Yesterday I received an email from a reader who had hired a copywriter based on my recommendation in late 2009.
Unfortunately, he was not happy with the sales letter he received from the copywriter, and the copywriter allegedly did not complete the work he had been paid to do.
About seven weeks ago, the reader wrote to me about his negative experience with this copywriter. It was the second complaint I had received from readers regarding this copywriter, and I had also received an additional warning from a fellow marketer.
At that point, I pulled my endorsement of the copywriter, and made it clear on my website that I am no longer recommending him.
Now yesterday I received another email from the reader…
Hi Eric,
I hope you are well.
Just to let you know I contacted BBB.org, PayPal and my credit card company.
The business of [redacted] is not registered with BBB.org.
The complaint with PayPal can only be filed within 45 days from the date of payment and that period is exceeded due to [redacted] procrastination and the story telling.
My credit card company is not able to provide the refund of $1344 I paid to [redacted] for the letters he never wrote as there is an involvement from PayPal between them and the vendor.
I acted on your recommendation to choose services of [redacted] as you described him trustworthy and reliable.
From all people and businesses who gave testimonials on his web site only one responded on my enquiry.
The others simply ignored my enquiry and some of the have URL error.
I do not want to lose $1344 USD for nothing as I acted in full honesty and transparency and am asking you to provide me with the full refund.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Kind regards
Dragutin
As you’ve seen, the reader is asking me to compensate him for the payment he made to the copywriter.
I should mention that I do appreciate his polite tone. If he had sent a “flame” I wouldn’t be featuring it here.
I asked him for some additional information, and here is a copy of his communications with the copywriter:
PDF of email correspondence [redacted]
So there are really two questions at stake here…
1) Am I legally liable for the products I endorse or promote as an affiliate?
2) What is the right and ethical thing to do?
The ramifications are very significant, because the answers to these questions affect not only this situation but also…
– Everything I endorse/promote.
– Everyone who endorses anything or promotes something as an affiliate.
This is why the Internet marketing world was in a tizzy last December when the FTC rolled out their new guidelines for endorsements and testimonials.
So let’s answer the first question, as it applies to this situation:
Am I legally liable?
According to the FTC, endorsers may be liable for false or unsubstantiated claims made in an endorsement, or for failure to disclose material connections between the advertiser and endorsers.
Let’s talk about false or unsubstantiated claims.
If I had blindly promoted the product/service without checking it out first (as many affiliates do in this industry, and as I have done in the past on occasion), then I believe I might bear liability if my claims did not match up to the product. Let that be a word of warning to all affiliate marketers: You ARE responsible for what you say/write.
However, in this case I was speaking from first-hand experience. I had actually paid this copywriter $197 to write a sales letter for me, and I felt that the product I received was a good value for the amount that I had paid.
Therefore, my claim was substantiated, and I made the recommendation in good faith that the copywriter would provide similar value for other customers.
Now let’s talk about disclosing material connections.
I initially wrote my recommendation in October of 2009, which was prior to the new FTC guidelines going into effect.
When the new guidelines went into effect on December 1st, I added an “Affiliate & Material Connection Statement” to my website, which I believe satisfies this requirement. If I am shown otherwise, then I might need to get more aggressive about disclosing material/affiliate relationships.
In this particular case, I never did get paid an affiliate commission for the sale in question. So I’m not sure how that affects the material connection from a legal standpoint. Am I still an affiliate if I’m getting scammed too?
OK, so in my opinion I am NOT legally liable for the copywriter’s failure in this situation.
But that brings us to the next question…
What is the right and ethical thing to do?
Although I am someone who believes in absolute truth, and a clear distinction between right and wrong… the realm of ethics can still be grey at times.
I’ve tried to put myself in the customer’s shoes.
If I were him, I probably would have written the same email to me.
I’ve been a victim of scams in the past, so I’m familiar with what he is feeling. It’s one of the worst feelings that the pallet of human emotions can paint. Anger, frustration, regret, self-loathing… all rolled into one. The only way out of it is to go through the grief cycle, and reach a point of acceptance.
