Friday, October 01, 2021

Bountiful harvest blog with RewardZone USA contact issues and Swagbucks, Big Family Discounts, Survey Premium...

Harvest blog with RewardZone USA contact issues and Swagbucks; Survey Premium; Big Family Discounts false advertisement of "gift card"; Bingoport.com. Rake in the rewards this fall season...



Hi everyone. I hope you all have been well. We'll start with RewardZone USA and Swagbucks. I knew Swagbucks had been promoting RewardZone USA on their web site, but it is still unclear to me how they did it. Were they advertising their offers on their website or the actual RewardZone USA gift sites? I thinkI remember seeing "RewardZone USA" on Swagbucks last year... It may have been a link to an actual RewardZone USA gift site, but I am not 100% certain. I haven't used Swagbucks in about two years, so I am behind on some stuff. I happened to be on there though when I saw "RewardZone USA."

I found this PayPal 1000 RewardZone USA guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/SwagBucks/comments/nnq855/paypal_1000_rewardzone_guide/

To me, it sounds like Swagbucks were promoting RewardZone USA gift sites on their website. People signed up through the link on Swagbucks and fulfilled RewardZone USA's gift site requirements. Then RewardZone USA paid those who signed up with the link Swagbucks provided, and Swagbucks rewarded their members with Swagbucks for doing the gift site on their website. If I'm wrong about that, please feel free to correct me.

Some individuals who completed RewardZone USA's gift sites through Swagbucks received this message, “Thank you for contacting RewardZone USA, we have reviewed your account. Unfortunately, as it appears you have entered our program outside of our normal marketing channels. Due to this, your claim has been disqualified.

Now, that is very unfortunate. I wonder how many people were disqualified? Swagbucks probably had no clue about RewardZone USA's rule as per their terms and conditions, "You also cannot use a link to an RZU Website provided by another person or one obtained outside of our normal marketing channels or reuse a link you previously used to claim a Reward, unless we have sent you a link to share as a part of our refer-a-friend program." Swagbucks have since removed RewardZone USA's links.

I tried to get ahold of RewardZone USA regarding this matter, but got no response. Actually, I had been trying to contact them since November. It wasn't until a few days ago that I said, "I should call them." So I called their old phone number and I heard a recorded message. The message gave me their new e-mail address. They must have changed their address a long time ago. I wish I had thought back then to call their old number, as I wanted to do them again last year! Anyway, RewardZone USA replied to me a few days after I sent them an e-mail. They answered my questions and also provided me a new phone number, which I gladly called.

My e-mail to RewardZone USA:

"Hi,

People have been doing your RewardZone USA gift sites through Swagbucks. The last time I checked, people were only allowed to do sites sent to them via e-mail from either your company or one of your partners. Is that still the case, or are you allowing Swagbucks to list your gift sites on their website for people to do them?

Also, what are the requirements to do one of your gift sites? Do you require a utility bill or will a credit card statement suffice? I ask because I am currently living with someone, so the utilities are not in my name and I am not on the lease. I do, however, receive credit card statements, which I can show. I have a Capital One credit card and a Best Buy credit card. The address on my license is not the same as the one where I reside. It matches my bank statement though.

Thanks,

me"

Customer Support (RewardZone USA)

Sep 17, 2021, 12:11 AM EDT

Hello me,

Thank you for reaching out! We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience you may have encountered.

Please be advised that deals completed outside our program will not be registered or accepted in our system.

If you would like to work towards earning a reward, we invite you to do so by logging into your Reward Status Page, using the email you registered with, here: http://contact.rzuhelpcenter.com/login?ReturnUrl=%2Fclaimincentive

To qualify for a reward, you must complete the requirements based on the value of the reward. If the reward is $100 value or less (Tier 1 reward), then you need to complete 1 silver, 1 gold, and 2 platinum deals. If the reward is above $100 value (Tier 2 reward), then you need to complete 1 silver, 1 gold, and 8 platinum deals. All deals must be completed within 20 days of the first completed deal, and all deals must be completed using the same email address.

For users that completed all of the program requirements mentioned above and qualify for a reward, we require users to submit a valid Government issued ID and a valid Proof of address. As per our Terms and Conditions, users are required to complete the Claims Verification process within 30 days of submitting their claim ticket.

For additional information, please refer to our Terms and Conditions and Frequently Asked Questions:
(Terms and Conditions) http://contact.rzucscenter.com/policies/terms
(Frequently Asked Questions) http://contact.rzucscenter.com/policies/faq

Thank you,
RewardZone USA
Customer Support

When they said, "Please be advised that deals completed outside our program will not be registered or accepted in our system." I guess it was how I worded what I said about Swagbucks is why they said it that way. Going back to their terms, "You also cannot use a link to an RZU Website provided by another person or one obtained outside of our normal marketing channels" Although Swagbucks has removed RewardZone USA's links, that rule is still intact, and it applies to anybody else who promotes their gift sites. So please please please do not ever register for a RewardZone USA site unless you find a link from RewardZone USA or one or their partners in your e-mail.

The best way to get RewardZone USA links sent to your e-mail is by taking surveys. These survey links are often found in your spam folder. If you search "1000 gift card" or just "gift card" under spam, you may find subject titles advertising a free gift card. I had stopped receiving RewardZone USA links because it had been over 5 years since I did them. So I typed "gift card" under my spam folder and I pulled up a bunch of e-mails from "Surveys and Quizzes" and "Surveys and Tests." I took the surveys and sure enough there was a nice $1,000.00 RewardZone USA link in my spam folder 5 minutes later. Those survey sites trigger RewardZone USA, or their advertising partners, to send gift site links directly to you.

They did state over the phone that my credit card statement would serve as my utility bill. I also completed all my offers, I am just waiting for them to finish crediting. Some of you experienced difficulty when contacting them, like I did, so below is RewardZone USA's new phone number and e-mail.

RewardZone USA's updated contact information:.

(888) 966-6130

support@rzuhelpcenter.zendesk.com



I stumbled upon this Cashapp gift site. It touted a $750.00 Cashapp reward. Judging by the wording at the bottom of the frontpage it looked like a sweepstakes:

"The You Sweeps promotion is open only to legal United States residents who are at least eighteen (18) years old at the time of entry and complete and send in a full entry form. No purchase necessary to enter and/or win. The You Sweeps promotion (organized by Media Pay Plus TD, Arch.Makariou III, 161 office 5 Limassol, Cyprus, 3027, hereinafter 'MPP') has three promotional closing dates with new prize winners, on every end date of the trimester on 30 April 2021 (trimester 1), 31 August 2021 (trimester 2) and 31 December 2021 (trimester 3).All times are Eastern times (“Sweepstakes Period”). The time shall be determined by MPP's timekeeping systems. MPP shall have the sole discretion in determining the timeline of any action or inaction related to this sweepstake."

What happened 30 minutes later after I took the survey on the site was interesting. I received a phone call from a lady at Big Family Discounts congratulating me for winning a "$250.00 Cashapp gift card." The site said I would receive a $750.00 reward, not a $250.00 reward. However, I spun a wheel after taking the survey, and it landed on a $250.00 Cashapp reward. Now here's the catch. The lady said all I had to do to get the card was sign up for two trial offers. The first trial offer was for Identity Theft Protection Pros, which cost $1.85. The second trial offer was Big Family Discounts, which cost $2.85. She said I had 30 days to cancel before I would be charged for the subscription. So I accepted the charges and she told me about the gift card.

The gift card was not a Visa card, but a $250.00 merchant gift card. She said I could use it at Bath & Body Works, Kohl's and so on. Well, that "gift card" turned into a $250.00 savings voucher two weeks later! Here's what happened. My welcome packet had a claim form for a $250.00 voucher. I was still thinking it was a merchant gift card that could be used at over a thousand retailers (I have had those cards before). I called Big Family Discounts a week later to see if they received my claim form. They said they hadn't, but to watch my e-mail because the gift card code would just show up. The next day, I received the code. Below is the e-mail I received.

custservice@bigfamilyidtheftprotection.com
8:41 AM (2 hours ago)
to me

Dear ME

To access your $250 in Rewards, please click on this link: https://www.bigfamilyredeem.com

Your Account number is xxxxxxx, put that in the top box. Complete the rest of form and click on the box that says Submit.
Once you click Submit at the bottom, a new window pops up with a gift code. It starts with 222 and has 4 lower case letters. WRITE THAT CODE DOWN, you will need it to finish the sign up process.
To finish the sign up process click on the link that says "click here"
Put your code that starts with 222 in the top box. Complete remaining information. Click submit and you will be in the website. Click on the magnifying glass to enter your zip code so the website can find the deals participating in your area. You only have to do this the first time you go into website, unless you want to look for deals in a different area.

YOU ARE SIGNED UP --- WRITE DOWN YOUR LOGIN INFO AND PASSWORD SO YOU DO NOT FORGET IT AND START CASHING IN YOUR REWARDS !!!!

I'm thinking, "Hm, is this still a $250.00 gift card or is it just $250.00 in savings?" So I called them up and asked them. I also couldn't activate my $250.00 in rewards, which they did helped me with. After they set everything up for me by phone, I could login. The lady on the phone confirmed thaitt it was not a $250.00 gift card, only $250.00 in savings. I was somewhat disappointed, though I kinda expected this to be the possible outcome. They shouldn't tell people by phone that they "won" a $250.00 gift card then later reveal that it's not a $250.00 gift card. They're using the gift card tactic to entice people to sign up for their service, then offer them a lesser reward. For that, I will complain to the FTC and BBB as this is clearly a bait-and-switch.



That is what the site looks like. On the right-hand side of the page, you will see a $250.00 balance. That balance you can use on deals. But the deals are not that great. Most of these "deals" I can find on my own via a Google search. I don't need to pay Big Family Discount a $24.83 monthly membership fee to do it for me. I also use shopping apps like Honey, Coupont, RetailMeNot, and ibotta, which find discount codes for me at checkout. Funny how there is no Kohl's, and under Bath & Body Works it says save $0.00! Under Entertainment & Recreation, there were some pretty reasonable deals, but those deals also can be found via Google search. I searched for Knott's Berry Farm's "Knott's Scary Farm" admission on Google, and it was the same deal Big Family Discounts had.

I'm looking for a simple deal on the site to make up for the $2.85 + $1.85 I spent on their trials. I would not suggest these discount clubs to anyone unless you are signing up with them on a DIY or GPT site. Years ago, I was working on a gift site and had to sign up for one. I didn't mind because I was received a gift card for it even though it was a DIY network paying me and not the discount club. I don't like companies that falsely advertise. They kept making me believe it was a real gift card until it actually arrived. They finally had to admit over the phone that it was not a real gift card because I asked them if it was a real gift card. Now I can state in my complaint that they admitted it wasn't a real gift card.

Okay, I just canceled the Big Family Discounts and the Identity Theft Protection by phone, and boy were they rude! They're nice in the beginning, but when you cancel their tone changes. They asked me for my account number right off. I didn't have it in front of me, but I remembered having an account number set up this morning. So I told them I needed a minute to check my e-mail for the account number. The woman snapped and said, "It should be on the letter we sent!" I told her I had the letter but it did not have the account number on it. She said, "Well, is there an order number?!" I gave her the order number and she pulled up my info. She cancelled my Big Family Discount membership.

I made the mistake of asking her to also cancel the Idenity Theft Protection Pros trial I signed up for when joining Big Family Discounts. She lets out a huge sigh and says, "I cannot help you with that. There is no way for me to pull that up. You have to find another number for that. That should be in a letter." I then told her my Big Family Discounts receipt had a code on it that I could give her. She got even louder over the phone and reiterated what she already said. I said, "That's okay, I will just look for the number. I should have it somewhere" to end the conversation. She wasn't that friendly either before I hung up. When I found my receipt again, it showed both charges. There was another phone number next next to the identity theft charge. So I called it and was able to cancel. The second woman was much nicer. All I will say is, if you need to raise your low blood pressure, give the lady at Big Family Discounts a call! So far, I have been very blessed to have such pleasant customer service people when I make calls, but sometimes you get an unfriendly person. It happens. I tried to be civil to her in spite of her behavior. Some would not have been.

