Are 'cashback' offers safe?

hilspars

Got LG phone for my daughter with cashback and so far has worked out ok.
Just remember to print out the cashback claim forms at the beginning and fill the general details in like order reference number , full yearly amount and installment amount. I would do this at the start because the figure that they quote you varies slightly from the actual amount you spend. Therefore if you forget and then put a wrong figure in, then you give them grounds to reject claim or charge an admin fee.
Work out exactly the installment dates and pin them with your cashback forms and write in your diary. Remember that you need to send in the statement that shows you were connected on that date so it will be the next statement after that date. Also send them in promptly as some have time limits which are quite tight if your statement is late. Send register post as proof.
Sounds complicated but quite straight forward after the initial work and well worth the refunds.

Need_More_Money_2

hilspars wrote: »

Got LG phone for my daughter with cashback and so far has worked out ok.
Just remember to print out the cashback claim forms at the beginning and fill the general details in like order reference number , full yearly amount and installment amount. I would do this at the start because the figure that they quote you varies slightly from the actual amount you spend. Therefore if you forget and then put a wrong figure in, then you give them grounds to reject claim or charge an admin fee.
Work out exactly the installment dates and pin them with your cashback forms and write in your diary. Remember that you need to send in the statement that shows you were connected on that date so it will be the next statement after that date. Also send them in promptly as some have time limits which are quite tight if your statement is late. Send register post as proof.
Sounds complicated but quite straight forward after the initial work and well worth the refunds.

Is this with phoneboxdirect?

On the form, where it says "Cash Back Amount", do you usually put the total amount (for the whole year) or the amount of the individual installment. I've seen elsewhere that some people write both

HugoSP

Good grief!

Other companies make it sooo difficult to get the claims back!

I say stick with Dialaphone or, as others have recommended - Car Phone Wharehouse.

I'll quote you the gist of my casback conditions.

"Redemption Claim 1

For your claim to be valid you must send us, by post, your original bill that is dated between 11 Oct 2007 and 11 Nov 2007. (Please refer to the actual bill date rather than the bill period). This must be received by us between 11 Nov 2007 and 11 Dec 2007."

Now, I ask you - what could be simple than that?

• No forms to fill in
• You send back the original bill (I copy it for my own records and send the original back)
• You get a text message and an email to confirm receipt and that it has been processed.
• You can also track them via DAPs website once this is set up.
• There is nothing to disqualify you from further claims if one is missed

I send the claims via the PO signed for service. The receipt is then tracked via Dialaphones system. Once I didn't get confirmation so they tracked it at their offices by the tracking number and agreed that my claim was valid - and paid it. No arguements.

Need_More_Money_2

HugoSP wrote: »

Good grief!

Other companies make it sooo difficult to get the claims back!

I say stick with Dialaphone or, as others have recommended - Car Phone Wharehouse.

Presumably though, the cashbacks are higher on the other sites, but you take a greater risk of not getting your money. Phoneboxdirect have the LG U600 on a 12 months free line rental. Had a quick look at dialaphone and they don't seem to have that.

HugoSP

Need_More_Money wrote: »

Presumably though, the cashbacks are higher on the other sites, but you take a greater risk of not getting your money. Phoneboxdirect have the LG U600 on a 12 months free line rental. Had a quick look at dialaphone and they don't seem to have that.

No they don't - you're right.

However:

The risk of DAP not paying out for whatever reason is much less
With some deals you can get a 12 month average line rental for £15 per month with the U600, before you deduct either the quidco or you at work cashback. Quidco would bring the cost down to £10 per month. If you were already a DAP customer you could get another £20 for recommending yourself. This would bring the cost down to £100 for the whole year with either the O2 deal or the T mobile Flext Tarrif
DAP pay out within a couple of weeks every time, rather than taking 45 days
DAP actively work with you to resolve cashback problems rather than put obstacles in your way.
The saving in the hassle is worth the extra £15 per month. I earn more than that in an hours work. Even if people do everything they're supposed to there are stories of people spending time chasing up cashbacks.
I feel that for me DAP strikes up a good balance between a real cash saving and little hassle.

Need_More_Money_2

HugoSP wrote: »

No they don't - you're right.

However:

The risk of DAP not paying out for whatever reason is much less
With some deals you can get a 12 month average line rental for £15 per month with the U600, before you deduct either the quidco or you at work cashback. Quidco would bring the cost down to £10 per month. If you were already a DAP customer you could get another £20 for recommending yourself. This would bring the cost down to £100 for the whole year with either the O2 deal or the T mobile Flext Tarrif
DAP pay out within a couple of weeks every time, rather than taking 45 days
DAP actively work with you to resolve cashback problems rather than put obstacles in your way.
The saving in the hassle is worth the extra £15 per month. I earn more than that in an hours work. Even if people do everything they're supposed to there are stories of people spending time chasing up cashbacks.
I feel that for me DAP strikes up a good balance between a real cash saving and little hassle.

I agree with you but the point is, to get more back you take more risk (like most things). I've only done OSPS before and they may it fairly difficult but it worked ok for me and I got a completely free phone. Worth it for me because I would never spend even £15/month on PAYG

HugoSP

Need_More_Money wrote: »

I agree with you but the point is, to get more back you take more risk (like most things). I've only done OSPS before and they may it fairly difficult but it worked ok for me and I got a completely free phone. Worth it for me because I would never spend even £15/month on PAYG

Fair comment. Each to their own.

