Таки пришел ответ от Алерта:
"Thank you for contacting AlertPay's Resolutions department.
AlertPay regrets to inform you that your request for a refund cannot be fulfilled. You engaged in an online income opportunity where you accepted the risks involved. We apologize, but our recovery efforts have not been successful.
AlertPay acts as a payment processing service provider by creating, hosting, maintaining and providing our Service to you through the internet. When you engage in a transaction, you accept a Terms of Service (TOS), which is applied at all times.
At this point the seller's account does not contain sufficient funds to provide you with a refund.
Please refer to our User Agreement which can be found at
https://www.alertpay.com/en/legal.aspx
Regards,"
Вкратце: сожалеют, но не могут выполнить возврат средств. Говорят, что мы, вкладывая средства, соглашаемся с положениями ТОС продавца (то бишь империала) о принятии риска, а алерт всего лишь обеспечивает платежи. И в конце говорят, что и средств то на счета империала недостаточно для удовлетворения запросов.
Финита ля комедия, как говорится