Cashback Guide for Dummies

mobilejunkie

No doubt someone will appear on this site sometime in the next two or three weeks to make people of aware of it, but Cashback Deals - The Return is here. There are several free deals (not just nearly free) from at least 3 or 4 different companies now - and the networks appear to be driving it, since the deals are also on at least 3 or 4 different networks. The last time that happend can be measured in years rather than months.

Unfortunately none of these deals is with what I would regard as a reputable dealer - simply because (at present) there's no such thing. Even Phones4u have shot down recently in my estimation and I have refrained from ordering one of these deals from them as a direct result. I also reduced my profit by nearly £18 by jumping a short time before the deals turned completely free - and am supping with the devil as usual for it.

Anyone seeing these deals should stop and read my guide, all the threads on this site regarding the particular dealer the t&c VERY carefully. Weigh up the risks (not just of doing it wrong, but the likelihood that the dealer will still be around to sue if they "ask" you to!) and cover yourself by following this guide every step of the way. I am now up to 8 concurrent contracts spread across various dealers and networks and looking to expand back to those good old days... fortunately, I'm up for it when they try it on and am always ready to accommodate their unpsoken desire to sometimes make me sue.

Tally ho!

dogdog99

Beepy website always redirects to affordablemobiles.co.uk (sister company) now... hope everyone has a copy of the original beepy T&C you've signed to coz you've nothing to refer back to no more!

mobilejunkie

The Affordable Mobiles has slightly better t&c - though it won't affect people who bought from Beepy. My continuing experience of this company (Shebang) still necessitates me warning people to avoid them. I had hoped I would be able to be a little more postive by now but I'm afraid I cannot! Use this dealer at your peril and DEFINITELY follow ALL the groundrules from day 1 if you want any chance of getting the cashback.

grumbler

mobilejunkie wrote: »

It's complicated. For example:- you will know WHEN you claim, but you are quite likely to be submitting the wrong bill. You have to look ahead to the final claim; it is also likely to be after the contract ends - which is specifically contrary to a successful claim. However, that may lead you to discover the wrong bill issue. Never take instructions at face value; if they are incomplete (as these are) you need to cover every possible loophole.

grumbler wrote: »

Thanks. I'll have a closer look.

(Taken from a conversation about Dial-a-Phone in some other thread)

After a closer look I see that

• I have to send my claims "on or after the 9th" at the given months,
• I have to enclose "the most recent bill",
• the bills are issued on the 11th.

I may be wrong, but I don't see any ambiguity here. If I don't send on the 9th and receive the next bill at the time of sending the claim, I can enclose 2 bills just in case.
Am I missing anything?

• The final claim has to be submitted "on or after the 09 ..."
• The contract renewal date is 08 of the same month.

Again, this seems to be pretty clear. On the 9th I can send the last month bill. If I send later, I can send both the final and the penultimate bills.
Correct?

mobilejunkie

You could be. You may have it totally wrong. The problem with issuing sparse and hidden terms and conditions is that it can trip you up - but it can also trip them up, as I am finding. I'm not going to give too much detail, but in my case the claim windows were after the bill date each month - and also after the original order and connection date. Put simply, my latest bill would be produced after the contract has ended and my claim window is also after - which actually breaks one of their inadequate t&c. Whilst challenging the fact that their own t&c therefore make it impossible to comply they have magically produced something totally against what their so-called t&c state. The bill I am supposed to claim with will not necessarily be the most recent AND will already be nearly a month old before I can submit it. This is rather different from the proper t&c which Phones4 employed though an apparent attempt to emulate them.

Shall I go on? Ok; the claim window dates have now mysteriously shifted so they aren't the same as on the sheet which came with the phone. Not actually mysterious - it's their way (no doubt) of avoiding the original problem/issue. From what you have written it is possible that you wouldn't have the same situation - but you'd need to think that through.

