Complaint Review: Cardservice International

We have been a member of the affiliate program at Cardservice International for over 2 years. We have come to realize this program is a scam, as they will not pay out your earned commissions.

By the terms of their affiliate agreement, commissions are only paid out if the total exceeds $50. We have been stuck at just under $50 for over a year. They have refused to acknowledge any commissions earned since June, 2005. They also refuse to pay out the amount that shows clearly in our affiliate report for "Total Commissions Due". The bottom line is we have not been paid for any commissions earned since October, 2004.

We have tried for over two months to contact the agency owner, Jack Kimball. He would not return our calls. We sent an e-mail requesting an appointment for one phone call (as we have yet to speak with Jack Kimball), and he still refused.

We believe they have violated the terms of our affiliate agreement:

"Referral Fee Amounts : Affiliate will receive $1.00 per referred qualified download of the Merchant Account Buyer's Guide and $4.00 per referred qualified lead."

The catch here is "qualified download". Since June, 2005 they conveniently say that *none* of our downloads/leads qualify.

Also, the agreement states, "The Affiliate may terminate the Agreement at any time by notifying us through e-mail. If the Agreement has not been terminated due to breach of its terms, the final referral fee payment to Affiliate will be made to Affiliate within a reasonable period of time."

Two months ago we requested, by e-mail, that our agreement be terminated, and our commissions be paid. We are still waiting for a reply.

Beth
Charlottesville, Virginia
U.S.A.