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

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Geese

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#422416 29-Dec-2010 16:22

logo: 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)

This was only redemption I ever entered. Same as detailed above. Was happy to get something, however I was specifically after the Sandisk model, and the Laser substitution was touchscreen, of no value to me so I got rid of it and bought a new Sony one after all that wait.

Dunnersfella

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#422450 29-Dec-2010 19:31

ahmad:
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.

It strikes me that you're just looking at the negatives here...
So far - Acer have done nothing wrong. Sure, you don't like them having a promotion dealt with by Australian's, but you seem to have no issue with shopping at an Australian retailer or buying a Chinese made product... what gives? What changes your opinion all of a sudden? Why not buy from your local 100% store?
Cutting a label out of a box, putting it in an envelope... writing out the address onto the envelope, putting postage on the envelope... posting the envelope.

"Someone get this guy a medal! He's worked his fingers to the bone!"

At least give Acer chance to do something wrong prior to starting a thread about them.

ahmad

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#422495 29-Dec-2010 21:48

Dunnersfella:

It strikes me that you're just looking at the negatives here...
So far - Acer have done nothing wrong. Sure, you don't like them having a promotion dealt with by Australian's, but you seem to have no issue with shopping at an Australian retailer or buying a Chinese made product... what gives? What changes your opinion all of a sudden? Why not buy from your local 100% store?
Cutting a label out of a box, putting it in an envelope... writing out the address onto the envelope, putting postage on the envelope... posting the envelope.

"Someone get this guy a medal! He's worked his fingers to the bone!"

At least give Acer chance to do something wrong prior to starting a thread about them.

And yet I've never complained ever about multiple cashback offers that I've redeemed in the past.

The Australian retailer selling me a Chinese made product was selling it to me in New Zealand, not Australia.

My biggest beef is with having to send a New Zealand cashback offer (even the redemption website itself has "nz" incorporated into the URL, and the company itself has a NZ presence) to another country. The second beef is with Harvey Norman sticking an extremely hard to remove adhesive label over the SNID which almost made it impossible to complete the redemption (a defaced label would obviously not have been accepted and the risk of this was extremely high). The third beef is with (IMO) the unreasonable length of time before a cashback will be issued, given the strict time stipulations which have been placed upon me. All these factors IMO mean that the advertised offer from Harvey Norman borders misleading.

If I'm looking for negatives it's only because they are there to be found.

As I've already detailed just a few posts above, my latest redemption offer via Panasonic was sorted out within a few weeks (and that's with Christmas holidays), while the redemption preceding that was a Brother cashback sorted out within a week. I'll continue to complain where criticism is due - I am just as quick to give credit to Brother and Panasonic.

robbyp

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#422503 29-Dec-2010 22:03

I am not 100% sure on the exact wording of this particular promotion. However I believe it said something along the lines of, that after you receive the cashback refund, you would have effectively only ended up paying a certain amount for the item. Did that advertised price take into consideration having to shell out a couple of dollars minimum to send back the cashback documents to Australia(more if sent via registered post or courier), which would be a direct cost? Normally cashback schemes I have dealt with, will have a freepost address to send the required things back to them.
These days, such cashback could all be processed online, the technology is there.

ahmad

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#422504 29-Dec-2010 22:09

robbyp: I am not 100% sure on the exact wording of this particular promotion. However I believe it said something along the lines of, that after you receive the cashback refund, you would have effectively only ended up paying a certain amount for the item. Did that advertised price take into consideration having to shell out a couple of dollars minimum to send back the cashback documents to Australia(more if sent via registered post or courier), which would be a direct cost? Normally cashback schemes I have dealt with, will have a freepost address to send the required things back to them.
These days, such cashback could all be processed online, the technology is there.

Microsoft didn't exactly process the cashback online (they still require you to post in the invoice/receipt), but they did very smoothly direct credit the hardware cashback directly to my bank account which was a brilliant touch.

I presume Acer won't take responsiblity for cheques lost in the mail.

Brother doesn't do it online but with their 10 working day cashback promise (or full refund of the purchase price less the cashback amount that would have been due) is just as good:

http://www.brother.co.nz/Public/CSR/TenDayCashback.aspx

Dunnersfella

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#422572 30-Dec-2010 08:56

I do feel you are making presumptions here...
How do you know Acer wouldn't make good for a cheque lost in the mail? Gut feeling?
Also, why would Harvey Norman put a courier label on the side of the packaging?
It would obviously be put there by the freight company... HN or any other retailer in NZ wouldn't pay to put freight labels on perfectly good stock sitting in their warehouse would they?

So far, the only beef I can see, is that you're dealing with an overseas company for the redemption process, something that is quite common in cashback promotions (as pointed out by others here).
Storm in a teacup...

ahmad

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#422630 30-Dec-2010 13:44

Dunnersfella: I do feel you are making presumptions here...
How do you know Acer wouldn't make good for a cheque lost in the mail? Gut feeling?
Also, why would Harvey Norman put a courier label on the side of the packaging?
It would obviously be put there by the freight company... HN or any other retailer in NZ wouldn't pay to put freight labels on perfectly good stock sitting in their warehouse would they?

So far, the only beef I can see, is that you're dealing with an overseas company for the redemption process, something that is quite common in cashback promotions (as pointed out by others here).
Storm in a teacup...

The cheque lost in mail comment was directly relating to a comment above about electronic cashbacks and usual T&Cs dictate that no responsibility is taken by promoters for anything lost in the mail.

Freight labels were printed and applied from Harvey Norman central distribution, so yes, by Harvey Norman themselves.

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