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

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ahmad

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#74199 27-Dec-2010 09:10

So got me one of these eMachine netbooks from Harvey Norman, including instructions on where to go to get a $39 cashback.

The website was pretty much down the whole day yesterday, and when it was up it ran so slow it was unusable.

Anyway it worked this morning and I tried to find the information that it required - an "SNID" bardcode on the box. However it wasn't there.

So I hunt all over, and I don't know if it was deliberate or not (wouldn't surprise me if it was), but there is a HUGE courier dispatch label stuck over the important area of the box.

This area displays the required SNID, which also needs to be cut out from the box and sent back to Acer.

Took me 10 minutes to carefully peel back the very sticky label, and thankfully even though it refused to come off cleanly, what remains is still (just) visible).

So I go ahead and print out the forms required for the cashback, now only to find that I have to return everything to AUSTRALIA?

I bought the bloody thing in New Zealand. There is an address for the "promoter" which is in Auckland, and yet I have to return it to AUSTRALIA?

What gives? I was going to courier these forms lest they "lose" them in transit but now I have to go all the way to Australia? For $39?

This is exactly why they do cashbacks. Has anyone actually gone through this before and got money??

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#421773 27-Dec-2010 09:20

I posted mine in an envelope for about $1.50, and cut out the SNID from the box. Cashback came through at the start of this month, I sent it away about 3 weeks earlier.

And there was an SNID on both sides of the box, I just cut off one side & trimmed it down.

That's from an eMachine M350 netbook from Noel Leeming Dunedin

sbiddle

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#421776 27-Dec-2010 09:29

I've sent numerous cashbacks to Acer in Aussie and have had an issue.

freitasm

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#421777 27-Dec-2010 09:30

I always thought cashback are just a way to attract customers with low quality promotions. I never considered (and don't think I will) buying a machine based on a "cashback" discount.

Make the price final, and that's a lot better.

ahmad

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#421778 27-Dec-2010 09:31

Same one I think, but the SNID definintely is only on 1 side. The other side has a S/N which is DIFFERENT to the SNID! It shares about 8 or 9 out of 11 digits but is in a different format.

Did you cut out just the SNID or the whole label? It's not clear from the instructions because they say cut out the SNID from the panel and then it shows a picture with a red box around the entire label suggesting you might cut the whole label.

The whole thing seems a scam and I don't know how I will get it to them in 14 days using normal airmail if it is Xmas/New Year. Dumb.

ahmad

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#421781 27-Dec-2010 09:33

sbiddle: I've sent numerous cashbacks to Acer in Aussie and have had an issue.

Hi Steve, did you just airmail the return? And how long did it take?

@freitasm - but then they would have to give the discount to everyone, not only though that jump through their hoops.

Would you buy based on a massive cashback? eg. Normal retail price but a 30% discount via cashback only? I'm sure it would be tempting :)

old3eyes

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#421782 27-Dec-2010 09:36

Is that A$39 or NZ Pesso 39??

Regards,

Old3eyes

johnr

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#421784 27-Dec-2010 09:38

I could not be bothered for $39 or even $199

I purchased a acer laptop which had a cash back offer of $199 about 6 months ago for my Mum and did not even attempt to cash it in

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old3eyes

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#421785 27-Dec-2010 09:39

Is that A$39 or NZ Pesso 39??

Regards,

Old3eyes

ahmad

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#421787 27-Dec-2010 09:41

Pesos. But the purchase price was $298 so more than 10% of the purchase price at point of sale.

Nety

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#421788 27-Dec-2010 09:43

Cashback's are huge in America but are not used much here. Even in the US they make them difficult as clearly it is not in their interests for everyone to use them however it does give you the option if you are keen. They do have some amazing ones though like items that if you use all the cashbacks come out at costing you $0. That tends to be when both the manufacturer has a cashback and the retailer also has one.

I would not consider this a scam. They are giving you something for (almost) nothing they do not have to make it easy.

I would expect that concerning the 14 days as long as you have sent it a few days before the deadline it does not matter if it has not arrived to them before the deadline. They would just check the postdate.

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joff_nz

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#421789 27-Dec-2010 09:44

Myeh, by the sounds of it my time and effort is not not worth the $39 minus postage.

VinLew

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#421790 27-Dec-2010 09:44

I didn't post mine until 13 days had passed because I'm lazy like that, and they still accepted, so it seems you have 14 days to post it, not 14 days for it to have arrived to them. If it doesn't make it, claim it's the xmas postage delays and that you sent it within reasonable time :D.

Looking at my eMachines box from the front (the side with the intel logo), I cut the whole left side off the box, and trimmed it down to around the SNID - and the SN/SNID thing screwed me over at first too. On the right side of the box is a huge courier sticker that covers from th EAN down, which I decided to not attempt. I posted the trimmed down SNID in a small envelope to aussie vie airmail (and I squashed it just to make it skinny enough to pass as a thick letter). The staff member at NZ Post in the exchange said it was fine, and I didn't bother paying courier charges.

johnr

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#421791 27-Dec-2010 09:45

joff_nz: Myeh, by the sounds of it my time and effort is not not worth the $39 minus postage.

heavenlywild

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#421792 27-Dec-2010 09:46

I reckon just send it in using a $1.50 envelope and forget about it until you receive that surprise cheque in the mail. I wouldn't spend money sending it via courier to Aussie. Take photos of the documentation in case it goes missing.

nigelj

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#421793 27-Dec-2010 09:46

old3eyes: Is that A$39 or NZ Pesso 39??

NZ$39...

I've had an horror story w/ the Acer cashback scheme a few years ago, brought an LCD TV, it was ex-display but was a model number covered in the cashback promotion, turns out, the company basically sold us a previous model (i.e. 'last year's model') which was not to correct spec per their websites etc.

Acer rejected the cashback et al, ended up taking a month or so, plus a heap of driving around to get both sides sorted out.

That said, a month or so ago, purchased an e-Machine for an Uncle, sent off the forms etc to Australia and got the cashback on time and without fuss, 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).

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