I am a small time earner through the Google Adsense program and manage to reach the limit set by Google to receive a check from them. Though I get this opportunity in alternate month till date I have received the check from Google only once. According to Google you can either opt for Express delivery of check or Standard delivery. And being a low earner I do not want to spare a big 25 bucks for Express Delivery. The first time I reached my payment limit I received the check within the stipulated time. Next time the check arrived to me after 2.5 months. By that time according to Google Adsense Help and Support page I raised a request to re-issue my check. So by the time I received the check it was re-issued. 3rd time though the check has been issued in January, I have not received it till date. I contacted the Google Adsense support again and here is a snapshot of our conversation.

This is the reply from Google after I filled up the online contact form. ( Though they say they will reply within 48 hours, it took 10 days for the to reply)

Hello,

Thank you for your email.

I’ve started the reissue process for your payment and I’ve placed a stop payment on your check. If you happen to receive the original check, please do not deposit it, as your bank may charge fees for depositing a stopped check.

Within about 15 days, your earnings will be credited back into your account and you’ll see a ‘Check stopped – earnings credited back’ line appear on your Payment History page. If this line appears before the 15th of the month, your earnings will be included in that month’s payment cycle. If it appears after the 15th, your earnings will be included in next month’s payment cycle.

If you’d like to update your form of payment to receive your payment by another means, please do so between the 1st and 15th of the month. If you update your form of payment after the 15th of the month, we can’t guarantee you’ll receive your payment in the manner you’ve chosen.

For additional questions, I’d encourage you to visit the AdSense Help Center ( http://www.google.com/adsense_help ) or the official AdSense blog ( http://adsense.blogspot.com?utm_source=txft ). Alternatively, feel free to post your question on the AdSense Help Forum ( http://groups.google.com/group/adsense-help?utm_source=txft ).

Sincerely,

Bhavani
The Google AdSense Team

After reading that reply this was my reply to Google:

Hello Bhavani,

Could you please let me know why the process of getting check is delayed everytime. last time It did not reach even aftre 2 months and I had to cancel. A few days after I request for cancel the payment the check reached. And this time The check tht was sent on 22 feb has not reached yet. Could you please let me know what is going on??

To my above reply, this is the response I received from Google. Does it look something fishy?

Hello Ajay,

As you’ve selected your payment method as ’standard delivery,’ we send
your check via normal post. There might be a delay if there are issues at
the local post office. I suggest you select ’secure express delivery’ so
you can receive your checks via courier.
Checks delivered by secured express delivery will be mailed to you via DHL
and should arrive within 5 days of the approval date. Should you choose to
have your payments sent in this manner, a secure delivery charge for
mailing each check will be deducted from your account at the time of
payment. This charge is visible in your publisher account – simply click
the ‘edit’ link under ‘Payment details’, on the My Account page.

Please note that secured express delivery charges will not affect the $100
minimum amount to qualify for payment. For example, if your account
balance reaches $105, but your secured express delivery fee is $25, your
account will still qualify for payment and you’ll receive a check equal to
$80.

If your payments are sent by secured express delivery, you can view a DHL
tracking number by clicking any Payment link in your Payment History page.
Tracking numbers will typically be visible by the 5th of any month and can
be tracked on www.dhl.com.

Sincerely,

Bhavani
The Google AdSense Team

Again My reply:

So u mean to say that if I am opting for normal delivery to get rid off the $ 25 charge which is too huge then there is no way to track the payment sent.
I understand that standard delivery will take some time but a delay of 3 months is clearly not acceptable.

To this the guy sent me a nice reply mentioning a workaround, read this out:

Hello Ajay,

Please understand that we issue your payment as soon as your earnings
cross $100. There might be delays in your payment reaching you because of
the postal service. To avoid paying $25 every time your payment is issued,
you can choose to have your payments held and your earnings carried over
to the next month by selecting a ’self-hold’ within your publisher
account. To request that your payment be held, please follow these steps:

1. Log into your account at https://www.google.com/adsense
2. Click on the ‘My Account’ tab
3. On the ‘Account Settings’ page, under ‘Payment Holding’, click ‘Edit’.
4. Check the box marked ‘Hold payment’ to hold your previous month’s
earnings.

We ask that you place a hold between the 1st and 15th of the month. Should
you change your hold status after the 15th, we cannot guarantee that your
payment will be held for the previous month’s earnings. We therefore
strongly advise you to make changes to your hold status only between the
1st and 15th of any month. We appreciate your understanding.

Sincerely,

Bhavani
The Google AdSense Team

So what do you guys think is going on? Don’t you think that Google should remove the standard delivery option from Adsense. Is it a plot by Google not to send checks by standard delivery and let the user sacrifice 25 bucks just for the sake of Express delivery. If it is like that why do not they make the limit to 1000 bucks instead of 100. Now guess what, I have made a hold to my payment till I accumulate 1000 bucks and I will sacrifice 25 bucks to receive the check through Express Delivery. I am not saying Google is wrong, but they should take some extra care and make sure that the checks through standard delivery are also reaching to publishers.

what do you think, please share your views.

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