Beware TCB/Quidco - they can direct to more expensive versions of the same website!!

Lady_K

melbell wrote: »

Well they have to pay the cashback site. Its a bit wrong to get discount and cashback. Its like you want the company to go bankrupt.

Well its a bit of a con in a way, if they don't want to give cashback why mislead the customer by upping the cost if they go through a cashbsck site and charge less if they go direct. It would be more straight forward and honest if they just did not go on the cashback site at all. If I found anyplace doing this in the future I would not purchase the item or product at all, I would go elsewhere.
They are just staying on the cashback sites because more people are using them and they don't want to miss out on reaching customers but getting the customer to pay for it anyway

terra_ferma

Lady_K wrote: »

Well its a bit of a con in a way, if they don't want to give cashback why mislead the customer by upping the cost if they go through a cashbsck site and charge less if they go direct. It would be more straight forward and honest if they just did not go on the cashback site at all. If I found anyplace doing this in the future I would not purchase the item or product at all, I would go elsewhere.
They are just staying on the cashback sites because more people are using them and they don't want to miss out on reaching customers but getting the customer to pay for it anyway

agree, nobody is forcing them to give cashback, it's a marketing ploy to get more business from people believing they get a better deal, why they actually get ripped off.

gorgirl

I agree - it is a con especially if the discount you get via the cashback site is less than the deal they are offering on their own website. It penalises people who are just trying to save themselves money.

gorgirl

I really hope it's not true about travel websites, what a depressing thought!

billyboychrisd

Very true, I discovered it last week when booking a hotel.

One hotel chain gave me a deal of £460, but this shot upto £480 when going through topcashback.

Nearly £35 of cashback gave me a better deal overall though, as long as it arrives.

It is a bogus marketing technique, but would we expect anything better?

BargainGalore

I have often wondered about if its case with comparison sites too like gocompare and confused. Every time I used them to get quote using same info, cleaning cookies then go via cashback its changed in price, it would be interesting its its the same when doing it without either. The thing with insurance is they can be very slow payers. I been waiting 6 months now and still no sign as its still on hold with tcb until end of month and then another long pause for payment.

It would be interesting if some research was done on this and whether cashback sites do offer a better deal, I am sure there are many cases they do but there seems to be a lot of false offers/deals on when you shop even without using a cashback site

Jennifer_Jane

I've been using Quidco for years now, and I think I've only found this to happen once. It may well not be the cashback site's fault, but rather the Affiliate or the supplier.

I'm pretty pro-Quidco (and TCB, but I personally prefer Quidco), but have truly only found this happen once. I just didn't go with that Company. Insurance does tend to pay slowly, but the benefits are also worth waiting for.

I always start off with writing down the Insurance company cashback levels, clear cookies, and then go on to the comparison sites, so I do check whether this happens pretty thoroughly.

Stompa

With insurance I tend to go to the insurance site (directly), and save the quote (most seem to allow you to do that) which is typically then valid for 30 days or so. Then go back to the site (via TCB or QuidCo), retrieve the previously saved quote, and purchase.

TopCashBack_Company_Representative

Hi all,

This thread has been bought to my attention, and I thought it would perhaps be helpful for me to get involved in this discussion.

Firstly, thank you @gorgirl for highlighting this issue.

After clicking through from our site, the prices you see should be exactly the same as if you have gone direct to the merchant. Cashback should be seen as an added incentive for making everyday purchases at standard prices.

Sometimes, different prices can be provided (going through our site against going through another site) because a merchant may have a deal with another incentivised site, whereby they quote a lower figure to people coming through from that site, and unfortunately, there is nothing we can really do about this.

However, prices should be exactly the same through us as if you had gone direct to the merchant. Any merchant working with TopCashBack adding extra costs for using our service, would be investigated, if we are notified, in line with our Fair Play Policy.

Having tried this myself, I can see that the prices quoted by Red Letter Days for the advertised ‘Spa Breaks’ are different when you go direct to the merchant, and when you click through via a Top Cashback account.

A member of our Sales team is aware of this issue, and this will be investigated. I apologise for any inconvenience this may cause you in the meantime.

Kind regards

Rachael
Top Cashback Support

Skoorb

Yup!

This happens with Canadian Affair (they do cheap direct flights to Canada). The prices through a cashback link are higher by an amount equal to or slightly higher than without the cashback!