Rewards Affiliates not paying and untagging High Rollers!

[CasinoQueen]

Hello,

I am new here and a new casino affiliate as I just started my site in December 2020.

I signed up with Rewards Affiliates as I myself am a player and utilize the casinos they advertise and had good experiences.

in December I signed up one new depositing player. My commissions were $0.47 so not enough to meet the $200 minimum threshold.
It is important to also know I also had a sub-affiliate sign up that month.

January 2021 I had no new depositing players but made $4.27! (Wooohoo retirement is near lol!)

February 2021 I had 5 new registrations and 3 new depositing players! One of which was a high roller and deposited over $25,000. My commissions to be paid for February were $264 in total.

I did not receive commissions and was told on March 9th, 2021 as it was my first payment it would need to clear risk management. No problem

I emailed again after not being paid commissions by March 15, 2021 with zero response.
I emailed again yesterday and no response at first.

After logging into my Rewards Affiliates Dashboard after a few hours of sending my first email I notice monies wagered by players in March 2021 went from $14,200 to $1500!!!!! My March commissions subsequently dropped from $185 to $20!!!

I AGAIN send an email and it was replied too that risk management said I had a link to one of my players and therefore confiscated commissions!!
What?!?! Who decided this and how?!? I have a website which I refer players through and absolutely do not have any links to any players!

I have subscribers of my site and that’s as far as it goes!

I immediately emailed back with follow up questions of how they came to that conclusion and how to clarify and clear it up to which I have yet to be responded too.

I also want to point out that after requesting my 50% first month commissions it was declined. Then when the sub affiliate signed up I was told I was given the wrong link but too bad they don’t reassign sub affiliates.

The last two issues weren’t huge to me and I let slide but now untagging a high roller with a very vague explanation and nothing backing it up and saying my total owed commissions went from $445 to $32!!!

I understand affiliates can take months prior to earning any commissions so I was super excited and this kept me going hard. After yesterday I feel like I’ve been kicked in the stomach and all my hours and days I poured into this are now discredited by a company with zero explanation of how and why they came to such a conclusion without ever approaching me!

I am wondering, what can I do to get this fixed and the rightful players returned to my account? Is this something that happens normally within this industry?

Please help! Any advice is very appreciated!
Thank you!

 

[Kadabra]

Contact Renee - she is always on top of things.

To be honest, I don't think program like Rewards would risk damaging their name for $400, so hope issue will be solved (and that indeed you have 0 (and i mean zero) connection to that player.

 

[CasinoQueen]

Thank you! I have contacted both Renee and Celia.

I understand it’s not a crazy amount but as a new affiliate I’m sure you can understand my frustration and not knowing my recourse on how to get it fixed.

As stated the ONLY connection to any players would be from ones that subscribe to my website!

 

[AidanLCFC]

Thank you! I have contacted both Renee and Celia.

I understand it’s not a crazy amount but as a new affiliate I’m sure you can understand my frustration and not knowing my recourse on how to get it fixed.

As stated the ONLY connection to any players would be from ones that subscribe to my website!

worth remembering they are based in Australia as well so most likely on a different time to you

 

[edgarf76]

This is interesting to hear. Overall, they have a solid reputation. The big complaint I hear is that they cross-promote their brands, which most affiliate programs do. They used to convert well a very long time ago.

 

[CasinoQueen]

worth remembering they are based in Australia as well so most likely on a different time to you

Thank you. I am aware of this and take it into consideration when contacting them. I am in Alberta Canada so they are a few hours ahead.

As I am newer to this particular industry, I am wondering is this something that is common? Also, once they remove a player will they place them back once this is straightened out?

For months prior and still since starting my site I scour these forums for information and advice from people who have experience to ensure I was doing things properly. It may not seem like much money to some but I have been pouring 8 hrs plus a day sometimes 7 days a week into content, videos, promotion etc so to have players disappear from my account with a very vague explanation further insinuating I was dishonest in referring the players with absolutely no communication or explanation is a bit shocking.

 

[CasinoQueen]

This is interesting to hear. Overall, they have a solid reputation. The big complaint I hear is that they cross-promote their brands, which most affiliate programs do. They used to convert well a very long time ago.

I was converting what I thought was a decent amount for a new affiliate. I geo target Canada and my province. In total since starting I have had roughly 12 registrations with 5 new depositing players. My domain was new so it’s been a lot of social media promotion and working on SEO to gain some authority and traffic.

