Author Topic: Hold on to your wallets! "There are irregularities with October's PP royalties" (Read 109299 times)

ShadySue · « **Reply #375 on:** February 24, 2014, 20:04 »

Quote from: Uncle Pete on February 24, 2014, 19:52

Other question is, if this goes back months and months, didn't the Exclusives used to be in the program? Are they getting funds removed also?

Exclusives could formerly opt into the PP, and if they did, the files which were already there stayed there (unless requested to be removed).
So yes, they are having funds removed - it's being discussed on the iS PP thread.

ShadySue · « **Reply #376 on:** February 24, 2014, 20:07 »

Quote from: michey on February 24, 2014, 20:02

Time ago there was an option to opt-out PP, where is it now?

Indies cannot opt out, all their files go into the PP.

Exclusives cannot opt in new files, but old files previously opted in are still there.
If the opt-out button has gone for exclusives, you'll probably have to contact CR and be prepared to wait.

Goofy · « **Reply #377 on:** February 24, 2014, 20:22 »

got my what letter today from iStock- I wonder if they are related to the IRS? They will be collecting a payment each six months until paid off. Maybe the should collect interest and late fees as well!

Elenathewise · « **Reply #378 on:** February 24, 2014, 20:36 »

Quote from: lisafx on February 24, 2014, 19:20

Got my notice. Overpayment of $1571.00. Monthly recoupment $261.

It's going to hurt.

Lisa, mine is
Over Payment Total=$1,570.50
Monthly Recoup Amount=$261.75

The numbers are just way too close. What's your portfolio size on istock? I wonder if this is all bullsh*t and they are just taking money back according to portfoilo size... may have nothing to with actual "overpayment".

Mantis · « **Reply #379 on:** February 24, 2014, 20:53 »

Quote from: Elenathewise on February 24, 2014, 20:36

Quote from: lisafx on February 24, 2014, 19:20
Got my notice. Overpayment of $1571.00. Monthly recoupment $261.

It's going to hurt.

Lisa, mine is
Over Payment Total=$1,570.50
Monthly Recoup Amount=$261.75

The numbers are just way too close. What's your portfolio size on istock? I wonder if this is all bullsh*t and they are just taking money back according to portfolio size... may have nothing to with actual "overpayment".

Hmmm. Mine is $331.56 with a port size of 2428, or .136 cents per image. Might be a starting point to test.

Tantoon · « **Reply #380 on:** February 24, 2014, 21:01 »

Quote from: Mantis on February 24, 2014, 20:53

Quote from: Elenathewise on February 24, 2014, 20:36
Quote from: lisafx on February 24, 2014, 19:20
Got my notice. Overpayment of $1571.00. Monthly recoupment $261.

It's going to hurt.

Lisa, mine is
Over Payment Total=$1,570.50
Monthly Recoup Amount=$261.75

The numbers are just way too close. What's your portfolio size on istock? I wonder if this is all bullsh*t and they are just taking money back according to portfolio size... may have nothing to with actual "overpayment".

Hmmm. Mine is $331.56 with a port size of 2428, or .136 cents per image. Might be a starting point to test.

I got almost the exact numbers.. that's strange!
Is Istock going banana or something?

Photobomb · « **Reply #381 on:** February 24, 2014, 21:11 »

Quote from: ShadySue on February 24, 2014, 19:32

Quote from: dingles on February 24, 2014, 19:23
They are full of it...I just got an email...Overpayment of $22.98 and they say they are recouping...So is the under $50 a lie?

Lobo made a typo, it was supposed to be under $10.
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=358476&messageid=6987306

Typo - really!!??
I know I so often hit the 5 on my keyboard when I meant to hit the 1.
How can a mistake like that be made on such an important announcement - what a bunch of incompetent fools.
So glad I bailed in July.
Sorry for the rest of you.

lisafx · « **Reply #382 on:** February 24, 2014, 21:14 »

Quote from: Elenathewise on February 24, 2014, 20:36

Quote from: lisafx on February 24, 2014, 19:20
Got my notice. Overpayment of $1571.00. Monthly recoupment $261.

It's going to hurt.

Lisa, mine is
Over Payment Total=$1,570.50
Monthly Recoup Amount=$261.75

The numbers are just way too close. What's your portfolio size on istock? I wonder if this is all bullsh*t and they are just taking money back according to portfoilo size... may have nothing to with actual "overpayment".

Interesting. Almost the exact same figure. My Istock port is arond 6400. I dont know if it is based on port size or perhaps sales volume. Either criteria seems fishy. Who is to say that this bug or issue should necessarily follow either port size or sales volume? Feels a bit shady.

I agree with the posts calling for an itemized accounting of the overpayments. As awful as the fraud clawback a couple of years ago was, there was an itemized list sent of the fraudulent sales.

michey · « **Reply #383 on:** February 24, 2014, 21:35 »

Guys, i told you, It's a * legalized scam. They have no idea how many "wrong sales" they had and they are letting paid us a random forfeiture mainly based on few weird calculus.

