Cashback Guide for Dummies

thegoodman

Safe ones are e2save, mobiles and onestopmobileshop, all are care phone warehouse companies so unlikely to go under. Also with them you only need send the invoice for that month. Others make you send all invoices eg if you need to send the 6th bill you will need to send all from 1 to 6. With them all cashback is paid in 18 months even if you have 24 month line.

Dial a phone and phones 4 you is also ok.

If you stick with the big company you will have less chance of going under since it can take 18 to 24 months to receive all cashback.

Quentin

thegoodman wrote: »

Safe ones are e2save, mobiles and onestopmobileshop, all are care phone warehouse companies so unlikely to go under.
Dial a phone and phones 4 you is also ok.

Going "under" is just the least of your worries when dealing with the CPW brands! (Though they have no guarantee to not go under)

They are certainly no "safer" than any other player as far as dealing with you properly over cashback by redemption!!

mobilejunkie

About time for another update, methinks!

Having gone through a choppy period for about 5 months starting towards the end of last year cheques are now arriving thick and fast - and on time. I put the mess down to incompetence, which is nothing new for CPW companies.

HOWEVER, their t&c are still contradictory (the definition of what is "month 1" means that - depending on the order and statement dates - the first claim should be a month sooner in some cases than in general - and more in line with E2Save, which I was given to believe at some point may be due to a merger (someone else on here reported the merger was into one building, but that's different to the version I was given some months ago).

I have recently ordered deals from both Mobiles.co and E2Save (to add to the many I already watch over). In the case of Mobiles.co the claim dates provided were contractictory (to each other for the SAME order) and (in at least one version ) contrary to the t&c at the point of sale - which must ALWAYS be the bible for any cashback deal no matter how much a dealer tries to muddy the waters - and THESE dealers try very hard to do that.

With the Mobiles.co, the correct claim dates as per the BIBLE are the same as most people think they are in all cases. THAT is purely because the first statement/bill will be produced in the month after the order was placed. HOWEVER; whilst the (extremely badly worded) Welcome Pack attached to the order acceptance email was consistent with that, the separate email instruction (very specific to this unique order) specifically instructed the claims to be sent a month earlier than that (which, in other cases, would be correct where the first statement/bill date in the same month as the order). Of course, there is no way mobiles.co could possibly know which month the first bill will be produced in this case (which for reasons obvious to the non-blind I won't go in to) even I though I DO know.

Then there's the oft-quoted on-line dates on the account. These are the same as the Welcome Pack would define (but only in this case for the specific circumstances of this particular order - the details of which they will NOT be aware of, as stated above). HOWEVER, the AMOUNTS of each claim are ludicrously incorrect - and contradict the figures (which ARE correct) at the point of order. I can see some reason WHY they are wrong on the account - but it can only be explained by complete incompetence (again, I won't go into the details for what should be obvious reasons).

E2Save in recent times (unlike some dark days in the past) has been much clearer and straightforward than mobiles.co - but another person on this site incorrectly had a claim denied with them shows that only a fool is complacent with any cashback dealer - AND that CPW can be slippery at best and unscrupulously misleading at the other end of the scale. They have succeeded already to the point where the incorrect denied claim has been supported by people saying they should have sent a later bill. That is clearly not the case, but some people have obviously been completely mislead by the information (not for the first time).

In summary; although you normally can have a smooth ride, simply blindly following ANY information provided by them without actually understanding whether it is correct is asking for trouble. Accepting an incorrectly denied claim will go unpunished if people have misinterpreted the t&c at the point of sale - and some people will be induced to send in a wrong claim altogether (in which case I guarantee they won't pay).

thegoodman

Or you can log into your e2save or mobiles.co.uk account using your order ID and email and print the list of dated invoices you need to send. The account also have a link to send the invoice by post.
The account is updated when invoice is received and paid.
This way you cannot send the wrong invoice without going hard on you.

mobilejunkie

As I have repeatedly said - THAT depends on the information being correct in the first place - and it definitely isn't in every case!

There are NO shortcuts to doing a cashback deal if you want to be sure of getting your money (excepting dealer liquidation). It isn't (or shouldn't be) difficult to grasp; understand, follow and be able to prove you have complied with the t&c at the point of sale - and that the dealer hasn't - or play with financial fire.

Sparepart

Thanks for all the information on this thread, i'm still having a good look through everything but have a question.
I've read people say they avoid porting numbers but does anyone do this successfully when claiming cashback or is it really something to avoid doing?

Thanks in advance.

grumbler

I always port my number, but this does complicate things.
Theoretically you just have to inform the company about porting.
However, with mobiles.co.uk, despite having informed them about this once and having received cashback after this, I started to add the information about the original number to every copy of my bill (with the ported number) I submit. Without this they are likely to lose the claim because...

mobiles._co.uk wrote:

Unfortunately our records show we’ve not yet received your cashback claim for mobile number I]original number[/I .

Guys_Dad

Happy to pay £10ish per month sim-only giving me enough minutes for jaw-ache, sufficient texts for RSI, enough data as I have wifi - and I own my handset outright.

So for the price of 2 tanks of petrol, I get my year's communications and I don't have the hassle (or fun!) of fighting for refunds, or any air-time contract disputes if the handset ceases to function.

The deals ain't what they were.

mobilejunkie

Oh, I don't know about that. Yes, they are harder to find but I'm back up to 9 contracts, which is pretty close to the most I've ever had at any one time. I also find many other benefits; having two mobiles with me at any one time can have its uses - especially when on different networks. One is a VERY good smartphone (free as all my phones are/were) for internet access when out and about. My main one has a battery life of over a week despite being on all the time I'm awake. One has unlimited landline calls (a real bonus since by changing the tariff at the right point it also made me an additional £55 profit on that contract alone). Some of my contracts make me over £100 profit (ignoring the bundles!) - but they are ALL profitable. I also have zero mobile costs for calls, texts and internet use (or landline call costs for that matter, since I don't use that any more for chargeable calls) AND I have lots of very good spare (and unlocked) phones.

That kind of "jaw ache" I can live with!

Besides; it's FUN!!

thegoodman

Sparepart wrote: »

Thanks for all the information on this thread, i'm still having a good look through everything but have a question.
I've read people say they avoid porting numbers but does anyone do this successfully when claiming cashback or is it really something to avoid doing?

Thanks in advance.

You can port the number. Once done log into your account for e2save or mobiles.co.uk and change the number. That's it.
With all cashback offers make sure
1. Have a list of dated bills you need to send. Print the list via your account. List says what month and year dated bills you need to send.
2. Keep a reminder so you can send the bill within a week or so. In case of a mistake you still have some time left.
3. If porting the number change the number in your account as soon as its done. Same day if you can once the number is ported.
4. If you change the address again make sure to update with the cashback company.
5. Read the terms and keep a print out for your reference.
If you follow the steps above everything will be fine