 

[AussieDave]

@CasinoQueen - what payment structure are you on?

• Rev Share
• Wager Share

 

[AussieDave]

The big complaint I hear is that they cross-promote their brands, which most affiliate programs do.

Agree most programs who operate more than one (1) casino etc., cross-promote between their brands. However, there's ethical cross-marketing, and then there's unethical cross marketing (aka player theft).

The latter (unethical cross marketing) is where a program actively seeks to signup tagged players, but does not give credit to the referring affiliate. Instead, the program claims that player for themselves.

Back in 2011 there was a huge thread at the GPWA about RA cross marketing to tagged players, where the affiliate link was not being used. I was under the impression that was all fixed up.

A few month back now, but I was checking cookies, and discovered RA was not passing my affID tag, when clicking on links within CR site, and or their casinos.

Contacted Renee who claimed they'd updated their GDPR protocols (words to that affect) and that update must have broken the referring tagging. According to Renee, it was probably like that for 4 months.

My advice, trust no program. Run random cookies checks. If you can, sign up to a programs casino. If a program is conducting unethical cross marketing, then as a signed up player you'll find out

The other point worth noting is... I was informed last August 2020, that RA are now paying consumption taxes in New Zealand. A couple of things I found very odd. One of which, instead of providing a reference to a New Zealand Gov., Tax site, Renee sent me a link to deloitte.com , which was dated 2016.

If this tax is 100% legit, why send me a link to deloitte.com, which didn't actually state TAX had to be paid, all it spoke about was that NZ consumption TAX, may, at some point in the future, be mandatory.

FYI...I'm on the Wagering Model. I'm paid 1.3% on the total wagering per month.

Things is though, RA are taking 5.25% tax from me, claiming, I'm being paid 35%.

Yeah... I'm paid 35% of 3.71% (theoretical slots RTP).

Personally I shouldn't have to pay tax, given I'm not on Revenue Share.

However, to be fair... I'm happy paying 1.3% of their 15% total. But no no no, Renee et al will not have a bar of that. Instead, I'm being hammered for 5.25% tax.

Reiterating I earn a MAX of 1.3% BUT get charged 5.25% tax... If my players win, it's ok, but if they lose, I not only get slogged for 5.25% on their deposits BUT also their bonuses too.

Maybe I need to throw DodgyOnlineCasinoHistory.net back up (stilly have the domain and the DB).


Edit:

References...

rewardsaffiliates.com/program/commission.aspx (Wagershare)

True 35% Wager Model:

Click here to see how the commission is calculated on the Wager Model

Receive 35% of the players' wagered (AKA WagerShare, Theoretical, Turnover) amount. We do not take out admin or royalties from your commission on the wager model so you get a true 35%.

35% of 3.71, is not a TRUE 35%. It's only 1.3%... Lets not BS each other here with semantics!

The table below displays the theoretical margin for each casino style game. The payout is the % paid to an affiliate who is on the Wagershare model.

Hence if all your tagged players play slots, then your Wagershare percentage is paid at 1.3%. Semantically speaking (aka hoodwinking) your paid 35% of 3.71% = 1.3%

​

	Margin (theoretical)	Payout
Table Non Blackjack	2.57%	0.90%
Slots	3.71%	1.30%
Video Poker	0.94%	0.33%
Blackjack	1.26%	0.44%

NB - sometime between December 2011 and Jan 2012 RA added the following:

How commission is calculated:
Payout is calculated at 35% of margin - (35% of applicable gaming taxes and fees):

More BS... I'm not paid 35%. I'm paid at MAX 1.3%.

Hence I should ONLY be paying 1.3% of the 15% total tax. Which is 0.195% of the 15% tax rate.

That's $0.195 of every $100 taxable.

NOT $5.25 of every $100 taxable, as I'm being stung for now.

TBH I find it very, very odd, that this tax only seems to have come about, since CR had to have a new MGS casino built for the German Market. A cynical person may wonder IF this tax really is legit or... Is it just money being garnished from affiliates to pay for this NEW casino build.

My accountant finds all this very bizarre too.

