Sunderland Affiliates Adds Predatory Term!

[Guard Dog]

Sunderland Affiliates have decided to enact the ‘Minimum Player Rule’ which makes their Terms and Conditions 100% Predatory. If you are a current affiliate of Sunderland Affiliates, please verify that you will not be held accountable for this term retroactively. This term is very bad and only serves to increase profits at Sunderland by NOT PAYING AFFILIATES for traffic they sent.

NEW TERM, Predatory, Minimum Player Rule
6.4 An affiliate’s account must have a minimum of 5 active referred Customers before an affiliate will be eligible for Referral Commission payment. Affiliates are entitled to one payout per month, providing they have fulfilled the above Customer requirement at the end of the preceding month. The minimum payout request for earned Referral Commission per month depends upon the currencies you choose to work with. There is no maximum.An active referred Customer is defined as a visitor to an affiliate’s site(s) who has clicked through to a Sunderland’s website via an affiliate’s click-thru link, has registered as a customer, deposited funds to their customer account and conducted betting or playing activity in one or more Sunderland’s property - Sunderlands.eu sports and racebook, Sunderlandscasino, Sunderlandspoker and/or Sunderlandsgames). Sunderlands reserve the right to refuse payment of commission which has been generated from the affiliate’s own personal betting/casino/poker account with Sunderlands online.


Summary:This is a predatory term and is invoked to KEEP YOUR HARD EARNED AFFILIATE DOLLARS. Do not promote Sunderland Affiliates unless you are willing to lose out on your marketing efforts.
Sunderland Affiliates Adds Predatory Term!

 

[weasel]

Does anybody have any contact/email details other than the standard affiliates@... for these guys. I believe I might be a victim of this, but am getting absolutely zero response from them via email. The amount involved is not great, but the principle is. When I signed up, this was not in place

Cheers
Chris

 

[sipka]

6.4 An affiliate’s account must have a minimum of 5 active referred Customers before an affiliate will be eligible for Referral Commission payment.

It might be my english, but does this mean that you need to accumulate 5 active players before you get your first commission? I can't recall exactly which program has similar term, but they are reputable... I remember that they use it once and when you have those 5 players, you will be paid each month regardless of how many players you signed up in that given month.

I hate to read these TCs, a lot of times I can't clearly understand what they meant.

 

[Guard Dog]

I no longer have a contact that responds to me, unfortunately. Yes, spika, that is how I read the terms as well.

 

[bc518]

It's common to see these predatory terms in Asian operators.

For example, 888zhenren:
.: 888zhenren Affiliate :.

The data above represents the monthly net loss of every customer recommended by you on 888zhenren.com in relation to your commission rate (based on this customer’s loss).

* Becoming 888zhenren’s affiliate partner entitles you to a commission rate of 25%, which means that 25% of the loss of every customer recommended by you becomes your commission.

* So long as there are at least 5 active members each month (at least one bet in that month), the commission will be automatically deposited into your bank account specified upon registration within 5 working days after the last day of the said month.

* If the customers recommended by you bring about RMB 80,000-RMB 240,000 net profit for 888zhenren and your active members exceed 10 in number, you will receive 30% commission after settlement for that month, so on and so forth. The commission rate will not be reduced because of performance (except for special circumstances, for details of which please refer to terms and conditions).

* 888zhenren affiliate program group may increase the commission rate based on particular partner’s performance.

* If an affiliate partner fails to meet the minimum requirement for 5 active users within 3 months after joining up, the commission in his or her account will be zeroed and calculated again, but the number of offline customers remains unchanged and may continue to accumulate.

Guard Dog, Please add 188Bet - Online Sportsbook, Casino and Live Casino to your rogue list. It's worse than 888Zhenren. If affiliates don't read its term, they are working for nothing.

