Claiming cashback

Savrona

I went through Top Cashback to apply for faster broadband with Talk Talk which should have given me £90 cashback. After I had completed the process I noticed that I didn't receive the usual confirmation email from Top Cashback. I contacted customer services and they said my claim would be put forward after 30 days. In the end Talk Talk refused to give me the cashback and customer services mentioned something about cookies and other stuff I assume to blind me with technology. However, when I initially made the claim through customer services the actual date that I went through Top Cashback came up automatically in a little window showing the exact times of day that I went online, so it was tracked. It is at the discretion of companies to give cashback but I feel I have been fobbed off and I have no recourse to claim the money. I am sure that this is not uncommon and it means that you are at the mercy of big organisations and £90 is not a small sum. I won't be doing utilities for cashback again as I no longer trust the process. If there were some technological fault it was not by fault.

powerful_Rogue

Cashback is never guaranteed, so always look at it as a bonus.

Obviously don't not do it in future, just don't factor the potential cashback into the figure.

mattyprice4004

Every TopCashback page warns of this before you click through - it’s not guaranteed.

There’s no point just not doing it though - 99% of the time it works fine, you’ve just been unlucky. 

DoaM

Have you tried complaining via TT's forum? An OCE (Online Community Executive) there may be able to help. (Make sure your forum profile there is updated to include your home phone number ... if you don't include it then the OCE will ask you to do it before they can help).

Hasbeen

Savrona said:

 In the end Talk Talk refused to give me the cashback and customer services mentioned something about cookies and other stuff I assume to blind me with technology.

If there were some technological fault it was not by fault.

Cookies should always be cleared before making a purchase.
 If not even though TCB have a record, the site you are purchasing from might not, so no record at their end, no cashback.
As stated cashback is not guaranteed and not getting it should be factored in to any purchases.

eddddy

Savrona said:

In the end Talk Talk refused to give me the cashback and customer services mentioned something about cookies and other stuff I assume to blind me with technology. However, when I initially made the claim through customer services the actual date that I went through Top Cashback came up automatically in a little window showing the exact times of day that I went online, so it was tracked. 

The bottom line is that cookie technology isn't 100% reliable.

And there are ways that you can inadvertently 'mess up' the cookies, and so lose your cashback. For example, by having 2 browser windows open, and...

• In browser window 1, you go to Topcashback and click through to TalkTalk's website
• Then you switch to browser window 2, you click on a Google Ad that takes you through to TalkTalk's website
• Then you switch back to browser window 1, (the one where you came from Topcashback) to complete your purchase

You expect your purchase to be allocated to Topcashback, but it's more likely that the purchase will be allocated to the Google Ad - so you won't get your cashback.