From the look of my dear reader’s emails, he’s gone through the denial and anger stages, and has now come around to the bargaining stage. Like I said, I’d be bargaining too.
I see this from two perspectives… justice, and compassion.
From the justice standpoint, I believe it would not be right for me to give him the refund out of my own pocket. Would justice be served by this? No.
Now… IF I had been paid a commission, I do think partial justice could be served if I refunded that commission to the customer. But in this case, there is no commission to speak of.
From a compassion standpoint, I’d love to help out my reader.
If we were talking about a much smaller dollar amount, I probably would have just offered to pay for it (or more likely… I wouldn’t have gotten an email about it in the first place). But $1344 is a decent chunk of change.
We all know the golden rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
If it were the other way around, would I want him to pay for my refund out of his pocket? Yes I would, at this moment in time. But after more time has passed, I would most likely come to the conclusion that justice would not be served by an otherwise innocent affiliate paying me out of his own pocket.
In other words, my sense of justice would eventually trump my desire for recompense. (The two are not mutually exclusive. The victim should be paid back in order for justice to be served, but taking the money from the wrong person is not the solution)
So I do not think it is my moral obligation to pay for the customer’s loss…
But I want to know what YOU think!
I told the customer I would post this on my blog, and take my reader’s opinions into consideration.
I want to know:
What would you do in my situation, and why?
I am absolutely willing to pay a full refund to the customer if the arguments in his favor outweigh the arguments against.
I wish I could just err on the side of compassion, but obviously such a precedent could open me up to a lot of headaches and abuse due to other customers taking advantage of my leniency. If that is the outcome, then I will probably change some things about how I run my business.
Post your comments below. Please do not “trash” me OR the customer or even the copywriter. That’s not the point of this. At the same time I am not necessarily looking for support. I want your honest opinion, even if you are not on my side.
Obviously this is not something that needed to be made public, but I am doing so because I think we can have a good constructive conversation. This is an important topic that affects all Internet marketers. So let us know what you think.
Thanks for your input!
UPDATE: I’ve now posted the conclusion to this saga here:
again this is a droid voice to text technologythe client is in correct in thinking that you owe him money was that we need him and the writer you had any responsibility i’m bringing the 2 together buyer beware is term for him ,being not with room service tough cookies
Eric,
In my opinion you are not responsible. You did retract your endorsement publicly when you discovered problems.
However; you are a kind man and care for your customers. You are also quite a copywriter yourself. Why not try to work a deal to offer your copywriting skills to help out the guy out? That would be in line with your over-deliver style.
Dear Eric,
As most have agreed, you have no legal or moral obligation to refund money paid to another. Like you said, if you had gotten an affiliate commission, perhaps refunding that to your reader would be an act of faith and goodwill.
But, I agree with Lawton that you should consider raising the bar for whom you endorse.
I appreciate your humility in presenting this case publicly and asking for opinions.
Blessings,
Jim Bob
Eric, Your videos are terrific and so are you for doing them. Legally, you are not responsible for this copywriter; however, I would offer an apology to the victim as well as perhaps an invite to another of your programs for free..
I really feel like you should not be responsible for this loss, 1st. he should not have paid in advance. No need until he was satisfied. I have a big list of products I have purchased in the last three years, PayPal refused to do anything, as well as the vendor, Like you I learned from my mistakes, however the purchase price is still gone. It still happens on a regular basis with under $50 products. I am seriously considering dropping my PayPal account as at times it seems they do not care at all about the purchaser. But is very hard to get along with it.
Eric,
Just pay the man. You were smart to bring this issue to your blog readers, which will only increase your credibility with your target audience. You’ll end up getting that $1344 paid back in spades if you do more than is:
a) legally required of you.
b) expected of you ethically.
In short, more people on the fence will go with your recommendations in the future based upon how well you handle this. Yes, it’ll be tough to pay for some other persons mistake. But “Just do it.”
Brina
Eric,
First, I do believe you are NOT responsible.
I do have a question…have YOU tried to contact [redacted]? Maybe there is a somewhat valid reason for his non response.
I believe if I had recommended someone, I would be hard after them.
