If you accept a writing assignment with SponsoredReviews.com, be sure to double check the terms and conditions before you submit your link for approval and payment.

Here’s what happened to me:

I accepted a writing assignment, which was to be completed within seven days of acceptance.

SponsoredReveiws is good about sending reminders about assignment due dates. I managed to write the assignment with one day to spare (it was a particularly busy writing time for me).

Happy that I was able to cross it off of my ‘To Do’ list, I diligently began working on the next item on my list. After a couple of days, it dawned on me that I didn’t receive an email notification about my SponsoredReview post being accepted. Thinking it was a little odd, I signed onto my account to see if they forgot to notify me.

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Surprise, Surprise

Imagine my surprise when I saw that my post wasn’t accepted. WHAT?!! Not accepted! Why, that’s unacceptable in my book. I take my paid writing seriously.

I was doubly surprised when the advertiser alleged that I did not use the proper link text or site link in my post. I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. I knew for a fact that I not only used the text link that we agreed to, but I also used the site link I had agreed to when I accepted the assignment.

SponsoredReviews Support

Being a little annoyed by this I wrote to SponsoredReviews and explained my situation. Here was their response:

Hi Felicia, Advertisers have the option to update/change their requirements, and they often do so. Sometimes there are multiple keywords or links they want to get used so they will update them every few days. This is why we suggest reviews be finished as soon as possible, preferably within 1-3 days. The review must meet all requirements at the time it is submitted. Just before writing your review(s), log in to verify the requirements have not changed just in case. Regards, Mandy

The current status of this ticket is: Close

Things Certainly Have Changed

Maybe it’s my business insurance background or my old-fashioned way of thinking, but once you agree to something, the terms or conditions should not change unless both parties agree to it. In this case, the advertiser decided to make changes without prior notification. Apparently the onus was on me to ‘check my account’ to make sure that what I agreed to was what I ‘still’ agreed to.

This is a new one on me. I guess I’ll live and learn.

Lessons Learned:

1. Old-school business and insurance logic doesn’t always prevail in the online writing world
2. Posts written for SponsoredReviews (if I use them again) should be written promptly before the advertiser has a chance to change the terms of the post.

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