However, as he said, all will be revealed (truth or lies) when he requires a bona fide TAX invoice in July 2021, as he will be claiming these NZ taxes as a business expenditure deduction. He informed me, he will need a tax invoice on ALL NZ tax supposedly garnished from my monthly earnings. As he will use this as a business expense, and will need proof of tax paid by RA/CR et al.

BTW...
My total sub earnings this month (March 2021) before tax = $5,254.47

Tax garnished at 5.25% = $3,042.90

My earnings =$2,211.57 (wagershare payment 1.3%)



TBH I really dislike airing my issues on public forums. However, trying to deal with issues in a professional business manner, as any self employed person would, with a mainstream business, this action is sadly, almost always, a hopeless case of wading thru semantics, and BS, with igaming affiliate programs.

How hard is it to see that I DO NOT EARN 35%...???!!! I only earn (max) 1.3%.

 

[CasinoQueen]

@CasinoQueen - what payment structure are you on?

• Rev Share
• Wager Share

Thank you for your reply! I am on wager share! I did read about what happened in 2011 on the GPWA forum.

I have a close friend whom worked for years in the Bahamas at the Playboy Casino as a card dealer when gambling was still not legal in Canada. She warned me about how shady land based casinos can be as well as some of the characters within. Although she worked in land based her number one piece of advice upon entering this was exactly what you said, “trust absolutely no one” I find that harsh but it seems to ring true within this industry.

I will patiently await an explanation and hopefully Renee or Celia can provide me a more thorough explanation of their supposed findings of a “link” to this player and it will be fixed ASAP.

As I see your name a lot on these forums and you have a lot of experience in the industry is there any advice you can give to new affiliates? (Aside from the trust issue of course! Lol)

 

[AussieDave]

I see your name a lot on these forums and you have a lot of experience in the industry is there any advice you can give to new affiliates? (Aside from the trust issue of course! Lol)

I'm sure you've heard the expression "you can't put an old head on young shoulders."

When I started out as a casino affiliate in Feb 2000, it was easy pickings. However, there were still lots of pitfalls. What I'm trying to say is... Living the life of a casino affiliate, and learning to embracing A,B, or C, whilst avoiding X, Y, or Z... comes at the price of an education.

It takes approx 10,000 hours to competent in anything, be this affiliate marketing, playing guitar, etc., etc.

Hence, learn the craft, and put what you learn to good practice

 

[AussieDave]

I am on wager share! I did read about what happened in 2011 on the GPWA forum.

So lets look at this whale player... $25K you say was dropped...How do you know he/she dropped 25K?

Or do you actually mean... $25K was wagered? If that was it, amd the player only played slots, then you'd receive (1.3%) which = $325. However, if they're paying Tax, then who knows what your slogged???

MN - The Wagering Model stats do not display what a player deposits, or bonuses given, it only displays what a player has wagered. (my stats don't show this)...

 

[NDG]

I don't have a lot of experience with this group, but they've been around for a long time. You may want to consider
adding some newer casinos (with a history of paying affiliates and players) to your site. Active players that visit
your site may have seen these brands before over the years. Most players in open markets want to play at
casinos that offer a variety of games from different providers. These casinos only offer games from Microgaming.

 

[bonustreak]

This group was great back in the day- I am a 20+yr lifer like Aussie Dave They have changed plans many years ago, folks could choose but we did not find any of the plans they offered beneficial to us so we have removed all of their brands. There was issues with cross-marketing in the past. The team are great but I don't trust the company anymore. When they absorbed many of the Micro brands years ago we stopped making money, some of the brands they ate up we normally would make 10k or more from a month, once they took over we literally made only $. They got our players and reaped the benefits.

We make a few hundred residual a year off of old players but we do not actively market them anymore. I agree, maybe find brands that are converting well and let the dinosaurs lie..

 

[Tupee]

CasinoQueen​

I don't want to deter you from anything, but being an affiliate for more than 10 years now, I can say you have to get used to that complications will arise in most cases. Even with reputable programs I experienced strange things occasionally. Another common story is that you have some high rollers,who stay and deposit for years,then a change of ownership comes, and the new team will detag them or reduce the comission amount by changing the terms.

