Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Don't touch BT Openzone's Partner Programme with a Barge Pole
BT Openzone have an attractive sounding affiliate scheme whereby you can earn 10% commission from the sale of air time vouchers for their wifi hotspots.
I've mentioned before how this has appeared to be a ghost programme, which few other affiliates promote and there's little or no information coming from BT about it.
In a previous post, I described how I called their support desk and the staff hadn't even heard of it and wanted to know from me the URL on their website that had information on it.
More emails to them with account queries have gone ignored or bounced back.
And most annoying and also most importantly, payment is still outstanding. A few months ago, I took down their links and decided to just send them a paper invoice but that didn't receive a reply also. The amount outstanding is only about £150 which I would have liked to receive but ultimately it's not worth the time to stress too much over so I'll end up having to write if off I guess.
But to sum up the BT Openzone E-Voucher reseller programme:
The fact of the matter is, commercial hotspot access is too expensive anyway in the UK and with mobile internet over 3g being better priced and more convenient, the commercial hotspot business model doesn't look like it has much longevity anyway.
I've mentioned before how this has appeared to be a ghost programme, which few other affiliates promote and there's little or no information coming from BT about it.
In a previous post, I described how I called their support desk and the staff hadn't even heard of it and wanted to know from me the URL on their website that had information on it.
More emails to them with account queries have gone ignored or bounced back.
And most annoying and also most importantly, payment is still outstanding. A few months ago, I took down their links and decided to just send them a paper invoice but that didn't receive a reply also. The amount outstanding is only about £150 which I would have liked to receive but ultimately it's not worth the time to stress too much over so I'll end up having to write if off I guess.
But to sum up the BT Openzone E-Voucher reseller programme:
- Emails ignored or bounced back
- Staff on the only phone number listed haven't heard of it
- No payments
The fact of the matter is, commercial hotspot access is too expensive anyway in the UK and with mobile internet over 3g being better priced and more convenient, the commercial hotspot business model doesn't look like it has much longevity anyway.
Labels: bt openzone, mobile internet
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
BT Openzone: The Ghost Affiliate Program
I've mentioned this before - last year sometime - but thought it was worth revisiting.
BT Openzone operate internet hotspots at public places and venues around the country. They run an inhouse affiliate program that lets you link to their air time e-vouchers and earn 10% from each sale.
The terms and conditions make plain that payment will be direct into your bank account, once the minimum of £50 has been reached.
I've been linking to BT Openzone from my Wifi Hotspot Directory for sometime, and seen a steady stream of sales over that time. So far so good, right? The problem is, I've never been paid. I called the support number on the website and the staff had never heard of it, and I had to spell a long URL over the phone to direct them to a page on their own website to show them what it was. Emails to the support address either bounce back or are ignored. A question on the A4u forum last year got no replies. It seems I'm in some parallel dimension where I'm the only person that's promoting this thing and the only person that's heard of it.
I keep the links up because they seem to convert well, and are about the best fitting merchant for my site. And also I, perhaps naively, place some faith in the BT brand and believe that ultimately this will get sorted.
So, this is an appeal for information. Does anyone know anything about the BT Openzone program? Have you seen other webmasters promoting them? Have you seen any BT Openzone staff acting suspiciously? Keep 'em peeled.
The other point to be made is that this is basically a good performing program but this division of BT does not seem to have the skills or resources to properly run it, so affiliate networks should be pitching for the business.
BT Openzone operate internet hotspots at public places and venues around the country. They run an inhouse affiliate program that lets you link to their air time e-vouchers and earn 10% from each sale.
The terms and conditions make plain that payment will be direct into your bank account, once the minimum of £50 has been reached.
I've been linking to BT Openzone from my Wifi Hotspot Directory for sometime, and seen a steady stream of sales over that time. So far so good, right? The problem is, I've never been paid. I called the support number on the website and the staff had never heard of it, and I had to spell a long URL over the phone to direct them to a page on their own website to show them what it was. Emails to the support address either bounce back or are ignored. A question on the A4u forum last year got no replies. It seems I'm in some parallel dimension where I'm the only person that's promoting this thing and the only person that's heard of it.
I keep the links up because they seem to convert well, and are about the best fitting merchant for my site. And also I, perhaps naively, place some faith in the BT brand and believe that ultimately this will get sorted.
So, this is an appeal for information. Does anyone know anything about the BT Openzone program? Have you seen other webmasters promoting them? Have you seen any BT Openzone staff acting suspiciously? Keep 'em peeled.
The other point to be made is that this is basically a good performing program but this division of BT does not seem to have the skills or resources to properly run it, so affiliate networks should be pitching for the business.
Labels: affiliate marketing, bt openzone
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