An update on RMM Media and their RewardZone USA lookalike sites. A member did 12+ offers on one of their sites and the gift site showed she had "0" completed. They also will not answer her e-mails. Also, RewardZone USA and Caivis denied any affiliation with RMM Media, LLC. See my exchange with this member below to learn what happened.
Member:
"from: member
to: diyfreebies@gmail.com
date: Wed, Oct 2, 2013 at 2:40 PM
subject: Major Problems with rewardzone usa PLEASE HELP
mailed-by: xxxx.com
signed-by: xxxx.com
Hi Woz, how are you? That time of year again and here I am back at it again, my first diy site and I think I am getting screwed. Ive tried contacting the company to no avail and no response. And now today I can't even get onto the site at all, it comes up blank. Do you have a phone number or something? I have been sending email from several different sites of theirs because there may be a problem with the one I'm doing. I completed RmmMediawards "awardhotspot.com" $1,000 visa gc in the one day and have gotten my emails from everyone but them. The site allows me to check in the status, but I shows 0 completed. I have nothing. Obviously it acknowledges my email address/account, but that is it. Also on the platinum page there is a limited amount of offers and several of them don't work, it only gives me pop-ups of other offers of theirs. Therefore in order to complete all 12 offers, I did another offer from either silver or gold, I don't remember which. I had no choice and couldn't reach anyone. I hope I don't miss out on this gc because I ended up spending a lot more than I should have because of not being able to get into other offers. I tried and tried all day, at least 22 hours I put into it, and I checked it out 1 to 2 Weeks prior to starting to be sure of what I was getting into. Now I would like to do another because I desperately need the gc's, but this site used up a lot of my finance's and offers. Please, Please, Please tell me you have a contact person or number or something. I pray you do, or I am so screwed.
After what I have read on your blog today and what I read on anything4free, I was so hoping this was an answer we have all been waiting for. I truly hope this is just a bug in their system that can be fixed and that we can straighten out my account."
Second reply from member:
"from: member
to: me
date: Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 9:54 AM
subject: Fwd: Major Problems with rewardzone usa PLEASE HELP
mailed-by: xxxx.com
signed-by: xxxx.com
Sorry I forgot to use my user name (anything4free) that you probably remember me by tvs5146. After I sent the last message to you, I went back and finished reading your blog. Should have done that first. Do you think Im screwed? I still havent heard a word. member"
My reply:
"from: diyfreebies@gmail.com
to: member
date: Fri, Oct 4, 2013 at 4:50 PM
subject: Re: Major Problems with rewardzone usa PLEASE HELP
mailed-by: xxxx.com
Hi member,
I just read your e-mails, and I am happy to help you. I contacted OnDemand Research (Caivis) since you said you did "awardspot.com," the RewardZone USA lookalike company. I don't think RMM Media (awardspot.com) is RewardZone USA, I just think their sites have the same look and feel. I asked Caivis directly if they had any involvement with the lookalike company but so far I haven't heard anything, and I don't think I will in all honesty. Caivis knows about my blog, and I don't think they like me too much.
To be sure there is no confusion, you actually did an RMM Media site? Do you still have the link so I can look at it? I just wanted to make sure you really meant the lookalike company and not the actual RewardZone USA so we don't waste time contacting the wrong company. Below is the phone number for Cavis/OnDemand Research, and I'll throw in XL Marketing's phone number as well. Also, I have included their e-mails (you might have better luck with them).
Phone numbers:
Cavis/OnDemand Research: 1-202-683-2200
XL Marketing: 212-660-2510 - 212-967-5055
E-mails:
Caivis/OnDemand Research: customer.service@ondemandresearch.com - inquiries@caivis.com
XL Marketing:
info@xlmarketing.com
What I sent Caivis:
"Hi,
Does awardhotspot.com belong to your company? I ask because I am trying to organize the sites I do by company name and this looked like one of yours. Also, your e-mail address for OnDemand Research, customer.service@ondemandresearch.com, is present in the Privacy Policy. So I just assumed awardhotspot.com was your company's domain.
Thanks!
me"
But they never replied. If you are able to speak to someone, could you please ask them if awardhotspot.com is their domain? They may just handle customer support for awardhotspot.com. I don't know. If the site you did though was awardhotspot.com then we'd find out for sure if Caivis owned it or not because they would tell you. You don't have to, but I would really appreciate it if you could. If you don't want to, that's fine. No pressure. :)
One more thing. If you're able to get back into the site and it is still showing "0" offers completed, please take a screen shot of your status page. That way it gives you proof that you have an account with them in case it comes up blank and you are locked out again.
