Eilon,
I’ve no doubt that you’re genuinely trying to solve these issues. And that you’ve taken it up with your IT group. But based on your responses (assumed to have been taken from your IT people) they are not serving you well.
Honestly, it smacks of a handful of non-testing IT people reacting with self-serving smugness and indignation when their systems are challenged.
MY background was running an IT shop for a major bank, inlcuding a number of web applications. I’ve run into this situation a number of times – and there ALWAYS was a root casue to the customers complaint.
Well this part is simply wrong.
Unless you’re prepared to share your test matrices, showing the combinations of operating system, browser type and version, and cookies settings … as well as when this extensive test plan was undertaken …
… then you’ve got to expect affiliates to react with surprise when they have anecdotal evidence that appear to prove that ALL IS NOT WELL.
I suspect that not proper test strategy was drawn up. There were no test plans created from the strategy – no filed results – no result analysis.
Instead a couple of webbies create a cookie writing process and say “see – it works” with a minimal amount of testing on a handful of setups.
TEST PLANS GOLDEN RULES :
Create a full matrix of variables.
Create a test plan for each variant.
Write expected results for each test BEFORE executing them.
File the results and confirm acceptance – or flag aNY variation.
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Furthermore, I’d be prepared to wager that these TESTERS were directly responsible for creating or maintaining the code, and so their interests are best served by finding NO PROBLEMS.
TESTORS GOLDEN RULE
The testors should not be people responsible for creating, writing or maintaining the code.
The testors need to WANT to find bugs, to have incentives to find errors. Programmers make the worse testors. They “know” too much – and do not closely supervise the actual results.
Eilon,
I agree.
Yes. CPAYS is a RESPECTED company.
Yes. There are happy affiliate partners. Blissfully unaware of lose revenue.
And Yes. The scheme may have worked when it was introduced.
But – computers are complicated. Systems change and evolve over time. And the current cookie system has flaws that mean a player does not always get assigned to an affiliate.
When was the last time the affiliate scheme was regression tested? Where are the test details combinations of operating system, browser type and version, and cookies settings ?
I suspect that no regression testing has ever been performed since the scheme was introduced. I suspect that there is not test strategy. No test plans. And certainly no record of filed results.
How many players does CPAYS now get “affiliate free”?
Has this percentage increased?
Why not ask these players where they were referred when joining up and then manually assign them to the correct affiliate.
Ignoring the problem – saying that there is NO problem – might be benifical to the company in the short term – but not in the long term. Affiliates are talking – and CPAYS are not listening.
As a RESPECTED company – I would expect CPAYS to be doing more than this when a long standing affiliate presents rock solid evidence.
:unhappy: