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Microstock Photography Forum - General => General Stock Discussion => Topic started by: Tror on February 25, 2014, 06:24

Title: Overpayment - the new trend in increasing Profit at our cost or a real issue?
Post by: Tror on February 25, 2014, 06:24
Anybody contacted a lawyer about that? At least they should reveal the exact data about what happened.
Title: Re: Overpayment - the new trend in increasing Profit at our cost or a real issue?
Post by: munrotoo on February 25, 2014, 06:40
a conspiracy theorist could certainly do a lot with istock constantly finding ways to take back the money they have paid out to people
Title: Re: Overpayment - the new trend in increasing Profit at our cost or a real issue?
Post by: Perry on February 25, 2014, 07:04
Is there a tv show in Canada that specializes in investigative journalism? They should be given a hint about this, I'm sure there would be lots of dirt to dig at iStock...
Title: Re: Overpayment - the new trend in increasing Profit at our cost or a real issue?
Post by: topol on February 25, 2014, 07:56
Definitely stealing your money imho... Istuck is a website operating almost constantly in fraud. Someone in canada should get a court order to grab data from their servers without them knowing in advance, or they will just call a maintenance/technical problem day and order employees to erase stuff.
Title: Re: Overpayment - the new trend in increasing Profit at our cost or a real issue?
Post by: Tror on February 25, 2014, 08:12
Anybody in Canada willing to file a report with some Authorities? At least in my country, as soon as you have some reasonable doubt about the financial integritiy of a corporation, you can easily file a report with the business regulations authority and/or tax authorities. Especially the later one takes usually every small hint and at least will have a closer look.

God know what would come out in a tax audit in istock...lol

Anybody from Canada? Can I do it from overseas? Which Instance is to be contacted?
Title: Re: Overpayment - the new trend in increasing Profit at our cost or a real issue?
Post by: YadaYadaYada on February 25, 2014, 08:19
Anybody in Canada willing to file a report with some Authorities? At least in my country, as soon as you have some reasonable doubt about the financial integritiy of a corporation, you can easily file a report with the business regulations authority and/or tax authorities. Especially the later one takes usually every small hint and at least will have a closer look.

God know what would come out in a tax audit in istock...lol

Anybody from Canada? Can I do it from overseas? Which Instance is to be contacted?

Best to be a resident of the country where you want to start an investigation. Might be required.
Title: Re: Overpayment - the new trend in increasing Profit at our cost or a real issue?
Post by: Tror on February 25, 2014, 08:49
Just had a little chat with my lawyer. Baseline of the talk:
No legal or natural entity can just claim that you owe them money without any proof

He told me that it would be possible to start action from my country, but since the local authorities are not competent for a canadian company it would have to go through a lawyer and will take lots of time. Both of us have no idea about canada but we think from there it should be very easy.

Depending on the laws and regulations in Canada - which we do not know - it might even be possible to file a report anonymously. I guess most of Contribs are afraid of closed accounts.

Again: Anybody from Canada?
Title: Re: Overpayment - the new trend in increasing Profit at our cost or a real issue?
Post by: Beppe Grillo on February 25, 2014, 15:38


Again: Anybody from Canada?

To know it maybe it could be simpler to open a new thread with that title(Anybody from Canada?) [?]
Title: Re: Overpayment - the new trend in increasing Profit at our cost or a real issue?
Post by: cidepix on February 25, 2014, 16:04
it is possible that this is a real issue..

BUT if you ask me what I think it is? then I believe this is not legit..

The explanation they provided is not enough and if they are asking to get any money back, they should be more transparent about what happened..
Title: Re: Overpayment - the new trend in increasing Profit at our cost or a real issue?
Post by: Beppe Grillo on February 25, 2014, 16:17
What I find more strange is that they say that only 9000 have been touched  by the "bug"
But all the people that I know (and anybody on this forum I think) who submit on iStock have been touched by the bug…
This is statistically impossible!
Title: Re: Overpayment - the new trend in increasing Profit at our cost or a real issue?
Post by: pancaketom on February 25, 2014, 16:31
One of the advantages of removing most of my images - I am under the 10$ threshold - or maybe there were no overpayments to me at all - the # and $ of the sales are about average for the year, although one was for 4$ or so instead of the usual paltry sum.

Of course it is an accounting nightmare - any time you even think you overpaid someone that is an accounting nightmare - when it is such a mess that it takes months to come up with a guess as to how much and to whom...