If it turns out that RewardZone USA was the actual DIY company you did and not Caivis, I will quickly look up their contact information for you.
I hope this helps. Please keep me informed on your gift's status.
Thanks,
wozniack"
Member's reply:
"from: member
to: "diyfreebies@gmail.com"
date: Fri, Oct 4, 2013 at 10:08 PM
subject: Re: Major Problems with rewardzone usa PLEASE HELP
mailed-by: xxxx.com
signed-by: xxxx.com
hi woz, well I finally got responses from the real rewardzoneusa and from Cavis/OnDemand Research. Basically nobody knows how to get in touch with this copycat company. I am forwarding the emails so you can see what was said. I cancelled the majority of the offers I took out today and explained briefly to each of them what happened. They were all pretty understanding of it. I just kept 3 of them....Disney movies, Elmo's kids club (activities/books) and I had purchased a $25 gift card from FTD Florist. I kept the 2 kids club stuff because I didn't want to ruin my name with them. member"
Second reply from member:
"from: member
to: "diyfreebies@gmail.com"
date: Sat, Oct 5, 2013 at 9:29 AM
subject: Re: Major Problems with rewardzone usa PLEASE HELP
mailed-by: xxxx.com
signed-by: xxxx.com
ok, I forwarded all 4 emails to you. As you can see awardzoneusa would like the info if we do eventually find out who they are and the Ondemandresearch co. claims they have no contact info other than what they gave me for the legit co. Oh by the way, are there any active legit rewardzoneusa sites for &1000 gc's. member"
E-mails from member to RewardZone USA and Caivis and their replies to member...
E-mail to RewardZone USA:
"member
Oct 4
do you know anything about them using rewardzoneusa? That is the same as yours isn't it? How in the world do they get away with that?"
RewardZone USA's replies:
"On Fri, Oct 4, 2013 at 9:08 AM,
Hi member,
Awardhotspot.com is not one of our domains or affiliated websites.
Thank you."
"On Fri, Oct 4, 2013 at 9:58 AM,
Hi member,
That website and company is not affiliated with us. They copied our site, unfortunately.
We are sorry for your inconvenience.
The RewardzoneUSA Team."
E-mail to RewardZone USA:
"From: member
Date: Fri, Oct 4, 2013 at 10:40 AM
Subject: Re: #7445084568614338932-Please, this is urgent.
To: contact@rewardzoneusa.com
do you have any information as to how to contact them or anything? Thank you"
RewardZone USA's reply:
"From:
Date: Fri, Oct 4, 2013 at 11:51 AM
Subject: #7445084568614338932-Please, this is urgent.
To: 2013diyrmda@gmail.com
Hi Teresa,
Unfortunately we do not. If you locate a point of contact, please forward it to us as well.
Thank you."
E-mail to Caivis:
"From: member [mailto:xxxx@xx.com]
Sent: Friday, October 04, 2013 9:18 AM
To: customer.service@ondemandresearch.com
Subject: Urgent....Please help
I recently completed an online incentive reward site with a company by the name of RewardzoneUSA a/k/a Rmmmediaward, on a site Awardhotspot.com. I understand that you are affliated with them. Is this true? I have tried in vein to reach someone regarding my completion and can't seem to get a response from anyone. I have not rec'd credit for not one of the 12 offers that I did and now it seems the website awardhotspot is down. I spent a good deal of money doing the offers as there aren't that many to choose from and some offers cannot be accessed at all. So please if you would, be so kind and to help me reach the right party to speak with about this problem that I am having. I would be very greatful if you could help me. Thank you, member"
Cavis' reply:
"From: Customer Service
Date: Fri, Oct 4, 2013 at 9:42 AM
Subject: RE: Urgent....Please help
To: member
Dear member,
Thank you for contacting us.
Please try this link: http://contact.rewardzoneusa.com/contact.aspx
This should take you to the rewards zone member support.
Regrettably, we do not have direct contact information for rewardszone USA, so we are limited in how we may help.
Sincerely,
Customer Care"
My reply to member:
"from: diyfreebies@gmail.com
to: member
date: Sun, Oct 6, 2013 at 3:59 PM
subject: Re: Major Problems with rewardzone usa PLEASE HELP
mailed-by: xxxx.com
member,
Thank you for the e-mails! I cautioned other members about the lookalike company on A4F today. I created a post telling everyone we had confirmation on the lookalike company, that it was not affiliated with the real RewardZone USA, and that I had to investigate them further to find out who they are.
