Lot of other have the same, sometimes you need 5 players, sometimes 10. Its nothing strange.

[BChrisB]

Originally Posted by DIF

It seems bookmaker.com is not alone by this rule. Lot of other have the same, sometimes you need 5 players, sometimes 10. Its nothing strange.

Bookmaker did theirs retroactively and is holding balances owed at bay ($1k+ in my case.) Bookmaker is alone with this one.

If you read the terms they require 10 active players in the previous WEEK to get paid. They damn well know that this is even difficult even for some of the higher traffic affiliates.


This is an old topic, and I know SBR isn't the place for these sort of issues as they are here for player issues and not that of affiliates. I was just hoping that Ribkin had a copy of the old terms.

However, I will say one thing and lay this issue to rest (as least here) is that Bookmaker already displayed their shadiness on the affiliate side, and players are starting to see it transpire on the other end of the spectrum. Ridiculous bonuses, hiding bonus terms, cold callers, boards plagued w/ 30 cent lines, outrageous fees (b2b transfers for example,) etc, etc, ... they really are starting to become a second rate book. It's a shame really as not too long ago they were poised to replace the thrown of Pinnacle to US players when Pinny left the market. Sad case in the offshore industry.

[sportsbetwin]

I have $500 there but only 4 players. But I don't promote them becasue of their conditions - I just have a banner. When the sum gets up there I will be more proactive in getting them players. Around Superbowl time is probably your best opportunity to get maximum players betting.

However they are not the worst affiliate program out there - by far the worst (excluding books that will rob anyone blind) is Pinnacle.
They rob from their affilaites by paying them LESS than 1% commission- unless you are a huge affiliate like SBR.

[sportsbetwin]

Originally Posted by BChrisB

Bookmaker did theirs retroactively and is holding balances owed at bay ($1k+ in my case.) Bookmaker is alone with this one.

If you read the terms they require 10 active players in the previous WEEK to get paid. They damn well know that this is even difficult even for some of the higher traffic affiliates.


This is an old topic, and I know SBR isn't the place for these sort of issues as they are here for player issues and not that of affiliates. I was just hoping that Ribkin had a copy of the old terms.

However, I will say one thing and lay this issue to rest (as least here) is that Bookmaker already displayed their shadiness on the affiliate side, and players are starting to see it transpire on the other end of the spectrum. Ridiculous bonuses, hiding bonus terms, cold callers, boards plagued w/ 30 cent lines, outrageous fees (b2b transfers for example,) etc, etc, ... they really are starting to become a second rate book. It's a shame really as not too long ago they were poised to replace the thrown of Pinnacle to US players when Pinny left the market. Sad case in the offshore industry.

I don't have an account at Bookmaker - do you think I should?

[BChrisB]

Originally Posted by sportsbetwin

I don't have an account at Bookmaker - do you think I should?

Honestly, Yes you still should. They still are a must have for now at least. Sides on NFL, NCAAF, NCAAB, and totals for the preceding sports are still competitive in the market. If you don't want them for any other reason than to line shop on overnights, I would recommend them for this alone. With ** payments I read some complaints here but I never had to wait more than 24 hours... NEVER !!!

I gave up on all their money lines. Forget them for MLB as their prices on the Money lines are a joke anymore.

I'm not going to lie, as much as I feel I'm being ripped off by them on the affiliate side, they have done me no wrong on the player side. Hell, I'd love to recruit you on the players side to get me one step closer to my 10 active players but that's not proper etiquette to do in this thread. You can always read the post that I will put up on 2 seconds on the promotion and links section here.. Hint, Hint. Just when you sign-up check the box that you don't want any marketing promotions to avoid cold calls (yet, they might bother you anyways.)

[BookTaker]

4ck book maker. i read their affiliatte terms like 4 years ago and it didnt seemd right. They might be good at paying out winning clients but they aint good to random affiliattes and their cs service sucks.

They love to brag about their A plus rating and they depend on their past reputation but they lack good clients services. They just have so many clients now that they just dont care about losing customers with their stupid my crap dont stink service.