Fatcheese.ie

PeterDuggan

Jamez735 wrote: »

I think we should give them a break.

No. I don't think there's any excuse for Fatcheese ignoring customers or for their non-payment, late payment, and in recent times under-payment of monies due.

Yes they can't - sorry - don't defend themselves. But that's by choice. Boards.ie is hardly denying them a voice.

Also correct me if I'm wrong (and I could be) but I don't think there's any actual evidence to suggest that retailers and/or intermediary affiliate networks are defaulting on their time or payment responsibilities to Fatcheese as you seem to think. It could be happening but proving it is another thing. Have Fatcheese actually put that in writing? If so I imagine those parties could also be named in actions.

The One Who Knocks

PeterDuggan wrote: »

Also correct me if I'm wrong (and I could be) but I don't think there's any actual evidence to suggest that retailers and/or intermediary affiliate networks are defaulting on their time or payment responsibilities to Fatcheese as you seem to think. It could be happening but proving it is another thing. Have Fatcheese actually put that in writing? If so I imagine those parties could also be named in actions.

I understand you'll just have to take my word for this but..

I'm involved with one of the affiliate networks in question, and I have the ability to view the dates in relation to last received payment from retailers. I can confirm that these date match those on Fatcheese's website, as it's updated automatically. I can also confirm that the process is time consuming, as each transaction has to be processed manually to make sure that no purchases were cancelled/refunded etc etc. It also depends on when the retailer checks these transactions. ASOS for example, last paid Fatcheese on the 12th of July and I guarantee you they wont pay again until 12th of October.

I'm not saying the retailers are defaulting on their payment responsibilities, but I'm just saying that it's normal for them to take up to 6 - 8 months to pay the affiliate network due to obvious reasons. A lot of it has to do with the tracking software used, in fairness to them.

I don't mean to act as a Fatcheese representative, I'm just saying that you can't blame them for cashback that's still pending. Their lack of customer support, and delays in cashback pending withdrawal is completely unacceptable - so by all means blame them for that - personal issues or not.

I was paid in June & July, so maybe that's making me a little biased towards them. I understand there's still a lot of people with cashback pending withdrawal.

Here's an email from back in April regarding support tickets.



Dear Member,

As you will be all too aware the service we at Fatcheese have provided you over the last few months has not been acceptable. Quite simply we have let you and ourselves down and I would like to take the opportunity to firstly apologise for the delay in sending out this message, and secondly to ask you to please accept our most sincere apologies for the difficulties and inconvenience this has caused.
At Fatcheese, we strive for the perfection of our service and ensuring the satisfaction of our members. Unfortunately, due to several problems we have encountered, a number of issues you have been experiencing slipped through process. We guarantee that we will not let this problem persist.
Fatcheese makes no money from transactions made on the site - we pass on all commission that is paid to us back to you. This is why there is a delay between you making the transaction and us paying you as we simply can't award cashback until we have received the payment ourselves. The site was set up to help people during this economic downturn and not for any other reason - we simply wanted to help others. Last year the site grew very quickly and for us to cope with the influx of tickets/claims we outsourced the customer service side where we thought we'd be providing our members with a much better user experience.
This back fired. The service we used simply wasn't doing the job we wanted of them. Unfortunately due to a number personal issues I did not pick up on these problems when I should have and for that I apologise once more. To ensure that this does not happen again, we are moving all services back to the in-house team to return us to the high-level of quality and service our customers deserve.
To compound matters further, over the last few weeks we've experienced issues with our bank where payments we have processed have not gone through. I've been advised that this issue will be resolved next week and all payments will be processed as soon as possible.
If you have any questions or comments regarding this matter, please feel free to contact me directly at complaints@fatcheese.ie. Please note I may not be able to reply to you instantly as my main aim is to resolve all outstanding issues and get the site to back to where it should be.
You are an important and crucial member of the Fatcheese family and we value your service. As such we'd like to invite a select number of members to test out a brand new design and system. Something that will make the site easier to use and also stop issues arising again. If you'd be interested in doing so please could you send an email to tester@fatcheese.ie.
Please allow us a little time to get back up-to-date with any outstanding tickets and claims. I personally guarantee these issues will be resolved.
My sincere apologies once again.
Kindest regards,
Ahmed
Fatcheese Co-Founder

Bewerten

Jamez735 wrote: »

