Acer/eMachines 'we don't want to give you'-Cashback scam?

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#422152 28-Dec-2010 16:16

sbiddle:
harmonicanarchy: So I too picked up one of these emachines on boxing day.
But I forgot to ask for the instructions on the cashback.

Can anyone kindly give me the details?
Cheer.

Going to www.acer.co.nz and clicking on cashback.

Steve you said that you have done a number of these in the past - have you ever returned more than one claim in the same envelope and is that ok? The T&Cs don't mention this.

heavenlywild

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#422157 28-Dec-2010 16:50

ahmad:
sbiddle:
harmonicanarchy: So I too picked up one of these emachines on boxing day.
But I forgot to ask for the instructions on the cashback.

Can anyone kindly give me the details?
Cheer.

Going to www.acer.co.nz and clicking on cashback.

Steve you said that you have done a number of these in the past - have you ever returned more than one claim in the same envelope and is that ok? The T&Cs don't mention this.

I really don't think this is an issue as it is done manually. Come on guys, this isn't the IRD

ahmad

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#422160 28-Dec-2010 16:57

heavenlywild:
ahmad:
sbiddle:
harmonicanarchy: So I too picked up one of these emachines on boxing day.
But I forgot to ask for the instructions on the cashback.

Can anyone kindly give me the details?
Cheer.

Going to www.acer.co.nz and clicking on cashback.

Steve you said that you have done a number of these in the past - have you ever returned more than one claim in the same envelope and is that ok? The T&Cs don't mention this.

I really don't think this is an issue as it is done manually. Come on guys, this isn't the IRD

The T&Cs quite explicitly state that any error in the process on behalf of the claimant may result in the claim being invalidated. There are documented examples of this happening in the past - not sure if with Acer or not.

There was a Fair Go story on this either this year or last about non-cashbacks or strange invalidations.

robbyp

1199 posts

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#422177 28-Dec-2010 18:47

johnr:
nigelj:also like the fact that they offer to exchange your cashback for Extended Warranty which is a nice touch (i.e. if you don't care about that $X cashback, but did want an extended warranty).?

extended warranty these are pointless you are covered by the CGA

Totally agree, they only time they are worth it, is if you are buying the product for business use. Retailers are permitted to know all the rules regarding the CGA.

I had a major issue with HPs cashback scheme, and I think they need to be regualted. In the end after 3 months I got it, but I had to contact the retailer to sort it out. These cash back schemes shouldn't require you to jump through hoops, and the commerce commission do have several stories on them on their website. I don't think you should be required to send the cashback to australia, they should have a NZ address. Just give it to the retailer to send on your behalf.

wreck90

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#422189 28-Dec-2010 19:10

Waiting months for a cashback is unacceptable.

Sending the letter to australia is also unacceptable.

The postage/photocopying costs are unacceptable.

This could all be sorted out at the Point of Sale, so why not?

Because the suppliers are counting on the fact that many will not jump through the hoops to get the cashback.

I will not be sucked in by another cash back offer, it's just not worth the effort.

robbyp

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#422194 28-Dec-2010 19:21

wreck90: Waiting months for a cashback is unacceptable.

Sending the letter to australia is also unacceptable.

The postage/photocopying costs are unacceptable.

This could all be sorted out at the Point of Sale, so why not?

Because the suppliers are counting on the fact that many will not jump through the hoops to get the cashback.

I will not be sucked in by another cash back offer, it's just not worth the effort.

In the terms and fine print, it often says you could take many months for it to be processed. One company who does cashbacks well, is brother. They will send you the refund within a week, which is how it should be.
The problem with other companies that I have done cashbacks with, is that the company subcontracts out the work to another company, often based offshore, and it is difficult to communicate with them. They may have a phone number, but it is unmanned, and is just an verbal version of a website helpdesk system, and you have to leave a message. I just wish the commerce commission stamped down on these cashback schemes, and made sure that cusomters aren't jumping through hoops. A $39 cahsback isn't worth the hassle in my opinion, they should be applying that discount at the point of sale.

johnr

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#422195 28-Dec-2010 19:21

wreck90: Waiting months for a cashback is unacceptable.

