Has it really been a year? Since my last post, not much has changed in the freebie world. Along with newcomers RewardSurveyUSA and Inquire Network, I-Deal, DealZingo, and RewardZone USA continue to offer deals. RewardZone USA's sites require 25 offers now for a $1,000.00 reward, from what I can tell. My cap is 15 offers for a thousand. It would have been nice to do them again since it has been two years! There seems to be no longer a two-year rule. With RewardZone USA, it's one site per year, which is good. It's just a matter of waiting until that offer count decreases.
What I-Deal did to me this summer baffles me. I requested manual credit for three of my offers after completing them. Like always, I-Deal told me that the account approval process could take up to four weeks. At that time, there was nothing odd about my e-mail exchange with them. There was never any indication that there was a problem. The following is how our conversation began.
-----Original Message-----
From: diyfreebies@gmail.com [mailto:diyfreebies@gmail.com]
Sent: None
Subject: MRC $1000 Paypal Gift Card Customer service request (Thread:368603)
Web Site: 9640: MRC $1000 Paypal Gift Card
Email: diyfreebies@gmail.com
Question: My question was not found here
Message entered by user:
Hi,
I'm missing credit for one Silver offer, and two Platinum offers. Could I forward the e-mail confirmations for those offers to contactus@expertcustomerservice.com?
Link to my gift site: https://www.myrewardscenter.us.com/?config=9640
E-mail my site is under: diyfreebies@gmail.com
Thanks,
Me
On Mon, May 8, 2023 at 3:00 PM Customer Service
Dear valued customer,
Your account is still within your approval period. The approval process can take up to 4 weeks.
Please continue to check your account page for updates.
Sincerely,
Customer Service
From: Me [mailto:diyfreebies@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, June 5, 2023 8:42 PM
To: Customer Service
Subject: Re: MRC $1000 Paypal Gift Card Customer service request (Thread:368603)
Hi,
I had sent in my bank statement and offer confirmations not too long ago. I was just making sure that you get them. If not, I can send you all of it again. :)
Thanks,
Me
On Wed, Jun 7, 2023, 2:44 PM Customer Service
Hi me,
We received your e-mails with the bank statement and proof for offers. We have reached out to partners to determine why the offers in question were not credited. We will get back to you as soon as we make a determination on whether these offers will be credited and what the next step will be.
Thank you for your patience.
Regards,
Customer Service
When they said, "We will get back to you as soon as we make a determination on whether these offers will be credited and what the next step will be," something felt wrong. When receiving manual credit from I-Deal in the past, there was no long wait time, and no "big decisions" about whether or not an offer would credit. They accepted my e-mail confirmations and bank statements. That was the first time they gave me a long answer regarding manual credit. Perhaps their "partners" told them something about my offer registration(s) that they didn't like. But honestly, what would that have been? My e-mail address has always been the same on their sites, and I have remained an e-mail subscriber. All other rules outlined in their Terms & Conditions were also followed.
Since eight days went by, I sent I-Deal this e-mail...
From: Me [mailto:diyfreebies@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2023 10:57 AM
To: Customer Service
Subject: Re: MRC $1000 Paypal Gift Card Customer service request (Thread:368603)
Hi,
I hate to bother you again, but I just wanted someone to confirm that my e-mails are being received. I have been checking my spam folder, but there is nothing there either.
In one of the e-mails is the proof pic of the phone I received from SafeLink. In order to receive that phone you must submit government documents, which I did and I was approved for the phone. Also, you will see all the other contents inside the box.
I sent in my bank statement, which you have, that confirms the charge for the Background Checkers offer.
You also have all the e-mail confirmations for all of the offers including, Earn Haus and Experian, the two additional offers I did.
Looking forward to your reply, so I will know how to proceed with things on my end.
Thank you,
Me
The, four days later, this happened...
On Mon, Jun 19, 2023 at 10:53 AM Customer Service
Hello
This notice is being sent to you as confirmation that you have qualified to receive the $1,000 gift card from the company’s website www.MyRewardsCenter.us.com.
Although the company will fulfill your gift upon receiving your redemption certificate and W-9 form, the gift is being fulfilled in conjunction with the addition of your name and contact information to the company’s blacklist. In addition, when you mail in your forms - please provide a copy of your driver’s license and a copy of a utility bill to validate your identity and mailing address.
From this point forward, you and anyone in the same household are prohibited from registering on any and all company and company-affiliated websites. This restriction prevents you from completing offers on such sites, from referring friends for the offers on such sites, and from being a referral for offers on such sites.
The company’s action is being taken pursuant to the website’s Terms and Conditions, which can be found here: https://www.myrewardscenter.us.com/terms.cgi?config=9640, and is an action that may be taken at the sole discretion of the company.
Please confirm receipt of this email and explicitly state that you understand and agree to all the conditions stated above. Once you agree to the stated conditions above – we will update your account status to be eligible for a redemption. Once you complete and return all the necessary paperwork, your gift will be sent to you.
Regards,
Customer Service
From: Me [mailto:diyfreebies@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, June 19, 2023 4:18 PM
To: Customer Service
Subject: Re: MRC $1000 Paypal Gift Card Customer service request (Thread:368603)
Hi,
Could you please respond to my previous message before your company goes home today? I would like to send you the requested documents, but I need to know if you will accept my utility bill as is, or if I need to give you something else in place of the utility bill. The utility bill for sure proves my residency, but the bill is not in my name. I can send you my Capital One credit card statement or a bank statement, which will validate my residency along with my photo I.D.
Thanks,
Me
Previous message:
"Hi,
It's not that I do not agree, it's that I do not understand why I am being blacklisted. I have done everything by the book with your company for years. So, what rule have I broken to be blacklisted? Also, I do not pay the utilities in my home. Is there something else I can send you in place of the utility bill? Does the person who pays the utility bill need to produce some sort of letter stating I do not pay the utilities and us both sign it? Will a bank statement or Capital One credit card statement suffice? I can send you my photo I.D., no problem.
Just please let me know on all of this.
Thanks,
Me"
Customer Service
Jun 20, 2023, 9:05 AM
Hi Me,
We will take another bill in place of a utility bill that will show your name and mailing address. If you want to send a bank statement – that will be fine.
In regards to your other question. Please note that per our terms and conditions – we can hold/disqualify for any reason as the sole discretion of the company.
Please confirm and explicitly state that you understand and agree to the conditions we provided in order to be eligible for a redemption.
Regards,
Customer Service
Although I-Deal gave me my $1,000.00 reward, none of this adds up. What is the point of rewarding someone and then blacklisting them? In my opinion, you shouldn't pay someone who violated your Terms & Conditions. Every time I've heard of someone violating I-Deal's terms & conditions, their reward has been taken away. Therefore, it makes no sense for them to pay me if I did something wrong. I sent them the following three months later, once I had the time to write..
Me
Sep 30, 2023, 1:20 PM
to Customer
Hello,
I hope this finds you well.
After extensively going over your company's Terms & Conditions, I have concluded that I am not in violation of your terms.
The fact that you rewarded me proves that I did not violate your terms and conditions. My reward would not have been given had I truly violated your terms and conditions. I shouldn't be blacklisted without good reason. Instead, I am directed to a Terms and Conditions page with numerous causes, but am not told specifically what I did wrong.
I still maintain that I am not in violation of your Terms & Conditions and wish to be removed from your blacklist. I will not be accused of something I never did, especially not knowing what was done. I reviewed your terms with my private attorney, who is helping me with another matter. They didn't understand why I qualified for a reward while being blacklisted at the same time. They want to investigate further, which I may allow them to do if this matter is not resolved.
Moreover, I have always subscribed to your e-mails, and I have always received promotional offers from your company. As a result, unsubscribing from your e-mails cannot be the cause. I take no responsibility for this blacklist until I know the exact cause.
Sincerely,
Me
My e-mail was blatantly ignored. Have I pinned them on something, and they don't know what to say? Or do they just not care? Are there any other readers who have experienced this or is it just me? There are no violations in their terms and conditions that apply to me, so I'm still surprised they blacklisted me. It just aggravates me to be blacklisted for something I didn't even do. I could at least refute their accusations if I knew what they were. However, in true I-Deal fashion, they refer you to the terms repeatedly without ever telling you anything. I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this.