Any issues with cashback pending for months is not really Fatcheese's problem. These things take time, as each purchase has to be confirmed individually by the retailer themselves. Some retailers to this every 3 months, some every 6... It all depends. Then the money has to be paid to the affiliate network, and as soon as they release the money into Fatcheese's account everything automatically updates. This means any cashback will be confirmed/rejected and some may even still be pending. The "payment last received" date also updates automatically. Sometimes cashback which is due to be awarded isn't, and it's still pending. This is an error on the retailers part and will most likely be awarded the next time they confirm purchases (another 1/3/6 months )

So if the website and the dates update automatically then fatcheese has the money for everything up to the "payment last received" date for each retailer?
Take vodafone for example

Bewerten wrote: »

They still haven't sorted everything out yet. The vodafone cashback last payment changes everyday to todays date but they're not paying the cashback on it. Today it says "Last payment received on 22 Jul for transactions made before 10 Jun", i don't know when they actually paid it last but i presume they're doing this for others too. If the guy from fatcheese sees then i'm sure it will stop changing but either way we'll know.

Bewerten wrote: »

It now says "Last payment received on 25 Jul for transactions made before 13 Jun"

Today it says "Last payment received on 26 Jul for transactions made before 14 Jun". Vodafone's payment speed is 3 months.

The One Who Knocks

Bewerten wrote: »

So if the website and the dates update automatically then fatcheese has the money for everything up to the "payment last received" date for each retailer?
Take vodafone for example



Today it says "Last payment received on 26 Jul for transactions made before 14 Jun". Vodafone's payment speed is 3 months.

It could be the case that Vodafone processes a few transactions on a daily basis, not necessarily all of them at once. Again, I don't represent Fatcheese so I can't tell you the exact situation, I'm just speaking from experience.

PeterDuggan

Jamez735 wrote: »

I'm not saying the retailers are defaulting on their payment responsibilities, but I'm just saying that it's normal for them to take up to 6 - 8 months to pay the affiliate network.

That is defaulting on their payment responsibilities.

Do the intermediary affiliate networks ever delay payments?

The One Who Knocks

PeterDuggan wrote: »

That is defaulting on their payment responsibilities.

Do the intermediary affiliate networks ever delay payments?

You can't go by Fatcheese's payment speed, that's just an estimate. I'm pretty sure the publishers have covered themselves well in the T&C's too.

As for affiliate networks delaying payments? nope, never. They usually pay any balance in your account to you on a weekly basis. Of course this varies from network to network, but there's never any delays.

Yamanoto

Jamez735 wrote: »

Now tickets & online support is a different matter. Fatcheese should have it working but it was being outsourced and there were some issues with that.
I believe they're currently looking for new virtual assistants to take care of it.
Currently, customer support is not available.

I don't get where you're coming from on this Fatcheese thing tbh.

You initially intimated a strong suspicion that funds were very possibly being embezzled by the company (something I've never believed btw).

You then provided email addresses for several different folks at Affiliate Window, encouraging Boardsies to express their dissatisfaction to them directly, only to subsequently backtrack and dissuade posters from doing exactly as you'd suggested.

One payout later and it appears you're willing to readily accept the guff we've periodically been drip-fed from Ahmed, it just ain't credible Jamez735, it really isn't.

Ahmed is also bizarrely compounding the problem by asking users to contact him directly at complaints@fatcheese.ie, then providing no response to those queries whatsoever - it's been 6 weeks since I mailed him and I've yet to hear a peep back.

PeterDuggan

Jamez735 wrote: »

You can't go by Fatcheese's payment speed.

I'm not. Delays of 6-8 months (and longer) are a default on reasonable payment terms.

The One Who Knocks

Okay fair enough, maybe I'm a little biased towards them because I received cashback in June & July, but so did a lot of others.
From what I tell there's currently 3 main issues.

1. Cashback Pending for months - Blame whoever you want at this stage, I'm sick of it. All I'm saying is Fatcheese can't do anything about it. Unfortunately this issue is on the retailers end.

2. Lack of Support - Ahmed explained it was due to outsourcing, but it really should be back in place by now.

3. Cashback pending withdrawal (bank transfer) - I don't know of anyone still waiting on a paypal withdrawal but they're definitely having some issues with their bank. Again, I don't represent Fatcheese so I can't tell you what the situation is.


And yes, I was ready to take Fatcheese to court a couple months ago, I honestly thought I'd never get my cashback, but I did in the end. Since then I've been in contact with Ahmed and he said in an email "I've been away for a little while due to several family bereavements which have all occurred one after another over the last six months but am back now so will be able to chase things up properly. " Now of course, take that with a grain of salt...but even still.

