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Nuitech sponsor reporting issues, and one member’s journey through complex gift site; Consumer Gain sold to Nuitech? The company responds; freebie proof pics! Enjoy…

A member inquired about this Consumer Gain site. We’ll start with the front page…

gift site:

url: http://giftpile.net/G/landing?campaignId=4396&subcid=&%40gmail.com&uid=1-628593241#cid=4396#sid=131#vid=2423

Just your average Consumer Gain site, right? Well, keep going…

Member’s question:

“The TOS for this site looks familiar to me, is this a Consumer Gain site?

http://giftpile.net/G/landing?campaignId=4…id=131#vid=2423

Program Requirements
This promotion is conducted exclusively by GiftPile. By continuing, I have read and agreed to GiftPile’s terms . To obtain the gift for this promotion you must: 1) register with valid information including e-mail address, shipping address, and phone number; 2) complete the survey; 3) You must participate in and satisfy a total of 12 Sponsor Offers as follows: Page 1: 1 offer, Page 2: 2 offers, Page 3: 9 offers(offer availability will vary); 4) be a US resident 18 or older; 5) not cancel your participation in more than a total of 2 Sponsor Offers within 6 days of the Sponsor Offer Initial Transaction Date (the Cancellation Limitation). You can receive the gift at no cost by completing free trial Sponsor Offers otherwise some Sponsor Offers may require a purchase to qualify. Upon completion of all Program Requirements, your gift will be shipped to the shipping address you provided. Limit one gift per household per year. Void where prohibited.”

These “Program Requirements” aren’t in the T&C: http://members.giftpile.net/Info/t&c; but I trust this person enough to know that these “Program Requirements” were once present. And we did find something else! It’s in the FAQ: http://members.giftpile.net/Info/faq — Scroll down to question #4 in the FAQ.

FAQ screen shots:

Screen shot #1: This is Nuitech’s one year rule and DBA, Net Radiance: “Only one gift is permitted from Net Radiance per person and/or household for one year after your registration date.”

Screen shot #2: Taken from FAQ: “You will not be eligible to receive a gift in this promotion if, within 45 days of your sponsor offer initital transaction date, you cancel your participation in more than two sponsor offers you have completed as part of the program requirements.”

Screen shot #3: Taken from FAQ: “To be eligible to receive a gift, you must not cancel more than two offers within a 6-day period. After 6 days, you’ll be asked to submit acceptable documentation to validate your full participation in the offers.”

As for screen shots #2 and #3, I cannot find anything in the T&C which speaks of a cancellation limitation. Is that because the Consumer Gain T&C page was never updated to reflect this change? It only tells us there is a cancellation limitation in the FAQ. Screen shot #2 states that you cannot cancel more than 2 offers in 45 days, while screen shot #3 states you cannot cancel more than 2 offers within 6 days. Is it 45 or 6 days? Has to be one or the other.

Consumer Gain said this about the 6-day rule:

“Hello,

As long as you make a payment to the advertiser, are credited for the offer in your account with our site, you can cancel the offer with that advertiser before or after the six days. We ask that the advertiser get back to us in at least 5 days about offers, which is why we have that 6-day rule out there. But, in all honesty, if you complete the offer and it’s already posted in your account, you’re not going to be penalized. That is, provided that a payment was made.

Some offer are free trial ones, but again, make a payment, wait for it to show in your account, then cancel it.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

Member Services”

There was no real cancellation limitation with Consumer Gain. Before I contacted them, I read the entire FAQ and did not see anything about a 45-day rule. So that was added sometime after March of 2011, when I spoke to Consumer Gain. My post with Consumer Gain’s reply: “More fun with the 2011 Ad-tech convention…”

After analyzing this site, I sent Nuitech a support ticket. They replied to the first one but I’d hoped they could provide more details. So I sent another after that.

Support ticket #1:

“Hi,

Did Nuitech buy Consumer Gain because in the FAQ it says this under question #4, “Only one gift is permitted from Net Radiance per person and/or household for one year after your registration date.” Nuitech has the same rule, and Net Radiance is one of their DBAs. Since that ties Consumer Gain to Nuitech, I wanted to know when Nuitech took over the company? Also, people who successfully completed sites through Consumer Gain before they became Nuitech, can they do these sites again since they are through your company (Nuitech)? The sites I’m talking about are like giftpile.net that have Consumer Gain’s web site layout. Below is a giftpile.net site.

http://giftpile.net/G/landing?campaignId=4396&subcid=&email=tlc4upayday%40gmail.com&uid=1-628593241#cid=4396#sid=131#vid=2423

Any information you can provide is appreciated.

Thanks!”

Nuitech’s reply:

“Dear anonymous,

Thank you for your inquiry. Our company offer customer service to
numerous companies.

Please do not reply to this email as the account this is sent from is
not monitored for incoming mail and you will not receive a reply.
Please use the contact form provided at our website.

Thank you,

Support”

Support ticket #2:

“Hello,

Thanks for responding. Does that mean that your company, Og Logistics (Nuitech), never bought Consumer Gain, and that you only provide customer service to them? Seems like your company does more than offer customer service since the FAQ has a Nuitech DBA. If you only offer customer service to Consumer Gain, the company must have copied your rules, especially this one, “Only one gift is permitted from Net Radiance per person and/or household for one year after your registration date.” — In my last conversation with Consumer Gain, they said they limited our receipts to one gift per lifetime. The rule for question #4 sounds as if you can do more than one Consumer Gain site provided your last site was done a year ago.

Why did Consumer Gain borrow Nuitech’s rules if they are still in business? Is it because your company offers customer service to them? Is that what that means? Could you please elaborate on this? I am just trying to figure all this out.

Thanks!”

Nuitech’s second reply:

“Dear anonymous,

Thank you for your inquiry. Our company provides customer service for
multiple companies. Please see the terms and conditions agreed to at
the link below.

http://lgn6.coolsavings.com/info.htm?tp=tos

We hope this answers your questions. Should you have any other
questions please feel free to contact us again.

Please do not reply to this email as the account this is sent from is
not monitored for incoming mail and you will not receive a reply.
Please use the contact form provided at our website.

Thank you,

Support”

They referred me to the terms and conditions after telling me the same thing twice. The T&C didn’t answer my questions. I knew they serviced other companies, so that may be their only connection to Consumer Gain. I contacted Consumer Gain via their customer support e-mail but they never replied. I could only ask Nuitech.

Results from the Secretary of State of California which validated Member Source Media as an active entity. It still shows Chris Sommer, CEO of Member Source Media since 2004, as the agent. There would be new company information had someone else taken over, especially with weekly database updates. Without hard evidence I cannot tell you if Nuitech bought Consumer Gain. Nuitech said they offer their services to numerous companies which IS true. And Consumer Gain remain under the ownership of Chris Sommer. With that, I believe Consumer Gain and Nuitech are independent businesses with Consumer Gain partially operated–but not owned–by Nuitech. Not sure WHY Consumer Gain hasn’t answered me though. If I could get through to them maybe I could get some answers!

Members continue to have problems with Nuitech’s sponsor reporting. If you haven’t read my previous entries, these posts will bring you up to speed: “Nuitech’s new manager…“, “DIYfreebies’ third annual anniversary blog…” — Start with “Nuitech’s new manager…” Words cannot describe my frustration with Nuitech. To sum it up I will post my correspondence with a member regarding their gift. They allowed me to share our e-mails.

Member’s initial message to me:

“Just had some questions about getting credit from some sponsors for my free laptop. What do I say and how do I get the sponsors to report back to consumerincentiverewards.com on my behalf? The sponsors have no idea what I’m talking about when i ask them to do this for me. Contact phone numbers would be nice, if you have them for consumerincentiverewards.com or nuitech, etc.

Sender e-mail address: xxxx@xx.com”

My reply:

“Hi,

Tell the sponsors that they are promoting their offers on consumerincentiverewards.com, and that the company (Nuitech) needs them to report back to them on your behalf. In your e-mail include the gift site domain, the exact name of their offer, and your name and e-mail address that is on file with Nuitech. As for phone numbers, Nuitech has one but it goes to a machine and the recording tells people to e-mail them. The best way to reach them is via a support ticket: http://consumerincentiverewards.com/info.htm?tp=con&promo_name=2809name&catalog_id=14880&gift=71

Also, our main forum is at DIYfreebies.com/freebieforum, so you may want to post there so your messages are answered in a timely manner. We’ve had issues with the main forum but hope to get the spam problem under control very soon.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Thanks,

wozniack”

Member:

“Yeah, I’ve been on the forums. There is a bunch of spam on there. I see there are a lot of people who have the same question as me which is, “How do we get our sponsors to report our membership/verification of fulfillment?” I’ve been calling all of my sponsor offers multiple times to ask the same thing you replied with in your email to me. I’ve told them about consumerincentiverewards.com and have given them all my information. But, the sponsors just keep telling me that they can’t send emails to these third party websites and blah blah blah. They just get stumped on what to do from there. There has to be a better dialogue to use with them. Consumerincentiverewards told me through an email that these sponsors have to verify through a software program. I mentioned this software program to some sponsors and they have no idea what it is. Now, consumerincentiverewards won’t even email me back. It’s been about a week and a half since they responded to an email of mine. And, I’ve probably sent them about ten emails since then. Isn’t there like a 60day time limit to receive the gift or complete the offers or something? I started the offers around December 4th.”

My reply:

“Hi,

With Nuitech, you have 60 days to complete the required number of offers after you sign up, and all the other steps in their program requirements, such as mailing in your gift redemption voucher, must be completed within 180 days of registration.

I am writing to Nuitech as we speak about these sponsor reporting issues. If they read my blog, which some companies do, they may be willing to listen to what I have to say. I’m making some suggestions to them, and I will try to get them to look at your account. This may not work, but I’ve had success in the past when dealing directly with these companies. Could you tell me which sponsor(s) said they “can’t send e-mails to these third party web sites”? Could you share their written responses to you with me? This information will help greatly as I can pass it on to Nuitech, they need to see it themselves, that the sponsors put in writing that they cannot send out the e-mails. That can be used against them, and Nuitech cannot deny what the sponsor(s) put in writing.

Still working on that strong e-mail to them. I will do everything in my power to help you out here. Apparently, they no longer offer phone support and aren’t that responsive. So we’ll have to work a little harder.

Thanks,

wozniack”

Member:

“I don’t actually have any emails from my sponsors that say they can’t do it. It’s mostly just when I’m on the phone with them they say they can’t do it or they don’t know what I’m talking about. I do have a couple of emails from Gamefly and book of the month club 2 who say they will send a response to my third party website for me. But, I’m not sure they even know what I’m talking about to be honest with you.

I’m still waiting on responses from zbiddy.com, netflix, greatshapetoday, credit protect, internet profit system, book of the month club 2, and gamefly. I’ve gotten 5 out of 12 sponsors to report.

Consumerincentiverewards has sent me emails saying they want me to wait until the seventh week after signing up with these sponsors in order to give them a call for verification. Week seven is next week. My neighbors are the people who told me to use consumerincentiverewards because they just got an ipad from them. So, I figured it was a safe bet to give it shot.

I’m just getting a little nervous, and very annoyed that all my subscriptions to these sponsors are going to be all for not after the 60 day mark.

If you ever need to speak to me instead of trying to decipher these emails, my number is xxx-xxx-xxxx. My name is xxxxxx”

My reply:

“member,

If after the seventh week you haven’t got the rest report back, ask Nuitech what you should say to these sponsors to get them to do it. If they don’t know what to do then Nuitech needs to remedy that. If Nuitech is unable to help you, ask them if it’s possible to do makeup offers in order to not lose your gift. I know you must keep offers for an X amount of days, but given this situation you may need to do more to successfully complete the site. The problem though is that the site you did requires you to keep all but 2 offers for 30 days, and you only have about 2 1/2 weeks left out of 60 days. They may not go for it but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

Have you received any responses from the sponsors today? Just keep working at it, and hopefully you’ll have better results next week. I didn’t send Nuitech that letter last night either. I’ll wait to see how this all pans out with your gift before writing them. And if I need to, I will try add something to my letter regarding your gift provided that it is OK with you.

Good luck,

wozniack”

Member:

“No one has reported today. I did receive another email from the book of the month club 2 about them still trying to get in touch with consumerincentiverewards.com about sending verification to them.

Do you think I can cancel some of the other offers I’ve been with for the entire six weeks now, or should I not risk it?

I was thinking about signing up for another one, but I can’t get ahold of the sponsor. i wanted to speak with them first before I signed up with them, but they don’t answer the phone or return emails. Good sign, huh?

I don’t mind if you use my name in your letter to nuitech, but I’ve seen those forum posts about people getting those emails from them about paying people to help them with offers when they really haven’t. So, I’m not sure what they would try to do if they thought you were helping me. But, I guess it won’t matter in a couple of weeks when my 60 day time limit is up.”

My reply:

“You should be able to cancel them since you’ve been with them six weeks. However, since you are still waiting for them to report back, it could create problems for you if the sponsors refuse to report back because you have already cancelled. But I don’t see how Nuitech could not credit you for those offers since you stayed with them that long. Your billing statements should be more than enough proof that you kept your offers.

I decided to not mention you in my letter as to not possibly jeopardize your gift. I still haven’t written the letter to Nuitech, but I need to see if they’ll at least address these offer reporting issues. In the meantime, I can offer suggestions and try to guide you as you go along. Would it be alright by you if I shared your e-mails with my readers? I like to update them on company status so that they know what they’re getting into. Many are aware of this problem but it is getting worse I’m afraid. I promise to make you anonymous. The blog won’t be published until early February, so it will be a while yet. Hopefully by then your site will already be completed! *staying positive*

Regards,

wozniack”

Member:

“Sure. You can share my emails

member
xxx-xxx-xxxx”

Member:

“I got this message today from Consumerincentiverewards.com It looks like they will help with up to 3 manual credits. But, I still need about two or three more to convert other than the 3 manual helpers they will give me. I’m not even sure who this Direct Brands or Zooba company is who they are talking about. I don’t have any kind of record of signing up with anyone by that name.

Anyway, I thought I would just show this to you, not that it makes a difference either way. I still have no idea how I’m going to get these other two or three companies to report to them for me…

— On Thu, 1/19/12, Consumerincentiverewards Support wrote:

> From: Consumerincentiverewards Support
> Subject: In response to your message
> To: xxxx@xx.com
> Date: Thursday, January 19, 2012, 9:41 AM
> Dear member,
>
> Thank you for your inquiry. Direct Brands contacted us and
> approved
> Zooba to be converted. You should see the conversion in a
> few hours.
>
> We still need more offers to convert. Please be sure to
> comply with each
> sponsor\’s own terms and conditions. Once more offers
> report we will be
> able to assist in up to 3 manual conversions.
>
> Please do not reply to this email as the account this is
> sent from is
> not monitored for incoming mail and you will not receive a
> reply.
> Please use the contact form provided at our website.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Support”

My reply:

“Direct Brands is a direct-to-consumer distributor of media products. They offer multiple book clubs to Nuitech and other DIYs alike, such as Zooba, Book of the Month, Doubleday and Columbia House to name a few. Do you remember signing up for any kind of book club? Didn’t you say earlier you did Book of the Month Club? Maybe that is what they meant by “Zooba.” They could have the wrong book club in that e-mail and/or on file .

wozniack”

Member:

“Yes, I did Book of the Month Club. That might be what they’re talking about with Direct Brands. I was confused because they referred to Zooba, which is another book of the month club that was on the offer pages. But, I didn’t do the Zooba offer. I did Book of the Month. So, I’m hoping Zooba doesn’t get verified as one of my sponsor offers, but I can’t prove it on my statements because it’s really the Book of the Month Club. You know what I mean?”

My reply:

“Yeah. If anything is said about it just be honest by telling them you did BOTM and not Zooba, then show them your offer confirmation for BOTM. On your billing statement does it show BOTM anywhere? I’m guessing it does, so you can show them that too. Explain to them how the error is on their end, that they put Zooba down as one of your verified offers. Could you tell me what the remaining offers are that haven’t reported back?

Thanks,

wozniack”

Member:

“So, the Zooba/Book of the Month thing seems like the same thing to them. But, interesting info they mention about telling the sponsors it’s an incentive program call The Useful

— On Fri, 1/20/12, Consumerincentiverewards Support wrote:

> From: Consumerincentiverewards Support
> Subject: In response to your message
> To: xxxx@xx.com
> Date: Friday, January 20, 2012, 5:15 AM
> Dear member,
>
> Thank you for your inquiry. Zooba is also know as
> Book-of-the-Month Club
> 2. All merchants who have not report you may contact them
> and have them
> report back to us directly by telling them you signed up
> for their offer
> through a incentive program called The Useful.”

My reply:

“Nuitech rebranded itself as The Useful in sometime in 2005, so that is where that comes from. But they’re commonly known as Nuitech. I will start instructing people to tell their sponsors that they signed up for their offer through ‘The Useful’, an incentive program. Maybe that will help move things along.

Let me know if there are any changes in your offer status.

Thanks,

wozniack”

Member:

“So, this is interesting. I got this from Gamefly.com And, you can read the correspondence from prior contacts to get the idea of the story. Adteractive?

— On Fri, 1/20/12, GameFly Support wrote:

From: GameFly Support
Subject: GameFly Notice – Please Read [Incident: 120119-005503]
To: xxxx@xx.com
Date: Friday, January 20, 2012, 2:20 PM

Response (Jordan G) 01/20/2012 01:20 PM
Hello,

Thank you for contacting GameFly. The name of the 3rd party company is Adteractive and they confirmed your rewards as issued on 1/12/12 at which time we emailed you. Unfortunately there is no further review we can do, however, as mentioned in the previous email, you may contact them directly if you would like.

We do not have contact information that we may publicly distribute for our contacts at Adteractive, however, if you can, simply search them online and use their “Contact Us” information.

We apologize for any additional inconvenience this has caused. If we can be of further assistance regarding other matters on your GameFly account, please let us know.

If you require additional assistance, please respond to this email at anytime as we provide email support 7 days a week, Monday – Friday 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM Central Time and Saturday – Sunday 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM Central Time. If you would prefer to talk to us directly, please reply to this email with a number where we can reach you and a convenient time or you may call us directly at (888) 986-6400, Monday thru Friday, 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM Central Time.

Sincerely,

Jordan G.
The GameFly Team
Email: support@gamefly.com

Member:

Customer By Email (member) 01/20/2012 09:34 AM
I found out the third party incentive program goes by the name of The Useful. Their support center just sent me an email saying you would probably understand who I was talking about when I mentioned ‘The Useful”. Thanks for your help. Please call if you have any questions for me about it. I just need a verification or confirmation of my membership with Gamefly sent to them.

member
xxx-xxx-xxxx

Member:

Customer By Email (member) 01/19/2012 04:18 PM
The third party website has still not been informed of my membership with Gamefly. THey are called consumerincentiverewards.com Please contact them in order to give them verification of my membership. They have not received any confirmation or verification from you about my membership yet. I would just go to their website, consumerincentiverewards.com and send them an email through their ‘contact us’ link and just tell them I am a member of Gamefly. Thank you.

member
xxx-xxx-xxxx”

My reply:

“Hi,

Adteractive is it’s own lead gen network separate from Nuitech. But Nuitech may use their service for certain offers, which is why Gamefly says the third party company is Adteractive. My advice is to send your correspondence with Gamefly to Nuitech, then see what Nuitech says so you’ll know how to proceed,

wozniack”

Member:

“I don’t know how to send stuff to nuitech other than the contact us form. Do I just copy and paste emails into it? I’ve done that before with them, but nuitech has never emailed me back about them

member
xxx-xxx-xxxx”

My reply:

“Yes, send your correspondence to them through their ‘Contact Us’ form.

wozniack”

Member:

“Consumerincentiverewards just sent me an email saying not to bother sending in correspondence from other companies because it won’t do any good for me. They have to confirm through the specific software program they use. So stupid. I’m like one week away from not qualifying at all.”