Sending the letter to australia is also unacceptable.

The postage/photocopying costs are unacceptable.

This could all be sorted out at the Point of Sale, so why not?

Because the suppliers are counting on the fact that many will not jump through the hoops to get the cashback.

I will not be sucked in by another cash back offer, it's just not worth the effort.

Common sense speaks

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mattwnz

20156 posts

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#422273 28-Dec-2010 22:59

At the end of the day, if you have trouble with a cashback scheme, you can go back to the retailer.

http://www.comcom.govt.nz/media-releases/detail/2008/consumersurgedtoapproachcashbackof

1080p

1332 posts

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#422279 28-Dec-2010 23:26

johnr:
wreck90: Waiting months for a cashback is unacceptable.

Sending the letter to australia is also unacceptable.

The postage/photocopying costs are unacceptable.

This could all be sorted out at the Point of Sale, so why not?

Because the suppliers are counting on the fact that many will not jump through the hoops to get the cashback.

I will not be sucked in by another cash back offer, it's just not worth the effort.

Common sense speaks

This isn't necessarily common sense but just someone who isn't happy with the Acer T&C's for the cash back.

When you purchase their product they offer you an incentive _provided you abide by their terms_, if you aren't happy with the terms then do not purchase the product.

I don't usually but in this case I am siding with Acer; they are a large international corporation who within reason do their best to satisfy all of their customers. Moaning about $1.50 in postage and a few weeks wait is pathetic.

sbiddle

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#422283 28-Dec-2010 23:37

ahmad:
sbiddle:
harmonicanarchy: So I too picked up one of these emachines on boxing day.
But I forgot to ask for the instructions on the cashback.

Can anyone kindly give me the details?
Cheer.

Going to www.acer.co.nz and clicking on cashback.

Steve you said that you have done a number of these in the past - have you ever returned more than one claim in the same envelope and is that ok? The T&Cs don't mention this.

Nope. Don't see why it would be an issue though.

All you guys who don't like these cashback offers just have to be thankful you don't live in the USA!

ahmad

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#422287 29-Dec-2010 00:00

1080p:
johnr:
wreck90: Waiting months for a cashback is unacceptable.

Sending the letter to australia is also unacceptable.

The postage/photocopying costs are unacceptable.

This could all be sorted out at the Point of Sale, so why not?

Because the suppliers are counting on the fact that many will not jump through the hoops to get the cashback.

I will not be sucked in by another cash back offer, it's just not worth the effort.

Common sense speaks

This isn't necessarily common sense but just someone who isn't happy with the Acer T&C's for the cash back.

When you purchase their product they offer you an incentive _provided you abide by their terms_, if you aren't happy with the terms then do not purchase the product.

I don't usually but in this case I am siding with Acer; they are a large international corporation who within reason do their best to satisfy all of their customers. Moaning about $1.50 in postage and a few weeks wait is pathetic.

I would say this of course but more pathetic are the voices in this thread moaning about the moaning.

I refer to the Harvey Norman advertising - "$259 after cashback".

Nowhere in the offer is the following mentioned:

1. May (and will) take months to process and refund
2. Requires sending the cashback forms to ANOTHER COUNTRY

I don't believe that this is covered in the fine print of the offer from Harvey Norman either, but even that wouldn't cover them. Unlike other countries, in NZ it is against the law for the fine print of a "headline offer" to substantially change the impression given by the offer.

You don't think that waiting months is unreasonable for a cashback? Fair Go would differ on that opinion, and this is borderline misleading advertising at best. Hence the reason the Commerce Commission has interest in such schemes.

You don't think sending the cashback offer to another country is unreasonable? I do, given that Acer even has a local presence.

This is not about the $1.90 to post to Australia (I point out it is $1.90 for the sake of accuracy, not because I think the incorrect figure of $1.50 significantly differs from the actual postage cost of $1.90). This is about the fact that I live in NZ. Bought the machine from a NZ retailer (with an Australian owner granted, but NZ laws apply). And yet I have to send the cashback offer to another country (and this is never mentioned at any point in the procedings until you get to the final page of the cashback process.