Your story with Rewards Affiliates sounds unfamiliar to me as far as the case is concerned. I have not experienced the exact same issue like this elsewhere. I couldn't judge who is right in this case, you or the platform staff, especially because I do not work with Rewards Affiliates. I also play sometimes, and in the past they fooled me with an actually fake bonus offer that I considered very unfair, so since then I avoid them, and it was Renée back then who was revising my case, too. I have never heard stories of them being big cheaters, but me and other players often felt they try to fool us with their offers. So I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to go a step further doing things like you described. I can imagine this in case of them easier than in case some other programs, for sure.

 

[AussieDave]

CasinoQueen​

I have never heard stories of them being big cheaters, but me and other players often felt they try to fool us with their offers. So I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to go a step further doing things like you described.

"I never heard of them being big cheaters"...
Obviously, you never read the GPWA thread on their unethical cross marketing. As the saying goes...
If a program has no qualms screwing their affiliates, then they'll have no issue screwing their players.

For the record, both Renee and Celia are great AM's. Far better than the majority out there. However, their alliances are with RA/CR. They just follow orders, as does any employee, of any company.

Hence, my beef is not with Renee or Celia.

Instead, my beef is with the company (RA/CR), and the upper echelon at RA/CR who call ALL these dodgy shots. I've bit my lip many times since all these shenanigans, started, again, and said nothing. BUT there's a point, where, knowing your getting shafted, and still not saying anything grinds at you each and every day.

I'm sick of being fucked over in this industry.

Hence, I've now broken my silence.

 

[ddm]

ok i was gonna work with these people, but now really not gonna happen.
ty AussieDave

 

[CasinoQueen]

Agree most programs who operate more than one (1) casino etc., cross-promote between their brands. However, there's ethical cross-marketing, and then there's unethical cross marketing (aka player theft).

The latter (unethical cross marketing) is where a program actively seeks to signup tagged players, but does not give credit to the referring affiliate. Instead, the program claims that player for themselves.

Back in 2011 there was a huge thread at the GPWA about RA cross marketing to tagged players, where the affiliate link was not being used. I was under the impression that was all fixed up.

A few month back now, but I was checking cookies, and discovered RA was not passing my affID tag, when clicking on links within CR site, and or their casinos.

Contacted Renee who claimed they'd updated their GDPR protocols (words to that affect) and that update must have broken the referring tagging. According to Renee, it was probably like that for 4 months.

My advice, trust no program. Run random cookies checks. If you can, sign up to a programs casino. If a program is conducting unethical cross marketing, then as a signed up player you'll find out

The other point worth noting is... I was informed last August 2020, that RA are now paying consumption taxes in New Zealand. A couple of things I found very odd. One of which, instead of providing a reference to a New Zealand Gov., Tax site, Renee sent me a link to deloitte.com , which was dated 2016.

If this tax is 100% legit, why send me a link to deloitte.com, which didn't actually state TAX had to be paid, all it spoke about was that NZ consumption TAX, may, at some point in the future, be mandatory.

FYI...I'm on the Wagering Model. I'm paid 1.3% on the total wagering per month.

Things is though, RA are taking 5.25% tax from me, claiming, I'm being paid 35%.

Yeah... I'm paid 35% of 3.71% (theoretical slots RTP).

Personally I shouldn't have to pay tax, given I'm not on Revenue Share.

However, to be fair... I'm happy paying 1.3% of their 15% total. But no no no, Renee et al will not have a bar of that. Instead, I'm being hammered for 5.25% tax.

Reiterating I earn a MAX of 1.3% BUT get charged 5.25% tax... If my players win, it's ok, but if they lose, I not only get slogged for 5.25% on their deposits BUT also their bonuses too.

Maybe I need to throw DodgyOnlineCasinoHistory.net back up (stilly have the domain and the DB).


Edit:

References...

rewardsaffiliates.com/program/commission.aspx (Wagershare)



35% of 3.71, is not a TRUE 35%. It's only 1.3%... Lets not BS each other here with semantics!

The table below displays the theoretical margin for each casino style game. The payout is the % paid to an affiliate who is on the Wagershare model.

Hence if all your tagged players play slots, then your Wagershare percentage is paid at 1.3%. Semantically speaking (aka hoodwinking) your paid 35% of 3.71% = 1.3%

​

	Margin (theoretical)	Payout
Table Non Blackjack	2.57%	0.90%
Slots	3.71%	1.30%
Video Poker	0.94%	0.33%
Blackjack	1.26%	0.44%

NB - sometime between December 2011 and Jan 2012 RA added the following:

How commission is calculated:
Payout is calculated at 35% of margin - (35% of applicable gaming taxes and fees):

More BS... I'm not paid 35%. I'm paid at MAX 1.3%.

