topic Re: What should I do about Ebates? in Community Chat

What should I do about Ebates?

Tuppermore — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 15:04:33 GMT

I am very frustrated and decided that maybe someone has a better option. I have been a member of Ebates for a couple of years. Everything was fine until last summer. I have had my Cash Back account mysteriously drained of my money. The first time, I jumped through all of their hoops to have things restored. The situation was escalated to a CS rep with more authority. She gave me an extra $10 for my trouble and assured me the problem was solved.

In September the same thing happened. The problem was escalated again and fixed. I was also assured that it shouldn't happen again and that QVC was the problem because of how that manage the Cash Back. Strange things were fine for 18 months before it happened the first time.

Well, guess what? It has happened again. This time Kohl's as well as QVC purchases were impacted. I have lost about $25. This happened overnight. When I checked at about 9:30 PM my money was there. The next morning, it was gone. I emailed last week and still have no response. $7.45 was restored, but that is no where near what I have lost. The efforts that you have to go through to have any transaction verified and restored are ridiculous if you have over a dozen transactions. I have checked the account every day to stay on top of things. It was all fine until last week. Now, I have 14 transactions that have vanished from the Cash Back page.

I do most of my shopping online and thought that this was a great opportunity to receive some extra money. Has anyone else had trouble with Ebates? I know there are other companies that do the give cash back for purchases. I am to the point that the headache and trouble to resolve any issues is hardly worth it. I need your help. Thank you for listening to my frustrations. I feel like they have stolen my money and not kept their promises. Then, they make me feel like I did something wrong.

Re: What should I do about Ebates?

blueroses47 — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 15:13:32 GMT

I just signed up with ebates in January, so I'm somewhat late to this party. So far I think I'm up to about$180 back. I do buy a lot online, but I guess not as much as many people. So far, no problem, but as I say, I haven't been on long.

Hope you get more responses that might help, I'm sure you will. Really, if this happens and it is a nuisance to get it resolved, I can see where it would prove just not worth it in the end. If it happened to me, I think I would probably close my account or just not use them anymore. I get so aggravated dealing with poor customer service.

Re: What should I do about Ebates?

Q4u — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 15:18:08 GMT

Do they think someone hacked your account? Did they recommend changing your password?? I think I would change my password immediately and see what happens.....

Re: What should I do about Ebates?

GenXmuse — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 15:18:51 GMT

Try Topcashback. I’ve had no problems whatsoever and they usually have the highest rebate amount. Also, if you find a better rate elsewhere they will match it.

Re: What should I do about Ebates?

SeaMaiden — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 15:24:33 GMT

I use MrRebates and never have had an issue with my account. Maybe close your old account and reopen an new one with Ebates if you want to stay with them. I am sure CS would help you open a new account with a new account number.

Re: What should I do about Ebates?

sunshine45 — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 15:30:16 GMT

you may want to switch over to mr rebates or extrabux. i have never had a problem like that with ebates. if you want to stick with ebates, maybe take a screenshot of your cash back each day or every week to have it as a record?

Re: What should I do about Ebates?

SilleeMee — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 15:35:16 GMT

If rebate money is vanishing then I suspect someone is stealing it. If you want to remain on Ebates then I would create a new account with a different email address and password.

Re: What should I do about Ebates?

Laura14 — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 15:35:53 GMT

The only issue I have had with Ebates occassionally is not getting my cash back. As soon as I have emailed them with the confirmation order, they have immediately given me the money. One time was Macys and the other Amazon.

To be honest, I don't keep track of my cash account balance since they send me a check or gift card every three months. It seems correct based on what I've done but I guess I'll keep a better eye on it now. I'd never know since most of my cash back is peanuts if I lost a few here and there.

Thanks for the heads up.

Re: What should I do about Ebates?

Tinkrbl44 — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 16:05:27 GMT

@Tuppermore

Funny you should post today ..... I just sent Ebates an email to track missing transactions!

I thought something was wrong in the previous quarter, but didn't follow up. Now I can see that all the missing transactions in this quarter (which originally DID post) are from QVC!

Everything I purchased on Ebay has shown up and stayed posted.

Well, I will be sure to post their reply when I hear from them.

This is annoying and now I'm beginning I need to research other rebate options. ugh!

Re: What should I do about Ebates?

Happiness Is Inside JOB — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 16:33:21 GMT

WOW, makes me wonder how much and if my ebates have disappeared. I have used ebates for a long time and i have received almost 2000.00 back. BUT keep in mind, I do most of my shoping online and hubby is a big and tall so I can't find his size in any stores.

