MicrostockGroup

Agency Based Discussion => Shutterstock.com => Topic started by: PhotoBomb on August 15, 2016, 16:59

Title: SS Clawback
Post by: PhotoBomb on August 15, 2016, 16:59
Just got this from ShutterStock:

Dear xxxx,

Last week, we had a display issue that affected your Contributor Dashboard. The issue caused your earnings for each download during a 12-hour time period to be doubled. That 12 hour period was from 9:45pm Eastern Time on Thursday, August 11th to 10:30am Eastern Time on Friday, August 12th.

We have fixed the issue, and, in the next day or so, you will see your earnings for August corrected. The correct amount you earned for August 11th and 12th during that 12-hour period is: $x.xx.

As you know, we are investing heavily in upgrading the technology that powers Shutterstock’s infrastructure, website, and mobile apps, to deliver improved functionality and a better overall user experience.

Thank you for your understanding.

Shutterstock Contributor Support Team
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: k_t_g on August 15, 2016, 17:07
It happens. Mostly when they're messing around with new things. Mostly to benefit the bottom line.  :P
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: dbvirago on August 15, 2016, 17:36
I did have some strange double sales that night including and odd double SOD.
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Sean Locke Photography on August 15, 2016, 17:47
That's not a 'display issue' though.
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: ChrisGardinerPhotography on August 15, 2016, 17:54
when i got this email, all i could think of was "Office space"
You know when the 'efficiency experts' find out Milton has been collecting a pay check for the last few years even though he was laid off.. "we fixed the glitch."


Bob Slydell: Milton Waddams.
Dom Portwood: Who's he?
Bob Porter: You know, squirrely looking guy, mumbles a lot.
Dom Portwood: Oh, yeah.
Bob Slydell: Yeah, we can't actually find a record of him being a current employee here.
Bob Porter: I looked into it more deeply and I found that apparently what happened is that he was laid off five years ago and no one ever told him about it; but through some kind of glitch in the payroll department, he still gets a paycheck.
Bob Slydell: So we just went ahead and fixed the glitch.
Bill Lumbergh: Great.
Dom Portwood: So, uh, Milton has been let go?
Bob Slydell: Well, just a second there, professor. We, uh, we fixed the *glitch*. So he won't be receiving a paycheck anymore, so it'll just work itself out naturally.
Bob Porter: We always like to avoid confrontation, whenever possible. Problem is solved from your end.
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: cathyslife on August 15, 2016, 18:22
I love it when they say they are investing heavily in upgrading the technology, but all the upgrading does is break stuff that was working just fine before the expensive upgrade. I also love it when they try to make us think it will be of some benefit to us, when all it is designed to do is make them billionaires instead of millionaires.   >:(
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Nikovsk on August 15, 2016, 18:57
And just like that 25% of August revenue is gone. It was too good to be true...
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: 60D on August 15, 2016, 19:12
Have SS ever come out and said that they hadn't reported some of our sales due a technical issue or whatever? Have they explained why gallery views are down to 0? Have they explained why earnings from new content are near 0?
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: anathaya on August 15, 2016, 19:54
And have they explained why recently accepted images are not shown in the port?
I don't understand how the overall user experience is better now, my experience was definitely better before.
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Microstockphoto on August 15, 2016, 20:59
i was going to say what cathyslife said.

who comes up with such drivel in these emails? we *removed coarse language* up but please know that the  *removed coarse language* up was expensive

they start to look more and more like istock
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: etudiante_rapide on August 15, 2016, 21:08
I love it when they say they are investing heavily in upgrading the technology, but all the upgrading does is break stuff that was working just fine before the expensive upgrade. I also love it when they try to make us think it will be of some benefit to us, when all it is designed to do is make them billionaires instead of millionaires.   >:(

well spoken, cathy
if i had a business that was f*#king up for the past 2 years and my suppliers have been losing money...
the last thing i would want to do damage control is to send a PR genius
to announce that " investing heavily in upgrading the technology" which is actually
double-speak for
ahem, cough , cough, the money you contributors have been losing has actually been
redirected to the IT experts, who are really f*cking up big-time bang-up job, i say !!!
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Me on August 15, 2016, 23:26
What they don't say is how much they are clawing back. We cannot determine which images were sold during that 12 hour period, we only have what they say we should have been paid. They can take back what they like and not have to prove it is accurate with any sort of sales record provided to us.
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: PhotoBomb on August 15, 2016, 23:31
What they don't say is how much they are clawing back. We cannot determine which images were sold during that 12 hour period, we only have what they say we should have been paid. They can take back what they like and not have to prove it is accurate with any sort of sales record provided to us.

