"Complete Savings" scheme

I discovered about complete savings because when I bought a train ticket on First Great Western's website, there was an introductory offer with a month's free membership. They then gave a £15 cashback when buying the next train ticket from FGW, not including the initial purchase used to qualify for the free membership. They also give a regular monthly offer of £10 cashback with train ticket purchases from FGW. The monthly cashback allowance is based on calendar months, and my free month's membership started mid-month so straddled two calendar months. This meant that during the free membership period I got a total of £35 cashback from them on 3 further train ticket purchases (2 of which were in different calendar months). To get this, all I had to do was forward them copies of the confirmation emails from FGW, and they in fact sent the cheques within a week even though they say to allow rather longer. It didn't seem to matter that one of the ticket purchases was for two cheaper tickets totalling £10, or that another one was for travel in a few months' time: both of these qualified for cashback.

If I could be really sure that I would make a £10+ train ticket order every month via FGW (which can of course be for any train company), then it would be a no-brainer to stay subscribed, because I would always recover the membership fee in that cashback offer alone and then I would have other benefits such as the discount at Argos. (Note: I haven't tried to use any benefits other than the FGW cashback itself.) However, I wasn't sure of this, so I decided to cancel just now, just before the end of the free month. There was an 0800 number to phone, which they answered promptly. They cancelled it without fuss, and have told me on the phone that I won't be charged because I cancelled during the free month. They also said that despite my cancelling I will still qualify for benefits for a further month (but after that I will be barred from rejoining for the next 6 months). It's not clear to me whether the benefits I'm still entitled to for another month will include the FGW cashback, but if I do buy another train ticket during early June then I'll try to apply for yet another £10 cashback as there is nothing to lose.

It seems to me that if you take good advantage of the offers then they are a good deal. However, I imagine that they must make a lot of money from people who sign up and then don't get round to using it properly, which is why I cancelled before the same happens to me.

I just bought from Argos and the link to the saving scheme came up showing that to benefit you have 30 days free grace and a monthly fee of £10 afterwards. So I can't say it is missleading or hidden. The saving voucher has been increased to £15 now. As long as you are buying stuff regularly you should save.
:j