My reply:

“Did they say how long that could take? I would ask them. And if they say it could take over a week, tell them you don’t have that long. Hopefully it won’t take longer than a week for them to confirm your offers.

wozniack”

Member:

“It’s annoying how they work. They will reply in to any emails in order to tell you what won’t work. But, they will never email you any information on how to make it work better or go faster. They did tell me they would manually confirm up to 3 different offers. But, I’ve got five offers yet to be confirmed. So, I’m pretty much screwed at this point. I had three of the five companies actually get onto the consumerincentiverewards website and actually send an email through the contact us form on my behalf. That’s when they sent me the reply that said they wouldn’t take an email from any of my sponsors on my behalf.

So, they tell me I can’t send in my confirmation emails because the corresondence has to come from the sponsors instead of me. Then, when I actually get the sponsors to send them emails on my behalf, they say they won’t accept them. Confirmations can only be submitted though ‘the software program.’”

My reply:

“member,

Nuitech should understand that since 2 out of 5 of your remaining offers need confirmation through this software program, you need more information. The sponsors aren’t getting it and this is really dragging out. Myself and others have tried to get in touch with Nuitech for the last week but our messages went unanswered. They don’t offer phone support, so unless they respond through e-mail these issues will not get resolved. Have you heard anything else regarding your gift?

Thanks,

wozniack”

Member:

“I haven’t heard anything from them since Monday morning. Nothing about the gift or anything. Everytime I ask about specific details, they don’t respond. Anytime I ask a question about something general, then they will respond, but with something they’ve copied and pasted out of the terms and coniditions. So annoying”

Member:

“Nuitech finally sent me an email saying to send my information(credit card statements, confirmation emails, etc) to them via fax. They said they would conduct an investigation to see if I qualify for the free gift. So, hopefully that’s some good news”

My reply:

“That’s great news! Sounds like you’ve gotten past the offer reporting hurdle. Hopefully they won’t ask for anything else, and will just work on approving your gift.

Let me know what happens. Good luck.

Regards,

wozniack”

Member:

“Now, tell me this, in the terms and conditions it says you can cancel up to two sponsor programs within the first 30 days and still be eligible for the free gift. I cancelled two of the sponsor offers within the first thirty days. But, I completed the rest of them. I’m a little anxious that Nuitech might let you cancel up to two sponsors in the first thirty days, but then you still have to complete 12 offers altogether. So, I completed 10 offers for more than thirty days, and signed up for two more offers, but cancelled them in the first thirty days.
What do you think? Am I still eligible, or will that come back to bite me?”

My reply:

“member,

You abided by their terms and conditions by not cancelling no more than two offers within the 30-day period, so you shouldn’t be disqualified.

wozniack”

Me again:

“Hi member,

Just wanted to check in with you on your gift. Do you know if you’ve qualified yet, or are you still waiting to hear?

Thanks,

wozniack”

Member:

“They’re trying everything they can to avoid getting me the gift. I sent in all my documentation last week, and they sent an email back to me saying they needed more documentation showing my cancellation of the two sponsors I cancelled. Well, I never received any cancellation email for one of them. Then, the other one I cancelled sent me a return email so I could return the product. But, the email didn’t say anything about cancelling the product or service or membership. So, they are trying to say that it doesn’t count as a cancellation email. Then, they said my welcome email from one of my sponsors won’t work because it is dated last week(I had to request a welcome email from one of them because they never sent me one). So, that is pretty annoying. Then, they are telling me I only have 8 out of 10 sponsors confirmations that can be validated by them or something like that. I’ll forward you their email about it. It’s ridiculous. They’re basically saying I signed up with 12 sponsors, cancelled 2(but one might not count because of the dumb email date), and they can only verify 8 of them with the information I sent in. Why is that my fault? I have no idea”

My reply:

“member,

Ah, I am so sorry… Why do they need documentation for cancellations? That is ridiculous. I do not agree with this company’s rules AT ALL. I guess you’ll have to contact the sponsors you cancelled your offers with and request a cancellation e-mail for each. It may be hard to get that welcome e-mail from the other sponsor with the original date. Will look at that e-mail now…

Thanks,

wozniack”

member:

“Here’s the email I received from them today. Interesting how they say they
only 8 of my offers ‘check out.’ What does that mean? I sent in the proof of membership with credit card statements, emails, etc. Stupid

Thank you for sending in the requested documents. Our
> Verification
> Department has reviewed your documents and we see there is
> some missing
> information. Please send us the following:
>
> – Need to see welcome emails for the following: Value Pass
> (you sent a
> document for a welcome to xxxxxx dated 1/27. We need to
> see the
> original welcome email dated on or around 12/6)
>
> – Need to see second and any subsequent charges on your bank
> statement
> or an email/screen shot with your name and date on it
> showing you stayed
> the initial 30 days with the following: xxxxxx, xxxxxx (we need
> to see the emails for cancellation with your name and date
> on it)
> xxxxxx
>
> Also, per our Terms and Conditions you are allowed up to
> two
> cancellations, however, 10 of the 12 offers you sign up with
> must check
> out. We have confirmed 8 of the 10 required offers. Once we
> receive the
> correct documentation for your two cancellations you will
> still need two
> more offers to check out in order to qualify. You may send
> in the
> information showing you stayed the initial 30 days with
> xxxxxx for one but then we are still missing one last offer
> to complete
> the total 10.”

My reply:

“It just means you have two offers that didn’t pass the test. Did you send them a credit card statement that may contain a second round of charges? They may want to see that you were charged again in order to confirm that you kept the offers. But the deal about them requiring “cancellation e-mails” for cancelled offers is silly. I understand that they probably want that for their records, to show which ones you cancelled, but still…

wozniack”

Member:

“Well, the problem with them only looking at a second round of charges from some of the sponsors is that some of the sponsors give you the first 30 days free, so there won’t be a second charge in the first 60 days”

My reply:

“That’s true. I just don’t know how you could produce this additional documentation if it isn’t there. You can only give them so much to be verified. You will just have to explain why you cannot provide them with certain proofs and hopefully they will still work with you. If they really are wanting a second round of charges, tell them its impossible since you were given the first 30 days free.

wozniack”

Me again:

“Hi again,

Were you able to make any progress with Nuitech? Was hoping they verified any new documentation you may have given them.

Thanks,

wozniack”

Member:

“No response today. I sent like three emails after we talked yesterday. Then, after not hearing back this morning, which is typical from them, I sent another email. So, hopefully I’ll hear something from them in the morning

member
xxx-xxx-xxxx”

The issue was the sponsors reporting back. Now it’s getting them to go through a “software program”, and not all of them know what that is. Then there’s the slow customer service which takes a week or more to reply. And based on your question, they do not respond or they refer you to the terms and conditions. And they’ve discontinued their phone support. How is your problem solved when you’re given vague responses, if any at all, and can’t communicate by phone? When you finally make headway they require additional documentation, some of which cannot be produced. The overseer of the Verification Department needs to address these issues once and for all. This won’t change unless action is taken. I may write that letter to Nuitech. If they’ll listen to me, I can offer them some suggestions.

My bonus:

This came while I was out of town. My $250.00 bonus check from I-Deal. Thanks I-Deal.

I also received $20.00 from Toluna. As for my Shopping Tally credit from MyPoints, they gave me 3,500 points instead of 3,300, which I used towards a $25.00 to CVS gift card. My CVS card hasn’t shipped yet but MyPoints are slow.

This concludes Part 2 of our Valentine’s blog. Please see, “DIY rose bouquet is delivered, Part 1.” for our Valentine’s link list, and info on CRS and ZOOZ Solutions, Ltd. Good stuff in both entries.

Take care,

wozniack

CRS connection and update from anonymous source; discourse on false claims against DIY companies + Shane Crawford of ZOOZ Solutions, Ltd. changes domains; Valentine’s link list. Read on…

While waiting for our anonymous source’s reply about CRS, I researched freerewardscentral.com, a CRS site a member and their friend did. Dave helped this member’s friend, so they got paid. However, since he left, this member wasn’t as successful. Below is our correspondence.

Member:

from: member xxxx@xx.com
to: diyfreebies@gmail.com
date: Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 12:56 AM
subject: ipad offer from CRS
mailed-by: xxxx.com
signed-by: xxxx.com

Hi,

I read your post (http://www.anything4free.com/forums/index.php?autocom=blog&blogid=419&showentry=1406) – got to it through searching how to get in contact with CRS. I’ve completed a “free ipad + gift card” offer at “freerewardscentral.com” a site that has only just been taken down, but was affiliated with CRS. Also the two phone numbers I had found (through whois searches on the affiliated internet marketing survey company) have been recently discontinued – I left a number of messages in the last months but never got a real person! My friend successfully completed this same offer about 6 months ago, and dealt with Dave. The email address she used to contact him (Svcacct@internationalsurveycenter.com) is no longer working. This all tallies with your post describing how he no longer works for CRS.

My question is: did you ever find out who is taking over for him? I need to find someone to help with this, it has been some time since I finished my offers and I have nothing to show for it!

thanks for any help!

member”

My reply:

“from: diyfreebies@gmail.com diyfreebies@gmail.com
to: member
date: Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 8:05 PM
subject: Re: ipad offer from CRS
mailed-by: xxxx.com

Hi member,

I’m sorry for the trouble you’ve had contacting CRS. I will contact my “anonymous source” who was supposed to get a call back from a supervisor at CRS about the new person in Fulfillment. As soon as I found out I will let you know asap.

Talk to you soon,

wozniack”

My second e-mail to member:

“from: diyfreebies@gmail.com diyfreebies@gmail.com
to: member
date: Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 1:04 AM
subject: Re: ipad offer from CRS
mailed-by: gmail.com

member,

I sent my anonymous source two e-mails. The first one they replied to saying they would get back to me as soon as they called CRS back. The second e-mail I sent on Monday as I hadn’t heard anything, so I am just waiting for another response from this person. While I was waiting, I researched the site you did and discovered some new info on CRS, which I will post in February’s blog. So you may want to read the upcoming entry.

Anyway, I wanted to update you on this so you didn’t think I had forgotten about it. Will let you know if I hear anything.

Regards,

wozniack”

Member:

“from: member xxxx@xx.com
to: “diyfreebies@gmail.com”
date: Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 1:28 AM
subject: Re: ipad offer from CRS
mailed-by: xxxx.com
signed-by: xxxx.com

Ok thanks! I will read the post and wait in hope that you hear back from your source! member”

My reply:

“from: diyfreebies@gmail.com diyfreebies@gmail.com
to: member
date: Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 2:31 AM
subject: Re: ipad offer from CRS
mailed-by: gmail.com

member,

I meant to ask you earlier if it was OK to share your e-mail on my blog? The reason I need it is to show that you site you did ties into a new individual at the company (CRS). I just found this new information tonight! I promise to make you anonymous on my blog for your privacy.

Thanks,

wozniack”

Member:

“from: member xxxx@xx.com
to: “diyfreebies@gmail.com”
date: Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 9:01 AM
subject: Re: ipad offer from CRS
mailed-by: xxxx.com
signed-by: xxxx.com

Sure.

- member”

My e-mails to our anonymous source:

“from: diyfreebies@gmail.com diyfreebies@gmail.com
to: member
date: Sat, Jan 14, 2012 at 8:09 PM
subject: Re: Re
mailed-by: gmail.com

Hi there,

I hope you had a good new year! Thanks for letting me share your e-mails, by the way.

Did a supervisor at CRS ever call you back and give you the info on the new person in Fulfillment? Was just wondering if you heard anything yet.

Thanks,

wozniack”

Anonymous source replied:

“from: member xxxx@xx.com
reply-to: member
to: “diyfreebies@gmail.com”
date: Sun, Jan 15, 2012 at 9:08 AM
subject: Re: Re
mailed-by: xxxx.com
signed-by: xxxx.com

Same to you. No I have not heard anything yet. I will be calling them again on Monday. I will let you know if I find out anything.
Hopefully they can tell me more this time.

member”

My next e-mail to anonymous source:

“from: diyfreebies@gmail.com diyfreebies@gmail.com
to: member
date: Mon, Jan 23, 2012 at 2:15 PM
subject: Re: Re
mailed-by: gmail.com

Hi member,

Checking in to see if you heard anything from CRS last week? I was hoping you got a name, and possibly an e-mail, for the new person on staff. A member that I am helping needs to reach CRS, but they are unable to because the e-mails aren’t working. I really need to supply this member an e-mail address or phone number that works.

Any information you can provide is appreciated.

Thanks,

wozniack”

An update from our anonymous source:

“from: member xxxx@xx.com
reply-to: member
to: “diyfreebies@gmail.com”
date: Fri, Jan 27, 2012 at 6:52 PM
subject: Re: Re
mailed-by: xxxx.com
signed-by: xxxx.com

So far several Reps are not able to provide me with any new information. They can only answer questions regarding the sites. At this point they have contacted their Supervisors via email about my requests and each time I have been told and assured that a supervisor will be getting in contact with me either by phone or email. They never contacted me that last time, but they apologized to me for that and told me someone would contact me. They couldn’t tell me when. I have been contacted by a supervisor in the past for a different issue, so I am definitely hopeful they will eventually get in touch with me. I have noticed that it does take patience and kind persistence when dealing with CRS. It is frustrating and sadly there are no guarantees when it comes to them. I count my blessings that I have gotten this far, but I also keep myself prepared for any and all possibilities. Sorry I couldn’t be more help so far. I will keep trying.”

Our source is just waiting to be contacted. Hopefully CRS can provide them with this new information.

With freerewardscentral.com down, I couldn’t view the terms and conditions or the policy. It’s also a privately registered domain. But I had an address to work with…

The 1148 Pulaski address is in Bear, Delaware. That address doesn’t tie into anything except “Ultimate Rewards.”

Ultimate Rewards was an online rewards site that is now out of business. The domain, ultimate-rewards.com, was created on August 5, 2010, but it doesn’t expire until August 5, 2012, so the domain is active.

The whois report for ultimate-rewards.com has a Canadian address, e-mail, and new name: 15 Lorna Court, wota_man@yahoo.com, Mike Morgan. ultimate-rewards.com is also registered in this gentleman’s full name, Michael Morgan. Below is another e-mail and address for Mike Morgan.

jimmylick@yahoo.com is the e-mail, and the address is located at 32 Churchill Avenue. Both are Canadian addresses. Since the extension of the e-mail in the contact information for freerewardscentral.com was “ultimate-rewards.com”, we found Mike Morgan. Then we made a CRS connection because freerewardscentral.com was once a CRS site!

Next comes an inquiry about a BBB complaint. A member filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau due to not receiving their reward from CRS. Please read their e-mail to me followed by the response they received.

Member:

“from: member xxxx@xx.com
to: diyfreebies@gmail.com
date: Sat, Jan 21, 2012 at 1:10 AM
subject: filed a complaint w/ bbb (2 freelaptops consumers reward solutions)
mailed-by: gmail.com
signed-by: gmail.com”

Dear Wozniak,

I recently filed a complaint with bbb:

consumers reward solutions
6-6150 Highway 7 STE# 220
Vaughan, ON L4H-OR6
&
received a response from:
NAME:

Consumers Reward Solutions
BBB MEMBER:

NO
CONTACT:

–None–
ADDRESS:

P.O. Box 93, 119 Spadina Ave.
Toronto, ON M5T 2T3
PHONE:

866 670-0126
FAX:

416 849-3343
Website:

www.skill2thrill.coms

stating:
Dear Sir / Madam,

Thank you for your correspondence.

Please note that our company name is not Consumers Reward Solutions and none of our contest webpages make the claim and/or promise consumers two free laptops. All of our webpages operate as a contest, in which users have a chance of winning the advertised prize on a monthly basis.

In order to investigate this matter further, we require the 10-digit mobile number which is or has received text messages from our service.

If you could please kindly reply, providing us with your full mobile number, including area code, we will work to investigate your plaint as soon as possible.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions.

Yours sincerely,

Mobile Customer Care Team

Do I have the wrong company?
Has this happened to any of your other readers?
Do you think they are saying because they no longer have that site?
I thank you so much for your help. It has been so frustrating dealing with this.”

My first reply:

“from: diyfreebies@gmail.com diyfreebies@gmail.com
to: member
date: Sat, Jan 21, 2012 at 6:14 PM
subject: Re: filed a complaint w/ bbb (2 freelaptops consumers reward solutions)
mailed-by: gmail.com

Hi member,

Thank you for contacting me. This is the first I’ve heard of this ever happening. None of my readers have had this problem that I know of. 2freelaptops.com WAS indeed a CRS site because I was paid for that one, and was approved by Dave. For denying any association with CRS is strange to me since the site you did was 2freelaptops.com. 2freelaptops.com is long gone now, but if your complaint had “Consumers Reward Solutions” as the company name and the Vaughan, ON address, then why are they replying? Doesn’t make sense because the Vaughan, ON address should have nothing to do with them– unless CRS moved from that location, and somehow TMG, the company who responded to you, has now moved in. Or perhaps this is really Consumers Reward Solutions but they no longer do business under that name. Could you please show me your written complaint? It may help me decipher their response to you. I have many questions.

Unfortunately, I cannot tell you anymore than that until I find out more. I am currently investigating this matter, and would like this topic to be featured in February’s blog. Would it be alright if I shared these details with my readers? I promise to make you anonymous to protect your identity.

Thanks,

wozniack”

Second reply:

“from: diyfreebies@gmail.com diyfreebies@gmail.com
to: member
date: Sat, Jan 21, 2012 at 6:37 PM
subject: Re: filed a complaint w/ bbb (2 freelaptops consumers reward solutions)
mailed-by: gmail.com

Hi again,

I just visited the Better Business Bureau site for Canada, and found these businesses in the search results: https://www.bbb.org/consumer-complaints/file-a-complaint/find-business/name/consumers+reward+solutions/ — The last one was for a “Consumers Reward Solutions” with spaces, and it has “Consumers Reward Solutions aka TMG” as the company name. Did you file a complaint with that link? If so, I don’t think that is Consumers Reward Solutions, our Canadian company. You may have filed a complaint with the wrong one. Try the one that has “ConsumersRewardSolutions (no spaces)” as the company name with “Prize Promotions” under the type of business. The middle result is the one you go for, it also has the Broadway address.

Please let me know if this was indeed a mistake, because if not I will further my investigation on TMG/CRS.

Thanks!

wozniack”

BBB search results:

I didn’t understand what had happened until I saw the search results. Upon reviewing TMG and their promotional web sites, I inferred that the complaint was made in error. For these sites always choose the middle option containing the Vancouver, BC address. The first option is also CRS, but I suggest the Vancouver, BC location since this company primarily operates out of Canada. You need the exact company when filing a complaint to get paid, and so the wrong one isn’t blamed. The same goes for blogs. You may recall last year’s incident: http://www.diyfreebies.com/2011/05/ — Owing to my oversight, I stated that “ConsumerRewardSolutions” was CRS regardless of the omitted ‘S’ on Consumer. This put me in a tough spot with Zooz Solutions, Ltd., who managed the rewards program, ConsumerRewardSolutions.com. As a blogger, I am more apt to get in trouble since everything is in writing. I must report what is accurate and be truthful at all times. The slightest mistake can have serious consequences if it hurt someone’s business. Be mindful of your actions when posting on complaint sites and blogging. Research a company first to gather the right information so it doesn’t affect you or them.