The email I got said exactly how much in $$ they were taking back - not the # of images though.
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: cthoman on August 15, 2016, 23:52
What they don't say is how much they are clawing back. We cannot determine which images were sold during that 12 hour period, we only have what they say we should have been paid. They can take back what they like and not have to prove it is accurate with any sort of sales record provided to us.

If they double charged, then I assume you lost either exactly the same or less than what they say you should have been paid.
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Pauws99 on August 16, 2016, 01:02
I had a couple so its not half of total....no email yet. I noticed the magic words "we apologize for our error" seem to be missing.
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: anathaya on August 16, 2016, 01:27
I had a couple so its not half of total....no email yet. I noticed the magic words "we apologize for our error" seem to be missing.

They don't apologize anymore, but assume that it's all common knowledge.
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Pauws99 on August 16, 2016, 01:31
I had a couple so its not half of total....no email yet. I noticed the magic words "we apologize for our error" seem to be missing.

They don't apologize anymore, but assume that it's all common knowledge.
Its a "corporate w**nkspeak" no mistake only issues that are somehow nobodies fault just random events that no one could have foreseen. The mail is a masterpiece of the art .....they are spending money on improving stuff so actually its a good thing really..........and they thank us my our understanding...no I don't understand how an organisation that says its IT driven can make such a basic mistake.
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Me on August 16, 2016, 02:14
What they don't say is how much they are clawing back. We cannot determine which images were sold during that 12 hour period, we only have what they say we should have been paid. They can take back what they like and not have to prove it is accurate with any sort of sales record provided to us.

The email I got said exactly how much in $$ they were taking back - not the # of images though.

You may want to check the email, what it says is how much you should have earned, not what they are taking back. SEE BELOW;

"Last week, we had a display issue that affected your Contributor Dashboard. The issue caused your earnings for each download during a 12-hour time period to be doubled. That 12 hour period was from 9:45pm Eastern Time on Thursday, August 11th to 10:30am Eastern Time on Friday, August 12th.

We have fixed the issue, and, in the next day or so, you will see your earnings for August corrected. The correct amount you earned for August 11th and 12th during that 12-hour period is: $XX.XX.

As you know, we are investing heavily in upgrading the technology that powers Shutterstock’s infrastructure, website, and mobile apps, to deliver improved functionality and a better overall user experience.

Thank you for your understanding.

Shutterstock Contributor Support Team"

It only says what your earnings during this 12 hour period were, not how much they are clawing back. My earnings over the two days were over $150, which is a slightly better than average day but not unheard of, but they say my earnings for the 12 hour period was single digits.
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Microstockphoto on August 16, 2016, 02:17
shows the arrogance and nature of the beast, not even apologizing
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Microstockphoto on August 16, 2016, 02:18
guys the email says that all downloads were doubled so the amount in the email is the amount they take back
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Dodie on August 16, 2016, 03:05
I don't understand you guys; with everything being buggy on SS, did you really expect that sales are reported correctly? From all agencies I upload to, SS is the only one that doesn't provide stats of our sales in a clear format: what was sold, how many times, size, price, how much taxes for each....?
The stat they provide is mere window dressing. Technology failure will always be a good excuse.

With all this, I never saw a thread with people demanding a detailed stat. I tried it once but nobody backed me up, so that is what we deserve.
They pay and take back what they want and we are afraid not to lose our pennies if we speak up.
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Shelma1 on August 16, 2016, 05:18
Gonna have to start calling them iSS.
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: w7lwi on August 16, 2016, 20:28
Gonna have to start calling them iSS.

Don't you mean ISIS?
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Microstockphoto on August 16, 2016, 23:29
thats not funny
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: PixelBytes on August 16, 2016, 23:37
Gonna have to start calling them iSS.
Gonna have to start calling them iSS.

Don't you mean ISIS?
thats not funny

She's comparing them to iStock, combining the initials iS + SS = iSS.  Which is funny to me because it's so true. 

She is obviously not comparing them to a gang of terrorists, which would NOT be funny.
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Microstockphoto on August 17, 2016, 00:11
i got both jokes, only referring to the last one not being funny
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Artist on August 17, 2016, 00:11
Gonna have to start calling them iSS.
Gonna have to start calling them iSS.

