Affiliate Playground » ClickBank

How to get a ClickBank Refund

Tom McEwin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:50:12 +0000

In this post, I’ll be looking at the steps involved in the Clickbank refund process – for when a product purchased via ClickBank just doesn’t deliver.

While there are some great products sold via the ClickBank affiliate program that live up to every word on the vendor’s sales page, unfortunately there will always be some which don’t live up to what is promised.

ClickBank Refund Policy and FAQ

While the ClickBank Refund Policy and FAQ provide some guidance, they don’t go into much detail regarding the circumstances in which ClickBank will refund a product purchased through the ClickBank network.

The key part of the official ClickBank refund policy is:

ClickBank will, at its discretion, allow for the return or replacement of any product within 60 days from the date of purchase. For recurring billing products, returns for more than one payment may be provided if requested within the standard 60 day return period.

This is very broad and leaves things completely up to ClickBank regarding whether a refund will be given or not. In addition to applying for a ClickBank refund within 60 days of purchase, we would need to show a ‘valid reason’ for requesting a refund.

What Might Constitute Valid Reasons for a ClickBank Refund

So what are the sorts of reasons which ClickBank might consider ‘valid’? Some hints are to be found in the ClickBank terms and conditions:

if the way a product is advertised is inaccurate, misleading or deceptive – this is prohibited by clause 2(d) of the ClickBank Client Contract;
if the product infringes on another person’s copyright, trademarks or other intellectual property rights – this is prohibited by clause 2(b) of the ClickBank Client Contract; and
if the product is ‘unsatisfactory’ for reasons completely beyond ClickBank’s control – the ClickBank Refund Policy identifies this as a basis where Clickbank may not bother trying to solve technical issues before issuing a refund.

There are also a few other reasons which can be selected when lodging a ticket to get a refund (more on how to do this below).

The ClickBank Refund Process

The typical steps in the ClickBank refund process are:

Go to the ClickBank Customer Support Page
The easiest way to do this is to find the email receipt that ClickBank sent – this will include a link to the particular order. The other option is to manually enter the details on the ClickBank Support page. Either way you should then be able to view the details of the order.
Lodge a Customer Service Ticket and specify the reason for refund
From the ClickBank order page, there will be the option of lodging a ticket requesting that the product be refunded. There are a number of different reasons which can be selected, one of which is “I was not satisfied with the product. / Product did not meet expectations.” There is also a text box where specific details regarding the issue can be entered.
Wait for at least 24 hours
Under the ClickBank Customer Support Ticket System, a refund will be automatically granted after 24 hours have lapsed, provided those hours don’t fall on a weekend, unless the vendor attempts to save the sale by offering assistance to help utilize the product or service. If the vendor doesn’t respond within this period then the refund should be processed.
The vendor may make contact to try and save the sale
What happens from here on will really depend on the circumstances surrounding the product, purchase and vendor. If the vendor makes contact to provide technical support, either the customer or the vendor can change the ticket to a ‘technical support’ ticket. But the vendor should only do this with the customer’s consent – otherwise the matter can be escalated to ClickBank for review.

The ClickBank refund process is very simple to use, and is quite generous to the customer. There doesn’t appear to be any need to contact the vendor directly before seeking a refund straight from ClickBank. However, there are few of other things worth noting regarding the ClickBank refund process, which are outlined in the ClickBank Refund Policy and FAQ along with the explanation of the ClickBank ticketing system:

Refunds will be for 100% of the purchase price.
If a refund is requested after 60 days from the date of purchase, then you will be referred to the vendor for technical support, and the vendor may seek a refund on your behalf for another 90 days.
ClickBank will only credit returns back to the account used to make the original purchase, so if the original account has been closed, then no refund will be forthcoming.
ClickBank vendors are not allowed to make any guarantee that conflicts with the ClickBank return policy. If you spot this sort of a conflict then bring it to ClickBank’s attention as it may help your case.
Customers requesting serial or repeated ClickBank refunds may be blocked from making further purchases.
If the refund request was for a subscription product, only the latest bill in the subscription is refunded, and the subscription is cancelled.