They say never to ascribe to malice what can be ascribed to incompetence, but IS does push it to the limit. I am sure that had the error gone the other way we still might not have known about it. In fact maybe that is the case for July or Nov...

They could have completely ruled the microstock universe, and instead they are doing this sort of thing... sad really.
Title: Re: Overpayment - the new trend in increasing Profit at our cost or a real issue?
Post by: Uncle Pete on February 25, 2014, 16:33
That's True Beppe but considering the source and the fact that they can't keep simple numbers straight... it makes perfect sense that they would come to that illogical numerical conclusion?  ;D

And the people under $10 were not included could explain another 31,000 people too?  ::)


What I find more strange is that they say that only 9000 have been touched  by the "bug"
But all the people that I know (and anybody on this forum I think) who submit on iStock have been touched by the bug…
This is statistically impossible!
Title: Re: Overpayment - the new trend in increasing Profit at our cost or a real issue?
Post by: ShadySue on February 25, 2014, 16:42
What I find more strange is that they say that only 9000 have been touched  by the "bug"
But all the people that I know (and anybody on this forum I think) who submit on iStock have been touched by the bug…
This is statistically impossible!

Remember that those of us who are exclusive and opted not to submit to the PP haven't been affected. I have no idea how many that is, but I'm one.
So not 'all who submit to iStock', and it's hard to know what proportion of those who choose or are forced to supply the PP earned over $10 more than they should have.
Title: Re: Overpayment - the new trend in increasing Profit at our cost or a real issue?
Post by: heywoody on February 25, 2014, 17:45
The RPD for those 2 months was a complete aberration so I accept there were overpayments so just another example of utter incompetence.  This is made worse by the absolute refusal to communicate a root cause or to provide details of the transactions involving overpayments (data must exist or they couldn't have calculated individual claw backs), adding a PR fiasco on top of the accounting fiasco.

I certainly don't envy Lobo being wheeled out to take the  abuse and defend the indefensible.  To misquote Blackadder, "Submitting to IS is like a broken pencil" (pointless)
Title: Re: Overpayment - the new trend in increasing Profit at our cost or a real issue?
Post by: Oldhand on February 25, 2014, 17:59
Quote
I certainly don't envy Lobo being wheeled out to take the  abuse and defend the indefensible.  To misquote Blackadder, "Submitting to IS is like a broken pencil" (pointless)

Well - putting a pair of underpants on your head, sticking two pencils up your nose and saying "wibble" is meant to get you out of most things.. Lobo should take note.

Couldn't resist with another Blackadder fan around....
Title: Re: Overpayment - the new trend in increasing Profit at our cost or a real issue?
Post by: Copidosoma on February 25, 2014, 18:17
I guess nobody in Canada (myself included) is making enough off of this gig to make it worthwhile "lawyering up".

Although I guess if they lock my account or something the $10 per month loss isn't going to kill me.

I generally choose to vote with my feet (not that I am missed) and just not upload there anymore.
Title: Re: Overpayment - the new trend in increasing Profit at our cost or a real issue?
Post by: BaldricksTrousers on February 25, 2014, 19:59
Quote
I certainly don't envy Lobo being wheeled out to take the  abuse and defend the indefensible.  To misquote Blackadder, "Submitting to IS is like a broken pencil" (pointless)

Well - putting a pair of underpants on your head, sticking two pencils up your nose and saying "wibble" is meant to get you out of most things.. Lobo should take note.

Couldn't resist with another Blackadder fan around....
That was OK in The Sudan, when facing viciously sharpened mangoes, but it's not so much use against the grand battalions of Getty, with Melchet (aka Lobo) around to police things.
Title: Re: Overpayment - the new trend in increasing Profit at our cost or a real issue?
Post by: Tror on February 26, 2014, 08:34
I guess nobody in Canada (myself included) is making enough off of this gig to make it worthwhile "lawyering up".

Although I guess if they lock my account or something the $10 per month loss isn't going to kill me.

I generally choose to vote with my feet (not that I am missed) and just not upload there anymore.


Have you even read my posts? YOU DO NOT NEED A LAWYER! Just go here and file a complaint:
http://www.consumerhandbook.ca/en/topics/consumer-protection/unfair-or-deceptive-business-practices#related (http://www.consumerhandbook.ca/en/topics/consumer-protection/unfair-or-deceptive-business-practices#related)

Anybody can do it. Not only residents of Canada.
Title: Re: Overpayment - the new trend in increasing Profit at our cost or a real issue?
Post by: ShadySue on February 26, 2014, 11:24
Keep us up to date with the response you get.