Second, I believe Dragutin should have never paid that much upfront for anything.
My suggestion would be to offer Dragutin one of your products for free. Just as a token of good faith?
Dave
This indeed is a difficult situation Eric.
Legally you are not responsible – nor are you responsible morally. We are each responsible for our own decisions no matter who “recommended” anything.
You spent around $200 with this person and gave him a job within his expertise – your friend spent closer to $1400 and perhaps put this copywriter out of his depth. You had no way of knowing that – if that was the case.
The compassionate point of view alone would be easy with your standards, but as you point out. It would also be way too easy for others to take advantage of you.
Ignoring the situation would put your reputation in jeopardy – but you are not doing that.
This client does need to face the fact that:
You are not liable – he made the decision to spend $1400 on this copywriter. Business deals ALWAYS come with risk.
You made the recommendation based on your experience, so your recommendation was made in good faith.
Once he is able to face his responsibility in this situation, I trust this client will not expect you to compensate him for a decision HE made.
I think that if you DO make some compensation out of compassion (God will lead you there), the above realities need to be clear in this clients mind FIRST.
To learn from this situation:
Perhaps we all need to use the same wording that is used in the stock markets with our future recommendations. (Past experience does not guarantee future results).
I trust this helps a little Erik – I pray for God’s wisdom for you in this situation.
For one thats a lot of money to let go to waste. I think you should pay him you will make that back in minutes cause you know how, so yes you should you recommended it and he was following your instructions. Man this internet stuff is harder then many folks realize. You didnt take his money and run but still it was recommended by you and some folks are richer in can take a lost but some cant and if you know the ends and out of this internet system. You teach poeple how to make a living on the internet. In that’s a lesson for you too.People give up their whole life saving for this stuff Pay him. Thats my opinion
no
Just pay the man. You were smart to bring this issue to your blog readers, which will only increase your credibility with your target audience. You’ll end up getting that $1344 paid back in spades if you do more than is:
a) legally required of you.
b) expected of you ethically.
In short, more people on the fence will go with your recommendations in the future based upon how well you handle this. Yes, it’ll be tough to pay for some other persons mistake. But “Just do it.”
I, have to agree you are not responsible for other people when their actions speak louder than words. I agree with David he is right all the way to the bank…
Hi Eric,
It appears that you acted in good faith. Morally you are not liable for refunding any money, and from a legal standpoint, you are a third party and likely have no liability in connection with the matter. (That would be the case in the UK, I believe, but I am not a lawyer.)
I do not understand why the customer is not chasing the service provider through legal channels for recovery of the money. That is what I would do, and here in the UK, that’s pretty easy to do.
It may also be the case that the credit card company and/or PayPal can be sued in connection with the matter.
I personally “refund” these types of requests almost without question – simply because my name is attached and many people don’t really care who they “legally” may have “paid” …
In one specific example, I have a product I sell that I have setup to pay 100% of the sales price directly to non-profit organizations (could just as easily be affiliates). So I receive “zero” money for these transactions (the cash doesn’t even pass through my hands). But I receive about 1-3 refund requests each month – which I refund without question.
My circumstances are different than yours; and my choices are different. But they are choices that I choose to make because my “name” is attached to the transaction.
In most “normal” circumstances where a referral is being made, there is compensation. Refunds and refund policies vary from company to company, but they exist. And to the extent that they exist, they are simply a “cost of doing business”…
How we choose to treat our customers becomes part of our identity – aka who and what we are. If we choose to treat our customers and generally honest people, those few refund requests we get will generally be from honest people. There will always be the few that are trying to “scam” or “play” the system – but in general, I prefer to simply refund them and never do business with them again.
You are not responsible in any way whatsoever. You gave a recommendation in good faith based on your past experience with the copywriter and that’s the end of it. You did not guarantee the copywriter’s work in any way, and you also promptly removed the recommendation once you learned about the problems he was creating.
I can see the reader’s point as well, but that does not make you liable in any way, shape or form, and I must say that the reader has alot of nerve even asking YOU to refund his money. I can sympathize with the guy too, but you should not pay. Its not your problem.