President and Founder of ZOOZ Solutions, Ltd., Shane Crawford, gave his consent to posting our e-mails. The purpose for doing so is in our recent exchange. See below.

My e-mail to Shane Crawford at ZOOZ Solutions:

“from: diyfreebies@gmail.com diyfreebies@gmail.com
to: “ZOOZ Solutions Ltd. (Shane)”
date: Thu, Jan 26, 2012 at 5:08 PM
subject: Re: DIYfreebies.com
mailed-by: gmail.com

Hi Shane,

We haven’t spoken in a while but I had a question. I’m in the process of writing my blog, and the topic I’m working on is about making false claims. Someone recently had written a BBB complaint for a company known as TMG; however this business had “aka ConsumersRewardSolutions” in the BBB info, which resulted in a complaint made about the wrong company. So I decided to start a topic to stress the importance of knowing which company you’re complaining/writing about online as to not damage their name, and so that my readers have a better chance of getting paid by having the correct company information.

I thought about using our e-mail correspondence as an example of how a simple mistake can escalate into a much bigger problem. My readers may be more likely to pay attention to detail for bringing this up, and less likely to attack the wrong company. Is it OK if I posted our e-mails? I could make yours anonymous for your privacy.

Thanks,

wozniack”

Shane’s reply:

“from: ZOOZ Solutions Ltd. (Shane) shane@zoozsolutions.com
to: “diyfreebies@gmail.com”
date: Thu, Jan 26, 2012 at 5:17 PM
subject: Re: DIYfreebies.com
mailed-by: gmail.com
signed-by: gmail.com

Hi Wozniack,

Yes, of course I don’t mind you referencing our past situation. That’s a good idea, making people more aware of who they’re complaining about.

I had to change domains it got so bad, I was getting phone calls all the time from people who were mad at ConsumersRewardSolutions.

Now, I go by www.RetailRewardSolutions.com and www.PetFoodFrequentBuyerProgram.com

Let me know once it’s up, I am interested in reading it.

Sincerely,

Shane Crawford
ZOOZ Solutions Ltd.”

Our exchange starting April 21, 2011; Shane’s letter:

“from: ZOOZ Solutions Ltd. (Shane) shane@zoozsolutions.com
to: xxxx@xx.com
cc: diyfreebies@gmail.com
date: Thu, Apr 21, 2011 at 3:51 PM
subject: re: DIYfreebies.com
mailed-by: gmail.com
signed-by: gmail.com

HI there,

Do you run the blog on DIYfreebies.com?

Please reply, I would like to discuss the blog and comments about ConsumersRewardSolutions.com

I am with ConsumerRewardSolutions.com (no S on Consumer) and I noticed this quote on your blog:

“There’s more. Bear with me. There is an omitted ‘S’ in “consumers” when pulling up their company, but this screen shot will confirm that whether or not an ‘S’ is in “consumers”, it is the same company. They go by both so there are no mistakes. This knowledge also proves that the above complaint is really about them.”

This is false, we have no affiliation with this problem company, and I would like it to say so on your blog.
http://www.diyfreebies.com/surfs-up-with-consumers-reward-solutions-exposed-and-indicted-nuitechs-rule-change-webprizeland-wave-of-new-links/

and

http://www.anything4free.com/forums/index.php?autocom=blog&blogid=419&showentry=1174

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Shane Crawford
ZOOZ Solutions Ltd.”

My reply:

“from: wozniack diyfreebies@gmail.com
to: “ZOOZ Solutions Ltd. (Shane)”
date: Thu, Apr 21, 2011 at 4:05 PM
subject: Re: re: DIYfreebies.com
mailed-by: gmail.com

Hi,

I am sorry about that. The name of your company is similar to the problem company, and I will bring this to everyone’s attention in my next blog. I’m currently in the writing process, and will amend the written mistakes. The new blog will be posted early May, so expect a brief post explaining this to everyone as well as the Surfs up… entry modified.

Once again, I apologize for this, and it will be edited once I get the chance to this evening.

Regards,

wozniack”

Shane’s reply:

“from: ZOOZ Solutions Ltd. (Shane) shane@zoozsolutions.com
to: wozniack
date: Thu, Apr 21, 2011 at 4:17 PM
subject: Re: DIYfreebies.com
mailed-by: gmail.com
signed-by: gmail.com

Thank you so much for the quick response, and for editing your blogs, I really appreciate it. I’m starting to think I chose a poor domain name.

Sincerely,

Shane Crawford
ZOOZ Solutions Ltd.”

My reply:

“from: wozniack diyfreebies@gmail.com
to: “ZOOZ Solutions Ltd. (Shane)”
date: Fri, Apr 22, 2011 at 4:28 PM
subject: Re: DIYfreebies.com
mailed-by: gmail.com

Hi again,

Once more, I apologize for involving your company with Consumers Reward Solutions. The domain name really is quite confusing! It isn’t your fault, just another company had the same name. If it’s alright by you, I would like to advertise your company, Consumer Reward Solutions, on my blog. I would tell members about your services, and it may help them sever any ties between your company and Consumers Reward Solutions by learning that your company doesn’t have a gift program (freebie site). The more differences they see between the two, the better chance of them not putting both names together. Many people read my blog, so it would bring you traffic as well. Its the least I can do for making such an error.

I removed the content, including the image, from my blogs last night. I also replied to the comment you left on DIYfreebies.com. I’m looking forward to clearing this up for good in my next entry by giving an explanation about the post.

I have a quick question… I found this last year and was confused as the “problem company” is in Canada, yet the BBB report shows Consumers Reward Solutions is out of Largo, FL. Is it possible the BBB rating is for your company, and your company name was spelled with an ‘S’ by mistake? http://www.bbb.org/west-florida/business-reviews/incentive-programs/consumers-reward-solutions-in-largo-fl-90079815 — If its not your company, I’m sorry for bringing it up. It would be helpful for me to know, however, as my research of DIY companies helps members, and I could have it for my records. I could also state that that BBB report has nothing to do with your company as well. It’s things like the BBB report that confuse many people as they aren’t sure which company it concerns, especially if both companies have the same name.

Thank you for your time and understanding with all of this. I appreciate it.

Regards,

wozniack”

Shane’s reply:

“from: ZOOZ Solutions Ltd. (Shane) shane@zoozsolutions.com
to: wozniack
date: Fri, Apr 22, 2011 at 8:25 PM
subject: Re: DIYfreebies.com
mailed-by: gmail.com
signed-by: gmail.com

Hey Wozniack,

That would be awesome! I would love the advert, and any opportunity to be regarded as a separate company than that problem one.

I’ve only had this domain for about 10 months or so, so maybe they had the non-plural as well before? That’s certainly not me on the BBB, and I did notice that on there, their address is in FL. What’s really weird is, that the address on their site, (the Broadway, Vancouver one), is like 6 blocks from me. Not sure if it’s still legit or not.

So yeah, the BBB report has nothing to do with me, and our clients are retailers not consumers.

Let me know if you need anything from me, and thank you again for addressing this and going extra to put our name in the good books.

Sincerely,

Shane Crawford
ZOOZ Solutions Ltd.”

My reply:

“from: wozniack diyfreebies@gmail.com
to: “ZOOZ Solutions Ltd. (Shane)”
date: Sat, Apr 23, 2011 at 5:51 PM
subject: Re: DIYfreebies.com
mailed-by: gmail.com

Shane,

I am currently in the process of doing a brief up up on Zooz Solutions, and ConsumerRewardSolutions. Could you provide me with a little information on your company, such as the year it was established, details about your services, any big achievements your company as had? Perhaps you built a web site for a major corporation, or have worked with notable figures in your line of work, whoever they may be? If there is anything special you’d like me to add I can. So far I have, “Zooz Solutions, Ltd. a web site and web application provider based in Vancouver, BC,…”

I, too, thought it was really weird about you being so close to the other CRS! Wow. I will try to work on this some more tonight.

Thank you for your time,

wozniack”

Shane’s reply:

“from: ZOOZ Solutions Ltd. (Shane) shane@zoozsolutions.com
to: wozniack
date: Sun, Apr 24, 2011 at 5:23 PM
subject: Re: DIYfreebies.com
mailed-by: gmail.com
signed-by: gmail.com

Hi Wozniack,

Yes, I’d be happy to tell you more about ZOOZ.

I started ZOOZ back in 2004, building websites mostly. Started designing and building some web applications and the website for Anipet.com (which we still maintain). I built another web application in 2006 specifically for the pet food retail market in regards to rewards management, and this program has evolved over these few years. So I re-designed the website (from www.frequentbuyerprogram.ca) to www.consumerrewardsolutions.com to make it clear that we can cater to any business, and not just the pet food sector. (The program has been used in stores since early 2007.) ZOOZ Solutions Ltd. was incorporated in 2007. We continue to evolve our products and offer more features so that it can be a very efficient, convenient, affordable tool for any business, especially for smaller to medium sized businesses that may not have the budget for large reward programs, but would like to manage a program so that they can offer rewards to their customers.

We continue to build websites, but our focus is on the rewards side now. Our focus is also to provide outstanding customer service, and our clients are all very happy with the service we provide. Which is what made finding your blog particularly unsettling.

Thank you so much again for all this added information and for going out of your way.

Have a nice Easter!

Sincerely,

Shane Crawford
ZOOZ Solutions Ltd.”

My reply:

“from: wozniack diyfreebies@gmail.com
to: “ZOOZ Solutions Ltd. (Shane)”
date: Mon, Apr 25, 2011 at 12:55 PM
subject: Re: DIYfreebies.com
mailed-by: gmail.com

Shane,

Thank you for your company information. Do your services extend outside Canada? Also, would your job title be CEO of Zooz Solutions, Ltd., or would you prefer to be refered to as founder or president of Zooz Solutions, Ltd.? Would the web application you built in 2006 be for Canadian Naturals Dog Food? Just making sure that I have everything right.

Hopefully after this is all cleared up, people will view your company in a whole different light since it isn’t the same as the one 6 blocks away!

Thanks, and I hope you had a wonderful Easter too.

wozniack”

Shane’s reply:

“from: ZOOZ Solutions Ltd. (Shane) shane@zoozsolutions.com
to: wozniack
date: Mon, Apr 25, 2011 at 3:56 PM
subject: Re: DIYfreebies.com
mailed-by: gmail.com
signed-by: gmail.com

Wozniack,

Yes, we currently have clients across North America, but of course, am open to clients anywhere in the world. I am the founder and president of ZOOZ Solutions Ltd. Canadian Naturals is only one pet food brand that stores use in our program. There are 80+ brands of pet food currently being used in our system among all our clients. It’s simply a tool that retailers can use for any products, any brands however they like. We are not affiliated with any of the pet food brands. And as we move into other markets, other brands will potentially be used. eg. shoe stores, boutiques, cafes, etc.

Sincerely,

Shane Crawford
ZOOZ Solutions Ltd.”

My reply:

“from: wozniack diyfreebies@gmail.com
to: “ZOOZ Solutions Ltd. (Shane)”
date: Tue, May 3, 2011 at 2:46 PM
subject: Re: DIYfreebies.com
mailed-by: gmail.com

Hi there,

Thanks for providing additional information about your company. I posted a new blog yesterday and cleared up the entire matter. In case you haven’t seen it I’ll link you: http://www.diyfreebies.com/ — I brought up the BBB reports so your company would not be tied into them. Both reports point to Consumers Reward Solutions (problem company), not yours. I also advertised both web sites: www.consumerrewardsolutions.com – www.zoozsolutions.com in addition to the formal introduction to ZOOZ Solutions, Ltd.

Have a good day!

wozniack”

Shane’s reply:

“from: ZOOZ Solutions Ltd. (Shane) shane@zoozsolutions.com
to: wozniack
date: Wed, May 4, 2011 at 6:48 PM
subject: Re: DIYfreebies.com
mailed-by: gmail.com
signed-by: gmail.com

Hey,

Thanks so much for addressing the issue, and writing about ZOOZ and myself. I appreciate it!

Thanks again!

Sincerely,

Shane Crawford
ZOOZ Solutions Ltd.”

Everyone please make note of this. Shane’s domains have changed to www.RetailRewardSolutions.com and www.PetFoodFrequentBuyerProgram.com, and his rewards programs are not affiliated with Consumers Reward Solutions. Shane Crawford, thank you for your permission to share our e-mails. I wish you all the best.

*Valentine’s link list*

I-Deal–

http://bestbuybbacktoschool.giftcertificatedelivery.com/form/iframe/33866/8170/?&ref=33866 – 10 offers, 1 ref/$1,000.00 Best Buy gc

http://www.giftcardbonus.us.com/?session_id=c86d9f38472c11e1bc3611c37f685fd3 – 10 offers, 1 ref/$500.00 Bed Bath & Beyond gc

Nuitech–

http://www.rewardingpromos.com/?c=137&s=1717 – offers unknown, no refs/$1,000.00 Target gc

producttestpanel–

http://visa.agiftcarddeal.com/?t_id=W9KQt38AAAEAACs9ZcUAAAAA&spid=&sub=PFTEST&uid=440009003&pre_q=1&email=&exit_p=&id_p=15612866&oon=visa1000 – 13 offers, 3 refs/$1,000.00 Visa gc + misc. gifts

http://walmart.electronicrewardsnow.com/?t_id=bzA%401n8AAAEAAB30QUgAAAAQ&spid=260065&sub=6247889&uid=429950335&pre_q=&email=&exit_p=&id_p=1525706&oon=walmart2 – 13 offers, 3 refs/$1,000.00 Wal-Mart gc + misc. gifts

http://digitalbrandrewards.com/vis1000/index.php?lid=vis1000_16096_11_&add_offerid=412119 – 13 offers, 3 refs/$1,000.00 Visa gc + misc. gifts

We covered a lot in this entry. So much in fact we needed a double blog! I’ll recommend CRS again once we have their contact information. I’m nervous for us to do them without ANY contact information. Not that they’d scam us, but we need to communicate with them to be rewarded. Sorry January and February’s link lists are so scant, there hasn’t been much in the way of links. March may be a better month. I moved our images to photobucket, btw. Now I just have to link them to my posts. I’d like to thank jasoneggleston for destroying our forum spam. He did an amazing job as always! For our Part 2, please go to “DIY rose bouquet is delivered, Part 2.” That’s where our Nuitech discussion is.

See you there!

wozniack

Happy New Year! Welcoming 2012 with new person in the Nick Brown case, and other possible connections; Ifficient’s gift program ends, listen to audio recording for more; CRS update: Dave left CRS? An anonymous source gives us all the details; link list, and more! Let’s celebrate…

2012 has finally arrived, and with a new year comes new money making opportunities. 2011 was profitable until the year’s end. What will become of 2012? I guess we’ll see as the year progresses. I’m ready for a fresh start.

Reopening the Nick Brown case. You may remember this person’s blog which I introduced in July: Duane’s blog — His name is Duane Browning, and the object of his posts is to help people fight against text spam. My entry from July: “The night explodes…” — We’ll start with the following comment posted to his blog on June 14, 2011.

Blog link: http://fixedgear808.blogspot.com/2011/06/filing-complaints-with-domain.html

Comment:

“Anonymous said…

There seems to be dozens of these MONEY70, PAY600, GIFT50 etc web sites sending spam SMS messages. They all seem to link to doublemypayday.com. The domain owner is:

NetTangerine Inc.
2225 E. Bayshore Road
Suite 200
Palo Alto, CA 94043-3220

Tel: (650)641-0184
Fax: (866)723-2155

contactus@nettangerine.net

I called them up and spoke with a person called Amy. She admitted that her company owns the web site doublemypayday.com. She stated that they do not directly send SMS messages from her company, it must be some affiliate of theirs that is doing non-compliant things. She did not want to admit a direct responsibility for the text message we all receive, but my argument was that they should be controlling their affiliates. She admitted that this is not something they want happening either as it damages their brand image. She promised to investigate who is doing this, and NetTangerine would shut them down.

I promised to Amy that I will post this information on every complaint site I can get my hands on.

I suggest everybody gives a call to NetTangerine Inc Tel: (650)641-0184 and complains about the SMS messages. I’m sure the more calls they receive, the more motivated they are in finding out and shutting down which ever affiliate of theirs is doing this.

June 14, 2011 2:37 PM”

My research has shown that gift50.com and gift90.com, both domains registered to Nick Brown, linked to CRS and Product Test Panel. According to the comment above, gift50.com linked to doublemypayday.com like many other sites. If Amy at NetTangerine denies SMS messages ever being sent from her company, and suggests that it’s an affiliate of theirs, then there must be a ‘Nick Brown’ at one of their affiliates? Someone is responsible somewhere.

whois info for another domain:

pay14.com expired October 7, 2010; the original report is no longer around, I just happened to find it here: http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-347-822-1925 — There is also a different e-mail in the registrant info below.

So we have Brownmobile, Inc., and the e-mail nickbrown012@gmail.com. I don’t know exactly how old this corp is, but pay14.com was registered before Nick Brown’s most recent domains. The current sites registered to Nick Brown now don’t have any corporation in the registrant. Here are the results from Business Net Pages and YellowPages.ca.

The first screen shot for Business Net Pages shows that “Brown mobile” is a welding shop in Canada. The second screen shot has the full corporation name: Brown Mobile, Inc. The only difference is that the corporation name in the whois info for pay14.com is Brownmobile, Inc. without the space. If we could prove that “Brown Mobile” is in fact Brownmobile, Inc., then that would mean that Nick Brown has Canadian ties.

I Googled the 7454 Lancaster address and found this site: http://whoscall.in/1/3479259811/ — The following comment on this site confirmed the 7454 Lancaster address is a mailbox.

“MFMD
2011-06-06 20:46:40
Unknown

From a 2006 State of Delaware Supreme Court decision when Sean Sisson appealed a conviction on SIX counts of child Pornography… nice guy! Netvantage appears to be the homebase.
“7. Your Affiant verified that Sean Sisson is employed by Netvantage
Solutions Inc., located in Hockessin Delaware. Your Affiant
completed a business check, through the Better Business Bureau,
for Netvantage Solutions. The check revealed that the principle
[sic] of the business is Sean Sisson. Netvantage Solutions offers
intranet development, computer support, and software integration
and Internet services and is located at 7454 Lancaster Pike,
Hockessin, De.
8. Your Affiant completed a search for 7454 Lancaster Pike … and
found that this address is a Mailboxes Etc. Mailboxes Etc. offers
mailboxes “drop boxes” that a person may rent.”

Link to the Delaware Supreme Court decision: http://webservices.lexisnexis.com/lx1/caselaw/freecaselaw?action=OCLGetCaseDetail&format=FULL&sourceID=bcfbc&searchTerm=eLhQ.XHDa.aadj.edEQ&searchFlag=y&l1loc=FCLOW — Sean Sisson’s appeal isn’t the topic of discussion, however, I scrolled down the court document to find the part about Mailboxes, etc. I wanted it straight from the source.

