Caution to other bloggers: Unscrupulous advertiser

Addendum, August 15, 2014 

On August 13, 2014, Mr. Godera contacted me to try to resolve this matter. He requested to have this post removed, which I was not willing to do. However, in return for having now received payment in full for the previously unpaid ads, I agreed to amend this post to reflect that fact. I also agreed to remove an August 13 post that had again called attention to the events of 2008-2009, which I had written out of irritation at having been compelled to again deal with this ugly mess. I now consider this matter settled and closed.





Back in February I received an email from somebody named Aleks Godera with MarketingEra.com. He wanted to purchase an ad here. Fine--we figured out the ad and price, which was promptly paid. No problems.

On that basis, when he emailed again in March wanting to purchase another ad, I put it up immediately. Payment, however, would prove to be problematic. I received excuse after excuse, delay after delay. Finally, he simply stopped responding to my contacts. I eventually gave up and deleted the ad.

He resurfaced this week, wanting to purchase yet another ad. I was wary, but decided to give him another chance. As with the previous encounter, the ad went up, but no payment came in the promised time frame. Again with the repeated excuses and delays, asking for information I had already provided several times, etc. I have again given up and taken down the ad.

Based on my experience with this person and company, I'd say that the M.O. is to pay for one ad to get your trust, then con you into putting up more ads which they have no intention of ever paying for. Perhaps this is because the most value comes from the first few days the ad appears, so they don't really care if you get disgusted with them and take it down for non-payment after a while.

It appears that this guy is like the J. Wellington Wimpy of blog advertising. Wimpy, you will recall, was famous for saying, "I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."

So, my fellow bloggers, if I were you, I wouldn't do business with the dishonest Aleks Godera or the sleazy company he represents. I can't stand people or organizations with such fundamental lack of integrity. At the very least, if you choose to take a chance on them, get the money first. Otherwise, Tuesday will roll around, and Wimpy will be nowhere in sight.