Anything4Free... Venting Complaints

So I am very frustrated with Anything4Free (A4F) right now. Another user and I made a freebie information portal site (http//www.ultimatefreebielist.net/) for the community. It was made so people could find sites easily. It's not a forum or anything, just a list of organized information. I am a member of several freebie forums and made threads about it on each so that people would know and could use it/help out with it.

I made a thread about it on A4F (the exact same one I made here and at other forums). After a while I noticed the thread was no longer there. I originally thought it was because of the problems they had been having with the server/hackers since many threads were lost. So I opened another thread with the exact same info (which I noticed people asking for). This thread was closed with no reason/warning/prior notification. I also opened another thread around the same time asking for people's help in keeping the site up-to-date, as keeping track of the freebie world is more than two people can do. This thread was also closed/deleted.

So now I can see these occurences aren't accidental and I am angry. I open a thread on A4F called "Ultimate Freebie List - Why do threads keep getting closed?" .(http//www.anything4free.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=84344) ... And what do you think happens... The situation is left unresolved and the thread is CLOSED!!! I didn't mean to be argumentative, but they aren't being upfront and I keep hearing different things from different people. I see no good reason why they apparently don't like the site we have made. It was made to serve the community.

I could understand if it was in direct competition to A4F, but its not. Its not a forum site and it even links to A4F. We tell people to go to the forums for more info. And as far as I know, A4F doesn't have anything like our site on theirs. Yea they have probably the same information, but not nearly as organized and easy to find.

Different mods have said it could be considered spam or advertising. The only time I post the link to it on a thread is when someone asks, "Where can I find a list of sites that offer XXXXX as a prize?". The easiest answer is the link to my site, rather than listing all the sites that I know of.

So after deleting threads/posts, I noticed they even edited my signature which read as follows... "Ultimate Freebie List might be in trouble. See this thread for more info... and of course the admins close the post and leave this unresolved". The second part was added after they just closed it in the middle of our discussions.

Anyways, I wanted to vent because the whole situation makes me angry. I also don't like the secrecy and the power trips many of them seem to be on. I really started getting uncomfortable after they banned Prizebook (for a reason that PB quickly resolved) and then wouldn't ever give anyone a direct answer (not to mention lots of different things were said that obviously weren't the real truth).

So, yea... what do y'all think? Am I out of my mind to be unhappy? Is my site spam? Is it useful for the community? Thanks

they blow enough said

There have always been differences in how A4F is run compared to FiPG. Some folks prefer their style, others prefer ours. Either way we consider ourselves allies of A4F and respect their decisions to run their forum as they see fit. As such we will not tolerate A4F bashing here. Not that you're bashing, it sounds like you have a legitimate gripe if things are as you say.

And by the way, please remove the Vonage reflink from your sig. Reflink's of any type, even non-freebie ones, are not allowed here (outside of FusionCash links).

[quotedf681c9d14="zwarrior99"]they blow enough said[/quotedf681c9d14]
Now THAT is bashing, and is an example of what won't be tolerated here. Consider yourself warned, zwarrior99.

This isn't supposed to be an A4F bashing thread... I am frustrated with them and wanted to see what others thought.

I'm guessing that the A4F mods were afraid that a site that has a list of DIY sites would negatively affect the DIY scene. I know a suggestion to list every DIY site was posted before in the DIY forums, but companies like I-Deal might frown upon this.

Why would it negatively affect it? Don't they want people to do their sites?... And the DIY section wasn't nearly as extensive as the referral one.

[quote76aec70165="ajasax"]I'm guessing that the A4F mods were afraid that a site that has a list of DIY sites would negatively affect the DIY scene. I know a suggestion to list every DIY site was posted before in the DIY forums, but companies like I-Deal might frown upon this.[/quote76aec70165]

I can hardly see that being the case. Nonetheless, I don't see how hard it would be to give any explanation regardless of the reason.

Isn't the site's link all together against the rules? It's got a referral link for almost every site in existence...

[quote42a01d43fb="casakid06"]Why would it negatively affect it? Don't they want people to do their sites?... And the DIY section wasn't nearly as extensive as the referral one.[/quote42a01d43fb]
You would think so, but in reality these sites make most of their income from breakage, which is the term used to describe signups that never complete all the the requirements. The site gets paid from the signup impressions/surveys and any completed offers, without having to pay out a prize. But when us "professionals" come along in large numbers, there is little breakage and many payouts, resulting in lower profits. Therefore they'd rather cater to the spam market that doesn't have a clue or the patience to work through the whole process. Once their signup-to-completion threshold reaches a certain point, many will either pull their promotions or drastically increase the requirements to make them unattractive to folks like us. Therefore it's a common practice for some freebie folks to keep DIY promotions on the down-low, especially when new and the requirements are low.

Ahh...do I have stories to tell about A4F. )

[quote49b26604e2="dmorris68"][quote49b26604e2="casakid06"]Why would it negatively affect it? Don't they want people to do their sites?... And the DIY section wasn't nearly as extensive as the referral one.[/quote49b26604e2]
You would think so, but in reality these sites make most of their income from breakage, which is the term used to describe signups that never complete all the the requirements. The site gets paid from the signup impressions/surveys and any completed offers, without having to pay out a prize. But when us "professionals" come along in large numbers, there is little breakage and many payouts, resulting in lower profits. Therefore they'd rather cater to the spam market that doesn't have a clue or the patience to work through the whole process. Once their signup-to-completion threshold reaches a certain point, many will either pull their promotions or drastically increase the requirements to make them unattractive to folks like us. Therefore it's a common practice for some freebie folks to keep DIY promotions on the down-low, especially when new and the requirements are low.[/quote49b26604e2]

While I agree with your reasoning, in this case, this is a link to a site that has DIY links in it and it's main purpose is to show the offers on sites. Plus A4F didn't give any explanation. A4F even has a DIY section, so I would say that would be a bigger problem than this. shrug

[quoteeb2b76da82="johnjimjones"][quoteeb2b76da82="dmorris68"][quoteeb2b76da82="casakid06"]Why would it negatively affect it? Don't they want people to do their sites?... And the DIY section wasn't nearly as extensive as the referral one.[/quoteeb2b76da82]
You would think so, but in reality these sites make most of their income from breakage, which is the term used to describe signups that never complete all the the requirements. The site gets paid from the signup impressions/surveys and any completed offers, without having to pay out a prize. But when us "professionals" come along in large numbers, there is little breakage and many payouts, resulting in lower profits. Therefore they'd rather cater to the spam market that doesn't have a clue or the patience to work through the whole process. Once their signup-to-completion threshold reaches a certain point, many will either pull their promotions or drastically increase the requirements to make them unattractive to folks like us. Therefore it's a common practice for some freebie folks to keep DIY promotions on the down-low, especially when new and the requirements are low.[/quoteeb2b76da82]

While I agree with your reasoning, in this case, this is a link to a site that has DIY links in it and it's main purpose is to show the offers on sites. Plus A4F didn't give any explanation. A4F even has a DIY section, so I would say that would be a bigger problem than this. shrug[/quoteeb2b76da82]
I agree with you too, I'm not trying to defend A4F here. I was just answering his question as to why wouldn't the DIY sites want as many people to complete their sites as possible. ;)

[quoted16640f1a2="dmorris68"]And by the way, please remove the Vonage reflink from your sig. Reflink's of any type, even non-freebie ones, are not allowed here ([bd16640f1a2]outside of FusionCash links[/bd16640f1a2][/colord16640f1a2]).[/quoted16640f1a2]

You're making an exception to the referral link policy just because FiPG and Fusioncash are one in the same? Thats a tad bit bias if you ask me

Tell that to Admin...he's the one paying for this forum to stay up. Read [idbdb6e5c19]Your post made possible by FusionCash[/idbdb6e5c19]

[quotef37dd3b3fc="ajasax"][if37dd3b3fc]Your post made possible by FusionCash[/if37dd3b3fc][/quotef37dd3b3fc]
yeah thats the bottom line, and its even more true than ever with the new server (fc bought the server, fc's upgrade plans got displaced, and fc foots the monthly colocation bill).

http//www.anything4free.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=84344&view=findpost&p=481736

Please take it up with Wes, I do not know why you have to go to various forums all ove rthe internet and keep posting about this.