#

Commission Fee Payouts

*

188Bet shall pay Affiliate monthly, in accordance with this contract for the preceding calendar month. Payment for the preceding month shall be made prior to the 15th day of each month. If Affiliate commissions earned do not exceed one hundred dollars ($100.00 USD) in any given month, then payment will be carried over to the following month until they exceed $100.00 USD.
*

Payments will be made through the following methods: Moneybookers; Bank Wire (US$25 transfer fee); or a 188Bet betting account. It is the responsibility of the Affiliate to select the method of payment and to pay transaction fees associated with their selected payment.
*

Negative earnings are carried forward to the next month. Should the Affiliate close the month with a positive balance, payment will be issued if it meets the minimum requirements and commissions will be paid on the positive balance. Should the Affiliate close the month with a negative balance, this balance will be carried forward to the next month.
*

Referral fees and commissions are based upon our good faith calculation based on our statistics and tracking methods.

#

Duplicate Accounts and Self-Referral - Affiliate shall not open more than one Affiliate account without prior written consent from 188Bet, nor will Affiliate earn commissions on their own or related persons 188Bet account. Please note that you are not permitted to wager with your affiliate account. In the event a violation, 188Bet has the right to void all current and future play as well as eliminate any earned commissions applicable from such play.
#

Customers referred by the Affiliate shall not open more than one account. 188Bet further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer's identity. In the event a violation, 188Bet has the right to void all current and future play as well as eliminate any earned commissions applicable from such play.
#

Affiliate will earn commissions for the life of the Customer, on all transactions the Customer undertakes at 188Bet, for as long as the Affiliate remains an active member of the Program. An active member is defined as an Affiliate who remains in good standing and promotes 188Bet to the best of their ability (as stated in section 3, paragraph 1) and who maintains a minimum of 5 wagering customers per month.
#

If a Customer registered through an Affiliate is banned from play for any reason, and 188Bet has to return any deposited money to the Customer, 188Bet will not pay Affiliate for the revenues generated by a banned Customer. If a Customer registered through Affiliate is being investigated for credit card, bank information or address verification, 188Bet will withhold payments of profits generated from that Customer until the investigation is completed.
#

A person may not maintain an affiliate and a referral relationship with 188Bet concurrently. 188Bet reserves the right to terminate all or either of the relationship should a person is found to have both relationships with 188Bet and should there be any commission earned, it will be pro-rated up to the date of termination.

#

Upon termination:

*

All rights and licenses granted to Affiliate shall terminate immediately.
*

Affiliate will be entitled to unpaid commission fees, if any, earned by on or prior to the date of termination. Affiliate will not be entitled to referral fees occurring after the date of termination.
*

If Affiliate has failed to fulfill their obligations and responsibilities, 188Bet will not pay any referral fees otherwise owed on termination.
*

188Bet may withhold final payment for a reasonable time to ensure that the correct amount is paid to Affiliate.
*

If 188Bet continues to permit activity (generation of revenue) from Affiliate's customers after termination, this does not constitute a continuation or renewal of this Agreement or a waiver of termination.
*

Affiliate will return to 188Bet any confidential information, and all copies of information in your possession, custody and control.
*

Affiliate and 188Bet will be released from all obligations and liabilities to each other occurring or arising after the date of such termination, except with respect to those obligations that by their nature are designed to survive termination, as set out in this Agreement. Termination will not relieve Affiliate from any liability arising from any breach of this Agreement, which occurred prior to termination.

 

[Guard Dog]

Looks like we need an Asian Affiliate Guard Dog.

 

[weasel]

It might be my english, but does this mean that you need to accumulate 5 active players before you get your first commission? I can't recall exactly which program has similar term, but they are reputable... I remember that they use it once and when you have those 5 players, you will be paid each month regardless of how many players you signed up in that given month.

I hate to read these TCs, a lot of times I can't clearly understand what they meant.

Hi, and thanks for the reply,
I'm not 100% sure how to interpret this clause, which is why I need an explanation. I signed up in September 2008 and earned some commission that month (Which was paid by cheque in October). In Jan I also earned some commission, but this has not been paid. I was not aware of the 5 player clause until visiting here yesterday and I don't (yet) have 5 players. I am pretty sure that this clause was not in the T&Cs when I signed up (why else did they pay me in Oct) and all I want is a clear and unambiguous statement of my current and future position, but despite several emails and a Fax, I have so far not even received acknowledgment of my query, let alone any explanation. Obviously I would like Sunderlands to pay me my due commission as they have previously under the old T&Cs, but will settle for a clear explanation of their payout policy. Its just so frustrating to simply be ignored, especially when they previously have been quick to respond to my queries.