This makes me want to start tracking my ebates more carefully.

Re: What should I do about Ebates?

Lipstickdiva — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 16:38:58 GMT

I rarely if ever use e-bates. Everytime I've used them there are all sorts of weird things picked up by my computer. I will only use them if they have something extraordinary.

If I was having all those problems, as soon as my account was restored, I'd request my check and I'd quit using them.

Re: What should I do about Ebates?

Tuppermore — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 16:45:25 GMT

This has made me a little crazy to have things there one day and gone the next. I feel better knowing that this is happening to other people. I told them in my email that I sent to the person that had helped me the last time that I was going to post my concerns on QVC's forums. If that is why I have heard nothing, that is even worse than I thought. If you are in business, you must give GREAT customer service. There are too many companies competing for my business.

What I disliked the most about the responses I got was the way they did not accept any responsiblity. They blamed QVC and made me feel like I had done something to cause the situation. Even if that was not their intent, it came across that way. I am going to give them another day or two. If I don't hear back from them, I am going to look at the other rebate sites. Someone has got to care about their customers!

Thank you for all of the helpful suggestions that have been posted. Now, I have places to consider.

Re: What should I do about Ebates?

Tinkrbl44 — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 17:52:26 GMT

@Tuppermore

I just got a response from Ebates. I guess I have to cut and paste all 6 missing transactions ... what a PITA.

We regret to hear that these orders are no longer posted to your Ebates account. For these missing orders, we will need to see the products purchased and their individual prices. This is a requirement of the store, as there are some items that do not qualify for earning Cash Back.

Please send along this information, so that we can look into this further. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Re: What should I do about Ebates?

Tuppermore — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 18:07:13 GMT

That is exactly what I had to do the first time. The second time, I told them that I was not going to "jump through their hoops since I had done nothing." I did have to answer 2 questions and send in 3 transaction confirmations, but I was missing about 15 different transactions. It is definitely inconvenient and time consuming to say the least. I am sorry that you are being treated this way too. That seems to be their standard canned reply. It seemed like I was being punished because either their system was not working or they had made a mistake. I didn't appreciate it either. I used to work in retail as a manager. I trained my people that the customer was always right. Even if it cost a bit of profit for the company, I had happy customers that did not complain to their friends and would come back and buy more.

Re: What should I do about Ebates?

Tribesters — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 18:24:17 GMT

I seldom check or keep track of my balance. Guess maybe now I should.

Re: What should I do about Ebates?

Shelbelle — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 21:40:13 GMT

I use Ebates, Mr Rebates, Extrabux. Top Cashback, and Be Frugal, never had a problem like that with any of them. I do think Ebates has wonderful CS, usually a girl named Nicole helps me. They do have a phone number I have called for more personal service than emails, if you want it let me know, I have it in a different room, but can get it.

Re: What should I do about Ebates?

Tuppermore — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 14:25:08 GMT

I finally received a response yesterday evening. They are contacting Kohl's and QVC to check on my orders. There were a total of 14 that disappeared. I was told that it will take about 10 days to figure out the problem.

Re: What should I do about Ebates?

Tinkrbl44 — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 15:07:50 GMT

@Tuppermore wrote:
I finally received a response yesterday evening. They are contacting Kohl's and QVC to check on my orders. There were a total of 14 that disappeared. I was told that it will take about 10 days to figure out the problem.

@Tuppermore

I got the same email !!! Grrrr ..... I don't think I'm staying with them. This is ridiculous!

Re: What should I do about Ebates?

Tuppermore — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 22:16:12 GMT

Just wanted to keep everyone up to date on my Ebates saga.

Today, I got an email in response to my reply to the one that said they were looking into it and it would take about 10 days.

They have still not explained why this has happedned and taken no responsibility. They reiterated that they were contacting the businesses, but wanted me to be aware that this could take UP TO 45 DAYS, but they hope it is sooner. What company takes 45 days in this day and age of computers. Anyway, I have no choice, but to wait. In the meantime, I have looked at the other companies that provide rebates. I will make my decision in time for the holiday sales. I have never seen such a lack of customer focus. Between the standard emails that they send and the lack of concern that they have shown, it is a wonder they stay in business!!!

Re: What should I do about Ebates?

OnlyShopsOnline — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 08:06:08 GMT

I stopped using Ebates years ago, and would never go back. I never got full credit for my purchases. I did keep records and would contact them. But, it got really old quickly. It was just another job I didn't need.

There was another one that I also belonged to....might have been Mr. Rebates...and had the exact same issue with them.