An update on Survey Premium. I sent them another message via their website. I never received a response, so I decided to give them a call. When you call their number, you get a recorder that tells you, "Your call is very important to us. Please hold for the next available representative." After 15 minutes it said, "We're sorry, all of our representatives are currently unavailable. Call again later." On my first call to them it said, "Please hold for the verification department." Under their number, they come up as "shopping jobs." I found the status page! If click "Redeem Your Gift Card" on their gift site, it takes you to a sign in page. It's just contacting them that is the problem. A DIY company you cannot communicate with is just as problematic as there being no status page. My main requirements before registering with any DIY company: a working status page and a responsive support team.

I would do their 3 offer, $25.00 Restaurant.com gift card site if they were responsive, but I do not feel comfortable doing a site by them. I also do not know how well their offers credit. If I end up having to do more than 3 offers to receive a $25.00 reward, that is a bad profit. If they do manual credit, it might be alright, but I will never know that because they are unresponsive. I noticed something with DIY companies though, you're more likely to get someone to answer if you call in the morning. I will try again, though I wonder why Survey Premium is not responding to messages and e-mails. The messages I have been sending haven't been returned back to me, so somebody must be getting them. And Tom at Survey Premium was answering e-mails in June, hm... I would hold off on doing Survey Premium until they are responsive.

My mom found a free bingo site called www.bingoport.com -- What's so great about this bingo site is that you can win cash and not pay a dime for bingo cards. You are given 1,000 points to start, and if you fall below 200 points, Bingoport will give you 500 points. If you max out your point total daily, you will receive 500 points each day. For every friend you refer, you receive $20.00 to your account. Players may choose Amazon or PayPal payments. Bingoport is a UK site, but Americans are welcome.

There are physical prizes as well. One lady won a 52-inch television in a tournament. If you win a game in one bingo session, which is roughly 12 games, you qualify to be in a tournament. Bingoport will send you a message stating you can join the "winners circle," which is the bingo tournament. The tournaments are at 9:00 EST. Cash money is also awarded to tournament winners.

My Halloween-themed game room:



I really like the Halloween-themed room. I've only had time to play bingo twice, but I'd like to play again over the weekend. This is my referral link if anyone wants to sign up: https://www.bingoport.com/share/72C56EL1A9

My freebie earnings: $150.00 PayPal from OneOpinion; $355.00 PayPal from OpinionSite; ? from SurveySavvy; $60.32 from Quickrewards; $159.35 in Amazon gift cards from ProductReportCard; ? from Upvoice; $12.00 in Amazon gift cards from S'more app; $16.00 in Amazon gift cards from Fetch Reward. ***adding more earnings***

Too bad I didn't get a $250.00 gift card as promised by Big Family Discounts, BUT my RewardZone USA site is almost done. So I will be receiving a gift card from them! Has anyone done a Dealzingo site lately? It has been a very long time for me. I was just wondering if there were any offer crediting issues like before and if their customer service ever improved. I wouldn't mind doing another one of their sites. By the way, has anyone seen any I-Deal sites? I've been looking on ofree.net, but I cannot find anything at all. I just checked one of their DBAs, Top Notch Media, and it's still active. I'll perform a deeper search to see what I find.

I hope everyone is well and enjoying the fall season. This is my favorite time of the year! RedditGifts is hosting their last secret this year. I participated last year, and it was a lot of fun! Sign ups aren't happening yet, but here's the link for those who are interested: https://www.reddit.com/r/secretsanta/ -- I'm definitely doing it again as I love secret Santas. Does anyone remember the secret Santa on anything4free.com? I participated in all but one of those secret Santa. It was such a blast seeing what everybody got and trying to figure out who gave who what! *<[]:{D

I probably will not write again until after Thanksgiving. So for those who celebrate the holiday, have a Happy Thanksgiving~!! Stay safe and be well everyone.

wozniack

2 comments:

Justin said...

The links through Swagbucks and Inbox Dollars are approved marketing channels. What they want to prevent is you just sending someone else your own link. That's what some people were doing in 'guides' but if you went through your own account, you were fine. I received my $1k.

dfrugal said...

The $750 offered by Cash App/RewardZoneUSA is the new $1,000. I don't know why they reduced the gift amount. It still requires 1 Silver, 1 Gold and 8 Platinum offers.

I haven't checked ofree for a while. Are there any other sites out there?