Quote:
Originally Posted by will76
I couldn't do your job. I have a hard time endorsing anyone other than myself. A lot of people are just crooked to start with, then there are situations where people you thought were great turn out bad when times get tough. Look at the Aga / N3tPOND situation. Guy had a great reputation for 15 years, he gets into a legal battle, times get tough and he uses affiliate money to pay his legal bills.
You come in and have to try to paint a turd and make it look pretty. You endorse them and try to tell everyone it will be ok, nothing is wrong... for what a couple hundred dollars a month? In all honesty there is a very high chance that HIGR's affiliates will end up not getting paid at some point. He will either end up in jail and program will be closed, lose his merchant account, use the money to pay his legal fees, etc... chances are something bad is going to happen.
You are paid to try to spin it and make good "PR", but I just don't know how you can do it. When he sinks and all of his affiliates get screwed and he disappears you are going to be the one left behind to get the full brunt of shit from everyone who didn't get paid. That is a lot of abuse and reputation trashing for how ever much you are getting paid to put your neck on the line for HIGR. I know you are not responsible and you are just "doing your job" but we both know that 95% of the people who will get screwed will lump you in with Dirty D and tear into you. Especially if he disappears and you are the only one around for them to vent to.
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Thanks for your concern Will, and indeed, I am one of the first points of contact for D as well as my other clients. If I had any indication that this was not a valid position to take, to stand behind a client who has consistently paid his affiliates for over a decade but wouldn't pay going forward, I'd be the first one to end the contract. I am careful who I take on to represent whether its on the PR front or just B2B.
I stood by Dirty D not just as a business associate, but as a friend. I know that his payment processes are sound, and his business is intact. His company paid affiliates (as well as myself) even during his absence (while he was in EU). I've done business with Dirty D for several years now, and know that he takes his company, life, and freedom seriously and would not risk any of that by knowingly shooting someone who is 17 even if she was turning 18 in a matter of days or even hours.
I take care in protecting my company by the clients I do business with, and although I do a lot of projects with various companies and contract only a few, I refrain from doing business with companies who conduct bad business practices because it doesn't help me or my clients. I hope someday we get a chance to meet, so you can see first hand that I'm pretty straightforward, almost to a fault. I have nothing to gain by promoting just anyone nor do I need money that badly that I would do so.