I guess this is my final I-Deal payment... *shrug*
My DealZingo payment that came in after my last blog:
I recently completed another Dealzingo site for this year. Each year, they have a lot of new offers. I wish we could do them more often than every 12 months! I'm going to wait until the summer to see if RewardZone USA offers any better deals. I used to do I-Deal in the spring and/or summer, and DealZingo in the fall. In this way, I received rewards throughout the year at different times. Unless RewardZone USA has any new sites by then, I may have to try RewardSurveyUSA, which is managed by National Digital Brands, Inc. They may be a little difficult in terms of their requirements, but I may still try them anyway.
My freebie earnings: $275.00 in PayPal from OneOpinion; $200.00 in Tango Cards, and a $15.00 Amazon.com gift card from User Interviews; $30.00 in Amazon.com gift cards from HerRazorTalk; $140.00 in Amazon.com gift cards from ProductReportCard; $185.00 in PayPal from OpinionSite; $29.00 in PayPal from QuickRewards; $285.00 in Amazon.com gift cards from Clearvoice Surveys; $20.00 in Wal-Mart eGiftcards, $41.00 in Amazon.com gift cards, $25.00 Wal-Mart gift card, $75.00 in Target eGiftCards, and $999.00 in virtual Visa gift cards from Sago (formerly Schlesinger Group); $200.00 virtual Visa gift card from L & S Research; $50.00 Tremendous gift card from Q-Insights; $50.00 in Venmo, and $10.00 in PayPal from Verasight; $104.50 from SurveySavvy.
User Interviews is a new survey site I discovered. As a result of my first successful study with them, I earned two $100.00 Tango Cards and a $15.00 Amazon gift card. Tango Cards can be redeemed at hundreds of retailers across the country. My application for a study was submitted through the userinterviews.com website, and I was contacted shortly afterward by phone. Sargento needed people to test a cheese product. Sargento cheese was sent to me as part of the study. I filmed myself eating the cheese and describing its flavor and texture while testing it out. In addition, they were curious as to why I used it for certain dishes, snacks, and so on. There was also a 45-minute follow-up Zoom call, as well as photos to demonstrate what I was making each day. It was a fun way to earn $215.00!
My User Interviews referral link: https://www.userinterviews.com/r/zlktyldnd
I am also recovering from an emergency surgery. A two-week ordeal ended with a final trip to the ER on Christmas Day. I had an abscess drained at the hospital four nights ago, and I had to return to have the packing removed. Following a misdiagnosis and the wrong medication, I went through two more doctors before getting it sorted out. I'm actually happy to receive this Christmas present yesterday! It's now over, lol... Aside from dental work, that was my first real surgery. Glad to be done with that, and back to the holiday festivities! Having a New Years Eve party on the 31st. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your family and friends.
Looking forward to 2024! It was a tough year for me personally in 2023, as I lost both my grandmother and the first dog I ever owned within a four month period. However, life goes on. :) I would like to get back to my art. I haven't done it for a long time, so I really miss it. It's just hard juggling the responsibilities of everyday life, and still make time for the things that are important to one's self. This blog is really special to me, too, and I need to devote more time to it. My music blog is still updated. The difference between DIYfreebies.com and my music blog is that there is more happening in the music world, so there is much more to say. With the old DIY forums gone, and not a lot happening at once like in the past, things have slowed down in the freebie world.
Although I have been posting more on my music blog lately, my music blog posts are usually much shorter than my freebie posts. I usually update it once or twice a month, and the posts are short. Some posts are longer, but I usually don't post anything else until the next month if I make a longer post. In November, however, I picked up quite a bit of content, so there was a lot more happening. :)
My music blog: www.wafflesound.blogspot.com
If anybody out there knows how to monitize a blog, please let me know! I'd love to monitize my music blog just for the fun of it, but don't know how. I tried going through sponsors, Google Adwords/Adsense, you name it.
I will be working on the My Freebie Earnings section off and on, so please check back in. I really have to think back on all the free money I have earned this year. It's a lot I know, but I need time to pull all that info up. Anyway, stopping this right here. I will leave you with a few pieces of artwork. All were done with charcoal. Enjoy.
Click to enlarge:
Wishing you all a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year! #2024
Until next time...
wozniack
1 comment:
Hey woz! How can I access the Dealzingo $1k?
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