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Author Topic: Something stinks up in Canada and it smells of CanStockPhoto  (Read 36039 times)

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Microbius

« Reply #50 on: May 03, 2011, 13:55 »
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Harsh words for small issues. Why so emotional?
Canstock is a slow seller, true, but beyond that one of the best and fairest sites out there. I totally trust duncan (owner) and his crew and it is one of the few sites which ahven`t betrayed their Contributors and pay a fair royalty.

+1 from me across the board.  Duncan is great and has bent over backward to help contributors many, many times. 

Not to mention that sales at Canstock have been picking up the last year or so.  400 image portfolio (regardless of how "great") is not large enough to make any sweeping judgments about sales on any of the micro sites. 

Exactly who signs your paycheck?


Microbius

« Reply #51 on: May 03, 2011, 13:56 »
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I didn't make an accusation against any specific person here, so maybe it's you who should get better informed.
hmmm?

« Reply #52 on: May 03, 2011, 14:00 »
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Quote: I find it incredibly unbelievable and somewhat stupid that someone wouldn't read the terms before signing up.  I've never signed up to a site before reading the terms... and not just skimming through them but carefully reading them. End quote...

If this is true then you're one of the few who do read them. I'm not saying that there aren't odd cases out there who actually digest every sentence, and I admit, it probably is stupid to trust enough to agree to a silly online agreement without having an attorney read it first nowadays, so I guess I'm naive in my belief that there are still people out there still capable of doing the right thing. My bad...

CD123

« Reply #53 on: May 03, 2011, 14:11 »
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Quote
If I was a site owner I would also not pay out just because an account is closed! As soon as a person feels that his/her sales is a bit slow, they can close the account, get a payout (and maybe next month open a new account). You know the rules of payouts when you entered into an agreement with the site, can not see how one can think that the payout rule is suddenly changed because you want to opt out.
/quote]

I absolutely disagree simply because your logic trumps my rights as the owner of the photos. If I want to stop selling my photos, it is my right to do so. It's my right to close my account at any time and it's also my right to sign up again if I choose. It's also the company's right to decline my account if I sign up again "next month" as you suggest.

Another thing: I challenge you to be honest and tell us all how often you actually read the 10+ pages long Membership Agreements online before putting the little checkmark in the "I agree" box. Not only because they're long, but also because they're written in legal terms that only attorneys understand. Nobody reads those agreements, as evidenced by many studies done by several companies. Even Dateline NBC covered that topic in one of their newscasts. Companies know this and take advantage of it endlessly.

I guess if you close your bank account you also tell them how their contract should have looked and what their rights in respect of fees, etc. are (according to your norms, because you did not read the contract, as it is long)? Smell the roses, this is business not a post your picture playground. If you did not read it tough!  And no, I did not read everything either, and therefore I would not chase up a big stink afterward, as it was my duty to do so. If the contract deviates from the norm, one might still have reason to feel a bit done in, but Canstock does not, it is the industry norm. So just suck it up, be strong and move on. ;)

« Reply #54 on: May 03, 2011, 14:34 »
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Wow... A blind elephant can see that so many of you have an agenda in defending microstock companies like CanStock. I mean, even Duncan of CanStock replied to the post within hours. What are the odds of that? That in an Internet world of infinite blog postings, my miniscule and insignificant post would have been found by a leading head of the company and even replied to... The odds of that are simply astronomical. Now, maybe Duncan is a regular on this blog, in which case, wow what are the odds that I myself would stumble upon a website he frequents?? Wait... Unless this whole thing is just a nice front for microstock companies to ridicule and humiliate photographers who complain about these companies unfairness. In that case, Bravo! You had me fooled.

I mean, all I did was offer my honest experience with the company, and immediately I was ridiculed, called stupid, ignorant, a poor photographer, low earner, and now an OP. :) I don't even know when I went from sipaphoto to just an OP, but here I am.

I don't know you people from Adam and after your generous "sympathy" I really don't want to either, but two people emailed me privately through my website to tell me to be cautious because many contributors here are not contributing photographers but rather microstock company reps here to make people like me look stupid through ridicule. After reading many of your comments I don't see much that refutes their email warning. Now, I'm brand new to this forum. I only joined yesterday, and yes, I joined to voice my complaint. The members who warned me though are long-standing members, unlike me, and the fact that you ripped into me for daring to voice my complaint only adds fuel to these members' and my accusation.

« Reply #55 on: May 03, 2011, 14:40 »
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Quote: I guess if you close your bank account you also tell them how their contract should have looked and what their rights in respect of fees, etc. are (according to your norms, because you did not read the contract, as it is long)? End quote::::

@CD123: if I close my bank account I don't have to worry about cashing it out first. The bank rep will curteously place my remaining balance in a nice envelope and refund me all my money. That's ethical. Don't use bad examples mate..

« Reply #56 on: May 03, 2011, 14:42 »
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Do you realize that OP means original poster don't you??? Not an insult.