Tonight, I will research 'RMM Media, LLC.', the company name on the lookalike sites, again to see if it'll get me somewhere. If I knew who they were, I could easily get contact info for you. I knew the lookalike sites weren't connected to RewardZone USA, but now I can confirm it thanks to you! Thank you so much. In return, I will do my best to help you get the info you need, and as quickly as possible. :)
If you have any questions or need anything, do not hesitate to contact me. I will be up late tonight with my investigations, with yours being my top priority.
Kind Regards,
wozniack"
Member's reply:
"from: member
to: "diyfreebies@gmail.com"
date: Tue, Oct 8, 2013 at 3:14 PM
subject: Re: Major Problems with rewardzone usa PLEASE HELP
mailed-by: xxxx.com
signed-by: xxxx.com
Hi Woz, Not for anything else, but not only should they be penalized for this horrendous scam, I feel like I should take them to court...Get this, I cancelled all but 3 of the offers, i.e., Disney Movie Club, Elmo's Learning adventure and the FTD gift card I bought. I figured with the new grandbabies I thought it would be worth keeping. In the meantime I signed up at the real rewardzone usa and completed all offers. So I thgought. I took out another Disney movie club and one of the offers I cancelled, Santoku knife, I tried to take again. Santoku gave me a message that there was a problem so I tried to call but they were closed on Sunday. So I called on Monday for the heck of it. They said even though I closed the account, the system wont let me take another knife offfer, because I had the offer. I explained to the girl I spokie with what the problem was and she offered to do it over the phone, but I told her it had to be done on line through the company with a link. In the meantime, I still didnt receive any emails from Disney, which I know they can be a little slower, but I should have heard something by the next day. I found their number and called them. No record of my order. I spoke with 2 people who searched and they both couldnt find it. The one girl told me that this system doesnt allow for 2 accounts. I said shouldnt I have gotten a message or something? I said I even got a thank you when I submitted my order. No luck. So It looks like I'm screwed out of $1000 and stuck with more offers. I sent a message to the real rewrdzone usa to see if anything at all could be done since I wasn't notified by either company by 12:00 midnight. I got a response that they are looking into it. I would have thought it was just a computer generated message except that they spoke of the scam company because I had mentioned it in my message. I've been trying to do an Amped offer, but I can't seem to get to the real offer pages. It keeps taking me back to the beginning or to another site. I am going to try a different one because I spent enough time trying to do it only to start again. I just hope that scam company didn't penetrate their web site and mess things up. I cant imagine why anyone would want to copy another copy unless its to gain information that is confidential. I just hope they didnt get anything of mine (or anyone's for that matter), that could mess me up . If you could think of anything that might shed some light that could help me straighten things out so I could actually earn a real $1000 card. Hell now I need to do 2 of them. I sure would love to find these people, as I'm sure others would like to too. I'm sure sooner or later something is going to bring them out in the open. Talk to you soon. member"
Member's reply:
"from: member
to: "diyfreebies@gmail.com"
date: Sun, Oct 13, 2013 at 11:02 AM
subject: Re: Major Problems with rewardzone usa PLEASE HELP
mailed-by: xxxx.com
signed-by: xxxx.com
Hi Woz Just wanted to let you know that I did hear from the real rewardzone, and I gues I must have confused them a little with my last message to them (ticket). Here is what they sent me:
"There is a lot of confusion here.
You submitted tickets from xxxx@xx.com regarding RMMedia who we are NOT affiliated with. We can not help you with this issue.
At the same time you submitted tickets from this email xxxx@xx.com for your account which you did complete 2 silver 1 gold and 8 platinum offers. You are one gold offer shy from becoming eligible for the offer. If you have completed this offer and its simply not showing up on your incentive status page, forward the email confirmation for that missing gold offer to us and we will process your claim.
Otherwise, please use this link: http:/www.somethinghere.com to continue and finish your final gold offer.
Then submit an incentive claim referencing ticket # xxxxxxxxxx and we will process your claim.
To be clear. We are NOT associated with RMMedia. Our affiliated sites are RewardzoneUSA.com, Nationalconsumercenter.com and savingscenterusa.com. Also, please keep all further contact to one email address to avoid confusion in the future.
Thank you.
The Rewardzone USA Team."
So it seems that they might be allowing me to complete the site. I had written to them and told them how I was having problems signing up for the offers because of the other rewardzone usa offers I did. I completed the offer, submitted the incentive claim and they notified me:
"We see that you have signed up for the required amount of offers to qualify for the incentive. We are in the process of verifying your offers and preparing the necessary documents for your claim. You will receive a followup email from us within 72 business hours with further instructions and any necessary documentations.
