Academy Ecommerce review for UpPromote Affiliate Marketing

Sept. 14, 2024

The app, unfortunately, isn't working as it should. When affiliates create a link and share it on Instagram, the Instagram browser strips out the affiliate slug at the end, leaving only the raw URL. As a result, the sales go through, but the app fails to attribute them to the correct affiliate. This leads to affiliates approaching me with concerns like, "Hey, I don’t see the sale my friend made." They then have to provide proof of purchase, which is frustrating for everyone involved. When I reached out to support about this issue, instead of escalating it to their developers, they suggested a workaround—making every affiliate a "forever affiliate." This isn’t a solution for us. "Forever affiliate" means that once a customer buys a product through an affiliate, all future orders from that customer will always be attributed to that affiliate. This approach doesn't address the core issue, which is the app's failure to handle URL attribution properly. Furthermore, the app doesn't allow for a straightforward payout process unless I set up PayPal in developer mode, which is more complicated than it sounds. It requires creating a business PayPal account, entering developer mode, and configuring several risky settings. It’s far from a plug-and-play experience. The affiliate portal itself is also very basic and lacks a professional look. Given the app's $99/month price, this is quite disappointing. At most, it seems worth around $15/month. I've found a competitor app that is far more reasonably priced and doesn’t have the Instagram issue. With this app, affiliates can share custom links via Instagram DM or in their bio without the link being auto-converted. To be honest, just because an app has lots of high-star reviews doesn't necessarily mean it's the best option. Often, those with fewer 5-star reviews perform better because they are more motivated to improve. After my conversation with the support representative ended without a resolution and no escalation to higher support, they sent me a dancing cat GIF, which felt unprofessional and mocking. When dealing with customer service, if you can’t help a customer, sending a GIF like that is not appropriate. Management should monitor these interactions to ensure a higher quality of customer service.