« Reply #57 on: May 03, 2011, 14:45 »
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Wow... A blind elephant can see that so many of you have an agenda in defending microstock companies like CanStock. I mean, even Duncan of CanStock replied to the post within hours. What are the odds of that? That in an Internet world of infinite blog postings, my miniscule and insignificant post would have been found by a leading head of the company and even replied to... The odds of that are simply astronomical. Now, maybe Duncan is a regular on this blog, in which case, wow what are the odds that I myself would stumble upon a website he frequents?? Wait... Unless this whole thing is just a nice front for microstock companies to ridicule and humiliate photographers who complain about these companies unfairness. In that case, Bravo! You had me fooled.

I mean, all I did was offer my honest experience with the company, and immediately I was ridiculed, called stupid, ignorant, a poor photographer, low earner, and now an OP. :) I don't even know when I went from sipaphoto to just an OP, but here I am.

I don't know you people from Adam and after your generous "sympathy" I really don't want to either, but two people emailed me privately through my website to tell me to be cautious because many contributors here are not contributing photographers but rather microstock company reps here to make people like me look stupid through ridicule. After reading many of your comments I don't see much that refutes their email warning. Now, I'm brand new to this forum. I only joined yesterday, and yes, I joined to voice my complaint. The members who warned me though are long-standing members, unlike me, and the fact that you ripped into me for daring to voice my complaint only adds fuel to these members' and my accusation.
There aren't many good microstock forums, this is probably the one most people use.  So it's highly likely that the head of a site that likes to keep an eye on what contributors are up to will be looking here.  Duncan often replies to posts, as do several other site owners and employees.  Most of them have an official badge, so we know they are involved with the site.

« Reply #58 on: May 03, 2011, 14:45 »
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OP is original poster or the guy/gal that started the thread. A lot of people here have strong opinions and many of them are very negative about agencies. CanStockPhoto just happens to be one with a lot of favorable opinions, so people were just voicing their rebuttals. I'm a contributor to CanStockPhoto. You can find my portfolio here:

http://www.canstockphoto.com/cthoman/

I'm not sure about anyone's hidden agendas, but there are a lot of agency representatives that pop into the forums here. They are usually clearly labeled or identify themselves though and not being covert about it.

m@m

« Reply #59 on: May 03, 2011, 15:01 »
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deleted, he's not worth the effort

+1

CD123

« Reply #60 on: May 03, 2011, 15:07 »
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I normally post here, as most of the site reps reply in their own site's forums (I find it most helpful and it make this site tops).  About people getting charged up about certain sites they respect; well what did you expect with your heading, stating that CanStock "stinks" (very "ethical" from you launching an attack like that against a site which just do what every body else does...?).

I am sure there are site owners, site reps and other co-conspirators crawling this site, waiting to pound on innocent complainants, but if you visit more frequently you will, in time, see who are actual co-artists (keep an eye out for the guys with the sunglasses.......).

In any case, if you have the right to voice your opinion (especially in such harsh terms), every one else here have the same right (even the ones that disagree with you).

CD123

« Reply #61 on: May 03, 2011, 15:09 »
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« Reply #62 on: May 03, 2011, 15:25 »
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Do you realize that OP means original poster don't you??? Not an insult.
Yes, thank you. I was merely pointing out that I quickly went from SipaPhoto (my actual handle) to a generic OP designation. I was being ironic.

« Reply #63 on: May 03, 2011, 15:29 »
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Wow... A blind elephant can see that so many of you have an agenda in defending microstock companies like CanStock. I mean, even Duncan of CanStock replied to the post within hours. What are the odds of that? That in an Internet world of infinite blog postings, my miniscule and insignificant post would have been found by a leading head of the company and even replied to... The odds of that are simply astronomical. Now, maybe Duncan is a regular on this blog, in which case, wow what are the odds that I myself would stumble upon a website he frequents?? Wait... Unless this whole thing is just a nice front for microstock companies to ridicule and humiliate photographers who complain about these companies unfairness. In that case, Bravo! You had me fooled.



The chances of Duncan finding your post here is highly likely, and the chance of you posting here is also highly likely.  There are only a few microstock forums, so the chance of you posting on this one is about 1 in 4.  The forum is broken up into areas for each microstock site so members can discuss the sites they want.  The owners can also easily follow what is discussed about their site and many owners / employees respond to the discussion, something that is very appreciated.  Some sites, even use MicrostockGroup as their primary discussion area.  As others have mentioned, the majority of site reps are given a 'verified' label

« Reply #64 on: May 03, 2011, 15:32 »
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Quote
There aren't many good microstock forums, this is probably the one most people use.  So it's highly likely that the head of a site that likes to keep an eye on what contributors are up to will be looking here.  Duncan often replies to posts, as do several other site owners and employees.  Most of them have an official badge, so we know they are involved with the site.
Thank you for that information. However, I looked up Duncan's posts and he's got a total of 54 posts. I probably have more by now and I only joined yesterday. Additionally, while the employees of companies may have an official badge, anyone can start multiple accounts using personal email addresses which would not have badges associated with them. I could easily create such accounts myself, then log in and out and post supporting responses to my own comments all day long.