Then there is this comment:

“MFMD
2011-06-06 20:46:40
Unknown

That’s Sean M. Sisson – don’t want to drag anyone else in on this!
Sean (and wife Susan) are in:

Netvantage Solutions, Inc.
Incorporated by Sean M. Sisson, Susan Sisson, Netvantage Solutions, Inc. is located at 3837 Northdale Blvd Ste 191 Tampa, FL 33624. Netvantage Solutions, Inc. was incorporated on Monday, June 01, 1998 in the State of FL and is currently not active. Sean Sisson represents Netvantage Solutions, Inc. as their registered agent.”

Netvantage Solutions, Inc., NetTangerine, Inc., amongst other businesses with the 7454 Lancaster address are predisposed to public censure, even the local restaurants and banks on that street. They all should be aware of this textspamming issue so it doesn’t leave a bad impression on the city’s inhabitants. My next finding will reveal a new person in connection with the Nick Brown case. Look at the whois info.

This person is named Eric Brown. Who is Eric? It started with Nick Brown, then we met Bart Brown, now there is an Eric Brown, hm… The e-mail in the whois report for getgreencamps.com is the same as the one registered to Nick Brown. I posted it again with the whois report. Doesn’t someone usually have their own e-mail address? Why would Eric be using Nick’s e-mail? And what’s the point in registering domains with multiple names if you’ve already used your own? I think Bart Brown and Eric Brown are a product of Nick Brown’s work. As for Bucks Media Group, Inc. that is in the registrant info, I found “Bucks Media Group, LLC.”, a business consulting company out of New Hope, PA. But I don’t know if its connected to Bucks Media Group, Inc. or not. I need to investigate this further.

More info on CRS! A member sent me an e-mail a couple nights ago to give me Dave’s status at CRS. His contract with CRS ended, and his e-mail no longer works. Somebody else now works in Fulfillment, and I’m waiting to hear back on who it is. To learn more about this, please see our correspondence below.

Member:

“from member xxxx@xx.com
reply-to xxxx
to “diyfreebies@gmail.com”
date Wed, Dec 28, 2011 at 1:45 PM
subject you don’t know me, but I have completed many sites through CRS
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.com
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.

hide details Dec 28 (2 days ago)

Dear wozniack,

You don’t know me, but I am one of your many readers and I have also completed CRS sites 7 times. I was paid every time and have made around $14,000.00 not including what I had to pay out in order to complete each site. I have only completed sites through CRS and I am considered one of their long standing members as I have been completing sites through them for almost 2 years now.
I got to know Dave a little and he actually called me a friend. I spoke with him last month and found out that his contract with
CRS has ended. I was able to get a hold of him via the personal cell phone number he had given me. I just wanted to make you
aware of this so that you might let other members know that this is why his email no longer works. I am currently trying to
find out more information from the company on who the new person is that handles sending out prizes. I also got confirmation that the new sites
we have been seeing are indeed CRS’. I called them up and specifically asked them what the name of their company was. The funny thing is that the rep had to actually go and ask a supervisor who they worked for. He came back and told me the name of the company was
Consumers Reward Solutions. He said it really slowly like he was reading it off of a piece of paper. So apparently they are still in business like we thought. I feel for the members who lost out. I have personally never had any problems with them. When I work with them I never trust their sites
ability to track when I complete each and every offer. I always save every bit of information I can proving I completed offers. I then would send them to Dave etc. I highly recommend when doing sites like these to be sure to file your taxes and make sure to pay whatever taxes that are owed to the government. If you have any question for me, feel free to ask. If I find out anymore information, I can let you know if you want.
I would like to remain anonymous as I do not want my communication with you to cause issues for my membership with CRS.
By the way, I love your blog!”

My reply:

“from [Busy] diyfreebies@gmail.com diyfreebies@gmail.com
to member
date Wed, Dec 28, 2011 at 2:18 PM
subject Re: you don’t know me, but I have completed many sites through CRS
mailed-by gmail.com

hide details Dec 28 (2 days ago)

member,

Thank you for contacting me with this information. On the confirmation, are the sites you’re referring to in connection with Nick Brown? The domains registered to him have also linked to Product Test Panel, as well as numerous marketing companies. Could you let me know if you find out who now handles Fulfillment at CRS?

Congratulations on the large profit you received from CRS! $14,000.00 is an impressive amount, and I hope you have enjoyed your earnings. I always keep a spreadsheet of my completed offers, and I do agree with what you on paying taxes. And need not worry, I’ll make you anonymous so your relationship with CRS is not affected. I wouldn’t want to mess that up for you.

Thanks again,

wozniack”

Member:

“from member xxxx@xx.com
reply-to member
to “diyfreebies@gmail.com”
date Wed, Dec 28, 2011 at 3:09 PM
subject Re: you don’t know me, but I have completed many sites through CRS
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by yahoo.com
Important mainly because it was sent directly to you.

hide details Dec 28 (3 days ago)

Honestly I don’t know anything about Nick Brown. The sites I am talking about are the ones that say they are located in
Honk Kong, United Kingdom etc. They have the exact same layout as the CRS sites with contact information for Canada. Yes Dave really
surprised me one time when he sent me 3 checks at once. The reason being I had completed 3 sites at one time. Let me tell you that was not easy to do. You have to keep track of every little thing. But it was definitely worth it. The checks totaled $7000.00
It all helped because I am a stay-at-home mother of two little ones. I can never have an outside job due to a disability. So in a way, I consider this my job. I will absolutely let you know if I find out anything more about CRS.”

My reply:

“from [Busy] diyfreebies@gmail.com diyfreebies@gmail.com
to member
date Wed, Dec 28, 2011 at 4:33 PM
subject Re: you don’t know me, but I have completed many sites through CRS
mailed-by xxxx.com

hide details Dec 28 (3 days ago)

Oh yes, I know the sites you’re talking about… I had written about them several months ago. Wow! 3 checks arrived all at once. How exciting. ) You probably are aware of their 30-day cancellation limitation which was put in place in April. I wanted to get an idea of just how hard, if at all, 30-day rule is with CRS, and exactly what they require. Nuitech has gotten kind of difficult because you have to get the sponsor to report back to them on top of everything else. I haven’t heard any complaints about that sort of thing with CRS, and I’m considering doing them again which is why I’m asking.

I really appreciate the information on CRS and Dave. Thank you for that; and I hope you continue to be successful in your freebie endeavors.

Thanks,

wozniack”

Member:

“from member xxxx@xx.com
reply-to member
to “diyfreebies@gmail.com”
date Wed, Dec 28, 2011 at 8:15 PM
subject Re
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.com
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.

hide details Dec 28 (3 days ago)

I haven’t found it difficult in the least. The important thing is to make sure you don’t cancel more than 2 offers and wait 30 days before canceling the others. I simply pay attention to offers that are already 30 day trials, and I keep close attention to the cost of each offer after the trials are up. With that info I just simply decide which I cancel right off the bat and which ones I can afford to stay with longer. It is very important that you follow the rules exactly. I truly go into each offer with a heart of actually trying each product. It’s exciting for me to get different products in the mail, kind of like Christmas. I save every email, statement, screen shots of orders, you name it. Then I email, request fax numbers, ask to talk to supervisors. I do whatever I can to get my information and proof to them so that they can see I am a legit member that takes the process very seriously. I have actually introduced myself recently to the reps when I called and I let them know that I have been completing sites for them for quite a while. Their response was “oh so you are one of our long standing members” I try to be super nice and appreciative with them. I found that it really helps to be patient and understanding and very honest. Oh and always keep track of the sites you complete, so as to not complete them again until a year has passed. Another new thing is if you compete an offer, you cannot get credit for that offer for 6 months. Sometimes I call up just to thank them for what they have done for me. I want them to see that when they actually follow through and pay out like advertised, their members really appreciate it. It’s my subtle way of hopefully encouraging them to not cheat us. I am currently waiting for a supervisor to call me back with the info about the newbie who sends out the incentive checks. Hope this helps. ”

Who will replace Dave? I miss him already. His contract is up which is why his e-mail hasn’t been working. I wish him all the best. I will update you all next month when I find out who is in Fulfillment. Thank you, anonymous, for allowing me to share your e-mails.

Next comes Ifficient. A member contacted me about the problems he was experiencing with Ifficient’s sites. His following e-mail preceded the phone call he made to Ifficient. Below is my correspondence with this member as well as the audio recording of the phone call.

From member:

“from member xxxx@xx.com
to diyfreebies@gmail.com
date Sat, Dec 17, 2011 at 2:27 PM
subject Fwd: Non-working Offer Links for $1000 Visa Gift Card at globalonerewards.com
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.com
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.

hide details Dec 17 (12 days ago)

Wozniack,

I am trying to participate in the $1000 “choose a gift card” DIY freebie at www.globalonerewards.com. Over half of the offer links are broken / non-working and display an error page. Currently, it is impossible to complete the required 13 offers on this site because only 7 of the total offer links are even working. I tried emailing both fulfillment@globalonerewards and remove@globalonerewards.com and the remove@globalonerewards.com account returned a failed delivery error.

I am hoping since you posted a conversation with Sean McCormick at Ifficient you could offer me some advice. I have already contacted them via their “Contact Us” link on www.globalonerewards.com and sent the email below. Thanks for reading!

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: member
Date: Sat, Dec 17, 2011 at 1:24 PM
Subject: Non-working Offer Links for $1000 Visa Gift Card at globalonerewards.com
To: remove@globalonerewards.com, fulfillment@globalonerewards.com

I am trying to complete offers for the $1,000 Visa Gift Card and getting very frustrated. I understand that I am required to complete 13 offers before I am eligible to receive my free gift. I am trying to do so, but at this time it appears it is IMPOSSIBLE to participate in the 13 required offers. I clicked through all three offer pages, by clicking on every offer link and clicking the Next button at the bottom of the page to advance to the second and third offer pages. At this time, the majority of your offer links result in an error page.

Only 7 offer links on your entire site are working correctly!

I will list the working links:

Working:

Netflix
24 Hr. Fitness
Disney Books
Dr. Seuss Books
Hammer X Driver
Renaissance Health (Priozil)
Discover Escape Card

I will also list the non-working links that you need to fix immediately.

Non-working:

Equifax Credit Report
ADT Home Security System
Amber Alert GPS
Columbia House DVD Club
Proactiv Acne Treatment
National Family Protection (Identity Theft Protection)
E-Cigarettes
DirecTV Satellite
Sirius Satellite Radio
Simple Savings Network
Purse Hook Links to Hammer X Driver Golf Club site

When I click on these offer links, which all seem to be served by hbatrack.com, my browser displays the following error:

“404 – Not Found
Invalid CID”

How do you expect members to participate in and complete the 13 required offers if only 7 offer links work at all? If you do not maintain the site and all of the offers result in errors, you are advertising a contest with requirement that can not be completed.

Please view the following screenshot for proof of the error:

http://i.imgur.com/uwCn8.png

Please fix these issues immediately. It is incredibly frustrating and I will complete no offers on your behalf until these critical issues are resolved. Thanks.”

Second e-mail to me:

“from member xxxx@xx.com
to diyfreebies@gmail.com
date Sat, Dec 17, 2011 at 2:47 PM
subject Fwd: Non-working Offer Links for $1000 Visa Gift Card at globalonerewards.com
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.com
Important mainly because of your interaction with messages in the conversation.

hide details Dec 17 (12 days ago)

Wozniack,

Shortly after I sent you that last email, I dialed the telephone number listed on Ifficient’s “About Us” page.

http://ifficient.com/aboutus.php

303.945.2808

To my surprise, Sean McCormick answered the phone! I informed him of the non-working links on globalonerewards.com and he said they no longer promote that website. I asked him which sites Ifficient was currently promoting and he replied that they no longer promote any websites of that nature. Sean made it sound like Iffiicient is no longer in the “freebie” scene.

I have attached the recording of the phone call with Sean.

You can also listen to the recording on SoundCloud:

http://snd.sc/tSN56l

This might make for an interesting Blog article and/or update to the DIY Freebies forums. Thanks for reading!

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: GOR Member
- Show quoted text -

2011-12-17 time 15_30_05 Outgoing Telephone Call +13039452808.mp3 2011-12-17 time 15_30_05 Outgoing Telephone Call +13039452808.mp3
758K Play Download”

My reply:

“from [Busy] diyfreebies@gmail.com diyfreebies@gmail.com
to member
date Sat, Dec 17, 2011 at 3:15 PM
subject Re: Non-working Offer Links for $1000 Visa Gift Card at globalonerewards.com
mailed-by gmail.com

hide details Dec 17 (12 days ago)

Hi Chad,

I guess that after so many problems they’ve been having maintaining their gift sites, they decided to discontinue their rewards program. When I spoke to Sean McCormick back in January, he wanted to “tighten” Fulfillment in order to provide better service. It took their customer support over a month to respond to me though, and this was after my discussion with Sean. But I tried signing up for one of their sites anyway since Sean had told me via e-mail that they were paying $1,000.00 cash or check on their sites. The last time I looked at their sites, however, was in the spring. I wasn’t able to complete their sites then due to a lack of offer variety. Apparently now, their sites are beyond impossible to complete. And with your permission, I’d like to share your correspondence with me for my readers. With this news coming straight from Sean McCormick, it is confirmed that they no longer offer a gift program.

Would it also be alright if I posted the phone call as well? I could try writing it down word-for-word, but it is hard for me to hear certain words through my laptop. I will listen to it again to be sure of what I heard. If you will allow it, I will e-mail Sean to get the OK from him as well. I do thank you for sharing this with me.

Thanks again,

wozniack”

Member’s reply:

“from member xxxx@xx.com
to “diyfreebies@gmail.com”
date Sat, Dec 17, 2011 at 10:27 PM
subject Re: Non-working Offer Links for $1000 Visa Gift Card at globalonerewards.com
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.com
Important mainly because it was sent directly to you.

hide details Dec 17 (12 days ago)

Wozniack,

Thank you for replying. You do indeed have my permission to post anything that I have emailed to Global One Rewards, to yourself, or I have posted in the forums. Sharing is caring! I would be happy if you posted the phone call as well, although I did not ask Sean for permission to record the conversation. You may want to get his go ahead before posting. If you don’t hear back from him, I would assume a transcript would do just as well.

Chad: Hi Sean. Is this Sean McCormick?
Sean: Yup.
Chad: Interesting. Ok. My name is Chad. I’m a member trying to use one of your rewards websites – globalonerewards.com
Sean: Uh-huh.
Chad: ..and over half of the offer links listed on that webpage, that website, are resulting in an error right now.
Sean: Yeah Chad, we’re not promoting that website. The promotion’s down.
Chad: Oh, what are your current promotions websites?
Sean: We don’t have any. We don’t have any. We’re not doing that anymore.
Chad: Ok, I was unaware of that.
Sean: Yeah.
Chad: Ok, thank you.
Sean: Alright, buh-bye.
Chad: Bye.

Thanks for listening and taking an interest in this change that affects DIY Freebies members.”

Then I asked permission from Ifficient’s CEO, Sean McCormick:

“From [Busy] diyfreebies@gmail.com diyfreebies@gmail.com
to Sean McCormick
date Sat, Dec 17, 2011 at 7:01 PM
subject Phone call…
mailed-by gmail.com

hide details Dec 17 (12 days ago)

Sean,

A member said they called you today, and provided me with the details of the telephone conversation. Would it be okay if I posted the phone call on my blog? Then everyone would know the gift program is no longer in operation, and wouldn’t have to inquire about your sites. I wanted to ask before making the audio recording public. I will try to print the conversation if you’d rather me not post it. Thanks.

Have a blessed holiday,

wozniack”

Sean McCormick’s reply:

“from Sean McCormick xxxx@xx.com
to “diyfreebies@gmail.com”
date Sat, Dec 17, 2011 at 9:11 PM
subject Re: Phone call…
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.com
Important mainly because of your interaction with messages in the conversation.

hide details Dec 17 (12 days ago)

Absolutely.”

Phone call:

2011-12-17 time 15 30 05 Outgoing Telephone Call +13039452808 by wozniack

Ifficient no longer offers a gift program as they are “not doing that anymore.” Our list of companies to test is one down, as we just have LeaderDirect, WinHundred, and Brightfire. Thanks to this member, and Sean from Ifficient for their permission to post the phone call.

I-Deal sent me this for Christmas!!

I qualified for a $1,000.00 gift card + $250.00 bonus. Originally I was supposed to get a Wal-Mart gift card, but I was sent a $1,000.00 Wells Fargo Visa and I am not complaining. The $250.00 bonus checks were shipped December 20, 2011. I-Deal said the bonuses are shipped at the end of every quarter, no matter when you completed the site. Haven’t gotten mine yet, because my mail has been on hold; I was out of town during the holidays. Before I cash it I will snap a pic and post it next month. Thanks I-Deal.

The first two gift cards are from MyPoints. I cashed out on $50.00 to Lane Bryant which I gave as a Christmas gift, and kept the $10.00 to CVS. The other gift card ebates sent me for qualifying for their promotion. It was for $10.00. I’m also expecting to receive 3,300 in bonus points from MyPoints for reaching my Shopping Tally goal. 3,300 points almost equals a $25.00 cash out, BUT I already have a 1,526 point balance, so I can still cash out on $25.00! And I’m going for the $25.00 CVS card, so that should give me $35.00 total when combined with my $10.00 CVS gift card. Last but not least I got a $10.00 Wal-Mart gift card from my bank’s points program.

I have switched from Paypal to Serve for donation payments. Serve is a money payment and transfer service by American Express that allows you to send and receive money and transfer funds to your bank. They also send you a prepaid American Express card, which can be used at an ATM. Their current promotion is a $10.00 bonus if you sign up by January 5, 2012. And if you play their trivia game at PlayMoneyMover.com you earn ten more dollars! My experience so far with Serve has been fantastic, and I have already spent a portion of my free money with my prepaid card and it works. However, you can only send up to $100.00 per day, and accept no more than $250.00 a month. A customer service rep told me that.

Until my Paypal is resolved, any donations can be made to my Serve account by clicking on the Serve banner under where it says ‘Donations.’ But first you must register. If you want to take advantage of their promotions, please send me in e-mail at diyfreebies@gmail.com so I can refer you.

Raise your glass to these deals…

*links ‘n such*

I-Deal–

http://www.consumerrewards.us.com/?config=6613 – 10 offers, 2 refs/$1,000.00 Visa

http://www.internetresearchsurveys.com/?session_id=e8bcedae337511e1b9933521b8df804b – 10 offers, 2 refs/$1,000.00 Visa

producttestpanel–

http://shoppingthanet.com/ruslimo/index.php?lid=ruslimo_16028_2696_155882459&add_offerid=665343&addomain=avgauge10.com&addomain_id=63&uniclk=true – offers unknown/$1,000.00 Toys R Us gc + misc. gifts

http://shoppingthanet.com/holidaygiftcards/index.php?lid=holidaygiftcards_14354_-preview&add_offerid=754164&addomain=rsgauge10.com&addomain_id=62&uniclk=true – offers unknown/$1,000.00 merchant gift card of your choice + misc. gifts

The new year for DIY is pretty active, so there will be more investigating, research and site hunting! I’m strongly considering doing another CRS site. I’d like to find another $2,000.00+, though most of their sites are now $1,000.00. There are two things I need to work on– our forum, and my blogs. One of my images disappeared, so I uploaded it again and a week later it’s gone. So I’m changing my image storage service. It’ll take me a while to upload the images to another site since there are over 60 entries, but I need to get it done. As for our forum, I know about the spam, and will try to get it fixed. Our forum needs to be updated, but I haven’t had time to do it myself.

