Pinchme banning accounts that link their referral links

neil on 16/10/2013 - 17:37

From their Terms:

The referral link may be shared on your Facebook page, twitter account or by email to friends known to you, but you cannot randomly post it on any public websites, Facebook pages or create online advertisements and / or public forum posts containing your referral link.

Nikunj had his account banned on 15/10.
RSV1000 had his account with 300k disabled.
hys had his account banned.

We've also been sent PMs from users stating the same. Pinchme is well aware of the posts on OzBargain so just an FYI, you might not want to put your referral links into your posts.

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Comments

  • c64 on 16/10/2013 - 17:42

    ban affiliate posts for pinchme. problem fixed :)

    • neil on 16/10/2013 - 17:45
      +1

      We currently have a warning come up when a user attempts to post a Pinchme deal:

      Please note that you run the risk of having your Pinchme account banned by posting your referral link in the description of the deal as it violates Pinchme's Terms of Use.

      Also, some people are still trying to get around it by using a 3rd party site to mask the link.

  • ThadtheChad on 16/10/2013 - 23:54

    To be honest, their ToS seem very PoS to me.

    They say:
    "The referral link may be shared on your Facebook page, twitter account or by email to friends known to you" but then immediately contradict it by saying "but you cannot randomly post it on any public websites, Facebook pages or create online advertisements and / or public forum posts containing your referral link."

    Flaws:

    1. It is common knowledge that Facebook is a public website. Consequently, their definition of "public website" must be better defined.

    2. They say you can post on Facebook pages…. but you cannot "randomly" post on Facebook pages. How does one define "randomly"?

    3. What constitutes a "public forum"? If Ozb were to wall-off a "members-only" section, would that suffice as a "non-public forum"? Or does it have to be a forum where registration is not open to the public?

    It all seems a bit ambiguous.. and reads a bit like "we are going to ban you/remove your points if you get too successful".

    • Ughhh on 17/10/2013 - 00:18

      I think what they mean is you can refer friends- people that you know personally, so you can share on your personal Facebook page with your friends, but not post on say ozbargains Facebook page or McDonald for the purpose of just getting referral points because that's just spamming.

    • kwaker on 17/10/2013 - 11:25

      You can post on your Facebook page not others

    • scotty on 17/10/2013 - 16:36
      +1

      I don't think your Facebook timeline can be considered as "public website", unless you explicitly share your posts to everyone. Otherwise they should only be visible to your friends. I think the terminology here is a bit ambiguous.

      • You can post on your Facebook page (lower-case "p", and note the ownership here).
      • You cannot post on public Facebook Page (upper-case "P" for their Page product, the pages that are opened to public and those that you do not own — so don't spam private pages that you've Liked).
  • spersephone on 17/10/2013 - 07:27

    That's how I read it too.

  • neil on 17/10/2013 - 17:10

    Here is Pinchme's response:

    OzBargain:

    Can you comment on banning accounts for people who post their referral links on OzBargain?

    Pinchme:

    this is against our Terms.Which can be viewed on our website.Or email [email protected] & our CS Team can assist further :)

  • voteoften on 19/10/2013 - 20:25
    +1

    They are apparently planning on converting people to a paid membership, with very few guaranteed samples (like two a month for $4).

    • c64 on 19/10/2013 - 20:47

      where did you here that?

      stuff that if it is true. you might as well just buy the product from the shop

      • voteoften on 19/10/2013 - 20:49

        They asked me to fill out a survey and it had different levels of membership and what you would accept.

        • neil on 20/10/2013 - 01:32
          +1

          This is the survey.

          They will still have the usual Pinchme samples but will also have a VIP club to get access to more samples.

          • What is the PINCHme VIP Club?
            The PINCHme VIP Club will gain early access to all samples each month, and be able to add multiple samples to their PINCHme box.

          (a) PLATINUM - $4 per month
          - First access to samples each month, 2 days prior to public release
          - Claim a minimum of 2 samples per release
          - Exclusive brand partner deals and surprise samples
          - Strictly limited memberships available

          (b) GOLD - $2 per month
          - Early access to samples each month, 1 day prior to public release
          - Claim a minimum of 1 sample per release

          (c) Standard - Free
          - Access to samples when released to the public subject to availability

        • Doey21 on 20/10/2013 - 13:12
          +3

          lol why would you pay for samples? They're hardly worth 4 dollars a month considering you don't know what you're going to get.

  • spersephone on 21/10/2013 - 10:10

    I'm hoping that using the survey to canvass opinion, they'll see the majority of people won't be interested in paid membership.

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