He should have checked the copywriter’s profile or searched more thoroughly for similar recommendations, especially before paying for any services up front.
The lesson to us readers is clear… always check people out as thoroughly as possible before using them. Eric, didn’t you mention something before about a forum where people can find copywriting services? If there were any complaints about anyone, that would be quite visible there.
If you still feel guilty about this situation for some reason, perhaps you could send that copywriter an email on the reader’s behalf, explaining that you have recommended him to your own readers and how he is making you look bad, and maybe you can convince him to either get the work done or refund the customer’s money?
If you did that much then you’d be going above and beyond the call of duty in my book. But as far as you personally refunding the money? No way.
Hi Eric,
I agree with the majority of the other posters here in that you are not liable or obligated to refund this person’s money.
To give an analogy, this would be like recommending a restaurant to some friends, telling them you had great meal and good service. They took your recommendation but their experience was that they had a bad meal and horrible service. The restaurant manager would not refund their meal price so they come to you and say you owe them the price of their meal because they went there on your recommendation.
You acted in good faith and based your recommendation on a good experience. So you do not owe this person anything.
Sean
Eric
You only recomended the copywriter it was up to the buyer to check the copywriter first and to see if other people also recomended that copywriter. Your not responsible for payment, never pay up front a deposit perhaps but check work before payment that way you will not get ripped of.
Eric,
You absolutely must NOT issue a refund on behalf of the crook who stole from someone else. Your analysis of the situation is spot-on. Had you been paid by the copywriter, I would say you should refund your commission. In this case, however, you acted on good faith and personal experience.
You withdrew your endorsement immediately upon finding out the guy wasn’t worthy of it and I believe that the most that anyone, legally, could ask you to do.
If there is any further moral or ethical obligation on your part, it is to take action to alert the IM community to [redacted]’s fraud and do everything within your power to help the victim recover his money.
I would not feel that you are obligated to pay him. But, I think it might be in your best interst to contact the copywriter as a “neutral third party” and see if something can be resolved (either work satisfaction or a refund).
Tell Mr Cage that you HAVE recommended him in the past, AND brought him sales, but you will refuse to recommend him again if this cannot be resolved.
Then report back to dragutin with your findings (or lack of).
Charlie
Dear ERIC,
David pretty much said what i think, it’s just ashame that these (A#*HOLE’S) WALK AMONK’S US WHO ARE TRYING TO BETTER OURSELFVES WITH YOUR GREAT HELP AND ADVICE. THE MAN’S A FOOL HE’LL LOSE MORE THAN A $1,000.00 ODD $ THROUGH THE BAD PR. REMEMBER THE NAME PEOPLE [redacted] AND LET US KNOW ANY OTHER RIP OFF’S YOU COME ACROSS. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.
WES
Eric,
The legal side here seems pretty cut and dry. Simply recommending someone else’s services does not make you liable for their actions. The moral side of this is of course another matter. That part is between you and your conscience Eric. I would give you the same advice I give anyone facing a moral dilemma…What’s your gut telling you? You’re the one that must look yourself in the mirror each day. I sense you to be a man of integrity Eric. Follow your heart (whatever it’s saying) and you’ll make the right choice.
eric if i told you to marry my x-wife . she’s a great person and it does not work out. I guess i should be liable for everything since i mentioned it.. NOT
Eric,
Since you were not compensated or a direct representative of the person In question, you are not liable (my opinion, not legal opinion) to repay the person for his loss. First of all the person who was taken advantage of should have only made a small deposit prior to the work being done with the balance due upon approval of the final product. He should have had an iron clad written contract spelling out the fulfillment conditions. He should have arranged for an unbiased 3rd party to act as an arbitrator and to disperse the funds upon satisfactory completion. Even if he only had a contract, and had only made a deposit, he would still have legal recourse. Your recommendation was based on your experience, and not a guarantee of future performance.
This is exactly the situation for which we have small claims court. It is the responsibility of the injured party to make a claim for that amount against the copywriter. It has nothing to do with you.