Various implies more than one?

@egytianruin - Well maybe its because they closed that thread without resolving it.... He posted his piece then closed it so I couldn't respond... great way to handle things. You can't read that and honestly say you agree with the way they have handled things or their decision. And I wouldn't count 3 forums as "all over the internet".

And I have also noticed a person selling their 'Freebie Marketing Guide' on A4F... I would think according to their 'rules' that this is worse than my site. He charges $67 for the information while I am giving away general info for free... He also has his topic pinned (most likely b/c he paid to do so.... maybe they want me to pay too?)... I don't see how that is fair.

@DIABLO - The ONLY reason there are referral links was because I had to sign up for each and everyone of those sites (that have ref links) in order to be able to view the offers. As you can imagine, it was quite a time consuming process. I could care less about the links, but I figured what the heck, it can't hurt to have them in there (fyi, i've only gotten i think 3 referrals from those links). I mean if people are going to sign up anyways, why not have their referral go to use?... But people are more than welcome to just type in the URL manually.



The site is for the community, which I think is pretty clear. Like I've said, it baffles me that they don't want the members of A4F knowing about it. If I have done something wrong (like maybe by having the referral links in there), then they should tell me so I can fix it.

[quotea048ca0954="Daggoth"]Various implies more than one?[/quotea048ca0954]
yes it does, roll Prizebook.com and FIPG = 2

[quote9ca0e98899="casakid06"]@egytianruin - Well maybe its because they closed that thread without resolving it.... He posted his piece then closed it so I couldn't respond... great way to handle things. You can't read that and honestly say you agree with the way they have handled things or their decision. And I wouldn't count 3 forums as "all over the internet".

And I have also noticed a person selling their 'Freebie Marketing Guide' on A4F... I would think according to their 'rules' that this is worse than my site. He charges $67 for the information while I am giving away general info for free... He also has his topic pinned (most likely b/c he paid to do so.... maybe they want me to pay too?)... I don't see how that is fair.

The site is for the community, which I think is pretty clear. Like I've said, it baffles me that they don't want the members of A4F knowing about it. If I have done something wrong (like maybe by having the referral links in there), then they should tell me so I can fix it.[/quote9ca0e98899]

Since Wes (owner of A4F) made his ruling we are also looking at gditeam as well. Please PM Wes to discuss the issue, since he owns the site there is nothing that any admin, mod or super mod can say to reverse his decsion

This thread wasn't created to try and change his mind. I just wanted to vent and hear other people's opinions.... You know egypt, you could have an opinion of your own (which I would like to hear).

[quote13205dbb5b="casakid06"]This thread wasn't created to try and change his mind. I just wanted to vent and hear other people's opinions.... You know egypt, you could have an opinion of your own (which I would like to hear).[/quote13205dbb5b]

I personally don't mind either way, if it's there or not. However what Wes says goes in the book of A4F. Wes is a reasonable person just try explaining it to him.

I have and you saw his response.... I emailed him as well (no response)

[quote54e74d2244="casakid06"]I have and you saw his response.... I emailed him as well (no response)[/quote54e74d2244]

Have you PMed him? This thread has just about outlived its usefulness.

[quoted1f2672962="egyptianruin"][quoted1f2672962="Daggoth"]Various implies more than one?[/quoted1f2672962]
yes it does, roll Prizebook.com and FIPG = 2[/quoted1f2672962]

Bad mood? I didn't mean it in a bad way.