TBH I'm really glad it worked for you. I like to see people work the system to benefit in this way. I did look at a u600 deal that someone had linked to here. Basically I was looking at committing to some £500 per phone in the 12 month period, and relying on the company offering it not going bust in the meantime. Whereas DAP to my mind has a good track record and I know I'll be splashing out some net of £120 per year per line.

For me it works because I use my mobile phone almost exlusively to dial out whether or not I am at home or not. Althougth I don't have the u600, which looks to be a very good phone BTW, I am very happy with a tarrif that costs a net of £10 per month with my Nokia 5300. I get 600 mins a month, as opposed to 200 mins that were on the u600 with DAP if I don't use the texts, which I tend to use around 5 per month if that.

The landline gets used for 0800, 0870, 0871 and 0845 numbers that cost more from the mobile.

The saving we get from the reduced landline usage works out to around £50 per month. That pays for 2 line rentals.

I use most of my monthly allowance, whereas my wife usually uses around 1/3rd of hers. My children then call their friends from her mobile to save landline costs and use most of the rest of her allowance. I know that you can get free evening and weekend calls by paying BT extra, but at the moment it's not economic for us to pay it. The last bill we had showed that both lines had less than 100 mins remaining on the allowance at the end of the bill cycle, so we're getting good VFM out of them.

After 6 months I have the option of chaning the T Mobile tarrif. If I choose I could change the wife's down to 200 mins/400 texts on the flex 25 and save £10 per month. Then that line would theoretically cost me some £60 for the whole year.

Dialaphone once did me a very good deal with 3 and I took 2 lines out. It was the Motorola C975 working out at £2.99 per month with 500 mins and 100 texts. Unfortunately at the time I didn't know about quidco or you at work, otherwise they would have been paying me to have the phone

Very often I don't care much about the phone I get. My main priority is to keep the costs down and go through a retailer that keeps the process easy for me to administrate. However I have to say that the C975 was absolute pants! Although it performed its basic function I had to send it back for repair 3 times in the year I had it.

The last time it went back for repair was a day before the guarantee and the contract expired. It was absolutely scratched up etc as my phones generally suffer this fate. They took it in for repair and ended u replacing it with a brand new one. I got it unlocked and sold it on e bay for about £40 by bundling in some free sims!

The other one I had got needed a software reboot and it too was sent back under the guarantee. When it came back it had a later SW version installed and James, who is on this forum, couldn't unlock it as a result. As 3 had returned it to me minus the bung for the headphone socket I complained and they offered me £10 by way of an apology. I accepted that and then sold it to Mopay for £15.

Ching_Ching

Need_More_Money wrote: »

Does anyone have a copy of the cashback claim form for phoneboxdirect that they could email to me (or post a link to)? Please PM me if you have.
I ordered a phone from them and they say it was in the email order confirmation, but I definitely didn't receive a confirmation email. They are going to post one to me, but I'd rather get one by email if possible, so if anyone has one that would be most useful

Thanks in advance

I've pasted in this link direct from my confirmation email:


" Please go to https://secure.phoneboxdirect.com/201cashbackclaim.pdf to download your Cashback Claim Form. "

Ching_Ching

antatoo

Need_More_Money wrote: »

The phoneboxdirect terms and conditions state "Your name, address, mobile number and tariff must be shown on the bill, we will not authorise any claim where this information is missing or the bill has money outstanding. We therefore recommend that you pay your bills on time and do not cancel or take a summary itemised bill from the network."

Does anyone know if this means you have to pay for itemised billing. The phone I am looking at is on Vodafone and it says optional itemised billing at £1.50 per month. Surely a non itemised bill would still show all the details required.

Yes your right, an ordinary bill has all the info you need on it, but if anyone is thinking of going through phoneboxdirect I would advise........ DON'T!
I'm sure there are a few people that have managed to get some money back, but they make it as difficult as possible and i'd like to find out how many people they have actually ripped off (you're welcome to reply if this is you).

If anyone is still thinking of trying it, here's a few golden rules you have to follow:-

1. They don't send any paperwork through the post so make sure you copy and save your contract and terms and conditions when you sign up with them.

2. Save the first email they send you because it includes the claim form and a ref number that you can't claim without.

3. If you port your number over, they ask you to also send your first bill with proof of porting on. Which in some cases, as mine with Orange, is more difficult than it sounds, as they dont mention the porting on your bill and you have to contact them yourself and pay extra to have a letter sent, proving this (which takes up valuable claiming time if you leave it too late).

4. Finally work out your claim dates at the start and make note in your diary, phone, calender etc. Whatever works for you.

If anyone can think of anything else, please add them as it'd be good if we could beat these rip off merchants at their own game.

But as people have said before, its better to go with one of the other sites that are more reputable.
I have had my refused claim looked at by Trading Standards, and it seems that they can get out of paying the whole claim because my claim only reached their PO box by the date they stated and not themselves!
The fact that they state that PO box as their claim address and don't give you another address, doesn't seem to matter!

antatoo

BTW phoneboxdirect and coolnewmobile is the same company.I think they own others too so watch out!