Eric, it is stilla transaction cocluded between two parties and you only recommended the copywriters work! We must all take responsibility for the choices we make in life! If you recommended the lotto numbers to a stranger and he won, would he share that winnings with you?
Eric, you acted in good faith, based on your personal dealings with the writer. He/she has obviously takedn a different direction in dealing with clients-unbeknownst by you. It is unfortunate that these things happen in business – “let the buyer beware” your recommendation was an honest appraisal of work performed for you by the copywriter, not an attempt to defraud your client. You should not feel obligated to pay for someone elses poor performance. You may lose this client, but
if you pay, you “will” set a precedent you may regret.
Oh my!
The issue is with the copywriter and not you. I would not write a letter to you if I was in the same position. Perhaps you could phone the copywriter to help get the work done, that would be helpful and may solve the problem. But after the phone call that’s it you are out of it.
Best Regards,
Tim
he should pay him you might be rich and have lots of sites set up making you money but it’s not like that for every body you must be better then him in you world you should have asked then friends to pay you back but anyways i think he recoomended as a internet
Your argument is sound but consider this (and I am sure you know it well):
– a satisfied customer MIGHT tell a few folks about you
– an unhappy customer WILL tell more than 10 folks about you
Since you are an excellent marketer, my simple (read that as not knowing all of the circumstances of your relationship with this person) solution would be for you to offer to help him with the sales letter.
It shows your character to even bring this up. Thanks for reinforcing my faith in the precious few who actually have a heart and conscience in the snake oil land of internet marketing.
Eric, I’m sure that when you recomended this person you did so in good faith. otherwise your word would me crap and you would have to change your name everyother month. but you have integrity and know its smart and business savy to sell good products. you open a can of worms if you gave this guy his money back. I feel sorry for the guy !!! on the flip side if you felt bad, mabe give him half back on the down low.
That you published this post reflects well on your own ethics and moral base.
I can’t see how you are responsible for a refund. An honest recommendation for a product or service (especially copy writing)is not an express or implied money back guarantee for any future products/services from the same source.
Like you, I would really want to help. My first reaction would be to ask to see the copy provided and see if it could be improved, tweaked, completed, etc with a minimum of fuss.
But that comes from that sense of wanting to do the right thing, and to help… not from any dubious responsibility to guarantee someone else’s product/service.
I’ve recommended your site and trainings to a number of people, and own some of your products.
If I’m pleased with them and tell people so, I’m not legally or financially responsible if they buy any of your products and are dissatisfied. I’d still want to help somehow.
Thanks for the thought provoking post.
It will make me much more aware of the value proposition in anything I might recommend.
You refunded me, Eric, when I requested one about a month ago. But that was because you promised a refund within 60 days of buying the product. But in this case, there’s no promise of a refund, I think, because your reader didn’t buy the service from you but from [redacted]. However, because you personally recommended [redacted], you owe the reader an apology, which I’m sure you already did. Second, perhaps you should do a little arm twisting on [redacted] to make him refund the reader. That’s your only obligation, I think. To do the refund yourself from your own pocket is unfair for you–and then what? Let [redacted] go scot-free? He’d just be encouraged to do that again. And this is definitely a big lesson for us affiliates. We should think 10 times before personally recommending someone. At least, when you just place an affiliate banner or link, it’s “let the buyer beware” thing. If I place a bumper sticker that says “Marlboro Country,” and you believe that and smoke and get sick, you wouldn’t ask a refund from me, would you? Well, thanks for the info, Eric!
Eric you are one of very few that I hold in high regard online. I’m sorry to hear that you are involved in this debacle. Legally, you are not liable or at fault but you are ethically responsible for this specific transaction.
Why do I say this?
Simply because YOU chose to align yourself and endorse this specific copywriter. The fact that YOU endorsed this copywriter without being compensated, give this specific situation even more credibility. Think about, a affiliate marketer makes a suggestion and isn’t being paid if the buy- IMO this is the best reccomendation one can get for a product or service.
If you value your name and reputation online and I know you do, then I would suggest that you dig a litle deeper before your “endorse” another.