My e-mail and PM inboxes are full, so it may take a few days for me to reply. If you have any questions, please send them to: diyfreebies@gmail.com; sometimes I respond faster to my gmail.

Take care,

wozniack

Merry Christmas everyone! Big news from Product Test Panel + a member describes their less than happy experience– you won’t believe what happened! I-Deal answers questions regarding John Deere tractor site and 6-month DBA rule; yuletide link list, and more! Let’s have a jolly good time…

We’ll kick off our holiday blog by examining a new gift site. This is what arrived in my mailbox…

Incoming message:

Here is what it said:

I don’t believe just anything, but I had been waiting on a $1,000.00 gift card from I-Deal, so I thought it might have been about my gift. The ‘Please See this and confirm’ link directed me to the site below.

gift page:

url: http://walmart.mygiftcarddeal.com/

There is no address in the policy, and the domain is privately registered. No status or contact page on the front of the site either. So I went through the registration and survey process to get results…

registration page:

survey pages:

offer page:

Who is this? Don’t know yet? Let’s keep going…

bonus page:

The company with the famous “Bullseye Bonus” is Product Test Panel, and the Bullseye Bonus wording is clearly displayed in the browser tab’s left corner. Also, the ‘Member Support’ and ‘Gift Status’ pop-ups at the bottom of the offer page are like Product Test Panel. I will post them now.

Bottom of offer page:

Member support:

Gift status:

Review the rules for each page.

Bottom of front page:

Bottom of registration page:

Bottom of offer page:

The front page states, “(4) not cancel your participation in more than a total of 2 Reward Offers within 30 days of any Reward Offer Sign-Up Date as outlined in the Terms & Conditions (the Cancellation Limit).” — This isn’t explained anywhere in the terms and conditions. And, as long as you don’t cancel the OODs (Offers of Doom = expensive offers), you shouldn’t be in violation of their cancellation limitation. So I don’t know why it says you can’t cancel no more than 2 offers, as there will most likely be more regular offers available. Another problem is the front page states you must, “(3) complete a total of 10 Reward Offers as stated in the Terms & Conditions“, while the offer page requires 13, “(3) complete a total of 13 Reward Offers as stated in the Terms & Conditions.” The status page should have the correct offer count. The domains associated with this site are site4giftcards.com, bigbrandrewards.com, mywebrewards.com. All but one is privately registered.

whois info:

I would say this is a Product Test Panel site despite the dodgy name and e-mail in the whois: Andrzej Z jjzz7171@aol.com.

It has been said that you can only do one Product Test Panel site per lifetime, though it has also been said that you can… One member has proven just how possible it is, and delivers some important news straight from Product Test Panel’s customer support rep, Daniel. Below is their DIY earnings report and our correspondence.

Member’s earnings report:

“from xxxx@xx.com
to diyfreebies@gmail.com
date Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 6:13 PM
subject Re: Product Test Panel
mailed-by xxxx.com

Hello Woz,

I just wanted to give you a quick update on a couple of sites. First of all, I am SO happy to hear that I finally was approved for the 2freelaptops site. I still can’t believe how easy the actual verification and documentation portion went – I guess I shouldn’t count my money before I have it hand but it definitely looks very promising. About how long did you have to wait? I’m guessing they sent a check rather than 2 laptops correct? I have to give you major credit for helping me through that site (providing phone numbers, the link etc.). Also, I am VERY close to finishing my second Product Test Panel site. It is for $2,000 Apple gift card plus all those bonus things. It is actually run by the same company as PTP but I guess it is not their direct company so I was able to complete the site (even though I did a PTP site a couple years ago). I recently received an Ipad2 from a Nuitech site and just completed another Nuitech site (different DBA) for a $500 Chili’s gift card. I’m hoping they will let me exchange that gift card for something else but I guess we’ll see. Anyway, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for your website, your insight and your time that you put into this. I would definitely like to donate some more money to keep your site running and keep you motivated to find more opportunities. As soon as my “stuff” starts rolling in, I will gladly donate.

Thanks again,
member”

My questions to this member about Product Test Panel:

“from [Offline] diyfreebies@gmail.com diyfreebies@gmail.com
to xxxx@xx.com
date Sat, Nov 19, 2011 at 4:39 PM
subject Re: Product Test Panel
mailed-by xxxx.com

hide details Nov 19 (10 days ago)

Hi member,

I am trying to gather more information on Product Test Panel’s subsidiary company that you did your site through. Do you still happen to have the link for the second Product Test Panel site you did? If it’s still around, I can start there and hopefully find the name of the sub-company, and then ask their support some questions. This information would really help my readers. I’m in the process of writing my blog, and am piecing my material together as I go. I hope to have it published by early December.

Thanks,

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

wozniack”

Member’s reply:

“from xxxx@xx.com
to diyfreebies@gmail.com
date Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 6:10 PM
subject Re: Product Test Panel
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.aol.com

Hello Woz,

The site I did was http://www.giftcardrewardzone.com/ but now it says it’s “down for maintenance”. I did recently receive my gifts though!! I got a $3,500 Apple store gift card and an Ipad 2. Daniel, the main support person for Product Test Panel aka Consumer Resource Corporation is very nice to work with. He told me the company was steering away from DIY sites and was moving more into the referral process. I hope I can still do one more DIY site from them before they end it all. Let me know if you have any other questions. On another note…. I’m still waiting on my check from CRS. I just received an email from Dave that the check should have been mailed earlier this week – nothing yet. Do you know if the check was mailed just through the USPS?

Thanks,
member”

My response:

“from [Offline] diyfreebies@gmail.com diyfreebies@gmail.com
to xxxx@xx.com
date Tue, Nov 22, 2011 at 1:27 PM
subject Re: Product Test Panel
mailed-by gmail.com

member,

Thanks for the link. I will check it again to see if the site comes back. Would you happen to have their e-mail? I can’t find it. I even registered for a PTP site and never received a password, so I couldn’t log in to send them a support ticket. That is great that you were able to do more than one Product Test Panel site! I hope you’ve been enjoying your profit. Do you mind if I share your positive news with my readers regarding your success with Product Test Panel and CRS?

The check should come by USPS but it requires a signature. Its good that Dave is responsive again, hopefully that means they will continue paying out…

Thanks!

wozniack”

Member’s reply:

“from xxxx@xx.com
to diyfreebies@gmail.com
date Tue, Nov 22, 2011 at 5:41 PM
subject Re: Product Test Panel
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.com

Hello Woz,

AWESOME NEWS!! I just got a $3,000 check today for CRS!!!! I’m so excited – I haven’t tried to cash it yet but I hope all goes well. You can share the news on your board – would you want a picture of the check as well? The best way to contact PTP is via phone at (803) 782-0957. Let me know if you need anything else. I will be making a donation to your site again soon!!

Thanks,
member”

My reply:

“from [Offline] diyfreebies@gmail.com diyfreebies@gmail.com
to xxxx@xx.com
date Tue, Nov 22, 2011 at 9:32 PM
subject Re: Product Test Panel
mailed-by xxxx.com

Hi again,

CONGRATS!! I’m sure you won’t have any problems cashing that check, but I would do it soon as you never know with these companies. Sure! Send me a picture of your check. ) Thanks for allowing me to share your good news with my readers. They will love this bit of information, and it will restore their faith in CRS after all this time.

Thank you for your continued support of DIYfreebies! Your donations mean so much to all of us in the DIY community.

Thanks,

wozniack”

Between site maintenance and the gift site errors, I was unable to send them a support ticket. A good friend of mine tried getting through to them for me but had the same results. I don’t communicate by phone as I need my company response in writing, so I can’t call. If the site this member did was under another DBA, is that why Consumer Research Corporation, the company sponsoring Product Test Panel, let them do another? Or is it that ALL their sites are under the direct company, Consumer Research Corporation, and you can do as many as you want provided the domains are unique? There are other divisions of Consumer Research Corporation, such as ReachSmart Interactive, Inc. and SubscriberbaseHoldings, Inc., which may be used to manage more gift sites. But so far there isn’t a definite answer as to which DBAs their other gift sites belong to, if not their main corp.
The important news from Daniel was them steering away from DIY. Their gift program is now transient, and one day their gift sites will all be gone. Get in on Product Test Panel now if you’re wanting to do them…

Next is a rather dreary outcome for one Product Test Panel member. The PM below speaks for itself.

This member’s message to me:

“Hi wozniack,

I couldn’t locate your e-mail address, so I’m hopeful I can track you down through here.

I recently completed a PTP site. When I signed up, one of the gifts I was to received was the white MacBook, which was, of course, valued at $999. However, as you may know, the white MacBook was discontinued. As such, when fulfillment time came, CS told me that substituting the MacBook Air would not be a problem. When I received the MacBook Air, it was an older version – specifically, a late 2010 model that retails for $834.00, which is obviously less than the $999 item I would’ve gotten. So what, you say? It’s only a $165 difference. Normally, I would agree.

But when I called CS to inquire about receiving the older model and that not being what I expected, CS, who was otherwise great, became very snippy and condescending. He kept saying stuff like, “We never discussed the model” and “This isn’t a Best Buy; you can’t expect to receive the latest model.” Then he told me that I should be OK with it, as it will help me on taxes. Being a law student with no income, I don’t really think that an extra $165 on my taxes will kill me.

Regardless, because of that conversation, I’ve decided to fight back and file a small claims suit against PTP. Honestly, it’s more about principle than anything else. The company cut corners to fulfill my gifts when I had no reason to expect I would receive an almost year-old model.

As a law student, I’m not going to pretend that I know everything about the law. But I do know at least two or three grounds on which I know I can successfully prevail in a suit against PTP. I don’t really want to be pushed around by a freebie site, especially when I know I don’t have to take it. After travel time and everything, I know I’ll probably come out losing more than the $165, but I really don’t care. I just want to get my point across.

Unfortunately, I’m having trouble locating something that I thought you, as a freebie connoisseur, may know. At least one of the freebie sites that I’ve done has a clause in their T&C stating that gift substitutions will be for an equal or greater value. I haven’t found any T&C so far that state that and was wondering if perhaps may you knew. This isn’t the foundation of my case by any means, but I’m basically going to throw everything at them. And I figured that you would probably know where to look. Thanks for your help!

member

Nothing in PTP’s TOS says that”

Okay, here are my thoughts. First off, Product Test Panel should have pulled the Macbook site since the item was discontinued. They were right in substituting a MacBook Air for the white MacBook, however, the value of the MacBook Air fell under the amount of the advertised white MacBook. Regardless of the $165.00 difference, he was sent a laptop for a lesser amount and it was a 2010 model. What they should have done was send this member a $999.00-$1,000.00 check or gift card. Or they could have sent him a $165.00 check or gift card to make up for the loss. But no. In return he lost money, got an outdated PC, and a few snide remarks; “This isn’t a Best Buy; you can’t expect to receive the latest model.” And here comes the cherry on top: Product Test Panel to member, “Oh, you should be fine with it… It’ll help you on taxes. Haha!” Somehow that makes it all better. Consumer Research Corporation, please act on your customer support’s behavior. This isn’t how you communicate with your members, because without them you would have no business.

Anyway, I checked in on this member to see how things turned out. Below is my PM.

My PM:

“Hi member,

I was just checking in to see how your small claims suit against Product Test Panel went? I am terribly sorry that you received the 2010 Macbook Air. I still cannot believe the attitude of their customer support! I am guessing you talked to Daniel? They should have given you a laptop that was the same value of the one you signed up for, even if it wasn’t a Macbook Air. They could have done that.

I have some new information on Product Test Panel that I will discuss in December’s blog… And if you don’t mind, I’d like to share your experience with my readers in addition to what I have. The outcome of your PTP site may serve as a warning to others, as to not register for a discontinued gift so they don’t potentially receive an item of lesser value.

I really hope you won your suit to prove a point to Product Test Panel. Good luck with everything.

Thanks,

wozniack”

Member’s reply:

“Hi woz,

You’re more than welcome to share what PTP did to me on your website. It still irks me and especially how snobby Daniel acted when I called (and I did so in a non-confrontational manner).

Unfortunately, I ended up not pursuing the small claims case. The amount I ultimately got for the MBA on Amazon was made the differential inconsequential, especially taking a filing fee into account. I would have loved to pursue a small claims case on principle alone, but like I think I said before, I’m a law student who was dealing with school and interviews with full-time job interviews during August-October. So I simply just didn’t have the time to deal with it.

It’s very frustrating, just because PTP has a business model that seems conducive to making a lot of profit and Daniel simply cut corners with me to save a mere $160. It’s pathetic. Other than the end, my experience with PTP was great, but it really left a sour taste in my mouth.

If you need any other info from me about this, I’d be happy to provide it. Sorry I don’t have more exciting details to report.”

As much as I like Product Test Panel, they have disappointed me greatly. I can only hope this doesn’t carry on to their referral program. I wanted to publicize this member’s experience for Consumer Research Corporation in case they’re reading. Thanks to this member for letting me post about what happened.

Next comes an inquiry about this I-Deal tractor site:

gift page: http://www.consumergiftcenter.us.com/?session_id=d871fdce090711e18076646ba83e1350

My response to this person, and my correspondence with I-Deal, can be found below. For their protection, I have left this person anonymous.

Person’s inquiry about John Deere site:

“from anonymous xxxx@xx.com
to diyfreebies@gmail.com
date Mon, Nov 7, 2011 at 12:30 AM
subject JD Tractor site with Ideal question…
mailed-by xxxx.com

hide details Nov 7

Hi. My name is anonymous, I am a long time follower of yours, a member of A4F, and I also complete DIY sites. I have found this site and I am curious what the “value” of the tractor would be??? Wondering if it is worth mine and my refs time to complete….10 offers and 2 refs, but my husband says…bare bones JD tractor is 5K…what do you think and is there a way to find out the gift amount? Thanks so much for your time.

http://www.consumergiftcenter.us.com/?session_id=d871fdce090711e18076646ba83e1350″

My reply:

“from [Busy] diyfreebies@gmail.com diyfreebies@gmail.com
to anonymous
date Mon, Nov 7, 2011 at 1:59 PM
subject Re: JD Tractor site with Ideal question…
mailed-by gmail.com

hide details Nov 7

Hi anonymous,

Many DIY companies determine the gift amount by the list price given on the manufacturer’s web site. For example. Let’s say I-Deal had the first iPad model advertised on one of their sites but they were only paying by check for that gift. Since there is now an iPad 2, the first iPad would have gone down in value, so I-Deal would determine the gift amount by the list price on Apple.com. Now, if that iPad dropped to $350.00, you would most likely received a check for $350.00 instead of one for $500.00 if you did a site for an iPad 2.

I checked the value for this particular John Deere model, and it is $3,105.75 on the John Deere web site.

I will ask I-Deal for the gift amount on this site to be sure, and will relay their response to you.

Thanks,

wozniack”

A few days later I shared my I-Deal conversation with anonymous…

“from [Busy] diyfreebies@gmail.com diyfreebies@gmail.com
to anonymous
date Thu, Nov 10, 2011 at 4:24 PM
subject Re: JD Tractor site with Ideal question…
mailed-by gmail.com
Images from this sender are always displayed. Don’t display from now on.

hide details Nov 10

Hi anonymous,

I will copy and paste my correspondence with I-Deal regarding the gift amount of the tractor. You can find it below.

My first e-mail to I-Deal:

“From: xxxx@xx.com [mailto: xxxx@xx.com]
Sent: Monday, November 07, 2011 3:09 PM
To: contactus@expertcustomerservice.com
Subject: John Deere tractor site… (Thread:299957)

Hi,

Could you give me the gift amount for this site? http://www.consumergiftcenter.us.com/?session_id=9f546312097811e1a55da536a83e1266 — The list price is $3,105.75 for this model as per the John Deere web site: http://www.deere.com/wps/dcom/en_US/products/equipment/riding_mowers/lawn_tractors/select_seriesx300/300-38-inch/x300_38inch_deck.page

I wasn’t sure though if you determine the gift’s value by the manufacturer’s web site or not. I assume you ship the actual tractor with a gift being this high in value, as $3,000.00 would be a lot to payout in gift cards– unless you send a check.

Thanks”

I-Deal’s reply:

“from Customer Service contactus@expertcustomerservice.com
to xxxx@xx.com
date Mon, Nov 7, 2011 at 3:07 PM
subject RE: John Deere tractor site… (Thread:299957)
mailed-by expertcustomerservice.com

Dear Customer,

We have no record of your email address registered for this offer. We cannot guarantee that this gift will be fulfilled with a check or the actual tractor.

Sincerely,

Customer Service”

My reply to I-Deal:

“from [Available] xxxx@xx.com xxxx@xx.com
to Customer Service
date Wed, Nov 9, 2011 at 12:42 PM
subject Re: John Deere tractor site… (Thread:299957)
mailed-by xxxx.com

hide details Nov 9

Hi,

I’m sorry, I haven’t registered for this offer yet. I was just trying to find out more about it before signing up. I know on the John Deere site that the tractor is above $2,500.00, but what has your company set as the gift amount for this offer? Could you give me an estimate of what you might payout on this offer?

Thanks!”

I-Deal’s reply:

“from Customer Service contactus@expertcustomerservice.com
to xxxx@xx.com
date Wed, Nov 9, 2011 at 1:19 PM
subject RE: John Deere tractor site… (Thread:299957)
mailed-by expertcustomerservice.com

Dear Customer,

Per our terms and conditions:

B. Reward Fulfillment and Delivery

(1.) Top Notch Media, Inc. reserves the right to substitute a check for the reward.

(2.) Top Notch Media, Inc. reserves the right to substitute a gift card for the reward. The amount of the gift card and the merchant shall be determined by Top Notch Media, Inc. in its sole discretion. By accepting the gift card, you agree that you have been made whole and relinquish your rights to pursue any and all claims against this website, Top Notch Media, Inc., its parent, successors, assigns, affiliates, advertisers and employees.

(3.) Top Notch Media, Inc. reserves the right to substitute a product of comparable value for the reward. “Comparable value” shall be determined by Top Notch Media, Inc. in its sole discretion.

I cannot give you a definite answer to your question about how much we MIGHT pay via check for a person who completes this offer. However, if at the time of redemption the tractor is still valued around $2,500, it is safe to say that you would receive compensation somewhere close to that in amount if it is determined that we are going to send a check in lieu of the tractor.

Sincerely,

Customer Service”

Then I wrote this for anonymous before signing off:

What they are saying is that if the tractor is still valued around $2,500.00-$3,000.00, then you would receive compensation close to that amount if they’re sending a check. So this means that you most likely would be receiving a check instead of the tractor. However, they reserve the right to also reward you with a gift card or the tractor itself.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any further questions.

Thanks,

wozniack”

Anonymous replied:

“from anonymous xxxx@xx.com
to diyfreebies@gmail.com
date Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 2:30 PM
subject RE: JD Tractor site with Ideal question…
mailed-by xxxx.com

Thanks so much for your time and help.”

Next comes a question about I-Deal’s six-month time limit.

“QUOTE (Zags2010 @ Nov 17 2011, 08:46 AM) *
Does anyone know when the six-month time limit for up to $1,000 per DBA starts? Does it start when you sign up for the offers, when your certificate is processed, or when you receive the item?”

I figured it started at the time of registration, but to be absolutely sure I went straight to the source.

My question to I-Deal:

“From: xxxx@xx.com [mailto: xxxx@xx.com]
Sent: Saturday, November 19, 2011 5:13 PM
To: Customer Service
Subject: Question about the six-month time limit per DBA… (Thread:300847)

Do you know when the six-month time limit for up to $1,000 per DBA starts? Does it start when you sign up for the offers, when your certificate is processed, or when you receive the item?