Don't you mean ISIS?
thats not funny

She's comparing them to iStock, combining the initials iS + SS = iSS.  Which is funny to me because it's so true. 

She is obviously not comparing them to a gang of terrorists, which would NOT be funny.

In that case, she should explain too, even I thought she is comparing it to ISIS, until you gave the correction
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Microstockphoto on August 17, 2016, 02:09
shelma wasnt referring to the terrorist organisation, the next one was,

anyway, the money has been clawed back
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Justanotherphotographer on August 17, 2016, 02:24
shelma wasnt referring to the terrorist organisation, the next one was,

anyway, the money has been clawed back
This is clearly what happened, could we get back on track now please!
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Dumc on August 17, 2016, 04:46
Some people are just dumb.

Back to the topic.
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: ComfortEagle2095 on August 17, 2016, 09:01
It's a screw-up but it's not really a clawback.

Clawback generally refers to cases where a sale was made and credited but then the agency removed the credited sale because:

1) The buyer used a fraudulent account or credit card and the agency took the money back after the fact.
2) The buyer changed their mind after the purchase and asked for a refund.

In those cases, our content was delivered to a customer and then our earnings were taken back.  This case is different.

I have never had SS actually do a clawback.  Other agencies do it a lot (e.g., IS, DT)

Just sayin.
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Dodie on August 17, 2016, 09:10
It's a screw-up but it's not really a clawback.

Clawback generally refers to cases where a sale was made and credited but then the agency removed the credited sale because:

1) The buyer used a fraudulent account or credit card and the agency took the money back after the fact.
2) The buyer changed their mind after the purchase and asked for a refund.

In those cases, our content was delivered to a customer and then our earnings were taken back.  This case is different.

I have never had SS actually do a clawback.  Other agencies do it a lot (e.g., IS, DT)

Just sayin.


As far as I know there are no refunds/ money back for downloads at SS, only for active, unused plans:
http://www.shutterstock.com/support/article/Does-Shutterstock-offer-refunds?l=en_US&c=CustomerKB%3ARefunds&fs=Search&pn=1 (http://www.shutterstock.com/support/article/Does-Shutterstock-offer-refunds?l=en_US&c=CustomerKB%3ARefunds&fs=Search&pn=1)
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Shelma1 on August 17, 2016, 09:20
Gonna have to start calling them iSS.
Gonna have to start calling them iSS.

Don't you mean ISIS?
thats not funny

She's comparing them to iStock, combining the initials iS + SS = iSS.  Which is funny to me because it's so true. 

She is obviously not comparing them to a gang of terrorists, which would NOT be funny.

In that case, she should explain too, even I thought she is comparing it to ISIS, until you gave the correction

It's amazing how the human mind works. To me it was obvious I was combining iS and SS, since iS is famous for clawbacks and technical snafus, and unfortunately SS is headed down that path.
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Chichikov on August 17, 2016, 10:19
[…]
It's amazing how the human mind works. To me it was obvious I was combining iS and SS, since iS is famous for clawbacks and technical snafus, and unfortunately SS is headed down that path.

It is normal, on this forum you will always find people (always the same) making stories about any thing………
Strange that they did not make stories about SS (Schutzstaffel)
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: etudiante_rapide on August 17, 2016, 10:44
I had a couple so its not half of total....no email yet. I noticed the magic words "we apologize for our error" seem to be missing.

They don't apologize anymore, but assume that it's all common knowledge.
Its a "corporate w**nkspeak" no mistake only issues that are somehow nobodies fault just random events that no one could have foreseen. The mail is a masterpiece of the art .....they are spending money on improving stuff so actually its a good thing really..........and they thank us my our understanding...no I don't understand how an organisation that says its IT driven can make such a basic mistake.

LOL, how true , all!!!
reminds me of some incident i watched as i happen to pass by a commotion:
-apparently the rich dude came home (smelling more than pissed as a brewery) drove into his garage
ignoring the side walls wrecking the family's BMW.
to everyone's astonishment he dragged himself out of the car screaming , "whatdafark whose f*cking idea was to have built the garage so small???"

that would be in line to expecting an apology from our godsgawds at shutterstockmentali
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: dbvirago on August 17, 2016, 16:44
I had a higher than normal amount of double sales today. I hope it's not another 'display problem'
Title: Re: SS Clawback
Post by: Microstockphoto on August 19, 2016, 03:22
`seems they are screwing up again, i am getting double sods, which cant be a good sign. sigh