Thank you,
The Reward Zone USA, LLC Team"
Then the next email from them:
"Please find the attached claim form and w-9 form.
Please follow the instructions on the claim form and send back both forms via email (info@rewardzoneusa.com) or fax (646-349-3872).
Thanks!"
So, I just have to get the form notarized and send in the w-9 with it. So I hope all goes well and they allow me to get the award. We will see. I'll keep you informed. Talk to you soon, member"
My reply:
"from: diyfreebies@gmail.com
to: member
date: Thu, Oct 17, 2013 at 8:54 PM
subject: Re: Major Problems with rewardzone usa PLEASE HELP
mailed-by: xxxx.com
Hi member,
Just letting you know that I am actively working on your issue with RMM Media, LLC and the lookalike RewardZone USA company. What slows me down are all the dead ends. When you think you're getting somewhere you reach one, and either pick up where you left off or start all over.
As for MyRewardsGroup, I already knew about the site and made a note on paper to investigate the domain as it shares a likeness to giftcardclub.net. Please hold off on doing MyRewardsGroup as it may be affiliated with giftcardclub.net, the unknown DIY company's domain.
There have been Amped Media complaints, but you are the first to state that the sites take you back to where you started and that you can get stuck. I will relay your message to Jonathan Gies, the CEO of Amped Media, so he is aware of this problem. Thanks for letting me know!
I'm glad you were successful with one of RewardZone USA's gift sites. Please let me know when your gift arrives, and take a picture if you can. :)
Hope to hear from you soon, or hopefully I contact you first with news on RMM Media, LLC./lookalike RewardZone USA company.
Kind Regards,
wozniack"
I contacted this member recently for an update, and am waiting to hear back. I don't know if they got paid yet or not, but so far it doesn't look good. The RMM Media warning post I mentioned in our exchange can be found here: http://www.anything4free.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=181599 -- The warning post's content is in this blog, which is why I'm not copying it here. I felt it was important to make others aware of the complications with RMM Media's sites, and to let everyone know that RewardZone USA and Caivis are NOT affiliated with RMM Media. Before you do a RewardZone USA site, please look for "RMM Media" in the front page's paragraph.
Never got a response from Renee Moncada or Subreption, LLC. I get the feeling these two aren't involved, but I can't rule them out just yet. I did find someone else who I think has a greater chance of being with RMM Media, LLC. Meet Renee Moskowitz, a Publishing Sales Consultant at RMM Media in New York City.
This woman seems like the most likely candidate for RMM Media, LLC. Not Renee Moncada, a co-executive producer of a reality tv show, and Subreption, LLC., a company sharing its headquartered address with RMM Media, LLC. If RMM Media is only using Subreption's headquartered address for mailing purposes, we can cross Subreption, LLC off our list. Renee Moskowitz could be our woman. I need to get in touch with her asap. Hopefully I can, and she supplies me with contact info to give my readers who have done RMM Media sites. Its important to get the word out on these lookalike sites to prevent more scams. Please share my blog with others so they know to be careful with this company.
A reader sent me an e-mail asking about Amped Media's rewarding-promos.com domain. Their e-mail followed by my response and question to Jonathan Gies at Amped Media is below.
My e-mail to Jonathan Gies:
"Hi,
I just had a quick question regarding the TOS for rewarding-promos.com. Below is an e-mail I received followed by my response to this person which explains what I want to know.
E-mail I received:
"I got to this site through a link on your forum that is supposed to be an Amped Media site. Below is a link to the site's TOS.
Is it Amped Media - looks awful familiar!
http://rewarding-promos.com/info.htm?tp=tos&promo_name=4194name&catalog_id=20148&gift=31824&SID=4ebeeda58a2c2bf358aa4a70dabec5bb9"
My reply:
"As far as I know, the rewarding-promos.com domain belongs to Amped Media, thus rewarding-promos.com is not Nuitech. BUT you are right because the TOS is similar to Nuitech, it even lists the 'YR Central' DBA in the TOS. It could just be that Nuitech has put Amped Media's sites under their DBA(s) since they handle their fulfillment. Or Nuitech could now own and fully operate all of Amped Media's sites. To not speculate any further, I will get confirmation on this from Jonathan Gies at Amped Media. He would know.
Thanks for pointing this out to me! I appreciate it.
wozniack"
Do the rewarding-promos.com sites still belong to you? I was just trying to figure out why, YR Central, a Nuitech DBA, was in the TOS for rewarding-promos.com. As soon as you let me know, I will tell my readers so they aren't confused. I appreciate any answers you can give me.
