Help needed for the £150 Virgin Cashback

RoboDog

Hello,

I am new to the whole Quidco culture & to be honest, have no idea about the whole cash back concept. I don’t know how it works, whether I am eligible etc. In any case, I don’t want to delve into too much detail regarding that. I just wanted to ask if I would be eligible for cash back in this case.

I have recently signed up for a broadband only (no landline) internet package from Virgin Media. I did this last Sunday (09/08/2009) & it is due to be installed next week. They have started a direct debit from my bank account. The monthly amount is £15 for the first three months & £20 thereafter. I can cancel this without any additional costs as long as it is before my installation date.

My problem is now how to acquire the cash back. I went to the Quidco website & went to the link “click here to visit this merchant & earn cash back.” This redirects me to the special offers section of the virgin website. I then proceed to the Broaddband section & select the package that I want (identical to the one I chose before). Then I enter my postcode & get the following message –

You may be able to get some cable services
It looks like you're in an 'analogue' area which means that you can get some of our great services, like fibre optic broadband, TV and home phone.
Want to find out exactly what's available?
Our team will be able to tell you all the details. Just call 0845 840 7777.
Ordering with us is easy. Just have these handy when you call:
· Your bank account details - to set up your Direct Debit
· Your BT account details - if you'd like to take our phone service, you can normally keep your current home phone number, if you want to
· Your diary - we'll come around to your home to install your services, so you'll need to pick a day that suits you
· Your email address - we'll email you to confirm all the details

I can not proceed to enter the contract online but have to call them. When I did call them, they had no idea about Quidco or the cash back deal. Please tell me what I should do? This cash back would be really amazing & I really want it. Please tell me how I should Go about getting it?

Thank you for your time & I appreciate any help on this.

Cheers,

deklan99

Afraid you've had it, "For genuine tracked transactions completed wholly online...."

HairY

The 'cashback' you get through Quidco (and other cashback sites) isn't a 'send your receipt to us and claim a partial refund' type rebate where you can claim back money on things you've already bought through traditional means.

Essentially cashback sites are referral schemes - in this case you can only get the £150 cashback if you actually order a 12 month Virgin cable contract through Quidco by clicking through from your Quidco account and making the purchase.

Your only real hope would be to cancel your installation and contract with Virgin and then reorder through Quidco, but the offer is for new Virgin customers only and you probably will not be eligible now you have already entered into a contract with them

Sorry mate

deklan99

HairY got there first, was going to add you could look into cancelling existing contract and starting again. AFAIK since the service hasn't started yet you should still be in the cooling off period. You will need to check Virgin's terms and conditions.
You never know they might just bung you a discount if you threaten to leave anyway.

RoboDog

But I can cancel my contract....I can do so before the installation date (19th).
My problem is this -

I made a Quidco account, but when I click on the link “click here to visit this merchant & earn cash back,” it redirects me to the special offers section of the virgin media website. I then proceed to the Broaddband section & select the package that I want (identical to the one I chose before). Then I enter my postcode & get the message that is stated in my 1st post. I have to call them to order my account.

Cancelling my old account is not an issue as its not been installed yet. I confirmed this with a Virgin employee. My problem is setting up the new account through Quidco.

Please help chaps, thanks!

HairY

Just tried it on the Virgin website with my post code. Said I lived in a 'fibre optic' cable area and there was a yellow continue button underneath the availability summary box.

It sucks but unless you can order online you're very unlikely to get the cashback (Now only £130 at TCB, still £150 at Quidco)

Anon

Cancelling the existing contract may not be an issue as it is not installed and is within the cooling off period - however, now that you are on the computer system, you may not be a "new customer" (in the sense that you/your address will be on the computer system somewhere).

The other issue that you are having is a Computer Says No problem - well known with Virgin Media! The online system is not recognising your address as being within a cabled area (I know, they agreed to supply you so it must be .. we had the same problem when we moved in and it took months for them to finally agree that it was possible, when there was a cable next to our front door and the computer still said it wasn't possible!).

You would need to contact them and ask them to update their online system to be able to apply online - if you apply offline you will not get any cashback (even assuming that your previous application does not cancel the cashback). It is always annoying to spot a better deal after you have signed up, but it may nto be possible to recover this.

It is not surprising that the Virgin employee does not know about cashback - this is provided through an affiliate marketing scheme and therefore most employees (and the company's normal customer services) will not deal with it and probably won't know about it.

Good luck

Anon

deklan99

I get to the package page and ignore the "what services can you get" bit for postcode and just add my choice to basket.
Might just be a case of trial and error. You can always start again before you get to the end and delete cookies etc. before trying - http://www.quidco.com/help/119#bestpractices

RoboDog

That sounds like good news. Thanks Anon.
Here is what I can do.
I will cancel my current contract.
I will call them & ask them to update their systems so that my address shows up as a valid one & I can proceed to enter the new contract online.
If need be, I will ask my flatmate to make the new contract in his name so that mine will not be duplicated.

Does all that sound feasable?

Thanks again chaps,
Cheers

HairY

Sounds like it might work.

RoboDog

One more thing I would like to add -

I know for a fact that the building that I live in does NOT support Digital TV (Sky, Virgin etc.). However, the internet issue is not a problem. Virgin, Sky, BT etc. all supply internet connections to the building. Would this come into consideration/be a problem when they update their website?