[quote6ebb948deb="Daggoth"][quote6ebb948deb="egyptianruin"][quote6ebb948deb="Daggoth"]Various implies more than one?[/quote6ebb948deb]
yes it does, roll Prizebook.com and FIPG = 2[/quote6ebb948deb]

Bad mood? I didn't mean it in a bad way.[/quote6ebb948deb]

Yeah, Im cranky - Ive been busting my booty all day working and one of my incisions came open - I hate surgery.

[quote7d1334fed0="egyptianruin"][quote7d1334fed0="Daggoth"][quote7d1334fed0="egyptianruin"][quote7d1334fed0="Daggoth"]Various implies more than one?[/quote7d1334fed0]
yes it does, roll Prizebook.com and FIPG = 2[/quote7d1334fed0]

Bad mood? I didn't mean it in a bad way.[/quote7d1334fed0]

Yeah, Im cranky - Ive been busting my booty all day working and one of my incisions came open - I hate surgery.[/quote7d1334fed0]

Did your new plastic gallbladder fall out?

[quotee844e98d1d="CollidgeGraduit"]
Did your new plastic gallbladder fall out?[/quotee844e98d1d]

Yes and it shattered into a million pieces. Percocet suck - I need some more, lol.

[quote5516b30e04="egyptianruin"][quote5516b30e04="CollidgeGraduit"]
Did your new plastic gallbladder fall out?[/quote5516b30e04]

Yes and it shattered into a million pieces. Percocet suck - I need some more, lol.[/quote5516b30e04]

You should have paid extra for those gallbladders made out of the rubber they make Kongs (the dog toy) out of.

[quote83e6c1b070="CollidgeGraduit"][quote83e6c1b070="egyptianruin"][quote83e6c1b070="CollidgeGraduit"]
Did your new plastic gallbladder fall out?[/quote83e6c1b070]

Yes and it shattered into a million pieces. Percocet suck - I need some more, lol.[/quote83e6c1b070]

You should have paid extra for those gallbladders made out of the rubber they make Kongs (the dog toy) out of.[/quote83e6c1b070]

Yeah I know, but they wanted money up front, instead I opted for the Made in Taiwan version. Cheap synthetic crap!

[quote12a05d39b7="egyptianruin"][quote12a05d39b7="CollidgeGraduit"][quote12a05d39b7="egyptianruin"][quote12a05d39b7="CollidgeGraduit"]
Did your new plastic gallbladder fall out?[/quote12a05d39b7]

Yes and it shattered into a million pieces. Percocet suck - I need some more, lol.[/quote12a05d39b7]

You should have paid extra for those gallbladders made out of the rubber they make Kongs (the dog toy) out of.[/quote12a05d39b7]

Yeah I know, but they wanted money up front, instead I opted for the Made in Taiwan version. Cheap synthetic crap![/quote12a05d39b7]

As long as you learned your lesson, for your next organ replacement.

[quote30ca60c0ed="CollidgeGraduit"]

As long as you learned your lesson, for your next organ replacement.[/quote30ca60c0ed]

Yes order Japanese because of the movie Toyko Drift.

[quoteeb38f231ad="egyptianruin"][quoteeb38f231ad="CollidgeGraduit"]

As long as you learned your lesson, for your next organ replacement.[/quoteeb38f231ad]

Yes order Japanese because of the movie Toyko Drift.[/quoteeb38f231ad]

You know, I've heard the Japanese make great uteri.

I scamed people of A4F for over one grand, i love them

[quote0a89220623="harrynuggetss1"]I scamed people of A4F for over one grand, i love them[/quote0a89220623]
Moron.

[quotef72fc1a911="zwarrior99"]they blow enough said[/quotef72fc1a911]

dont say that... they are just NOT greater than fig )

i hope that isnt considered bashing...

Yes I have PM'ed him. Here is what the message said...