Thanks”

I-Deal’s reply:

“from Customer Service contactus@expertcustomerservice.com
to xxxx@xx.com
date Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 1:45 PM
subject RE: Question about the six-month time limit per DBA… (Thread:300847)
mailed-by expertcustomerservice.com

hide details Nov 21 (7 days ago)

It’s from the date you register.”

Another $25.00 Target gift card from ePoll market research. Thanks ePoll!

Reach into your stocking of rewards…

*yuletide link list*

producttestpanel–

http://shoppingthanet.com/bb8holiday/index.php?lid=bb8holiday_12967_PFTEST&add_offerid=673696&addomain=rscounter10.com&addomain_id=66&uniclk=true – offers unknown/$1000.00 Best Buy gift card + misc. gifts

shoppingthanet.com/holidaygiftcards/index.php?lid=holidaygiftcards_14662_[=AFID=]&add_offerid=754164&addomain=promolnk.com&addomain_id=89&uniclk=true – offers unknown/$1,000.00 merchant gift card of your choice + misc. gifts

http://shoppingthanet.com/jcpenney/index.v1.php?lid=jcpenney_14662_[=AFID=]&add_offerid=441669&addomain=promolnk.com&addomain_id=89&uniclk=true – offers unknown/$1,000.00 JcPenney gift card of your choice + misc. gifts

http://shoppingthanet.com/macys/index.php?lid=macys_14662_[=AFID=]&add_offerid=485841&addomain=promolnk.com&addomain_id=89&uniclk=true – offers unknown/$1,000.00 Macy’s gift card of your choice + misc. gifts

http://shoppingthanet.com/costco/index.php?lid=costco_14662_[=AFID=]&add_offerid=589322&addomain=promolnk.com&addomain_id=89&uniclk=true – offers unknown/$1,000.00 Costco gift card of your choice + misc. gifts

Nuitech–

http://www.rewardingpromos.com/?c=116&s=4562&s1= – offers unknown/$1,000.00 Best Buy gift card

http://www.rewardingpromos.com/?c=113&s=1717 – offers unknown/$1,000.00 Victoria’s Secret gift card

http://www.rewardingpromos.com/?c=127&s=1717 – offers unknown/$1,000.00 JcPenney gift card

I-Deal–

http://www.myholidayshoppingspree.com/?session_id=5d371cea1bd411e1a92f42a1a68cb92e – 10 offers, 1 ref/$500.00 Kohl’s gift card

http://www.holidayrewards.us.com/?session_id=89d4f6041bd511e18a12c68c5407cece – 8 offers, no refs/$500.00 JcPenney gift card

http://www.myholidayshoppingspree.com/?session_id=82468bd81bd411e1b428cffc7f685fd3 – 10 offers, 2 refs/$1,000.00 Toys R Us gift card

http://www.myholidayshoppingspree.com/?session_id=950a696a1bd411e1b05726a05407cece – 10 offers, 2 refs/$1,000.00 Best Buy gift card

http://www.holidayrewards.us.com/?session_id=e1e6e0381bd411e1806c2e83a83e1266 – 10 offers, 1 refs/$500.00 Red Lobster gift card

http://www.holidayrewards.us.com/?session_id=f7f624f61bd411e1aa032983a83e1266 – 10 offers, 2 refs/$1,000.00 Visa gift card

http://www.holidayrewards.us.com/?session_id=088ad1a41bd511e1bbea5f05b8df804b – 10 offers, 1 refs/$1,000.00 Visa gift card

http://www.attentionshoppers.us.com/?session_id=1af448341bd511e19d873ffa7f685fd3 – 10 offers, 1 refs/$500.00 Olive Garden gift card

http://www.attentionshoppers.us.com/?session_id=36460c441bd511e1bb2eb1e53a697067 – 10 offers, 1 refs/$500.00 merchant gift card of your choice (Visa option)

http://www.attentionshoppers.us.com/?session_id=4c98d4721bd511e197124183a83e1266 – 10 offers, 1 refs/$500.00 Gap gift card

http://www.restaurantgiftcards.us.com/?session_id=bab4ee501bd511e1ab213305b8df804b – 10 offers, 1 refs/$500.00 Red Lobster gift card

This concludes the holiday edition of DIYfreebies! I’m still waiting for my I-Deal gift. It was supposed to ship last month but it never did… The holiday season may be slowing down their Fulfillment Department, as there was probably an increase of activity on their sites due to Christmas. With luck, mine should arrive before December 20th. This is my last I-Deal site as I need new offers with them, but I will do one that needs testing: WinHundread, Brightfire, Ifficient, LeaderDirect. I feel better doing Ifficient or LeaderDirect though because they are responsive. Anyway, enjoy the yuletide link list! There are many great deals right now.

Merry Christmas to all! May glad tidings and good cheer, carry on through the New Year. I leave you with this quote: “The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.” – Burton Hillis

Take care,

wozniack

The fields are harvested, the scarecrows are out, and now we prepare for a Thanksgiving feast! Evidence proves CRS are still “in that business” + recent payment reports; new I-Deal requirements and rules explained; WinHundred site review; Thanksgiving link list, and more! Happy Thanksgiving!! Dinner’s ready…

We have recent payment reports from CRS, as well as proof that CRS have created a new gift site AFTER they said, “We’re not in that business anymore.” We’ll start with the strongest piece of evidence, the new domain. Let’s go…

whois:

gift site:

url: http://frame.prizesallaround.com/SplashPage.aspx?g=61b65f48accb49a9ad28407e66822c33&nm=01bgdre6kkx6as&s=[=AFID=]&x=[=SID=]&se=51&se=53

Everything looks okay, right? Well, close in on the registration date of prizesallaround.com in the whois info. The domain was registered September 22, 2011, weeks AFTER the confrontation at CRS’ office! Why is this significant? Read the date of this member’s post then compare it to the registration date of prizesallaround.com…

Click to enlarge.

The member initially posted on September 5, 2011, and again the next day with the above post. If this member said CRS stated that they were “not in that business”, how is that possible given the date of this member’s post? This date confirms without a shadow of a doubt that this incident occurred before the 22nd of September, the date that prizeallaround.com was registered. When the domain went live on September 22, 2011, that proved that CRS are STILL producing new gift sites despite them not being “in that business.”

I will say that there have been four payment reports since the confrontation at CRS’ building. The first came in on September 20, 2011, the others in mid-October. Read October’s report before moving forward.

Latest payment report from member:

“Hey Woz thanks,

I just received a check last week from Dave (Canada) for $2500 for the free Macbook Pro. I sent a return email to say thanks for the tracking and the email bounced back. When I tried to access the link for the offer, the site was down.

I’ve had friends who did the Canada offer with success in the past. Do you think the Hong Kong site is safe or should I steer clear based on what you reported happening in Canada?

Thanks,

member”

My reply:

“Congratulations on your reward! I hope you enjoy the profit.

Your payment report is the first I have heard of since September, so that makes me feel somewhat better about CRS. However, I am so perplexed by everything that has happened that I do not understand what is going on with them. At least I now know that Dave is still there, but it doesn’t explain the strange occurrences with this company.

I want to tell you to steer clear of CRS but they did pay you recently… Its never good when e-mails bounce, and you have no way of communicating with customer support. Has that happened before, or was it only when you tried to e-mail them back? The fact that they said they aren’t “in that business anymore”, but yet are paying people and have registered new domains (I have proof) tells me something is wrong somewhere because they’re still active. Perhaps they saw the opportunity to avoid paying that man who confronted them in Canada like they did with the entire Melanie Kyle/LG washer & dryer situation. Many innocent members lost their money over something–and someone–they were never associated with. Doesn’t mean everyone will get scammed though. This is just me thinking aloud. I honestly do not know what their intentions are, but they obviously are still “in that business” since they’re paying out and generating new gift sites.

We’ll have to keep our eye on CRS for a while. If you are the least bit uncertain about CRS, I suggest doing I-Deal or Nuitech until we learn more.

P.S.– Would you allow me to share your good news with my readers from my blog? It may ease their minds to know that the company didn’t just get up and leave if they’re still owed money.

Thanks.”

This member’s reply:

“Yes please share. Two offers were done at the same time by two different friends. Both received their checks the week of 10/10/2011. The check was dated September 27, 2011.

We communicated with Dave by email several times until the tracking numbers were received. What was different this time is a) He didn’t send tracking when he said he would. We contacted him again and he finally sent it but he was a week late. Once the tracking was sent, we sent an email to say thanks and the email bounced back as if the email address no longer existed.

If I decide to do an offer with them out of Hong Kong, I will post my results.

Thanks for the info!”

These payment reports tell us Dave still works there since he communicated with these members. It also means that they’re STILL “in that business”! Why would they continue to pay out if they weren’t? But what about the episode at their office? Their unusual behavior during the utility bill notifications; their ever-so-final “not in that business” quote; their gift sites flooding every inbox and spam folder and search engine known to man, made it virtually impossible to tell if they were still in business. Behind every lie there is a reason, and I believe they told the member who confronted them that to dodge payment. They saw an opening and crawled right under it not to. My advice to everyone is to just be careful if you do CRS. You never really know about them.

Heads up! There is a new I-Deal requirement called “Featured Offers.” This requirement is not on every I-Deal site but it is something you need to watch for. It can be found in the bottom paragraph on the front page next to the Silver, Gold and Platinum links. Please see below.

gift site:

url: http://consumerrewards.us.com/?session_id=4d9aa3f0fce511e08ff7107d61352346

“Featured Offers” page:

url: http://consumerrewards.us.com/?session_id=4d9aa3f0fce511e08ff7107d61352346&map=29&stage=539

The “Featured Offers” offer page states, “In order to receive your ::your gift here:: you must try one of the featured offers below.” But then I thought, “Wait a minute… Why is there a skip button?” Why were we told we must do an offer if there was a “Skip” button. I already knew the answer but I wanted confirmation from I-Deal themselves. I copied my brief exchange with them below.

My message to I-Deal:

“From: xxxx@xx.com [mailto:xxxx@xx.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2011 4:09 PM
To: contactus@expertcustomerservice.com
Subject: Question about ‘Featured Offers’… (Thread:298846)

Hi,

I was looking at this site and noticed that you had to complete a “Featured Offer” from this page: http://consumerrewards.us.com/?session_id=9762ba9accf711e0b30093d6a68cb92e&map=29&stage=539, but was wondering why there was a Skip button at the bottom of the page. It seems like we have to fulfill this requirement though since the top of the page states, “In order to receive your $1000 Visa Gift Card you must try one of the featured offers below.” The “Featured Offers” link is also on the front page of the site next to the Silver, Gold, and Platinum offer pages, which always have to be fully satisfied in order to receive your gift. I am almost certain that the “Featured Offers” page is a requirement, but I wanted to make sure as there is a Skip button on that page. The main gift site is: http://consumerrewards.us.com/?session_id=9762ba9accf711e0b30093d6a68cb92e

Thanks,

Your valued member”

Their reply:

“From: Customer Service
Date: Thu, Oct 20, 2011 at 4:46 PM
Subject: RE: Question about ‘Featured Offers’… (Thread:298846)
To: xxxx@xx.com

Yes it is a requirement.”

There you go. Any site with a “Featured Offers” page will require you to complete an offer in that group. The “Skip” button’s function is to redirect you to the basic offer pages if you choose to do it later. There isn’t a button for the “Featured Offers” page anywhere on the basic offer pages: Silver, Gold and Platinum. The only way to access the “Featured Offers” page is by logging in to your status page. See below.

Taken from another I-Deal site:

Onto another I-Deal finding… I tried to register for this I-Deal site: http://www.consumerrewards.us.com/?session_id=3757176afc1b11e0b39e71efb7df804b — The reward is a $1,000.00 Best Buy gift card under the DBA 123 Click. I wasn’t eligible for this reward for the following reasons:

Then I recalled the site switch with I-Deal back in September, where a gift was moved to an entirely different domain and DBA. To refresh your memories, read this entry as it tells more about it: I-Deal customer support addresses DBA site questions… — I probably wasn’t eligible for successfully completing the $1,000.00 Visa gift card offer 4 months ago on e-researchcouncil.com, which was under Top Notch Media before it moved to consumerrewards.us.com, a 123 Click site. If that’s really why, that answers our question as to which DBA we could do after registering for the $1,000.00 Visa gift card on e-researchcouncil.com. We can do Top Notch Media, just not 123 Click for 6 months.

While on topic, I would like to go back over the 6-month DBA rule. We’ve discussed it before but its easy to forget, and it will help new members in this industry. I copied over my reply to a member’s question regarding I-Deal’s rules.

Member’s questions:

“QUOTE (jivens @ Sep 26 2011, 05:31 PM) *
Thanks for the reply!!! That helped A LOT. MY next question. Can I only do one site for the whole network per year. Or is it each site PER year?”

My reply:

“With I-Deal you have unlimited promotional gifts, but you can only do one per DBA within a 6-month period. Let me give you an example. Let’s say you signed up and successfully completed a site under I-Deal’s DBA Red Turtle Investments. You wouldn’t be able to complete another site under that DBA for 6 months. However, you could do a site under 123 Click, another I-Deal DBA, provided you haven’t done it for 6 months. I-Deal has quite a few DBAs, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find more sites. Also, I-Deal’s DBAs can be found at the bottom on their gift sites below their program rules. The gift site domain is always to the left, and the DBA name to the right.

I need to point this out though regarding the 6-month rule.

Taken from I-Deal’s terms and conditions:

“”H. In a six-month period, each household may qualify for and receive:

(1.) multiple rewards offered by Bullseye Media, Inc. with a total value of $1,000; or

(2.) one reward offered by Bullseye Media, Inc. with a value that exceeds $1,000.”

So I guess you could get two $500.00 gift cards off two Bullseye Media sites since they state that you can do multiple sites in a six-month period. But once the total amounts to $1,000.00 for Bullseye Media or any other DBA, then you must do another. And, of course, only one reward for a $1,000.00+ gift.

As for Nuitech, its one gift per DBA per household for one year after your registration date. So it is almost the same as I-Deal except that you have to wait 12 months instead of 6.

For more information, you may want to read the official T&C and DBA list: http://www.diyfreebies.com/official-tc-and-dba-list/

I hope this helps you. Please let me know if you have any further questions.”

Someone else had I-Deal questions regarding these two sites: soupofsociety.com and thefloatingfeather.com. Apparently those sites, and one or two others, sent this member 117 I-Deal advertisements via e-mail, and they want to know if those sites are affiliated with I-Deal and 123 Click. My correspondence with I-Deal can be found below.

Me to I-Deal:

“from [Available] xxxx@xx.com xxxx@xx.com
to Customer Service
date Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 2:16 PM
subject Are these sites affiliated with I-Deal and 123 Click?
mailed-by xxxx.com

hide details 2:16 PM (41 minutes ago)

Hi,

Sorry to bother you again, but a friend of mine was wanting to know if soupofsociety.com and thefloatingfeather.com are affiliated with your company, I-Deal, and your dba, 123 Click, Inc.? I will copy and paste what he sent me since he explained it so well.

“do you see these two sites: soupofsociety.com and thefloatingfeather.com ? since i signed up at ideal, these two sites and one or two others sent me 117 emails so far advertising ideal sites. now, i would not dare unsubscribe if these came from ideal, but im not sure. do you think you could ask them if they are affiliated with ideal and 123click inc? i am hoping they are being paid by ideal to advertise their links. however one of the other sites that is emailing me, has a mailing address that is shared by a DBA location, just a different PO box. but that could mean nothing. i tried calling them but it goes to voicemail or you have to enter an extension number”

Just whenever you have time you can answer this e-mail. It isn’t that urgent.

Thanks again…

I-Deal’s reply:

“from Customer Service contactus@expertcustomerservice.com
to [Available] xxxx@xx.com
date Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 1:39 PM
subject RE: Are these sites affiliated with I-Deal and 123 Click? (Thread:299190)
mailed-by expertcustomerservice.com
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.

hide details 1:39 PM (10 minutes ago)

These are not us.”

The digital marketing company behind soupofsociety.com and thefloatingfeather.com are the same. I just have no idea who they are. Hopefully I-Deal does something about it on their end, as this company should be paying them for advertising their links!

We have a new site to check out: bigvaluegiftcard.net. Start with the whois info below…

whois:

gift site:

url: http://bigvaluegiftcard.net/

In the whois info, does AffiliateNetwork.com Marketing, LLC. under “Registrant Contact” ring a bell? If so, you read about it in Joshua Blumenfeld’s write up from April: “Easter bunny introduces…” — Joshua Blumenfeld is CEO of AffiliateNetwork.com Marketing, LLC. His gift program is WinHundred, which we talked about in April’s blog. In April’s blog, you will see that we discussed complimentarygiftcards.com, a WinHundred site. While complimentarygiftcards.com is still on Alexa, a web information company, with “WinHundred, LLC.”, “Josh Blumenfeld” and “CoverClicks, LLC.” in the contact info, not all WinHundred sites are registered with the same information. Like the whois info for bigvaluegiftcard.net, all it may have is “AffiliateNetwork.com Marketing, LLC.” and nothing else. As of now, all sites containing the following are WinHundred: WinHundred, LLC., Josh Blumenfeld, CoverClicks, LLC., AffiliateNetwork.com Marketing, LLC.

More and more companies are excluding their addresses from their policies. So for DIYs like WinHundred, we turn to whois reports and utilize web tools for a complete analysis. CRS sites with the Hong Kong and England addresses do not have an address in the policy. Only in the policies of their Canadian and U.S. sites is there an address! But, the addresses are on the contact pages of the non-Canadian/U.S. sites. We’re playing a game of hide and seek, because we’re constantly searching for hidden company information. It’s much harder now. Is a reason for the lack of information? Hmmm, I wonder…

Someone commented about DIY spam in August’s blog: “End of summer bash…” — I found one of the spam sites he told me about. I will copy and paste our exchange below in case nobody read it.

Person’s comment:

“Sean Quick August 10th, 2011 (#):

Hi Wozniack,

Not sure if this is appropriate here but do you have any sure fire way to remove my email from CRS’s lists? I gave out my email to one single website (foolish) and I get at least a dozen emails a day from various entities but with CRS’s address according to information on this blog and others. I have unsubcribed to every one over 2 months to no avail…it is maddening…I call rewardstream which seemed like it was rewards group but they deny everything. I’ve tried calling CRS but they are equally evasive and claim it is not them although the addresses provided match. Any advice please email me….thank you in advance.”

My reply:

“wozniack August 12th, 2011 (#):

Sean,

On the site you registered with there should be an “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom. Click on it, and enter your e-mail and click the ‘unsubscribe’ button. If it cannot be found on the web site, please send me the link and I will look at it. I might be able to find it just by having the link. Even though CRS says it is not them it very well might be. I found out on my own that a site they claimed wasn’t theirs actually was; Dave just didn’t recognize it.