Anyway I'm finished with this thread. I don't represent them, nor do I want to. I've just stated the facts.
In my personal opinion, I think you should just give them some time. However I understand that a lot of you don't feel the same way. I'm not sure what your best option would be, perhaps the legal route. You could try affiliate window again using the emails I provided in a previous post, but honestly I don't think that's going to get you anywhere.

As for merchants defaulting on their payments, well maybe they are but I doubt there's much we can do about it, as Fatcheese and other affiliates have agreed to their terms & conditions, which more than likely mention the long payment schedules.

Mountjoy Mugger

Jamez735 wrote: »

Okay fair enough, maybe I'm a little biased towards them because I received cashback in June & July, but so did a lot of others.

Ever so slightly. Perhaps you can give it a rest?

irishbloke77

Mountjoy Mugger wrote: »

Ever so slightly. Perhaps you can give it a rest?

The contact with Ahmed, was that the email that went around to a few and did you ever get a personal response? If so, can I ask what email address we should use for him? Thanks.

Yamanoto

irishbloke77 wrote: »

The contact with Ahmed, was that the email that went around to a few and did you ever get a personal response? If so, can I ask what email address we should use for him? Thanks.

I'm guessing Jamez735 had a different address to that provided by Ahmed below.

Yamanoto wrote: »

Ahmed is also bizarrely compounding the problem by asking users to contact him directly at complaints@fatcheese.ie, then providing no response to those queries whatsoever - it's been 6 weeks since I mailed him and I've yet to hear a peep back.

lorraine9021

Yamanoto wrote: »

I'm guessing Jamez735 had a different address to that provided by Ahmed below.

I also emailed that address and got NO response!!

The One Who Knocks

irishbloke77 wrote: »

The contact with Ahmed, was that the email that went around to a few and did you ever get a personal response? If so, can I ask what email address we should use for him? Thanks.

Nope, I managed to get his personal email through a bit of social engineering.
I don't think I'm allowed to give that out on boards unfortunately.

I'm not sure if he's still trying to get a verified rep account, but if he does that'd probably be your best way of getting in contact with him.

lorraine9021

irishbloke77 wrote: »

The contact with Ahmed, was that the email that went around to a few and did you ever get a personal response? If so, can I ask what email address we should use for him? Thanks.

Fatcheese are obviously <SNIP>

Yamanoto

Jamez735 wrote: »

I'm not sure if he's still trying to get a verified rep account, but if he does that'd probably be your best way of getting in contact with him.

I'd be sceptical as to whether the poster purporting to represent Fatcheese some pages back was kosher tbh.

If Ahmed actually wanted to engage with Fatcheese members on Boards or elsewhere, I'd imagine he would have done so by now.

L1011

Yamanoto wrote: »

I'd be sceptical as to whether the poster purporting to represent Fatcheese some pages back was kosher tbh.

If Ahmed actually wanted to engage with Fatcheese members on Boards or elsewhere, I'd imagine he would have done so by now.

It did coincide with payouts starting for the first time in an age.

The One Who Knocks

Yamanoto wrote: »

I'd be sceptical as to whether the poster purporting to represent Fatcheese some pages back was kosher tbh.

If Ahmed actually wanted to engage with Fatcheese members on Boards or elsewhere, I'd imagine he would have done so by now.

Nope no way, I asked him to change the date on the message on the withdraw page of fatcheese and he did so immediately.

Also, the account was registered in 2010, and that was his first post - 3 years later.

From talking to him, basically he said he wanted to get a rep account previously but boards wanted to charge him hundreds for the privilege. More recently he said he was going to try again and see if they have changed the process. Last I heard he was still waiting for boards to respond to his request.

The One Who Knocks

lorraine9021 wrote: »

Fatcheese are obviously <SNIP>.

You know what, back in June I felt the exact same way.. sure I was ready to go to war with them. But now, I really don't think that's the case.

I mean, they have processed all paypal withdrawals, the issue is only with bank transfers - and I'm guessing that's to do with their bank.

As for cashback pending (not pending withdrawal) I have explained in detail in a previous post how this has nothing to do with Fatcheese, I can assure you there is no money added to their account until cashback is confirmed. Then you have the option to withdraw it via paypal, which was still working perfect last time I checked (early August)

Yamanoto

MYOB wrote: »

It did coincide with payouts starting for the first time in an age.