I hope you found this post useful, and good luck with any ClickBank refunds you end up applying for.

The ClickBank Affiliate Program Terms of Use – Part 3 – the Law

Tom McEwin — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 10:20:43 +0000

This is the final post in a three part series looking at the ClickBank affiliate program from the perspective of someone wanting to use ClickBank to make money working online. In this post I’ll be looking at remaining 4 policies that people using the ClickBank affiliate program need to know about:

Together with the other ClickBank affiliate program terms of use mentioned in part 1 and part 2, these policies constitute the law according to ClickBank.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Keeping it legal – the DCMA and Trademark Policy

The Copyright and Trademark Policy sets out ClickBank’s approach to intellectual property. If ClickBank receives a valid take-down notice or written demand, then it can disable access to any products that infringe anyone’s copyright or trademarks. Response can be made via something called a counter-notice.

ClickBank can ban the accounts of anyone who receives 2 or more valid take down notices that they don’t successfully rebut.

Controlling the Merchandise – the Vendor and Products Requirement Policy

The Vendor and Products Requirements Policy specifies what is allowed to be sold on ClickBank, and what requirements that vendors must meet. Vendors must:
1) create a sales page and a thankyou page;
2) provide valid, working email addresses to which Purchasers or ClickBank can send inquiries and receive a reply by end of the following business day;
3) provide technical support pages; and
4 -5) comply with certain extra stuff if using the Vendor Spotlight section on the ClickBank site.

Products must be digital and either original or appropriately licensed. Any printed media can only supplement the actual product.

Certain types of products are banned. Offering one of these products on the ClickBank affiliate program can result in immediate suspension of an account and forfeiting any account balance owed by ClickBank. I won’t list them all here, but some of the notable ones are:

2, 15-16) pirated music/movies/videos/games/software;
4-9) digital cash, money transfers, gift certificates, vouchers;
10-11) stocks/bonds/title deeds;
12) lottery tickets;
22) telephone services;
26) professional services;
31-34) reservations for hotels/seminars/concerts/flights/events;
36) products about marketing through Craigslist or social networking sites which don’t comply with the terms of use for those sites; and
38) anything other category ClickBank decides to prohibit.

Reversing ClickBank Transactions – the ClickBank Affiliate Program Return and Cancellation Policy

The Return and Cancellation Policy provides that ClickBank’s return policy is:

ClickBank will, at its discretion, allow for the return or replacement of any product within 60 days from the date of purchase. For recurring billing products, returns for more than one payment may be provided if requested within the standard 60 day return period.

This is quite a broadly worded policy, but is an important element for anyone seeking a refund to come to grips with. There are a few clues in the ClickBank affiliate program terms of use as to what might encourage ClickBank to use its discretion, so I think this topic warrants a separate post all of its own.

Forwarding Address – the ClickBank Legal Notice

The ClickBank Legal Notice just sets out the official ClickBank corporate address.

That about covers everything in the ClickBank affiliate program terms of use. My next post will take a look at how to obtain a refund for a ClickBank purchase. After that I’ll start tackling some of the practical stuff involved in using ClickBank to make money working online.

The ClickBank Affiliate Program Terms of Use – Part 2 – Regulators

Tom McEwin — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 08:26:51 +0000

In my last post, I started looking at the ClickBank affiliate program terms of use from the perspective of someone wanting to use ClickBank to make money working online. This involved considering the main document that sets out these terms and conditions and which I dubbed ‘the ClickBank Sheriff’.

In this post I’ll move on to looking at some of the smaller documents which sit underneath the ClickBank Sheriff and provide a lot of detail regarding what is allowed on ClickBank (and which I previously labelled ‘the ClickBank Deputies’). In particular, I’ll be looking at the Deputies in charge of:

Together the ClickBank Sheriff and his Deputies regulate what is allowed when using the ClickBank affiliate program.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Controlling information – the ClickBank Privacy Policy

According to the Privacy Policy, when we use ClickBank, ClickBank will collect certain personal information about us. This information may be:

used by ClickBank to enable an enjoyable and productive ClickBank experience;
passed on to advertisers and analysts who aggregate usage patterns;
disclosed in order to help enforce their terms of use, or as required by law; and
maintained ‘as long as necessary’ to complete a purchase, thwart fraud, provide customer service, or maintain accounts.