Thanks,

wozniack”

Person’s reply:

“Sean Quick August 29th, 2011 (#):

Hi Wozniack,

I didn’t even know if you would be responding so just now checked back. Thank you so much for taking the time…apologies to use your blog to communicate as i know my concerns are quite different than yours. Anyway, yes, they all have “unsubscribe” links which i have followed diligently for nearly 4 months but still receive endless emails about subway, facebook, etc. I don’t think any say CRS – they say Investyourmedia.com, YesSurvey.com, etc. but all have the same addresses in W.4th Vancouver, Woodbridge ON, and similar…addresses that i think you’ve linked to CRS. Of course, they all have slightly different names and CRS will always says something like “no, were suite 6B not 6A. CRS Customer service emailed me back 4 months ago saying I’ve been removed from all lists – I have only given my work email twice – once Cost Plus and once to Restoration Hardware – that i can think of. Still receive tons of junk emails from them so at this point i’m trying to contact authorities in Canada and the BBB….personally, these are the exact kind of people I would love to throw on the street but they are protected by laws. Anyway, i’ve resorted to forwarding the junk emails back to svcaact@consumersrewardsolutions.com and support@consumersrewardsolutions.com because i basically have no recourse against these scumbags. I was hoping maybe you knew some names of people that work there or someone i could contact with the authority to compel these people to stop spamming me – the unsubscribe links are not being enforced and my inbox is literally filling up as I’m getting minimum 12 of these per day. Again, thank you for taking the time to even respond….very much appreciated.

Sean”

My reply:

“wozniack September 2nd, 2011 (#):

Hi Sean,

I checked out investyourmedia.com and yessurvey.com. The web site for investyourmedia strikingly resembles CRS. In September of last year we compared dedicatedsurveygroup.com to consumersrewardsolutions.com. dedicatedsurveygroup.com was in the whois info for CRS registrant, Maria Chiodo. If you look at Investyourmedia.com’s publisher page, you will see that the “brand” that “delivers to publishers”, their exact words, is DedicatedSurveyGroup. Now scroll down my entry from last year to compare the screenshots of dedicatedsurveygroup.com to investyourmedia.com: http://www.diyfreebies.com/september-surprises-with-diyfreebies-com-forum-consumers-reward-solutions-and-new-connections-acquisis-issues-new-links%E2%80%A6/ Unfortunately, dedicatedsurveygroup.com is no longer around. When you visit the site you get this message, “This Account Has Been Suspended”; the web site: dedicatedsurveygroup.com. But the screenshots will show you how it once appeared for your review. The only thing out of the ordinary would be the address on their contact page: 1, liverpool st, london, EC2M7QD, United Kingdom. It’s possible for CRS to have dealings and other operations going on in the UK, but I can’t confirm that just yet. The web site design does mimic dedicatedsurveygroup.com, and the other sites they have. The phone number on their contact page I believe is a U.S. number, I’m still looking into where that is. When you say, “but all have the same addresses in W.4th Vancouver, Woodbridge ON, and similar…”, you mean these addresses were in your spam e-mails, right? Because I couldn’t find any CRS address tied to dedicatedsurveygroup.com and investyourmedia.com. I’m guessing they were located toward the bottom of your e-mails.

Would you mind sending me a few of your spam e-mails for further investigation? If the CRS addresses are in those e-mails, then most likely the spam you’ve been receiving is from them. YesSurvey.com isn’t a working site, btw; as such, there is no whois info for that domain. Could you send me the e-mail with “YesSurvey.com”, it may help me a great deal as I look further into this matter.

I’m really sorry that you’re dealing with this. I will prepare an e-mail with the desired information and send it to the e-mail address you commented under, so please watch for it.

Let me know if there is anything else I can assist you with in the meantime.

Thanks,

wozniack”

I’m posting our exchange so Sean Quick, as well as the rest of you, can see WHO this spam is coming from in case you want to take action. My discovery will tie investyourmedia.com, as well as the address, to the company responsible for the spam. First, we’ll examine the Google search results, then we’ll see where it takes us…

Google search results:

I typed “investyourmedia.com” into Google, and this search result was on the second page. “ConsumersRewardSolutions.com” was the link, and beneath that was the url “cdninabox-java.appspot.com/support.InvestYourMedia.com” followed by this text, “ConsumersRewardSolutions.com. Enter your e-mail address: I am a new customer or I forgot my password. (You’ll be sent a password at the above email address) …” This was CRS, but where did the link take me? To a status page…

status page:

I remembered the England address I saw on investyourmedia.com 2 months ago, so I performed a site search and found this gift site…

gift site:

url: http://echo.topnotchgifts.net/SplashPage.aspx?g=fa5054a06bc34a2eb2e1f53d1d8e60a0&nm=01cjavb2jwxm&s=&se=53

I checked out the contact page, which is where I expected to find the England address, and sure enough it was there…

contact page:

no 1, Liverpool st,
London, LP EC2M7QD

Next, I clicked “Reward Status”, which took me here…

Same status page I was directed to in the Google search results. The “ConsumersRewardSolutions.com” written link makes it obvious who this is; and again, same status page exists for the Wal-Mart gift site under the England address. Not only does the Google search results connect investyourmedia.com to CRS, but the England address is tied in as well! I kinda knew that when I saw the Hong Kong and England locations, but this is our proof that investyourmedia.com belongs to CRS.

Next comes a member’s positive earnings report. You can read my exchange with them below.

From member:

“from [Offline] member xxxx@xx.com
to wozniack
date Tue, Oct 11, 2011 at 11:01 PM
subject Nuitech site
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.com
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.

hide details Oct 11

In August I signed up for a $500.VISA card from Smartrewardscenter.com from a link I got from your site.
I did not have to do any make up sponsors but I did have some problems with nuitech getting them to accept proof of
all my purchases ,but they finally came through and sent my Redemption Voucher on September 30,I was delighted.I checked my account and it says that a shipping request has been issued.
I also did the link from Ebates and received a $10. gift card from Target and from mypoints I received a $25. gift card from Cracker Barrel Restaurant.While these are not as impressive as your rewards I have certainly enjoyed them.
I have emailed you before and gotten assistance and support so I wanted to thank you again.
You may use this on your blog if you like.
Thanks again
member”

My reply:

“from [Busy] xxxx@xx.com xxxx@xx.com
to member
date Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 8:27 PM
subject Re: Nuitech site
mailed-by xxxx.com

hide details Oct 12 (13 days ago)

member,

Congrats on your Nuitech gift! Please let me know once you receive it.

From the time you did the ebates link, how soon did you have your $10.00 Target card? I made a purchase to qualify for the promo but my status still shows “Approved.” I am glad you have enjoyed your rewards from ebates and MyPoints. That truly is great! How long have you been a MyPoints member? I have been with them for years now, but haven’t really shopped through them too much until now. I earn through them and market research panels in between my actual DIY payments.

Thanks for allowing me to share your good news with my readers! I really appreciate it. It is always refreshing to report something good in the midst of all the bad experiences people are having with numerous companies. This is what we needed.

Thanks again,

wozniack”

Member’s reply:

“From [Offline] member xxxx@xx.com
to “diyfreebies@gmail.com”
date Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 10:33 PM
subject Re: Nuitech site
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.com
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.

hide details Oct 12 (13 days ago)

August 17 I registered with Ebates and I placed an order through them on the same day.
August 29 I received an email from them saying my gift card was in the mail,I received it shortly after that .I was surprised at how fast it came through, the Ebates cash I took on a PayPal account.
I signed up with MyPoints on May 21,2011.I haven’t been keeping up with it much lately
but I am going to get back to it.”

Member again:

“from [Offline] member xxxx@xx.com
to wozniack
date Sun, Oct 23, 2011 at 10:43 AM
subject email I sent October 12
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.com
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.

hide details Oct 23 (9 days ago)

I wasn’t sure if you received this email,I sent it concerning nuitech.This was responding to questions you asked.”

My reply:

“from [Busy] diyfreebies@gmail.com diyfreebies@gmail.com
to member
date Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 6:24 PM
subject Re: email I sent October 12
mailed-by gmail.com

hide details Oct 24 (7 days ago)

Hi member,

Yes, I received your last e-mail. I’m sorry that I forgot to reply! The end of the month is extremely hectic for me as I am wrapping up new projects, and am up to my neck in research. )

I’ll keep watching for my $10.00 Target gift card from ebates. I haven’t made anymore purchases through them other than the one I made to get my $10.00 reward, but I will the next time I shop online. I’m sure I will do some online shopping during the holidays. The MyPoints program is so great. I have enough for a CVS gift card but I cannot cash out now as my points are still pending. I really love how easy it is to earn free money online through the DIY companies we pursue, and just for shopping online. Makes our internet experience much more fun and rewarding. *w*

Have a great night!

wozniack”

Member’s reply:

“from [Offline] member xxxx@xx.com
to “diyfreebies@gmail.com”
date Mon, Oct 31, 2011 at 6:40 PM
subject Re: email I sent October 12
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.com
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.

hide details 6:40 PM (22 minutes ago)

I finally received my 500.00 VISA gift card from the nuitech offer, I mailed the voucher to them October 4, I received the gift card October 31st making for a very Happy Halloween.”

I hope this member continues to earn great awards from DIY and points programs! Congrats.

Forgot to post my virtual Visa from two months ago:

I built up enough points for a $25.00 virtual Visa gift card code. If anyone is interested in signing up for MyView, or my other marketing research panels, you may contact me here: diyfreebies@gmail.com

This year’s harvest is sure to delight everyone…

*Thanksgiving link list*

I-Deal–

http://www.saveandsmile.com/?config=7372 – 10 offers, 2 refs/$1,000.00 Visa gc

http://www.consumersavingcenter.com/?config=7630 – 10 offers, 1 ref/$500.00 supermarket gift card of your choice (Visa option)

http://www.consumersavingcenter.com/?session_id=4941324403e611e1b8826f42b8df804b – 8 offers, 2 refs/laptop of your choice

http://wwww.grandsavingscenter.com/?config=7463 – 10 offers, no refs/iPad 2 in color of your choice

http://www.grandsavingscenter.com/?config=7434 – 10 offers, 2 refs/$1,000.00 Home Depot gc

http://www.grandsavingscenter.com/?config=7437 – 10 offers, 2 refs/$1,000.00 Best Buy gc

producttestpanel–

http://familyfoodrewards.com/chilis/ – offers unknown/$500.00 Chili’s gc + misc gifts

http://shoppingthanet.com/molmaidzas/index.php?lid=molmaidzas_12967_PFTEST&add_offerid=9933975&addomain=avcounter10.com&addomain_id=67&uniclk=false – offers unknown/$500.00 Molly Maid gc + misc gifts

http://shoppingthanet.com/hdbig/index.php?lid=hdbig_14281_168&add_offerid=8843751&addomain=promolnk.com&addomain_id=89&uniclk=true – offers unknown/$500.00 Home Depot gc + misc gifts

I truly had a good time writing this. What’s important is that I got each and every bit of information out there in time. Now we have it for the month! *g* I did get approved for the I-Deal site I was working on, whew!! How trying that was! So relieved to be processed, and know that I’m getting my gift. I just can’t do anymore of their sites though until there are new offers. Maybe by then their crediting system will be functioning better. In the meantime, I’ll register with an Ifficient site to see if their offers have changed so I can test them. And again, I will try to get WinHundred talking, lol… There may be a problem with their e-mail account, and if there is, that should explain why they never answered me back. I’ve fallen behind in updating our Official company and address list, and I am so sorry about that! The Official company and address list has been modified on DIYfreebies.com, blogger (wozniack.blogspot.com), A4F (anything4free.com), and on our forum (http://diyfreebies.com/freebieforum).

I extend my condolences to the family of Steve Jobs. On October 5, 2011, we lost a remarkable man whose intelligent mind and genius inspired today’s world in so many ways. Jobs’ impact on technology and innovation will be missed.

Wishing everyone a blessed holiday… Be thankful this season, and cherish the time spent with your loved ones. Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

wozniack

New findings in the case of Nick Brown; member issues with Consumer Gain’s sites and support; misc. freebie proof pics! Hold on to your flashlights…

Ahhhh, back on the Nick Brown/Bart Brown case. *opening up my file* Alright. There is nothing else on Bart Brown, BUT I have something to share with you all. Read the comment someone left on my blog first.

“I RECEIVE A MESSAGE ON MY PHONE THAT SAYS CONGRADULATION YOU HAVEJUST WON A 1000.00 WALMART GIFT CARD AND ALSO GAVE ME A PASSWORD,BUT I ENDED UP HERE SO WHATS THE DEAL.. I TYPED IN JUST WHAT WAS ON MY PHONE…GIFTCARD 90.COM”

giftcard90.com took me to a blank page. “giftcard90.com” wasn’t in my domain list for Nick Brown, so I investigated this further. I entered “gift90.com” into the search bar, which took me to the following gift site…

gift page:

url: http://onlinerewardsclub.com/wm2smilezas/index.php?lid=wm2smilezas_15639_GIFT90&add_offerid=641479&addomain=promolnk.com&addomain_id=89&uniclk=true

I believe this is a ProductTestPanel site, and has nothing to do with Nick Brown regardless of his domain “gift90.com” directing to it. Anyone can link a site to another, but the question is why? Why wouldn’t you link to your own? gift90.com was created on March 18, 2011. It expires March 12, 2012 according to this whois report.

whois info:

Is the gift site above even the real “gift90.com”? Did the owner tear down the original site? If so, did Nick Brown manually redirect his audience to onlinerewardsclub.com, a Product Test Panel site? I fail to understand that because he is giving his business to another company… What if DIY companies are paying textspammers to promote their sites? Now THAT sounds more like it! Next comes the name Nick Pereyra under ‘technical contact.’ I am lost again. There are two Nicks in this whois report! Two Nicks with completely different last names. We discussed the possibility of fictitious names in September’s blog. Usually the person listed as the registrant and administrative contacts are made the ‘technical contact.’ And that individual would only have one last name in his/her registrant information– unless there really are two men named Nick, and one was listed under ‘technical contact.’ Why are there two names on a whois report instead of just one person as the ‘registrant’, ‘administrative’ and ‘technical contact’?

Something else is wrong with the whois report. In the administrative and technical contact information there are two zip codes for the same address. I will copy and paste the addresses from the whois report for our review.

Administrative Contact:

Nick pereyra (support@gift90.com)
+1.6463388558
Fax: +1.5555555555
244 fifth avenue
New York, NY 11776
US

Technical Contact:

Nick pereyra (support@gift90.com)
+1.6463388558
Fax: +1.5555555555
244 fifth avenue
New York, NY 10001
US

When you Google “244 Fifth Avenue New York, NY” it pulls up the following zip codes: 10016, 10001, 10003; the numbers are in the 10000s. That sounds about right for 244 Fifth Avenue. What doesn’t sound right is the 11776 zip code, which I researched last night. The 11776 zip code is for Port Jefferson Station in Suffolk County, while zip code 10001 is in New York county…

So why two zip codes for two counties on the same street? And shouldn’t this address have an apartment, building, unit, or suite number? Manhattan’s 5th Avenue is mostly shops and apartments and condominiums, how can someone find you by the street address alone? lol. *sigh* Do I think Nick Brown/Pereyra? Maybe. I only say maybe because of the ‘contact us’ page on his businesses’ web site: www.bestworldmedia.com — On that page is a personal e-mail: nick.brown@bestworldmedia.com. Now if it wasn’t for that e-mail address, I would say “No.” From the whois report, it appears as if both names were made up to register gift90.com. That is what it looks like. I do think Nick Brown/Pereyra IS a textspammer based on my findings. If Nick Brown/Pereyra is in fact a real person, perhaps he just uses names he dreams up to register domains.

Since we know Nick Brown/Pereyra’s sites have linked to CRS in the past; and I am pretty sure that onlinerewardsclub.com is PTP; then Nick Brown/Pereyna can’t be with CRS or ProductTestPanel. The chances of a connection between two DIY companies and one man is very slim. The only way I see that happening is if DIY companies are paying textspammers to promote their sites. That would explain one man’s domains linking to multiple company sites. To be sure onlinerewardsclub.com is ProductTestPanel, I will revisit the site and scrutinize it. No stone is left unturned in my investigations. The evidence before me is examined and analyzed to it’s fullest to determine what is real, and to solve the whodunit mystery.

For our next DIY discussion… Consumer Gain. I understand some of you have experienced problems with the company, and I’d like to know exactly what those problems are. I can contact Consumer Gain directly and discuss with them the issues their members are having, and if they’ll allow me to, work with them to better service their members. Below are messages between myself and a member who sent Consumer Gain a support ticket. He/she has given me permission to post our exchange.

Member:

i am signed up at a newer consumer gain site (free samples of tide lol) just to check out the offers out there. the offers page is broken. i opened a support ticket and he did get back to me. he took a few days longer than he used to, but he responded to both of my ticket questions. seems OK to me.

Me:

Do you know why some members are having issues with Consumer Gain? Or is that why you were poking around their sites? I am just trying to figure out what happened to make people think that. Would you mind sharing your correspondence with me? It might help people to know that their customer support is actually responsive.

Member:

hold on about that correspondence, i have to login and get it. the offers page is still broken after i asked him to fix it. that is the only thing thats wrong with the site that i can see. and no i poked around on my own i never thought CG would have any problems like acquisis had. i still dont

Member to Consumer Gain:

here is my correspondence, please block out the dates and times

xxxx by Member

The page to complete more offers does not appear to be working.

Consumer Gain to member:

xxxx by Customer Support

Hello,

We are working on your account. We apologize for this inconvenience.

We hope to have this resolved within the next 24-48 hours.

Thank you,

Customer Service

Member to Consumer Gain:

xxxx by Member

It’s been a few weeks and it is still not working.

Consumer Gain to member:

xxxx by Customer Support

Hello,

We apologize for this issue. We are currently working on getting this site back up.

Thank you for your continued patience.

Thank you,

Customer Service

Me to member:

Hi again,

If you wouldn’t mind, could you check that CG site again to see if they finally got it working properly?? I am writing about Consumer Gain now, and was hoping to see a positive result on your issue with them, so I could report that, too.

Thanks!!

wozniack

Member’s reply to me:

hi,

so the offers page works now. i figured it out on my own. my profile under my account was blank. not sure if i erased it, or never filled it out, or its their error. after filling in my profile, the offers page works. the offers are dissappointing. not a lot of new offers. that is what i wanted to know. but they were not the best at updating offers either

sorry there is not much of a story here

Do what this member did above if you’re having trouble with their sites’ pages. It may be that their registration form isn’t properly storing the data. If the problem is with Consumer Gain’s customer support, or if it’s some other technical issue, please contact me: diyfreebies@gmail.com — Whatever it is, I will try to work with Consumer Gain on how to fix these bugs, and/or what they can do to improve their support.

More loot from MyPoints and two market research panels. It started with a $20.00 check from Toluna, then a $45.00 check from HCD Research… THEN! $200.00 in Target gift cards from MyPoints. So a total of $265.00 for taking surveys and shopping in between my usual freebie pursuits. Not bad I’ll say. And you can make money, too!! Drop me an e-mail if you’re interested in these marketing research panels and the MyPoints program: diyfreebies@gmail.com — I will show you the way. If you didn’t get an invite for a research company or one to MyPoints, please contact me and I’ll work on that. Toluna’s referral page had errors, but they may have fixed them.

Alrighty. This concludes our Part 2. of the Halloween blog. I hope you all enjoyed it! Please see, “A night of tricks and treats, Part 1.” for our Halloween link list, and for the rest of this month’s exciting details!

Please have a safe and enjoyable evening when/if you celebrate Halloween.

Good-bye,

wozniack

Member to company confrontation in Consumers Reward Solutions’ office!! Hear what happened; more sub-companies, sites and locations; Halloween link list… Put your costumes on, and get ready for the tricks and treats of the night!!