Thank you for your time, and I wish you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving...
Regards,
wozniack"
Jonathan Gies' reply:
"from: Jonathan Gies
to: "diyfreebies@gmail.com"
date: Thu, Nov 21, 2013 at 5:28 PM
subject: Re: rewarding-promos.com TOS question
mailed-by: gmail.com
Hello,
Thank you for reaching out.
The domain rewading-promos.com is owned by Nuitech, we link to them from our survey properties because they handle the actual gift fulfillment. We have to maintain certain languages in our own policies as to ensure we are inline with theirs.
Hopefully that answers your question. Have an excellent Thanksgiving.
--
Jonathan Gies
Chief Executive Officer"
My reply:
"from: diyfreebies@gmail.com
to: Jonathan Gies
date: Thu, Nov 21, 2013 at 6:10 PM
subject: Re: rewarding-promos.com TOS question
mailed-by: gmail.com
Hi Jonathan,
I really appreciate you helping me understand all this.
So all gift site completions count as Amped Media completions since Nuitech only handles Fulfillment, correct? Its just that, like you said, the languages within your own policies/TOS must match theirs, which is why I'm guessing that 'YR Central' is present in the TOS. My only other question is your other gift site domains, are they owned by Nuitech as well, and Amped Media just maintains the survey/gift site pages?
I'm sorry for asking so many questions, that is all I have. You've been a great help so far, thank you. :)
Kind Regards,
wozniack"
I take this to mean that Nuitech only owns the domain rewarding-promos.com, and handles Fulfillment for Amped Media with Amped Media still operating the company. This is interesting though because if the DBA shows 'YR Central', then does it count as an actual Nuitech or Amped Media site completion? My guess is it counts as an Amped Media completion, because they are just keeping the same wording in their policies/TOS as Nuitech and nothing else. As for the site problems, please visit the links again. If they don't work, let me know and I will put another e-mail out to Jonathan. I know how much you guys have been wanting to do Amped Media. :)
My earnings: $10.00 loaded to my Payoneer Mastercard; $75.00 in Target eCards, and a $10.00 JcPenney eCard from Shopkick; a $10.00 amazon code from Opinion Outpost; $20.00 in Sears eCards, $50.00 in Wal-Mart eCards, $25.00 Tango Card, and a $20.00 virtual Visa from Toluna; $5.00 check from Clorox; $3.00 check from Business Innovators Forum; a $25.00 amazon code, $25.00 Wal-Mart gift card (not yet received), $20.00 in Best Buy gift cards (not yet received), and a $25.00 virtual Visa from MyView.
MyView has $25.00, $50.00, $75.00, and $100.00 virtual Visas. Unlike their virtual gift cards, their physical gift cards take weeks to ship. The great thing about MyView is you get instant credit after completing a survey, which makes for faster payouts. Opinion Outpost is the same way. I'm really into them right now, and I am getting back into ePoll. With Opinion Outpost you only need 50 points to cash out and they give you many high-point surveys. 50 points equals $5.00, 100 points equals $10.00, and so on. They offer an amazon and Paypal option. If you are interested in these panels, please e-mail me: diyfreebies@gmail.com
Like last year, I gave much thought to spacing out my posts, and I have decided to blog on a three-month basis. Given the time spent on each investigation, the extra month will greatly help. When you have several going at once, you need as much time as possible to gather all the information before putting it out there. Not to mention, allowing "company response time" to the issues at hand. This means getting a company or an individual to respond to situations, and often long, drawn out problematic ones, which take even more time. You wouldn't think it would be hard to reach someone after contacting them, but if the company or individual are busy, the back-and-forth correspondence is slow. Its just better all around, and I'd like to think my readers' lives are made easier with less content to absorb.
This change will not negatively affect this blog, or our communications (e-mails, PMs, forum posts). It would only do so if this blog ceased to exist. To avoid that, this change had to be made. I hope you all understand. Our blogs' publishing dates: March, June, September, December, and the cycle starts over. Please check back often, or remember those dates so you don't miss anything!
The RMM Media, LLC issue was of utmost importance, so I made it my first topic. Everyone please watch out with this site. There are no payment reports yet, and one of their gift program evidently did not report the offers that person did. Also, its confirmed that RewardZone Usa and Caivis are in no way affiliated with RMM Media, so please commit that to memory.
Moving on to Part 2. of our holiday blog... Gift sites connected to giftcardclub.net are revealed, and there's a payment report from a new Canadian DIY company!
See you there...
wozniack
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