« Reply #65 on: May 03, 2011, 15:37 »
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Quote
I'm not sure about anyone's hidden agendas, but there are a lot of agency representatives that pop into the forums here. They are usually clearly labeled or identify themselves though and not being covert about it.
As I responded to another user a few minutes ago, having a company badge doesn't mean all that much to be honest. Anyone can create multiple user accounts here and log out of their company account, log in with a personal one and post responses that don't display a company badge all day long. Saying that they are always labeled and always identify themselves isn't really accurate or realistic is it?

« Reply #66 on: May 03, 2011, 15:39 »
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When I spotted the title of this thread I thought it must be about Canada's election last night, but of course it's not, but it's indeed a very stinky thread.  

I am so thankful that I don't really have anything that comes close to the significance of this topic to rage about.

« Reply #67 on: May 03, 2011, 15:49 »
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I am sure there are site owners, site reps and other co-conspirators crawling this site, waiting to pound on innocent complainants, but if you visit more frequently you will, in time, see who are actual co-artists (keep an eye out for the guys with the sunglasses.......).

In any case, if you have the right to voice your opinion (especially in such harsh terms), every one else here have the same right (even the ones that disagree with you).

CD, I don't think I ever said people don't have the right to disagree with what I'm saying. They absolutely do! Even the companies themselves have the right to disagree, and even support their policies if they choose to do so. My hope isn't to take anyone's rights away. It's actually in the hopes of changing the way these companies conduct themselves with regard to these policies, which aren't laws by the way, only company policies and subject to change. But these companies act as if these are laws written in stone, only changeable by an act of God. I'm naively hoping that enough people will read these posts to care about how these companies treat contributors.

I'm glad to hear about photographers who are very happy with CanStockPhoto. I have no doubt they're happy. I was happy too for two years, up until I tried closing my account and found out that in closing my account is where I opened a can of rotten worms. I have a fundamental problem with the policy section dealing with the company keeping my portion of earnings if I decide to close my account. This is tantamount to a company keeping my final paycheck if I decide to quit a job. It's not legal in any other industry I can think of except here...

« Reply #68 on: May 03, 2011, 15:54 »
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I could easily create such accounts myself, then log in and out and post supporting responses to my own comments all day long.

You wouldn't be the first one to try.  :) There have been members who opened multiple accounts and had conversations with themselves... such accounts are pretty easy to spot and the accounts are simply removed.

« Reply #69 on: May 03, 2011, 16:08 »
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You wouldn't be the first one to try.  :) There have been members who opened multiple accounts and had conversations with themselves... such accounts are pretty easy to spot and the accounts are simply removed.

Are you telling me there is order on this ship of crazy degenerates, captain?   ;D

« Reply #70 on: May 03, 2011, 16:15 »
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My hope isn't to take anyone's rights away. It's actually in the hopes of changing the way these companies conduct themselves with regard to these policies, which aren't laws by the way, only company policies and subject to change.

I think that's a good effort to have. If it was changing subscription policies, being able to change or set prices or a minimum royalty amount, I'd probably be right there with you. But, account canceling payouts isn't high on my wish list of changes to the micros.

« Reply #71 on: May 03, 2011, 16:15 »
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I could easily create such accounts myself, then log in and out and post supporting responses to my own comments all day long.

You wouldn't be the first one to try.  :) There have been members who opened multiple accounts and had conversations with themselves... such accounts are pretty easy to spot and the accounts are simply removed.
Wich proves my point...

« Reply #72 on: May 03, 2011, 17:13 »
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I didn't make an accusation against any specific person here, so maybe it's you who should get better informed.
hmmm?
You're right, I did actually single someone out in response to their post at one point. My bad. Apologies.

« Reply #73 on: May 03, 2011, 17:24 »
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I could easily create such accounts myself, then log in and out and post supporting responses to my own comments all day long.

You wouldn't be the first one to try.  :) There have been members who opened multiple accounts and had conversations with themselves... such accounts are pretty easy to spot and the accounts are simply removed.
I disagree.. tell the whole truth please. These types of accounts are actually very hard to spot, especially when they don't hint at any affiliation to the company, but rather defend the company as if they're contributors having great experiences with them all the time. People who have only good things and absolutely nothing negative to say about a company they only interact with on such an impersonal level as the Internet are suspicious. I'm sorry, but there is no company in existence that can only make people happy, and so happy that people are willing to jump on here, defend a company they have no interest in, and rip on fellow photographers for voicing their bad experience. Companies like that just don't exist, so I'm sorry, but if you're not suspicious of these people and their motives then you're hiding your head in the sand.

CD123

« Reply #74 on: May 03, 2011, 18:19 »
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Companies we have no interest in...... :D - We are contributors to these sites.  ::)

Personally I think you are an impostor who represents (owner or rep) another site and are having a swing at CanStock because they are better than your site. Please stop bashing the competition. Go home, you do not belong here you under cover infiltrator......  >:(

 ;D :D


 

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