Regards

 

[weasel]

I no longer have a contact that responds to me, unfortunately. Yes, spika, that is how I read the terms as well.

Thanks Guard Dog - shame you don't have a contact. I will keep you posted on my efforts, but am losing faith in these people as a credible partner

 

[Guard Dog]

Thanks Guard Dog - shame you don't have a contact. I will keep you posted on my efforts, but am losing faith in these people as a credible partner

I can see that their contract changed December 11th to add the term displayed in this thread. So, since you have been an affiliate for longer than that - the term was NOT in your contract that you agreed to.

Sunderland should not hold you to the new term. If they DO, then please let me know. Any retroactive term is predatory and the program will be thrown in the 'Roguehouse' for it.

 

[weasel]

I can see that their contract changed December 11th to add the term displayed in this thread. So, since you have been an affiliate for longer than that - the term was NOT in your contract that you agreed to.

Sunderland should not hold you to the new term. If they DO, then please let me know. Any retroactive term is predatory and the program will be thrown in the 'Roguehouse' for it.

Thanks, I will - but for the moment, they are still ignoring me totally

 

[weasel]

Copy of email sent today. This is the 3rd email - plus one fax and so far I have received nothing in response

Dear Sirs,

I am writing yet again to ask for an explanation why I have not been paid the commission due from January 2009. As your records will show, I earned a commission of €79.64 in January 2009 an to date have not been paid. I have asked about this on a number of occasions via email and fax, but so far appear to have been ignored. I am at a loss to understand why I have not been paid since my commission exceeds the minimum of €50 as set out in paragraph 6.3 of your T&Cs. I note with interest that the “current” T&Cs now includes a clause requiring minimum of 5 active players (paragraph 6.4), but since I signed up before December (when this new policy was published), under EU law, such a fundamental change cannot be retrospectively and unilaterally applied without my consent. Paragraph 18.1 of your T&Cs requires you to notify affiliates by email regarding any and all changes to the agreement and this has obviously not occurred since I only became aware of the new terms when reading about them on the website Affiliate Guard Dog

Will somebody please do me the professional courtesy of acknowledging my complaint and contacting me to explain the Sunderlands position on this matter. It really does you no credit to continue to ignore me and I am sorely disappointed that I am forced to write to you in such terms, having been initially very pleased with your professionalism when joining-up

Regards
Chris Elvin​

 

[weasel]

over a week later & still no response at all

 

[weasel]

Finally, somebody in SUnderlands has acknowledged me

After receiving a "Dear Affiliate" letter that detailed a reduction in the amount of the introductory bonus offered to new player, I replied to this letter asking them to comment on why I had not been paid for January. I received the following reply

Dear Mr. Elvin

According to our rules, affiliates with less than 5 active players aren't entitled to commissions, and you have only 1 active user.

Best regards,

Customer Service
Sunderlands Europe Ltd.

I have replied referring them to the letter quoted in a previous post and am awaiting their response. If they insist on a 5-player rule, then it will be some time before I can hit this target since they have reduced the introductory bonus & their sportsbook prices are not usually that great

 

[dominique]

I woudn't touch them with a ten foot pole.

I would count my losses and run. You are giving them free exposure and they have you on a leash dragging you into trying harder and harder to qualify.

 

[weasel]

I woudn't touch them with a ten foot pole.

I would count my losses and run. You are giving them free exposure and they have you on a leash dragging you into trying harder and harder to qualify.

Indeed, I am tempted to cut & run, but I have a stubborn streak a mile wide. You may get to see more of my stubborn streak judging by recent correspondence with uffiliates (888sport.com). More on that later if the situation between me & uffiliates does not get resolved PDQ

 

[dominique]

lol, have at it then

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[weasel]

lol, have at it then

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;D
Expect a tirade against Uffiliates next week then. I am losing faith that my current issue with them will be resolved, but will hold my own counsel whilst I give them a reasonable opportunity to put things right