Cashback Guide for Dummies

When it gives out too much useful information!

The dealers are now changing their t&c and the ways they "interpret" them almost on a daily basis. I try to adapt and ensure my claims are as safe as possible - and I do the same for my own small group of friends and family (hate to think what would happen to their cashbacks if I went under a bus tomorrow...!). HOWEVER, I simply will not tell SOME things to people generally for one VERY good reason - make that two. Or perhaps even three! 1) The dealers are now obviously and constantly trying to trip people up to STOP them getting their money. When people adapt accordingly THEY will in turn try to stop such adaptations by tightening the screw some more. And they've already done that quite successfully in the last four months - ALL of them!! 2) If EVERYONE is successful there won't BE any 12 month free deals for anyone - especiallly yours truly! In other words, by helping everyone else to the fullest extent (not possible anyway because I'm already VERY stretched on here nowadays!) I am actually harming my own situation. So I WILL help, but there are limits - physical and otherwise! 3) I give 100% attention to my own claims and those of my little "group". Because of the way things work nowdays and the number of claims we need to make each month (about 8 on average!) that takes a certain amount of thought and care. Whilst I fully accept that and will give it/them my all, I cannot do the same for the increasing numbers of "everyone else". Thus, when individuals ask for my help and throw dates/claims/t&c etc at me I DO try and help to a degree, BUT I can't give their particular problem/situation the SAME level of care, attention and thought which I do to my own people and contracts. It just ain't possible!! Thus it is easier for me to make mistakes AND by giving too many little tactics away in my guide I harm them too! Basically, I've also noticed that many people have increasingly different problems and a very detailed guide can in itself end up misleading them as a result.

It is crazy that every day there are new people coming on here, often starting yet another thread, who have got ALL the basics wrong, just purchased from the worst companies of all and then asking the SAME old questions. Well, as time goes by if they haven't at least done the basics which I've bothered to put on this thread I'm afraid they won't get a lot of sympathy from me. I'm not the only one - I sometimes see a few other more knowledgeable people on here giving short shrift to those types of questions!

I spent over a year reading in detail all the relevant threads on here BEFORE I got my first ever contract OR actually joined. Even then it was another year before I did join and post my first comment - incensed at that moment by some of the garbage being written by one of the dealer representatives on here. In fact, I can only remember ever asking one actual question for my own benefit during my time on here (it's quite possible I'm mistaken, but it's true as far as I can recall). I spend most of my time now answering them or warning people about things I can see approaching. I think it's fair that with all the time I invested and knowledge and experience I've acquired I should be able expect people to put SOME effort into this themselves BEFORE they get sucked in - don't you??

Things have never changed so fast as now.

E2Save have been writing t&c for contracts which have (in fact) been running for well over six months in an attempt to mould them into their "new" way of doing things. Claim months are being altered, claim addresses changed (but then again not!), post never arrives and customers are left wondering whether their claims have been received (according to cpw rather than Royal Mail) and/or will be paid. Now the postal strike seems to be drawing to a close and the last week's stagnation is over I expect the first lot of valid claims to be rejected under the so-called "price-match" t&c to start arriving. Of course, I COULD be wrong (and I reckon only 50% will be unjustly declined along with all the remaining cashback claims in those cases) since they are making the rules up as they go along now. The t&c are still causing enormous confusion - not helped when people don't even seem to understand WHICH t&c they are on.

Then there are the other dealers; taking longer and longer to pay, increasingly creative in their excuses when forced and changing their deals according to whether they need a short-term cash injection to pay existing customers or have breathing space to actually sell deals where they make an honest buck. Honest is a rarity now though.

On the other side we have the great crusade; rival dealers who can't compete (or who get tarred with the same dishonest brush through no fault of their own) striving to stop the competition by banning cash-back deals entirely AND the disgruntled customers who have either been ripped off on a sometimes massive scale (self-inflicted) or lost out because they went into the deals far too lightly and came unstuck (own fault) who are demanding recompense from every organisation in the industry which has a name (or giving them names they'd rather not have!) and call for regulation which will inevitably destroy all cashback deals in their current format. Of course, dishonest dealers will still rip people off but in different ways - and with worse deals for everyone.

I now advise people NOT to take out cash-back deals unless they really, REALLY understand how they work AND are prepared to keep a close and very regular eye on everything. My groundrules have never been more crucial!