Hence I should ONLY be paying 1.3% of the 15% total tax. Which is 0.195% of the 15% tax rate.

That's $0.195 of every $100 taxable.

NOT $5.25 of every $100 taxable, as I'm being stung for now.

TBH I find it very, very odd, that this tax only seems to have come about, since CR had to have a new MGS casino built for the German Market. A cynical person may wonder IF this tax really is legit or... Is it just money being garnished from affiliates to pay for this NEW casino build.

My accountant finds all this very bizarre too.

However, as he said, all will be revealed (truth or lies) when he requires a bona fide TAX invoice in July 2021, as he will be claiming these NZ taxes as a business expenditure deduction. He informed me, he will need a tax invoice on ALL NZ tax supposedly garnished from my monthly earnings. As he will use this as a business expense, and will need proof of tax paid by RA/CR et al.

BTW...
My total sub earnings this month (March 2021) before tax = $5,254.47

Tax garnished at 5.25% = $3,042.90

My earnings =$2,211.57 (wagershare payment 1.3%)



TBH I really dislike airing my issues on public forums. However, trying to deal with issues in a professional business manner, as any self employed person would, with a mainstream business, this action is sadly, almost always, a hopeless case of wading thru semantics, and BS, with igaming affiliate programs.

How hard is it to see that I DO NOT EARN 35%...???!!! I only earn (max) 1.3%.

So lets look at this whale player... $25K you say was dropped...How do you know he/she dropped 25K?

Or do you actually mean... $25K was wagered? If that was it, amd the player only played slots, then you'd receive (1.3%) which = $325. However, if they're paying Tax, then who knows what your slogged???

MN - The Wagering Model stats do not display what a player deposits, or bonuses given, it only displays what a player has wagered. (my stats don't show this)...

Yes, I meant $25,000 wagered in about 6 weeks with this particular player. As far as I know (but really, what do I really know at this point lol) is that I am not being taxed!

 

[CasinoQueen]

"I never heard of them being big cheaters"...
Obviously, you never read the GPWA thread on their unethical cross marketing. As the saying goes...
If a program has no qualms screwing their affiliates, then they'll have no issue screwing their players.

For the record, both Renee and Celia are great AM's. Far better than the majority out there. However, their alliances are with RA/CR. They just follow orders, as does any employee, of any company.

Hence, my beef is not with Renee or Celia.

Instead, my beef is with the company (RA/CR), and the upper echelon at RA/CR who call ALL these dodgy shots. I've bit my lip many times since all these shenanigans, started, again, and said nothing. BUT there's a point, where, knowing your getting shafted, and still not saying anything grinds at you each and every day.

I'm sick of being fucked over in this industry.

Hence, I've now broken my silence.

That is not my username in the GPWA Forum so that must be another person. In my frantic bid to get my situation out there for others to see I came up with the first name that came to mind!

It is now 10:00 pm here and I have not heard a single word from either Renee or Celia since I sent my two follow-up emails last night.
I had 3 more registrations today and another depositing player. Under normal circumstances, I would have been celebrating however now all I can think of is all the work I must do revamping things on my site!

All I want is a simple explanation of how or why they came to such a conclusion and provide some actual evidence of what they based this decision on, n. The absolute weirdest thing about it all is that I was on the RA site all day yesterday as I was working on my website. It wasn't until after I sent the first email (around 3:00 pm) then at 9:30 pm(Alberta, Canada time) that I checked the player dashboard, and all of a sudden the player and all stats regarding the player had disappeared. I immediately sent the second email to which I was told the player was removed. Seems strange.

 

[CasinoQueen]

I don't have a lot of experience with this group, but they've been around for a long time. You may want to consider
adding some newer casinos (with a history of paying affiliates and players) to your site. Active players that visit
your site may have seen these brands before over the years. Most players in open markets want to play at
casinos that offer a variety of games from different providers. These casinos only offer games from Microgaming.

Thank You! I am also new here! I do have some other casinos however have not promoted them a lot. It is clear I should not have waited this long before signing up on this site and perhaps could have saved myself some trouble! lesson learned and I will be picking people's brains going forward!