As far a refunding the whole amount, I think that is a bit excessively but you could barter something of equal value or perhaps write the victim a sales letter yourself. You are a pretty good copywriter yourself, right?
Make it right and you’ll have another fan raving about you, plus you’ll sleep good at night.
Just my 2 cents.
Hi Eric,
I dont consider you liable as you only reccomended the copywriter after being satisfied with what he had produced for you,
If as in his E mail he says that he contacted other people re their testimonials on site and got only one reply and a lot of bad URLs,then he should have investigated further,
BUYER BEWARE,
If you want to get a contractor to do work for you on your Home you normally sound out and get Quotes from multiple people and check their work,and you Should never Pay up front
Not your responsibility Eric
He should have checked him out more thoroughly,
not your fought.
Eric,
At some point in our lives we have made a decision that was far from good, your recommendation of this copywriter was in good faith and you are not accountable for another persons failures.
I have been in a similar situation, paying a software developer for products I never got.
The recommendation from another marketer did not have me ask for a refund from him, but just made me more wary of future dealings with others.
I still follow the marketer and have just taken it as another life experience!
Hello Eric,
I am a lawyer, however I’m not in your state, so I’m not extending legal advice. But this is my thought…
The FTC reg’s are not implicated here, since you made only a recommendation and appear to not be a true affiliate.
You do not have a contract with the person, since you merely extended a recommendation. At most, you could have liability on a “negligent referral” basis; however, this would be quite tenuous because you likely had no reason to believe the copywriter would not provide the agreed service.
In my opinion, you have no obligation ethically to provide a refund. You were not involved in the transaction between the copywriter and the purchaser.
Eric,
Certainly you are not legally responsible though all this could have a slight negative impact on your reputation. The customer is understandably upset but clearly should have pushed his claim earlier. He would seem to have try to get a refund from you as a last resort. It’s always vital to read the wording carefully as legality often comes down to exact wording and interpretation. An example of how a genuine mistake could cause problems at a later date is your statement that you initally wrote your recommendation in October 2010??
Michael
Eric, you have pretty well covered all aspects to consider in this situation.
There are pros and cons on both parties grievence, and justice for me is with a compromise.
Both parties have “learned valuable lessons” in business undertakings and best practices going forward.
I would go for 50% reimbursement for customer good will, and do better due diligence on any recommendation I personally publish.
Bob
Eric you are not responsible for someone who is not honest with their customers in a timely manner or fashion. Business is business and you are honest with me, and others, so don’t refund any money when there is no facts to back this situation up…
Hey Eric…
If we could get our money back from everyone who talked a good game then did not deliver,,,then I would start with the politicians!!!
We tend to dwell on the people who “screwed us” instead of focusing in on the millions of $$$$$ that are out there to be made by our honest efforts.
Mr “copywriter” might keep his little $1300…but that is all he will have. Go show him that he lost multiple 1,0000’s by not doing right by the next IM superstar.
Victory is sweet revenge!!!!!
I HAVE BEEN UNDER THE INPRESSIONS THAT SMALL COURTS HANDLE PROBLEMS LIKE THIS. THE CUSTOMER WOULD HAVE THE WORK PRODUCED, THE DATES AND THE AMOUNT PAID AND A RECORD OF THE RESULTS IT PRODUCED. THE INTERNET MARKETERS READING THESE SITES SHOULD BE MADE AWARE OF THE PERSON SO NOT TO BE TAKEN IN. bROKERS GIVE RECOMMENDATIONS EVERY DAY, BUT THEY ARE NOT HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR LOSSES. THEY ARE ONLY RECOMMENDATIONS GIVEN IN GOOD FAITH.
THIS PROBLEM IS BETWEEN THE BUYER AND SELLER NOT THE THIRD PARTY. yOUR TRUE FRIENDS WILL
SUPPORT YOU AS THEY KNOW YOUR BELIEFS AND
PHILOSOPHY.