Sad times indeed!

Whether highly ambiguous terms and conditions can be viewed as a dirty trick is debatable. It actually must be quite difficult to write them in such a way as to make them perfectly clear to everyone. Writing them is also dangerous for the dealer; any determined customer can hold them to something should they slip up. However, recently a number of decidedly dirty tricks have been surfacing - so I think my guide should perhaps have a little section on them.

Being aware of the fact that these are being used - and particularly aware of the increasingly common ones - can assist anyone with a cashback deal avoid the effects. It is MUCH more difficult to shut the door after the horse has bolted and the dealer's got you by the short and curlies - mixed metaphor?! Lol!

SO; here we go:-

Trick 1) Claim was never received. Prevention; unless there's a fall-back position (i.e. a definite second chance to re-send in reasonable time etc.) ALWAYS send AT LEAST recorded (if not special) delivery. There's an ongoing debate about whether Special is necessary. Although I never use it I can see that it reduces the risk - but it also increases the cost, of course. Then again - there's a LOT of money at stake - yours!

Trick 2) Sorry - there's a page missing. Prevention; you must take as many steps as possible to prove beyond reasonable doubt that you DID include everything. Photocopy each and every page, preferably with the recorded delivery slip and envelope next to them. Staple them all together and copy the pages spread out sufficiently to show they were all attached. Photograph them set out neatly on the table or floor. You could video yourself putting them in the envelope (if you have at least three hands) and where you can get a witness to what you put in the envelope and then seal that in front of them.

Trick 3) Change the terms and conditions 3 - 8 months into the contract and ask for something which wasn't included in them originally. Prevention; don't just order the phone and worry about claiming later. DO print out the terms and condition at the time and keep them somewhere safe. Never bin anything you receive from the company. NEVER concede that you accept or must accept the changed t&c - but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to comply with them anyway.

Trick 4) Don't tell customers precisely WHAT they need to make a claim - OR perhaps how long they get to - until AFTER they get the phone. There are AT LEAST two dealers who do this. Psychologically, they know that once someone HAS the phone they are most unlikely to return it over such "trivia". Personally, if i only have 14 days from the date of each bill to claim without forfeiting ALL the cashback I think I'd rather know that BEFOREHAND! Prevention; DO your research. Make certain you KNOW (written) everything you might possibly need or want to know about how these deals work BEFOREHAND. If you want, make a checklist (might do that myself on here sometime!) to ensure you HAVE found everything out beforehand. If there's something you still don't know it is MUCH better to realise it and make a balanced decision than go blindly ahead and find out later. Again, RESEARCH, TIME and GREAT CARE are indespensible if you want to be one of those 44 (or less) people in every 100 in my example previously who DO actually GET their cashback later!

Trick 5) Delay, delay, delay! Have lots of "stages" each claim has to go through before it eventually gets paid (OR rejected). THAT way the dealer's cashflow improves if they eventually pay and (if they don't) by the time you find out they're not going to it's too late to correct any error they may SAY you made. If they delay things long enough you may die before they have to pay you (or they might!). The way things are you could well be half-way through your next contract before they pay up. Meanwhile they will pay those who shout the most - using your money! Prevention; decide at the outset how much you will accept in terms of delays and excuses. The feedback on here should give you a very clear idea as to how likely (and how long!) delays are going to be and what excuses may be expected to be given. The common ones range from "computer problems" to "lots of claims coming in so there's a back-log". However, draw a line in the sand and have your strategy ready. Two or three emails - polite and conciliatory - if you suspect they are going to extend timescales (sometimes it's very easy to pick that up well before they exceed them!), then something firmer. Decide exactly WHEN to send a Letter Before Action. This will give them x days to pay you before you make a claim on Moneyclaim (another topic!). Send it, then make a claim immediately if no cheque arrives. From their point of view, they KNOW most people will wait MONTHS before they seriously consider this - and most will NEVER do it. Why WOULD they pay people then? They will stretch things out as long as you let them. If you DO file a claim and they offer to pay - but possibly not the court fee. NEVER accept that (unless your insurance company is happy to pay it instead of you should you have legal expenses!).

I will add other tricks at a later date, but this is a start. Of course, I have touched on most of them before in my initial guide, but so many keep getting the basics wrong I feel that there's no harm in stating them again - and why the groundrules ARE so vital. Flout them at your peril!