Last week, NetWinner was officially boycotted by GPTBoycott.com, a consumer advocacy website founded in 2001. “After a recent decision to retrospectively deny users the ability to redeem their earnings, instead replacing them with sweepstake entries, the site has been boycotted for non-payment of members,” the boycott announcement stated.
Yesterday, the Charlotte, NC Better Business Bureau released a report entitled, “Mid-Year 2008 Dirty Half Dozen List of 6 Worst Businesses in Charlotte Area.” Topping the list: NetWinner.com.
The BBB said that NetWinner has had 229 complaints in the last 36 months, with 58 of them unanswered and 92 still pending. Unanswered complaints give a business the worst possible BBB rating, the Charlotte BBB’s president said.
NetWinner.com’s site traffic has tanked since the beginning of the year. According to Quantcast, the site averaged around 10,000 visitors per day in January, compared to around 2,000 in July. They’ve lost at least one ad network (SpotXChange, a site that had been a partner since NetWinner’s inception), and they’ve lost several affiliate websites including TreasureTrooper and SSAN. Yet the company continues to stay in business, trolling for new affiliates with an ad in this month’s Revenue magazine. The ad was for AdverGame Network, the arm of the company that co-brands NetWinner’s games for partners in return for a share of in-game ad revenue.
I’d like to think that affiliates (partner websites) are simply ignorant of the company’s reputation for not paying members, and not that they think it’s okay for a company to unilaterally cancel its debt and continue to stay in business. However, if those affiliates simply don’t care as long as they get a piece of the pie, I think they’re as worthy of being boycotted as NetWinner itself. Ethics matter. Integrity matters. And remember when your mama told you that you’re judged by the company you keep? NetWinner (Advergame Network) is the worst business in Charlotte. Do you really want to be associated with that?