Clickbank likes to give cookies to everyone, as cookie crumbs help to identify who is using ClickBank.

Show me the Money – the ClickBank Affiliate Program Accounting Policy

The Accounting Policy sets out the conditions of how and when people making sales on the ClickBank affiliate program get paid.

Important bits to note are that:

all $ amounts are in US dollars;
pay periods can be set at either weekly or fortnightly, and payment thresholds anywhere from $10 to $100,000;
before we are eligible for direct deposit we must first have received 2 paper checks/cheques;
if a customer gets a refund, then they get back 100% of the purchase price, so both vendors and affiliates lose their shares of a sale that gets refunded;
ClickBank will not make any payments until a ClickBank user has made sales with 5 or more different credit card numbers and these sales are made using at least 2 out of the 3 different payment methods (being Visa, Mastercard and Paypal);
Dormant accounts start getting their account balances reduced: $1 per pay period after 90 days of no earnings, $5 per pay period after 180 days of no earnings and $50 per pay period after 365 days of no earnings; and
there are certain procedures that apply if a check gets lost, goes stale, or needs to be reissued.

Keeping it safe – the Security and Network Abuse Policies

The Security Policy provides general information regarding the technologies and methods used by ClickBank to try and ensure data safety for the ClickBank affiliate program. Nothing to worry about.

The Network Abuse Policy provides general information noting that stuff like network abuse, spamming, spyware, denial of service, or other illegal activity is prohibited. Really just saying in plain English what is covered by the ClickBank Sheriff in clause 4 of the ClickBank Client Contract.

In my next post I’ll look at the remaining 4 ClickBank Deputies and wrapping up my consideration of the ClickBank affiliate program terms of use.

The ClickBank Affiliate Program Terms of Use – Part 1 – a Sheriff and 8 Deputies

Tom McEwin — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:23:28 +0000

In my last post I wrote about why it is important to become familiar with website terms of use when setting out to make money working online. Starting in this post I’ll be taking an in-depth look at the ClickBank affiliate program terms of use that internet marketers agree to when they sign up to ClickBank.

The ClickBank Terms of Use – 9 Different Documents

The first thing that strikes me about the ClickBank affiliate program terms and conditions is that they are very long. Fortunately things are have been organised into one main document, the ClickBank Client Contract, and 8 documents which sit underneath it that cover:

Kind of like a sheriff with eight deputies, in a town called ClickBank. In this post I’ll look at what the Sheriff has to say and look at his Deputies in my next post.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Sheriff of the ClickBank Affiliate Program

So what are the main things that ClickBank requires us to agree on when sign up to use ClickBank affiliate program? Well, here is my take on what the ClickBank Client Contract (aka the Sheriff) requires:

We must comply with what the ClickBank Sheriff and his 8 Deputies have to say.
When promoting ClickBank products we must agree:
a) not to promote any different warranties than the ClickBank warranty (unless we get special permission);
b) to comply with everyone’s intellectual property (IP) rights;
c) not to fiddle with ClickBank’s affiliate program tracking methods;
d) not to mislead anyone;
e) not to offer voucher or refund type incentives to encourage people to buy;
f) that ClickBank can review our ads and demand any changes it wants;
g) to give ClickBank valid contact details; and
h) that ClickBank isn’t responsible for what is sold via the ClickBank affiliate program – the Sheriff and his 8 Deputies only keep the peace, they don’t check the merchandise.
If we register to sell our own products then there is a whole bunch of other stuff we agree to.
When sending emails, we must behave ourselves, and engage in no email shenanigans. This includes
a) and b) only emailing with permission – no spamming;
c) – k) no email or computer trickery; and
l) not sending emails to anyone under 18 years old.
a) ClickBank can unilaterally evict us if it thinks, or anyone claims that we have (i) been doing anything which breaches any sort of law anywhere in the world, (ii) breached anyone’s IP rights, (iii) done anything misleading, (iv) and (v) done anything which is against what the Sheriff and his 8 Deputies have to say.
b) – d) If we get evicted from the ClickBank affiliate program then ClickBank will investigate however it thinks fit and we must cooperate, and if there is a reasonable basis for ClickBank to believe there has been misconduct, then ClickBank can hold on to funds from our ClickBank accounts and use them to pay those affected.
e) In addition to relying on the Sheriff and his 8 Deputies, ClickBank can also call in reinforcements.
f) ClickBank has to let us know if we are being evicted but can evict us immediately. This means we lose our account and don’t get to keep a spare set of keys.
a) We can’t use ClickBank’s name or images to suggest endorsement from ClickBank, or post photos of ClickBank checks/cheques unless we have permission from ClickBank to do so.
b) ClickBank gives permission to use the ClickBank name: “(i) as a watermark, Internet search engine description, keyword, search term or seeding element with any Internet search engines or keyword-triggered advertising programs; (ii) in metatags or hidden text, or (iii) as a sub domain or second or third level domain name identifier”. But this can be revoked at any time.
c) ClickBank owns ClickBank associated IP.
a) When using the Clickbank affiliate program we may get some of ClickBank’s confidential information, which can only be used as the Sheriff and his Deputies say so, or with special permission. Using this information to compete with ClickBank is a definite no-no.
b) Any information we give to ClickBank is considered not to be confidential, unless it is personally identifiable information. We agree that ClickBank can do whatever it wants with this information for free.
Export laws are our responsibility, not ClickBank’s.
Permits are our responsibility, not ClickBank’s.
We promise:
a) our products/ads don’t breach any laws; and
b) not to reverse-engineer or hack Clickbank, try to compete with ClickBank.
We agree that where someone sues ClickBank for the way we use ClickBank:
a) we pay the fees for ClickBank’s lawyers;
b) ClickBank tells us what is going on; and
c) each time this happens, ClickBank can take up to $5,000 from our ClickBank account.
ClickBank is not responsible for how ClickBank is used or misused.
a) ClickBank is located in Idaho, so Idaho laws apply.
b) On ClickBank the official language is English.
c) While we might like to hang out with ClickBank, we agree that we are not in any sort of relationship with ClickBank.
d) ClickBank can transfer out any of the benefits and obligations that the Sheriff and his Deputies set, without telling us.
e) Even if some of what the ClickBank Sheriff and his Deputies say is found to be unenforceable, we still have to comply with the rest of what they say.
f) Unless we get permission, then we can’t talk about ClickBank, the Sheriff and his Deputies, or say that we do business with ClickBank. Query whether the license provided by clause 6b) is sufficient permission.
g) What the Sheriff and his Deputies have to say goes when it comes to how we must behave with the ClickBank affiliate program.
h) If we misbehave and the Sheriff doesn’t do anything about it, the Sheriff can come and get us next time we misbehave.
i) If someone or something other than Clickbank causes a problem that affects ClickBank, then Clickbank is not responsible for this.
j) We are considered to receive mail from ClickBank the fastest way it might possibly get to us.
k) When the ClickBank Sheriff talks, he likes to use headings. Just disregard them.

And that is just what the Sheriff has to say about the ClickBank affiliate program. Not only is it difficult to understand, but it is also dreadfully long. Fortunately the ClickBank Deputies have much less to say and are much more fun (as deputies usually are). I’ll be checking them out next.

Please leave a comment to let me know if you find this sort of analysis useful, and whether you have any feedback. It took a bit of time to do the above, so I’d be interested to know whether a) you enjoyed reading it or have a suggestion as to how I could do this better, b) it increased your knowledge of the ClickBank affiliate program terms of use, c) you thought it was too detailed or about right, or d) you didn’t get much value out of this post (honesty is appreciated).