Elenathewise · « **Reply #384 on:** February 24, 2014, 21:50 »

Quote from: lisafx on February 24, 2014, 21:14

Quote from: Elenathewise on February 24, 2014, 20:36
Quote from: lisafx on February 24, 2014, 19:20
Got my notice. Overpayment of $1571.00. Monthly recoupment $261.

It's going to hurt.

Lisa, mine is
Over Payment Total=$1,570.50
Monthly Recoup Amount=$261.75

The numbers are just way too close. What's your portfolio size on istock? I wonder if this is all bullsh*t and they are just taking money back according to portfoilo size... may have nothing to with actual "overpayment".

Interesting. Almost the exact same figure. My Istock port is arond 6400. I dont know if it is based on port size or perhaps sales volume. Either criteria seems fishy. Who is to say that this bug or issue should necessarily follow either port size or sales volume? Feels a bit shady.

I agree with the posts calling for an itemized accounting of the overpayments. As awful as the fraud clawback a couple of years ago was, there was an itemized list sent of the fraudulent sales.

Same here. The other thing - I looked at my totals for Sept/Oct 2013 and they are actually LOWER than for the other months of the year. And based on previous years sales are usually HIGHER during this time. So there was no unusual spike in earnings, just the opposite. It looks to me they have no clue who was overpaid and how much and just randomly distributing the pain.

Sedge · « **Reply #385 on:** February 24, 2014, 22:25 »

Over Payment Total = over $900
Monthly Recoup Amount = over $150

Quote from: Elenathewise on Today at 20:36

"Same here. The other thing - I looked at my totals for Sept/Oct 2013 and they are actually LOWER than for the other months of the year. And based on previous years sales are usually HIGHER during this time. So there was no unusual spike in earnings, just the opposite. It looks to me they have no clue who was overpaid and how much and just randomly distributing the pain."

I'm seeing the exact same pattern. I added up my posted PP sales for Sept. and Oct. and subtracted the recoupment value. The average sales totals for the two months in question are now below my sales totals from both August and November. Although possible, it's statistically improbable. I created a CR contact ticket requesting an accounting and verification of iStock's purported recoupment "value." I suspect this "value" may actually be an estimate (or possibly a half-assed guess). I strongly urge everyone to check your statistics and send iStock a CR ticket if your recoupment value is suspect.

They don't call Elena "the wise" for nothing...

P.S. For what it's worth, my portfolio is under 1000 images.

Goofy · « **Reply #386 on:** February 24, 2014, 22:28 »

"Hold on to your wallets"

More like hold on to your children! $:-\$

lisafx · « **Reply #387 on:** February 24, 2014, 23:00 »

Quote from: Elenathewise on February 24, 2014, 21:50

Same here. The other thing - I looked at my totals for Sept/Oct 2013 and they are actually LOWER than for the other months of the year. And based on previous years sales are usually HIGHER during this time. So there was no unusual spike in earnings, just the opposite. It looks to me they have no clue who was overpaid and how much and just randomly distributing the pain.

Again, same situation here. AFTER the clawback both Sept. and October are lower than average. Particularly for normally good selling pre-holiday months.

I agree with your conclusions too. It seems there is some magical number they are trying to recover and they are just spreading it among contributors according to either port size, sales volume, or some combination of the two.

Curiouser and curiouser...

How can this be legal?!

gillian vann · « **Reply #388 on:** February 24, 2014, 23:06 »

I have sent a ticket pointing that out (my october earnings will now be the lowest of the year) - that's hard to believe.

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #389 on:** February 24, 2014, 23:28 »

Quote from: lisafx on February 24, 2014, 23:00

...Curiouser and curiouser...

How can this be legal?!

Fortunately or unfortunately, being an incompetent boob isn't illegal

I looked at Elena's Thinkstock portfolio versus yours and she has 13K+ there (StockXpert plus iStock) and 8K+ on iStock. You have 6K+ on iStock and 5K+ on Thinkstock, I assume because their busted connector was not delivering everything to the PP.

These recoupment amounts could well be guesses versus calculated numbers - they've done that before (while I was exclusive they pulled the extended license bonus months too soon and then had to pay it back; they got the numbers wrong and when I wrote to support they said they knew but that as it was a little over they were just going to leave it alone). But it isn't portfolio size that would match you and Elena up.

What a shame there isn't someone on the inside who's seen the books willing to level with contributors to get this straightened out - I don't see legal action as a practical option (long time; large expense and Getty has a pile of lawyers who could stop harassing customers and turn to contributors instead).

In the IS forum, one person said that if 9,000 contributors were to have money "recouped" and if on average the amount was $75, they'd be netting $675K. I'm guessing that's a low average given that all the $10 and under claims have been eliminated from the pool. If the average was $112, they'd collect a million dollars.

Has there been even a hint as to what they claim happened? I don't count saying that there have been overpayments as useful information.

Tryingmybest · « **Reply #390 on:** February 24, 2014, 23:42 »

Yeah, they sent me a message with a notice that they're going to take out a handful of money every month to make up for their mistake. What is wrong with them at iStock? We barely make any money and they blow it for us and take money back. Despicable slave drivers.