The point of all this is simple; never take things at face value, always think the whole contract, claims process and full t&c through right at the start - and, really, BEFORE you order - and this outfit makes that impossible to do. However, there are other things absent in their t&c which don't help them. At the end of the day, "most recent" may not mean "most recent" BUT it is very specific - there is (for your information) only ONE bill which could possibly be used to claim - and it is possible that the bill required is not one of the two you expect (because in my case the rules of the game have been shifted and to my advantage in some ways).

Of course, if you can follow the t&c to the letter AND you don't have a problem with your last claim (as most will) it matters not what they invent later. As always, if they don't pay, make them. However, if the t&c would clearly lead to a situation where you cannot comply with them without breaking what was offered in the first place it doesn't say much for their intelligence or attitude to those t&c.

I am content NOW that I can deal with whatever they may throw at me; but what I have ended up with in the claims process is rather different than 1) what the t&c indicated beforehand and (more importantly) 2) the specific instructions which came with the phone.

Of course, it doesn't help (them) that cpw used to intentionally play games by changing their t&c on a whim and then not even complying with them when they had; I am quite used to such attempts to muddy the waters, put hurdles in the way and stall. CPW is doing that now and I am taking the appropriate and immediate action to change their minds, just as I had to do with two other merchants fairly recently. The real difference is that with all other dealers/contracts (and I've had a LOT!) the t&c were quite wriggle-free at the outset - Dialaphone's and totally inadequate.

Game on!

mobilejunkie

For some time now this dealer has improved. Lately, however, there have been a few signs of concern. One in particular is something which they have come up with which I can honestly say I've not encountered before (except in one instance with another dealer in a rather different form over a year ago).

To protect myself and those I ride shotgun over I cannot go into detail. It won't cause me any real problem - but only because I HAVE followed the groundrules. Had I not, it almost certainly would.

It will have to suffice to say that you MUST follow the groundrules and not slip into complacency with this (or in fact any) dealer. Cashback t&c have been far more forgiving since the regulatory authorities took a hand a while back; not entirely a good thing in certain ways, but it means the careless have a better chance of muddling through. However, this is still a game with your money at stake and their cards; just make quite certain you know exactly what cards you are holding and how to play them - because if you don't throw it away you always have an ace and it's quite possible you may need to use it at some point if they start cheating!

sveika

I am thinking of taking a contract from affordablemobiles.co.uk but become wary after reading this...

mobilejunkie

If it's cashback make sure you know exactly what you're doing, follow every single ground rule from the start and take immediate action if anything goes wrong. After taking such action at the earliest stage I've ever had to take it with any dealer (and getting within 2 days of instigating legal procedings within the first few weeks of the contract) I haven't had any problems. However, had I not followed the groundrules to the letter I may have been left high and dry.

I would use them again - as I am another dealer I regard as higher risk purely because of their size - but I would be accepting the risk and covering myself at every point in the process. I would take my people to other places before exposing them to this one and if I did take them there they would fully understand the potential risk.

sveika

Many thanks mobilejunkie. Do you think buymobilesphones.net may be slightly safer than affordablemobiles.co.uk? I have used mobiles.co.uk in the last 18 months and the cashback went well. It's a pity that I couldn't really find decent cashback plans from them this time.

mobilejunkie

I am using all of these dealers. In my experience, BMP are far less likely to try it on. However, I am also loath to take my people there because they are a smaller outfit and therefore higher risk. In addition, last year there were two or three periods where they paid late - and they have just done that once more according to reports on here. That is (to me) both worrying and unacceptable - even more so when they allow themselves an age to pay in the first place. Their claims procedures are more cumbersome but they do pay direct into your bank account. I've only needed to use the big stick once and it was enough to produce the appropriate outcome - though in all fairness it wasn't a lack of normal cashback payment which I was insisting upon and with the same issue it took a LOT longer to force Mobiles.co to cough up (though they did just before I was going to sue).

People using these dealers should go in with their eyes wide open and not complain if the dealer does turn under the water. As long as they are swimming up the right way AND you follow all the groundrules you can take them to the cleaners if required.