[quote8f059df87c]"how is it spam? when people ask where to find a list of DIY sites or sites that offer an xbox 360 for a prize, of course i am going to give them a link, as its the answer they are looking for... in most cases, its a more complete answer than one typed out....

and i dont see threads like ones advertising the sale of the Freebie Marketing Guide being deleted... is that cuz they pay to have it pinned? is that what this is about? If thats not blatantly self promotional, then i dont know what is. At least our site gives the people the information without forcing them to pay for it....

And i also feel like you guys are not telling the whole truth. I have received many different answers from different people. This is supposed to be a community forum with decisions made in the interest of the community.... I dont see that happening here."[/quote8f059df87c]

And here was his response...

[quote8f059df87c]"Hi casakid06,

We try to keep our community free of spam because how much we allow can easily explode into much more. You have had some threads before and we were starting to see much more of your links being posted. This was picked up by our moderators as spam and the rest of the moderators agreed. Freebie Marketing Guide has one thread in the Freebie 101 forum and I agree that it looks self promotional. The moderators and I will decide as a group which way to go on this. We are not stead fast on rules around here and I like the relaxed community that we have.

I am not going to argue with you on details. I think the reason your posts were removed was because they were closed but you were still linking to them. There were also other links being posted throughout the site. This was not something where it was staying in one thread. The threads are not gone. If you are worried about lost data or wordage, I can get the thread for you.

I'll talk with the moderators and get back to you.

- Wes"[/quote8f059df87c]

Here was the message I sent to him next ...

[quoted8a25dbe6e]"I can almost understand what you are talking about. I didn't go around just posting my link randomly. If you will look at where its posted, you will see (besides the couple of started threads), the only time its posted is when people are asking for some kind of list of sites... whether its a list of sites that offer a certain prize or something.... how is it spam when i am posting to help the person out? and its not like i just paste the link and thats it... i usually try and help them as well....

I dont care about lost data and i wouldnt have created more than one thread if they weren't closed/deleted... I would think a site like mine would be welcome by the A4F staff as it serves the community.

i also don't appreciate how things have been being handled either. it makes me very uncomfortable how the staff hear wields absolute power. i have noticed things said being deleted, threads being closed (either cuz the staff didnt want to deal with them or they didnt like the person or whatever), and now i see that my signature has been edited (presumably b/c there was a complaint about the staff.... a justified complaint at that)....

anyways, almost no one directly ever answers my questions, which is no surprise. so let me know what i can do, as arguing with you is going to get nowhere. i am very sad to see what this site is becoming."[/quoted8a25dbe6e]

And his response....

[quoted8a25dbe6e]"Hi casakid06,

What I'm trying to do is get you some answers. I try to make decisions that are in line with our moderators and in line with the community. We made a choice about outside links a long time ago because it was getting to be a big spam problem. Our moderators have talked it over and agree that you should be able to have a thread about your site. You can have one in Freebie 101 promoting your site and telling members about it. However, this may change in the future if there becomes an issue with too many people posting about their sites. The purpose of the thread is to promote your resource since it can be informative to new members.

I'm trying to reach a conclusion that everyone can be happy with. I'm also concerned with how you view our site. If our site is heading in the wrong direction, I'll definitely change it. Anything4Free was created to be a site for the people. This is why we founded the site while giving away all our top conga spots. Anyways, I have to get to work but I appreciate your feedback and if you have any suggestions, let me know.

Take care,

- Wes"[/quoted8a25dbe6e]

I must say I am fairly impressed with his response. I am not sure what caused the change of heart. If it my is really spam as they said, then I doubt they would have allowed it. If its not spam, then that makes me wonder if they even really looked at my site in the first place before declaring it 'unallowed', or if there is some other reason ... But I do appreciate his listening to 'reason' and not blowing it off as so many others had.

well you know that most of those mods are stay at home moms. i have been hearing things about stay at home moms are usually mean P


maybe what you should do is take all of those ref links off of your site. that way it wouldnt be like spam

[quote34c123f187="findme"]well you know that most of those mods are stay at home moms. i have been hearing things about stay at home moms are usually mean P


maybe what you should do is take all of those ref links off of your site. that way it wouldnt be like spam[/quote34c123f187]

Wes, emoney and batman are stay at home moms? shock Im not a stay at home mom (I dont even have children), I have like a cajillion jobs, Im just terribly good at multitasking. P

Honestly A4F seems to be made up of little kids and moms. I hate it personally.