I feel so sorry for him for being scammed like that, but you are not responsible, in any way. What would have happened if Dragutin paid [redacted] the money, [redacted] produced a great sales letter, then Dragutin for some reason got Paypal or his credit card to refund him his money. Would you now be liable to [redacted]? Also, you (among others) recommend Elance and other places like that. Would you be responsible if and when any of those deals go sour? I think not. I believe that you are not involved in this. Like I said, I really feel sorry for what happened, but it was not you that did this.
Hi Eric:
Very pity it’s happened to you. Everybody must understand, internet is the media of unknown. When we talk to a person, we don’t know whoever he or she is. What I mean is, if Eric’s has given him/her an idea or suggestion don’t make it totally believed to that idea.We need to firstly investigate the person background and his performance in dealing with writing articles. What we should do is visiting his blog and asks any person that has already involved with that writer. I think the possible way is contacting that writer and ask for the refund. It’s unfair to get the refund from Eric’s. Let him be our lecturer. I think he is the best to follow. Only,on our behalf is, we’ve no time to read and implementing his ideas.
Lastly, if there is no sincere response from the writer, you(not Eric) better contact the Interpol. The personal contact can be traced via his/her latest server hosting. I hope this type of hype don’t ever happen again, since it will impact other people mind to make business on the internet. That is my humble say. Thank Eric,bye
You don’t owe him a refund – as individuals we have to take responsibility for our own decisions and transactions.
You made a recommendation in good faith. The customer still needs to do his own due diligence and agree on payment terms.
With that said, if you choose to look after the customer in some way, that would be a very nice gesture on your part.
If I was in your shoes I would offer the customer half of what he lost as a gesture of good will because I know what it’s like to be ripped off too.
I might not offer him cash though… the original intent was to get a sales letter written. If I could find another great copywriter and pay them half the amount to write the sales-letter and maybe offer an hour or two of marketing expertise to tweak it and get that customer going… that would be more valuable.
If you just hand over cash they’re still going to be no closer to getting their site up and will still be bitter about internet marketers and copywriters.
So maybe give the guy some one on one time to help him see results from his online business efforts. It would make a great case study you can share your own customers.
He should have checked the copywriter out more
thoroughly, not your fought. thanks for asking.
HI Eric, I have been a listener to your suggestions for many months, having said that I
am fairly new to internet marketing, but an”old dog” I value your opinions but do NOT jump headlong into everything you suggest I am very careful with spending any money I am investing, And if we don’t look at what we spend as an investment EXPECTING a return we
should be doing something else, when we invest we do it carefully, thoughtfully, if we bought
every offer that we got by email or “VALUED
SUGGESTION” we should not call ourselves “MARKETERS” but “FAVORITE CUSTOMERS”
on my free download site I offer double your money back, and will stand by that till the
moon don’t shine anymore..it’s FREE DOWLOADS…
YOU OWE NOTHING except an apology for not knowing the outcome before the problem occurred
,in many states the man coming to you is illegal because it is considered involving a third party in a dept, “BUYER BEWARE”
……..Bob
I think this is good warning to ALL those who promote and sell others work to first use it fully yourself before promoting it. I will not buy any product or service from any affiliate unless they have used it themselves.
Eric i think in this instance you should not take any responsibility but maybe offer them some ‘free’ sections of your personal offerings. Doug
If a commission was not envolved, I do not
think you should have to refund any money.
Also it sounds like you made an honest recommendation.
Warren
[redacted] burned a lot of people. My understanding was he was offering unlimited sales letters for a couple hundred bucks a month… a ridiculous and unfeasible offer in my opinion, but considering [redacted]’s offering of very, very cheap salesletters, how did Dragutin rack up a bill of $1344?
The writing was on the wall a long time ago with the [redacted] sales copy issue. I read about it on the WarriorForum, though I never purchased his services or wanted to.
With owning/running a business comes responsibility for one’s actions… and yes, one’s gullibility. Furthermore, the escalation of the project into a $1344 one, when [redacted] was known for cranking out fast-and-cheap letters is bewildering.
You recommended a $197 salesletter based on your own experience hiring [redacted] to write one at that price. How the job escalated to one 6x what you paid I have no idea, but it does seem a bit like the client lost control of the project and is looking for a scapegoat.
I don’t blame him for trying though…
Peace.