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"To put it blatantly, we are not paying you"
In this thread, I'll share the story of how I convinced this unscrupulous merchant to pay what they owed me, using a technique I learned from @patio11.
In this thread, I'll share the story of how I convinced this unscrupulous merchant to pay what they owed me, using a technique I learned from @patio11.
In 2017, @patio11 published an article that had a profound effect on the way I address conflict with businesses. It was a guide to resolving disputes on your credit report. He describes a strategy I now refer to as The Organized Professional Method. https://www.kalzumeus.com/2017/09/09/identity-theft-credit-reports/
The Organized Professional thinks strategically about who in an organization has the power to solve a problem, what their incentives are, and how to capitalize on those incentives.
This brings me back to my business dispute. For the past couple years, I've run a website called Is It Keto. It's not a massively lucrative business, but it's slowly grown to over 100k pageviews per month.
In June, I joined the affiliate program for a site called @kissmyketo. The deal was that I'd advertise Kiss My Keto products on my site, and they'd give me 20% commission on any sales resulting from my ads.
After a month of advertising their products, Kiss My Keto made a suspicious claim. They reported that 95 visitors had clicked ads on Is It Keto, but *none* of them made any purchases.
This surprised me, as I've had a similar agreement with Amazon for two years, and their stats consistently show 15-20% of Is It Keto users making a purchase after clicking an Amazon link.
I reached out to Nini Perez, Kiss My Keto's affiliate manager, who initially suggested that my customers were probably just curious and not interested in making any purchases.
But Nini also hinted that there were exceptions to their "20% on all products" policy, so I asked what she was talking about.
It turned out that Kiss My Keto was denying commissions for huge portions of their sales based on reasons never disclosed in any documentation I saw.
It turned out that Kiss My Keto was denying commissions for huge portions of their sales based on reasons never disclosed in any documentation I saw.
I was furious. If Nini's information was true, they were collecting sales from me and all their other affiliates but violating their own policies to avoid paying us.
But The Organized Professional doesn't whine or yell. They state requirements to the CEO.
But The Organized Professional doesn't whine or yell. They state requirements to the CEO.
I emailed the CEO like an Organized Professional:
* I make no threats, nor do I express anger. (The most heated thing I say is that the policy is “unacceptable.”)
* The email lays out facts that are objective and provably true.
* I’m firm but polite in what I want.
* I make no threats, nor do I express anger. (The most heated thing I say is that the policy is “unacceptable.”)
* The email lays out facts that are objective and provably true.
* I’m firm but polite in what I want.
I received an email back from Kiss My Keto's co-founder, Michael Herscu, who told me in no uncertain terms that the company would not pay me.
"To put it blatantly, we are not paying you for your conversions."
"To put it blatantly, we are not paying you for your conversions."
Herscu tried to steer the conversation to Kiss My Keto's internal accounting, knowing I couldn't prove anything there.
Instead, I showed specific documents, dates, and emails where Kiss My Keto's rep admitted that the company's actual policies contradicted their published ones.
Instead, I showed specific documents, dates, and emails where Kiss My Keto's rep admitted that the company's actual policies contradicted their published ones.
My email yielded a much more conciliatory tone from Herscu. He was now asking what resolution would satisfy me.
What I wanted was for @kissmyketo to say, "Oh wow! Thanks for letting us know we might have been paying everyone incorrectly. We'll investigate and pay everyone."
But I suspected they'd rather risk a lawsuit than proactively pay. So I estimated a reasonable payment of $88.
But I suspected they'd rather risk a lawsuit than proactively pay. So I estimated a reasonable payment of $88.
And voila! They paid me.
Without explanation, they began paying me commissions for bread (the thing they privately claimed was an exception). My first commission occurred less than 24 hours after I emailed the CEO.
They've also taken down their affiliate policy page, but I archived a copy. The JS doesn't work, but you can see the original text if you look at the HTML. https://archive.is/iyoxj
I use The Organized Professional Method frequently. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t, but this was a clear case of it working effectively.
When a company engages in bad behavior, I think about these questions:
* Who in the organization can solve this problem?
* What are their incentives?
* How can I demonstrate to them that I’m organized and capable of asserting my rights?
* Who in the organization can solve this problem?
* What are their incentives?
* How can I demonstrate to them that I’m organized and capable of asserting my rights?
If you're interested in additional details, I published this story on my blog, which includes the unabridged email exchange with @kissmyketo. https://mtlynch.io/collect-debt/