[quote8b25b3a8e3="JOSHBOX"]Honestly A4F seems to be made up of little kids and moms. I hate it personally.[/quote8b25b3a8e3]

Hey what about the A4F bashing evil

[quoteb240d545df="egyptianruin"][quoteb240d545df="JOSHBOX"]Honestly A4F seems to be made up of little kids and moms. I hate it personally.[/quoteb240d545df]

Hey what about the A4F bashing evil[/quoteb240d545df]

Yeah exactly. Warned in the second post not to bash or flame A4F and then you go ahead and bash or flame A4F.

Temp-ban JOSHBOX.

[quote9dc7b032ee="theysayjump"][quote9dc7b032ee="egyptianruin"][quote9dc7b032ee="JOSHBOX"]Honestly A4F seems to be made up of little kids and moms. I hate it personally.[/quote9dc7b032ee]

Hey what about the A4F bashing evil[/quote9dc7b032ee]

Yeah exactly. Warned in the second post not to bash or flame A4F and then you go ahead and bash or flame A4F.

Temp-ban JOSHBOX.[/quote9dc7b032ee]

where is that definition of bashing when you need it?

( thinking if saying something that is your personal opinion is actually bashing)

karma to whoever finds it since i am very lazy.

Well, on a different note, I have added CraftyCash to ultimatefreebielist.net

[quote9004eee668="findme"]
where is that definition of bashing when you need it?

( thinking if saying something that is your personal opinion is actually bashing)

karma to whoever finds it since i am very lazy.[/quote9004eee668]

I wish they had - karma

[quotec3809e28f7="egyptianruin"][quotec3809e28f7="findme"]
where is that definition of bashing when you need it?

( thinking if saying something that is your personal opinion is actually bashing)

karma to whoever finds it since i am very lazy.[/quotec3809e28f7]

I wish they had - karma[/quotec3809e28f7]
We used to have -Karma but it led to a lot of problems...

[quotef4d05bfd5b="Wolfeman"][quotef4d05bfd5b="egyptianruin"][quotef4d05bfd5b="findme"]
where is that definition of bashing when you need it?

( thinking if saying something that is your personal opinion is actually bashing)

karma to whoever finds it since i am very lazy.[/quotef4d05bfd5b]

I wish they had - karma[/quotef4d05bfd5b]
We used to have -Karma but it led to a lot of problems...[/quotef4d05bfd5b]

let me guess cry babies that care about there online karma... I wish i had -100000000 karma

[quote586a7f4c78="zwarrior99"][quote586a7f4c78="Wolfeman"][quote586a7f4c78="egyptianruin"][quote586a7f4c78="findme"]
where is that definition of bashing when you need it?

( thinking if saying something that is your personal opinion is actually bashing)

karma to whoever finds it since i am very lazy.[/quote586a7f4c78]

I wish they had - karma[/quote586a7f4c78]
We used to have -Karma but it led to a lot of problems...[/quote586a7f4c78]

let me guess cry babies that care about there online karma... I wish i had -100000000 karma[/quote586a7f4c78]

"there" is not the same as "their"........ make that -100000001 karma.

A while ago you didn't have to confirm that you wanted to give karma and people were putting links in their sigs saying "Naked Lindsay Lohan!!" that would either give them +karma or give another user -karma...

[quote2082790362="Wolfeman"]A while ago you didn't have to confirm that you wanted to give karma and people were putting links in their sigs [b2082790362]saying "Naked Lindsay Lohan!!"[/b2082790362] that would either give them +karma or give another user -karma...[/quote2082790362]
I'd have to give negative karma -- no, make that a permaban -- just for suggesting such a thing as naked Lohan pics. That's one chick I do NOT care to ever see naked. lishudderli