You do have a point there.

Jamez735 wrote: »

From talking to him, basically he said he wanted to get a rep account previously but boards wanted to charge him hundreds for the privilege. More recently he said he was going to try again and see if they have changed the process. Last I heard he was still waiting for boards to respond to his request.

I wonder whether Boards admin would divulge the current state of play to us on that one so.

Given the respective histories of both parties however, I'd be slow to point the finger at Boards HQ being the one's dragging their feet.

peejay1986

Still no movement on either of my cash back payments. Both shown as PENDING. Coming up to the 9 month mark now...

The One Who Knocks

peejay1986 wrote: »

Still no movement on either of my cash back payments. Both shown as PENDING. Coming up to the 9 month mark now...

Right and is that in the "statement" or "withdraw" section. I mean - have you withdrawn it and your waiting for it to hit your account or is it just pending?

If it's just pending, I'd contact the affiliate network that retailer uses and ask them when the next payment is expected from that retailer.

If not, then that's pretty strange, I thought all transactions had been processed, with Paypal at least.

Toast4532

A full two weeks later and my UPC transaction money still hasn't gone into my bank account.

I was in contact with a member of Boards (UPC Rep) who contacted Fat Cheese on my behalf and FT had said to him, that they had given me the money, when in fact, they haven't.

I have checked with my bank also, and there are no pending payments going into my account either.

I recently made some purchases online and not one of those has tracked on my Fat Cheese account and there is no way for me to verify them either.

PeterDuggan

Jamez735 wrote: »

As for cashback pending ...this has nothing to do with Fatcheese.

No. Since Fatcheese advertise cashback offers, they're responsible for paying them in a reasonable time. They may have to chase up advertisers, affiliate networks, etc but that's their responsibility.

muffler

PeterDuggan wrote: »

No. Since Fatcheese advertise cashback offers, they're responsible for paying them in a reasonable time. They may have to chase up advertisers, affiliate networks, etc but that's their responsibility.

Spot on. The contract under consumer law is between the customer and fatcheese.

peejay1986

Jamez735 wrote: »

Right and is that in the "statement" or "withdraw" section. I mean - have you withdrawn it and your waiting for it to hit your account or is it just pending?

Nope. Still just lending. Not given me the option to withdraw yet.

The cash back is from an Apple transaction, so I should contact them?

The One Who Knocks

peejay1986 wrote: »

Nope. Still just lending. Not given me the option to withdraw yet.

The cash back is from an Apple transaction, so I should contact them?

Right, well I'm not a solicitor or anything, so maybe Fatcheese is breaking some consumer law. What I can say though, is that the commission from your transaction is still in apple's account. It hasn't reached the affiliate network or fatcheese yet.

Apple uses Tradedoubler as their affiliate network, so what I'd advise you to do is email publisher@tradedoubler.com and ask about the expected payment date/ last payment received date for the apple affiliate program.
Hopefully they can help you get it sorted.

McConkey

I started to use Fatcheese in Jan 2011 and tried to make my first withdrawal of 50 via a One4All voucher in Jan 2013.

Since then I have contacted Fatcheese on a number of occasions, raising tickets and also responding to Ahmed when I received an email that all users received from him. There has been no reply to any raised ticket, no reply to the email to Ahmed. :mad::mad::mad:

I was pretty hopeful when people here started to get payments into their accounts, especially as I had been waiting a lot longer than some to be paid. A few weeks ago I received a message that all outstanding accounts have been paid and that I should wait for up to 5 days for my voucher to arrive.

So it never arrived, another ticket has been ignored for the past few weeks....and I still am none the wiser. There is no issue with any of the transactions as the money was available to withdraw so other retailers can't be blamed for this.

I reported that the voucher was not received and apparently it is 'under investigation' now according to my account....for weeks. Nobody has been in touch about this and a transaction which is supposed to take less than a week has now taken more than 7 months.

So Fatcheese.....what is the story? How can it take so long to process a request when all of the transactions are paid to you. When will I receive my voucher?

Ideo

got a bank withdrawl there two weeks ago, only took three days to appear in my bank account so no complaints on that withdrawl. I was waiting on an amazon voucher for a while and was waiting a long time, 3- months for tickets to clear. seems to have improved somewhat in the last few weeks anyway

Toast4532

Finally got my UPC cash back thanks to a Boardsie who was able to get things moving along.

Never again will I use FatCheese. The amount of stuff that I went through that site for and the clicks never registered is scandalous.