As I said, I have done several cashbacks in the past, some taking just as long to receive a cheque, but never EVER as convoluted and seemingly deliberately so.

Brother - 10/10, faster than I could have done it myself
Microsoft - 8/10, slow but redemption process was extremely straightforward and reasonable
Acer - So far 0/10 - I guess they will have several months to change my mind on this.

Finally just a small point about those saying "all this fuss over $39". Firstly it's not the amount of money but the principle. Secondly Acer has cashback offers up to $199 that I know of so it's not always a small amount of money, and the same process applies in these cases.

nigelj

856 posts

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#422291 29-Dec-2010 00:19

I've got no problem w/ Cashback schemes in particular, and Acer's is okay, the only problem is that there are some nasty catches (like it has to be the current revision of the hardware - or had to be when I did the first cashback w/ an Acer TV), which in my case was the retailers fault for not advertising the product correctly.

My issue w/ in particular Acer's cashback scheme is that you have to send the original cutout from the box, and (somewhere in the Terms & Conditions) if the letter to Australia w/ the barcode goes missing, you miss out on the cashback. Of course, if it's goes missing, well a claim to NZ Post/Auspost is likely going to be worthless, as a barcode has no 'value', so you miss out on the $40-$200 cashback completely.

For computers, I'd say it'd be pretty trivial for them to verify the uniqueness of the device etc, and verify any unique IDs (such as serial number) w/ a scanned/photographed SNID + sales docket.

ahmad

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#422355 29-Dec-2010 12:04

Panasonic Breadmaker purchased 15 December. Bread recipe book by redemption - copy of receipt and completed redemption form posted to NEW ZEALAND on 15 December.

29 December - Bread recipe book arrives with a letter dated 23 December from Panasonic NEW ZEALAND thanking me for my continued support of Panasonic New Zealand.

Impressive.

Which reminds me of another redemption I did last year for some Huggies nappies promotion. Got a letter apologising that the limited offer stock had been fully exhausted. As an apology they included discount vouchers along with a note saying that they had decided to order in more stock for people that had missed out and that I would receive this in 6-8 weeks. Sure enough it did! Crazy impressive.

Kyanar

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#422407 29-Dec-2010 15:33

1080p: I can't stand people who complain about cash back deals being a pain in the butt. Perhaps before leaving the store take a look at the carton to make sure the SNID is visible, $1.50 at the post office to receive a $39.00 cheque in a few weeks seems like an acceptable deal to me.

Just suck it up and stop complaining that Acer hasn't wiped your chin too!

I sort of agree with this, with the catch that I think retailers should be forbidden to advertise the after-cashback price - all too often you'll see signs like "$999 (after cashback)". If the price on at the Point of Sale is quoted after cashback, they should be legally obliged to process the after cashback price at the teller, or to process the cashback to completion at the point of sale.

That said, I don't feel there's really any grounds to complain about cashbacks which are just a sticker stuck on a box unless the cashback offer requires you send in original documentation (such as sales receipt - making it extremely difficult to claim on repair. Yes, I've seen this).

Basically, the process can be as convoluted as they like in my opinion, provided they don't try and sell it (cashback) as part of the purchase. Ditto for those "free xxxxx by redemption" offers.

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#422412 29-Dec-2010 16:02

From a manufacturers point of view, cashbacks and rebates can be very useful.

Aside from the obvious advantage in that not everyone will claim the cashback, other benefits include:

- opportunity to collect marketing information
- the ability to discount a certain product or range without it directly affecting other products or ranges (although the discerning can work it out easily enough)
- ensures that any product discounts are passed directly to the consumer and not converted to extra profit by a retailer

From a consumer point of view, if used wisely you can do very well.

My best cashback was a brother labelmaker - usually $50 but bought for $25 (50% off coupon through Warehouse Stationary). Claimed a $30 cashback. End result - one free labelmaker and $5 cash. In other words they paid me $5 to take their labelmaker!

HP are bloody awful with their redemptions - one took over 8 months and they substituted the product with a cheaper one (sandisk 4GB mp3 player was replaced with a Laser 4GB model - there's a huge difference between sandisk and laser)

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