Quote from: Sedge on January 03, 2014, 19:25

Lobo just started a new thread on iStock's PP forum. Here's the full quote:

We've established that there were some irregularities with Oct(Sept) and Nov(Oct) Partner Program royalties. We've been investigating these irregularities and hope to have additional information some time next week. What this means is the royalty payments for September and October are being reviewed at this time. We will have an update on this issue next week.

I've got a bad feeling about this...

BD · « **Reply #391 on:** February 24, 2014, 23:44 »

Quote from: lisafx on February 24, 2014, 23:00

Quote from: Elenathewise on February 24, 2014, 21:50

Same here. The other thing - I looked at my totals for Sept/Oct 2013 and they are actually LOWER than for the other months of the year. And based on previous years sales are usually HIGHER during this time. So there was no unusual spike in earnings, just the opposite. It looks to me they have no clue who was overpaid and how much and just randomly distributing the pain.

Again, same situation here. AFTER the clawback both Sept. and October are lower than average. Particularly for normally good selling pre-holiday months.

I agree with your conclusions too. It seems there is some magical number they are trying to recover and they are just spreading it among contributors according to either port size, sales volume, or some combination of the two.

Curiouser and curiouser...

How can this be legal?!

Do you think they have committed fraud?

enstoker · « **Reply #392 on:** February 25, 2014, 00:21 »

It is sooo simple:
Somebody on IS needs new yacht.
Oh, and somebody needs new house...

I think this is just a start of neverendind story.

gemmy12 · « **Reply #393 on:** February 25, 2014, 01:09 »

So IS now saying us (indirectly) that you have to pay istock a fee to sell your images from istock. Now wait and see when istock publicly announces this.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #394 on:** February 25, 2014, 02:02 »

this is a bad taste joke and it can't be right... just unbelievable how can they do this!?

PP for Sep 2013 - 56.51$
PP for Oct 2013 - 83.81$

Over Payment Total=$83.88
Monthly Recoup Amount=$13.98

does this mean I have made 7 cents in October?

Ariene · « **Reply #395 on:** February 25, 2014, 02:10 »

Over Payment Total=$19.98
Monthly Recoup Amount=$3.33

I'm not sure if I should be happy rather than sad, seeing your numbers...
Loooool

More there is... I closed my account in Jan. (they closed it for me), and now they say:
"Rather than take this amount out of your royalty balance in one adjustment we have decided to schedule the removal of these funds over a 6 month period. Starting before the end of February 2014 we will begin removing $3.33. Once per month for the next six months we will recoup the balance of the over payment. "

How will they do that if I'm not with them anymore? Waiting for my income for Dec. 2013, Jan, and Feb. 2014 (with PP).
Nevermind. I was so happy having nothing to do with them anymore, and here we go again - like neverending story, oh god

IStock is just amazing!!!

Cesar · « **Reply #396 on:** February 25, 2014, 02:47 »

Istock is US firm? If this is true it is steal. Can someone call police and notice all major media . We must be loud now. They are stealing!

please call the police, this is fraud!

Quote from: luissantos84 on February 25, 2014, 02:02

this is a bad taste joke and it can't be right... just unbelievable how can they do this!?

PP for Sep 2013 - 56.51$
PP for Oct 2013 - 83.81$

Over Payment Total=$83.88
Monthly Recoup Amount=$13.98

does this mean I have made 7 cents in October?

dirkr · « **Reply #397 on:** February 25, 2014, 03:14 »

Wasn't there some clause in their contracts that would allow contributors to ask for an audit? Wouldn't now be the time for that?

spike · « **Reply #398 on:** February 25, 2014, 03:29 »

Quote from: Jo Ann Snover on February 24, 2014, 23:28

What a shame there isn't someone on the inside who's seen the books willing to level with contributors to get this straightened out - I don't see legal action as a practical option (long time; large expense and Getty has a pile of lawyers who could stop harassing customers and turn to contributors instead).

Essentially, what you're saying is: even if they're doing something illegal, we can't do anything about it. I have a tendency not to believe that.

Ariene · « **Reply #399 on:** February 25, 2014, 03:31 »

One thing is thought provoking here... So many of us report overpayment, and they say it's only 9k/25k people...? Strange...

May I ask you guys, why are you still with them? Is it worth? Is there no better (and more professional) place for your work in the world? I just can't understand why you accept this issues and treating... You do your photography only for making money, or you do it for fun and joy? If it's only business, should it go this way?

I'm confused...

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Author Topic: Hold on to your wallets! "There are irregularities with October's PP royalties" (Read 109299 times)

ShadySue

ShadySue

Goofy

Elenathewise

Mantis

Tantoon

Photobomb

lisafx

michey

Elenathewise

Sedge

Goofy

lisafx

gillian vann

Jo Ann Snover

Tryingmybest

BD

enstoker

gemmy12

luissantos84

Ariene

Cesar

dirkr

spike

Ariene

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