The lights seem to be out at Rookmedia (opinion, not allegation), now that I'm in line for another payout. My 'acct exec' Ray Goodwin doesn't seem to be contactable (over the past month or so), and there's no apparent link on the home page for help or support - dead air - radio silence - like lying at 1200 feet with the hull about to be crushed, waiting for a clearance diver to tap the outer hull with a hammer - oops, another strained metaphor.
There's been zero progress since I first posted this. Here's a substantially complete email I just sent to <
[email protected]. I should note that my account is now over the threshold for payment but I have no idea whether my domains have been moved to smartnames (they are racking up daily revenue as displayed on the same 'domainsponsor' dashboard that I've had for many years but they don't seem to have actually been transferred FROM domainsponsor TO Smartnames.
The dilemma is i cannot determine a named person to contact, do not know where my domain names are actually parked (domainsponsor, rookmedia and smartnames are the three apparent choices) - do not know what payment info update they need, whom to contact for payment and whether I will ever get paid in the absence of query to BBB, lawyer's letter or any of the litany of the legal remedies available to parties of the second part (as it were), none of which generally apply to the parking business.
However, dnforum's reach is far and wide and this site has some powerful members so perhaps someone will advise whom I might contact (with email) to get this all sorted.
I also notice that the FOR SALE banners (kmy default has always been = ON) have disappeared offscreen on my 1000s of domains (there's a sliver of the for sale banner splash just visible but no contant - that's one essential reason for parking since the money's not much good any more.
I've also attached a screen shot of my former account manager at domainsponsor - Ray Goodwin, a Santa Fe College alumnus. I'm not sure whether he's failed to survive the move to Smartnames or not but he went dark sometime in early Spring this year.
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To: [email protected], [email protected]
Re. 3gbar.com and 212date.com
An incomplete version of this email suddenly sent itself while I was typing
You'll notice that, for 3gbar.com, the FOR SALE banner's content is off-screen and that the main content field is blank. In the case of 212date.com, which has perfectly acceptable content, there is no FOR SALE banner at all. Clearly, a primary reason for publishing at rookmedia is to solicit bids (which actually happens occasionally).
The default condition for ALL my published names is SALES BANNER ON. Please advise that this has been fixed.
Off-screen sales banners occur randomly throughout my parked domain portfolio and there is no means by which publishers can effectively manage this - it's a Domainsponsor/Rookmedia/Smartnames issue
Can you please step up to the plate and manage these parked domains (I have close to 300 with you) according to your contractual undertakings.
You should also note that I have earned more than US$100 since my last check and there's no one in the store - no one to contact since late winter.
I need to know:
What documentation do you need from me to pay me (currently in Canada)? I assume a W-8 but could not see how to fill it out online and get it back to you.
When do you propose to render payment, as you have contractually so undertaken.
I noticed at one point that you had transferred only 80 of my names to Smartnames and now those 80 seem to have evaporated.
I realize that the intellectual challenges of moving from one platform to another can be daunting and indeed there appears to be some daunting going on. No one is quite sure whether Domainsponsor still exists. What relationship does Rookmedia bear to either Domainsponsor or Smartnames?
How are publishers to be made whole following an arguably 'iffy' transmogrification from the Domainsponsor chrysalis to the Smartnames butterfly?
Ray Goodwin, an alumnus of Santa Fe College, used to be my account manager. Has he been consigned to the outer darkness or is his formerly wise counsel still available to be tapped?
He is the last human being with whom I interfaced (we used to say "the last guy I talked to") and there hasn't been a peep since from anyone, except for one email from some guy at Smartnames, which didn't cover any of the foregoing.
Kind regards,
Carl
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If you have an hour to save the world, you should spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute solving it (Albert Einstein)
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