This evening we’ll start with Consumers Reward Solutions. This seemed highly important, so before anything else I must tell you that there is a confirmed report of a confrontation at Consumer Reward Solutions’ office building. What happened next may explain the company’s questionable behavior if what CRS said was true. Below is one member’s encounter with CRS. You’ll want to read this…

Member, “Well I want into the building and the people inside the building said they are no longer in that business and that I will not be getting any kind of gift. I said why is the website still up? They said they knew nothing about the website any more. I said give me my money back that I spent on offers + my gift or I will sue. They said you won’t sue that will cost you thousands of dollars. Then they told me to get out before they called the police. But I have all their words on an audio recording on my phone and they are going down! Today I am looking for a Canadian lawyer. If you have done a canadian offers site or are thinking aout doing one, you will not get any kind of gift so do not do it. You will be scammed”

Question from someone, “dang,
so this was the same people? or a different company renting the other company’s old space?

sounds like you have a tough case….”

Member, “I believe it’s the same company and they aare scamming people. I found a lawyer to take my case he says I have a good chance because I have their words recorded on my phone. Will let you know how it goes.”

This may mean two things, “are no longer in that business.” If they are “no longer in that business”, they admitted that they once were. Because of that statement, they cannot act as if they never managed a gift program. So the activities within the company can–and should be–fully investigated. Now, it also may mean that their gift program was terminated. If it was, we never knew about it. But what if it wasn’t? What if the gift program is in full swing? They said they knew nothing about the web site anymore… Yeah right! Why wouldn’t you know? Don’t you work for the company? Can’t you check the database to see what sites are active? I doubt NOBODY knows why the gift sites are still up. Not one single person in that company. This is what I think. CRS were not expecting someone to show up about their gift. Their only thought was to deny, deny, deny! They denied being “in that business”, they denied any knowledge of the gift site; ultimately, they denied this member their gift. You can always tell a person or business is guilty when they deny everything and threaten you with the police. Classic. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police save the day on horseback!! haha… C’mon, send in the mounties! This is something out of a comic book. I know where to go when I need a good laugh. CRS’ office.

CRS’ termination of the gift program would very well explain the lack of response to e-mail, telephone hang ups, and their rejections to those whose gift sites were unrelated to the Ms. Kyle matter. Even Dave was acting suspicious. I knew something wasn’t right. It all makes sense! Consumers Reward Solutions were preparing to shutdown during the utility bill notification send off. Someone would one day tell us it was all over and we wouldn’t get anything. This is also what I think. Let’s say what they said was true, that they were “no longer in that business.” What if that is just what we were told, and they’re keeping their sites running? Why are the sites even there? That is what I don’t get. Remember when XL Marketing, under Caivis, attempted to restart ARG after the assets were sold? What if Consumers Reward Solutions are like ARG by supposedly leaving this industry, and have planned to manage the gift program through some other means. They could do it under a sub-company to keep the heat off ‘Consumers Reward Solutions.’ If it has happened before, it can happen again.

There are no updates on this individual’s suit against Consumers Reward Solutions. Everyone is still waiting to hear. In all of DIY history, is this the first physical appearance made by a member to any DIY company? *applauds them for their courage!* I just hope this person got their money, and that CRS didn’t get away with it.

Let’s start our investigations. Please study the whois info and the gift site below.

whois info:

gift page:

contact page:

url: http://claim.findbestsurveydeals.com/SplashPage.aspx?g=a6e8a7528851433fb49c1869d78b73e9&nm=018jgrq2uw38&se=51

I went to the web site in the whois info, YesSurveyMedia.com, and it brought me here…

After examining this site, I noticed it had the same wording that CRS had on their homepage!

YesSurveyMedia’s wording:

“YesSurveyMedia is one of the world’s largest integrated online marketing companies. We deliver scalable solutions for advertisers to cost-effectively acquire customers and for publishers to maximize their revenue.

YesSurveyMedia industry experts can solve your most complex online marketing needs today.”

Consumers Reward Solutions’ homepage:

And that is not all. In my research, I pulled up this list of domains and businesses by the same owner…

Power Lead Media caught my eye, and so I investigated them and one of their sites, windailygadgets.com.

whois info:

gift page:

contact page:

url: http://claim.windailygadgets.com/SplashPage.aspx?g=12f2754de387478c81b2381d88b0d8b6&nm=019jgrx2juxt&se=53

Power Lead Media shares the same India address as YesSurveyMedia in their whois information. Now look at the contact page for windailygadgets.com. There is a Hong Kong location!

20/F & 33F One International Finiance Center
1 Harbour View St,
Hong Kong, HK HK

So then I Googled ‘Online Gift Shack’, the other business on the domain page. Online Gift Shack rang many bells, I had seen it before. I just couldn’t place it. Below was what I found on Online Gift Shack.

I then did a whois on freehomeupgrades.com, the first link on the above domain page.

whois info:

Same Hong Kong address as Power Lead Media!! I am beginning to unravel something…

gift page:

contact page:

url: http://score.freehomeupgrades.com/SplashPage.aspx?g=4538ed96dd154b46a936bc72a496fb6b&nm=017jgre6uwx8&se=51

So I clicked on the ‘Reward Status’ link on freehomeupgrades.com, which took me to…

Consumers Reward Solutions. *big grin* The screen capture shows the link bar which has ‘onlinegiftshack.com’ in it, and you will see ‘ConsumersRewardSolutions.com’ in the tab. And when I visited onlinegiftshack.com, it had the overall same look and feel as CRS’ other sites…

We have confirmed that YesSurveyMedia, Power Lead Media, and Online Gift Shack are CRS. But there is more…

whois info:

gift page:

contact page:

url: http://share.giftingtoday.com/SplashPage.aspx?g=c592a2d1170c406d8a0024806a5b1454&nm=01vgarc6mkxbal&se=52

Here we are with the same India address as YesSurveyMedia and Power Lead Media. Now, under ‘technical contact’ is a location in Cyprus, and that is probably the web host’s information. Revenue Path E-Consulting Pvt. Ltd. also does business in India, which could be why CRS has an India location in their registrant info. See below.

The address in CRS’ registrant info may actually belong to Revenue Path E-Consulting Pvt. Ltd. I would say it was theirs over CRS, but CRS could have gift sites now registered in India. Who knows? Maybe Dave left the island while the rest stayed in Canada… Wait. Is Dave in India? LOL. Sorry. I’m having too much fun with this. From now on, any gift site with the India address is CRS. I will add the India and Hong Kong locations to our official company and address list.

CRS addresses:

Level 6, Pentagon P-2 Magarpatta City, Hadapsar
Pune, 411013
IN

20/F & 33F One International Finiance Center
1 Harbour View St,
Hong Kong, HK HK

These deals are so sweet it’s scary! Don’t let them spook you…

*Halloween link list*

I-Deal–

http://consumerrewards.us.com/?config=1174 – 10 offers, 1 ref/$1,000.00 Visa gc

http://www.consumerrewards.us.com/?config=7288 – 10 offers, no refs/$1,000.00 Best Buy gc

Nuitech–

http://www.onlinerewardcenter.com/rd_p?p=302911&c=49349-orcgamestop500console_728_hibrand&a=PFTEST – 9 offers, no refs/$500.00 GameStop gc + gaming console of your choice

http://www.realdealgiveaway.com/rd_p?p=312715&c=txt_030&a=PFTEST – 8 offers, no refs/$500.00 UFC e-gift card

http://www.rewardingpromos.com/?c=70&s=1717 – offers unknown, no refs/$1,000.00 Visa gc

producttestpanel–

http://brandapparelrewards.com/dollarg/ – offers unknown, no refs/$500.00 Dollar General gc + misc. gifts

http://grocerystorerewards.com/groceryzas/index.php – offers unknown, no refs/$500.00 gift card for groceries

http://onlinerewardsclub.com/hdbig/index.php?lid=hdbig_14281_168&add_offerid=8843751&addomain=promolnk.com&addomain_id=89&uniclk=true – offers unknown, no refs/$500.00 Home Depot gc of your choice + misc. gifts

http://onlinerewardsclub.com/outcarbon/index.php?lid=outcarbon_12967_PFTEST&add_offerid=249518&addomain=promolnk.com&addomain_id=89&uniclk=true – – offers unknown, no refs/$500.00 restaurant gc of your choice + misc. gifts

http://www.pampermerewards.com/bathbod/flash_index.php – offers unknown, no refs/$500.00 Bath & Body Works gc + misc. gifts

http://giftcardrewardzone.com/gamestopzas/index.php – offers unknown, no refs/$500.00 GameStop gc + misc. gifts

http://onlinerewardsclub.com/sbuckzas/index.php?lid=sbuckzas_13326_[=afid=]&add_offerid=567523&addomain=sbcounter10.com&addomain_id=65&uniclk=true – offers unknown, no refs/$500.00 Starbucks gc + misc. gifts

I am STILL doing offers on my I-Deal site, and it is now over 3 weeks!! Hopefully I get it done this week so I can turn in my forms. I won’t be doing them anymore until their crediting system changes. I normally finish a site within 3-5 days, and have my paperwork printed and sent out right after that. *sigh* The next order of business is getting CRS to remove their sites since they “aren’t in that business anymore.” Their reaction is just really bizarre. Why don’t they relocate if they don’t want all the grief?? Anyway, those are my thoughts I am leaving you with… Please be patient as I work on our Halloween link list. I will try to have it fully composed within the next few days. Our Halloween link list can be found here in “A night of tricks and treats, Part 1.” Had to double blog this month, there was no way around it. Now head on over to “A night of tricks and treats, Part 2.”!

See you there…

wozniack

I-Deal customer support answers DBA and site questions + proof pic; Nick Brown and workmate examined and spam violation; anonymous member returns with Nuitech update; new links. Enjoy the holiday BBQ cookout and new deals this month… Happy Labor Day!

Let’s start with the Nick Brown case. To refresh ourselves, gift50.com linked to brandnewprizes.com, a CRS site owned by Robert Celsi. Nick Brown contrived a cellular text spamming plot to bait successful sign ups and offer completions. Although gift50.com linked to CRS, I needed more to ride on to tell me if Nick Brown had involvement with CRS. Before we go any further, if you haven’t read our discussion on Nick Brown and Robert Celsi, do so here: DIYfreebies’ third annual anniversary blog…, then here: The night explodes with… — The rest of us may continue.

Nick Brown has another corporation in marketing known as Delivery Division, Inc. Take a look…

delivery-division.com whois:

Click to enlarge.

The contact page has Nick Brown’s e-mail: nick.brown@Delivery-Division.com, so we know Mr. Brown works there. However, the whosis info shows a Bart Brown in Wilmington, Delaware. Started off with Robert Celsi taking us to Vaughan, Ontario, and Austin, Texas. Then, Nick Brown drags us down to Wilmington, Delaware all the way from New York to meet his– son, brother or father? Whew. *wipes forehead* Okay, so who is Bart Brown? Could the man in the whois info be related to Nick Brown? Or is someone behind the computer registering domains with false information? Bart Brown and/or Nick Brown could be a fictitious name like Bob Davis or Kevin White. Or what about him having a friend who shares the same last name? My intuition says both men are bonded by blood. Just the feeling I get. Whether or not they are family, we must find out if they are with CRS or not.

Let’s look at my other findings…

The whois matches Nick Brown’s…

Now we have an address match! But as you can see, there is a typo in the whois report. We have: 244 5th Avenue STE# 282j, New York, NY 10001; 244 Fifth Avenue STE# 292j, New York, NY 10001; and Best World Media’s contact page: 244 Fifth avenue Suite 292, New York, NY 10010. The first two pointed to a NY mailbox, Best World Media’s location did not. All three addresses sent me to a street corner on Google maps with a mailbox right on it. On the zip code, if “STE 292j” and “STE 292″ are on the same street, why wouldn’t the zip code be the same? I think the Best World Media address is the right one, and the whois info was entered wrong. What do you think? Could the whois info be falsified? And if so, what does that say about there being two Browns?

Complaints on Nick Brown:

Since Best World Media, Inc. and Delivery-Division, Inc. are compliant with the CAN-SPAM act, if they registered for e-mail accounts and domains with false information, they could face penalties of up to $16,000. Isn’t a big blow though if they usually pay the Department of Justice $100,000 on the low scale for unsolicited e-mails. Most DIY companies spam to some extent, and nearly all of them do it through e-mail. It becomes a problem when they refuse to honor opt-out requests. If someone does not want your spam, they don’t want. What part of “No” don’t they understand? Despite what was said to the contrary, companies who spam supply me with current promotions, which I am able to investigate fully and determine their legitimacy. However, I understand the ire from those who don’t want it. Years ago, before I blogged, I made a new e-mail address, then gave it to 50+ friends so they could find me. That was my only escape from my mailbox nightmare. Before I could read my mail, I had to scroll through 3-4 pages of spam e-mails! It was awful. There should be a better way to stop spammers in their tracks. If CRS aren’t tied into Nick Brown and Bart Brown, they can’t be held liable for spamming. Anyway, I will try to dig up some more dirt on these guys as the weeks progress.

You may have seen this I-Deal site:

It was a non-referral Visa site which is now gone. But the one for 2 referrals remains: http://www.e-researchcouncil.com/?session_id=b498ce32cdb111e0b80c2b435407cece — The status page for the non-referral Visa with the same image as the 2 referral site can be accessed here: e-researchcouncil.com/account.cgi?config=1174, or visit the consumerrewards.us.com home page. This particular site, which was moved to consumerrewards.us.com, sparked DBA concerns which I-Deal has addressed to me. Please see my questions to them, and their response to me below.

me, From: xxxx@xx.com [mailto:xxxx@xx.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2011 2:07 PM
To: contactus@expertcustomerservice.com
Subject: DBA question (Thread:295429)

Hello,

I had a question regarding your DBAs. I noticed that your gifts sometimes are moved to other sites with different DBAs, and I was hoping you could give me a little clarification. If a site is located at consumerrewards.us.com, with the 123 Click DBA, then is moved to another site with the DBA Top Notch Media, what dba are we receiving a gift from, and what dba can we still receive a gift from? The Visa site that was identical to this one but with no referrals got taken down? http://www.e-researchcouncil.com/?session_id=b498ce32cdb111e0b80c2b435407cece <-- One with referrals that looks like the other. My guess is that the old Visa with no referral link is still considered Top Notch Media, but I wanted to get confirmation from you for those who are confused by it.

I hope that all makes sense. Thank you for your time...

me"

I-Deal's reply, "from Customer Service contactus@expertcustomerservice.com via yahoo.com
to xxxx@xx.com
date Tue, Aug 23, 2011 at 2:38 PM
subject RE: DBA question (Thread:295429)
signed-by yahoo.com
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.

hide details 2:38 PM (1 hour ago)

Dear Customer,

The Visa offer you are referring to was changed from Top Notch on August 12, 2011 to 123 Click Inc. If you registered for this offer while it was still Top Notch, you will now be receiving the gift from 123 Click. However, we will not penalize you in this scenario, if you already created a unique email address for a separate 123 Click, Inc. site.

Specifically, what is meant by penalize, is outlined in our terms and conditions. Namely, only 1 email address per entity (123 Click, Top Notch), $1,000 per 6 months per entity, etc.

Sincerely,

Customer Service"

Me, "xxxx@xx.com xxxx@xx.com
toCustomer Service

dateTue, Aug 23, 2011 at 5:04 PM
subjectRe: DBA question (Thread:295429)
mailed-by xxxx.com

hide details 5:04 PM (6 minutes ago)

Thank you for your quick and thorough response. I appreciate it. Just to be clear, if we receive the Visa gift from 123 Click, that shouldn’t hinder us from doing a new site under 123 Click, right? Its Top Notch Media that we couldn’t do for another 6 months since that is what we signed up for? Or is it that we cannot do 123 Click since that is where this gift is coming from? That is all the questions I had.

Thanks again!

me”

I-Deal’s reply, “fromCustomer Service contactus@expertcustomerservice.com
to xxxx@xx.com

dateWed, Aug 24, 2011 at 8:17 AM
subjectRE: DBA question (Thread:295429)
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.

hide details 8:17 AM (4 hours ago)

Dear Customer,

Please let me know if this answers your concerns….

Let’s say you registered for the Visa offer while it was Top Notch using the email address anonymous37@gmail.com. The terms and conditions state that you can only use anonymous37@gmail.com if you ever plan on registering for a Top Notch Media site in the future.

Let’s say that you already signed up and received $500 gift from 123 Click using an email address such as anonymous38@yahoo.com. Now, if I were to research your email address I would see that anonymous37@gmail.com is registered for a 123 Click site (since we did the change a few weeks ago) for Visa offer. I would also see that the email address anonymous38@yahoo.com registered for a 123 Click site. In my review process, I would be able to determine that your Visa offer shifted from Top Notch to 123 Click, and therefore you would not be penalized in this instance for having 2 different email addresses registered for the 123 Click entity.

In regards to your questions about 6 months…

Let’s say you signed up for Netflix as part of your gold,silver,platinum requirements for a 123 Click site. This would mean that you would NOT be able to sign up for Netflix again on any site (123 Click, Top Notch, etc) until 6 months have passed from your initial Netflix sign-up date.

Please let us know if you have any more questions.

Sincerely,

Customer Service”

me, “from xxxx@xx.com xxxx@xx.com
to Customer Service

dateWed, Aug 24, 2011 at 1:09 PM
subjectRe: DBA question (Thread:295429)
mailed-by xxxx.com

hide details 1:09 PM (4 minutes ago)

Hello,

Thank you! You answered my questions perfectly. Makes sense to me now. I will pass this info along as it will help others with their gifts. Very good to know.

Thanks again…”

In their last response, they used e-mails “anonymous37@gmail.com”, and “anonymous38@gmail.com” as an example. I hid my e-mail by typing “anonymous” for my address. “37″ is the only part that is real. I-Deal used “37″ and “38″ in their explanation, so that is where the “38″ also comes from. The 38 represents another e-mail that was used to register for a 123 Click site. From what I understand, they wont penalize you because the offer shifted from Top Notch Media to 123 Click. You should be able to do more sites under 123 Click with the e-mail you have always used. As for Top Notch Media, if you did the Visa offer they may not allow you to do another site under Top Notch Media for 6 months since that is where you registered initially. Or it could be that since 123 Click is rewarding you and isn’t penalizing you, that Top Notch Media is expelled from the issue, making them doable since they are not giving you the gift. I may need to ask them again to be sure.

Next comes the crediting problems we have seen with I-Deal. Below is what a member sent me regarding their offers. I will also include the exchange between them and I-Deal.

member, “Wozniak,

I still haven’t had any other offers credit, except that one I told you about. The name of it is Simply beaming (tooth whitening) or something like that. I just can’t believe this, that only one credited so far. I’ve never had this happen before, but I’ve never done an I-Deal site before either. I just don’t think this is normal. I think I’m going to go ahead and start other offers. The trial expirations are all either over or ending within a day or so, so I’ve cancelled the ones that I dont want . The thought of starting over again……oh well, a $1,000 gc is worth it. At least the one I did get the credit for is the one with the bonus gc for $250. Also, I don’t understnad everything I’ve read about the 7, 20 and 30 day crediting. What does that mean? It’s not really explained anywhere. Does that mean they only credit on those days, like if they don’t credit you by the 7th day, they will credit you on the 20th or 30th day? Thanks so much for your help.

member”

member to I-Deal, “Web Site: e-ResearchCouncil.com (1174: ERC Visa Card)
Email: xxxx@xx.net
IP: **********
Question: My question was not found here

Message entered by user:

Hi, sorry to trouble you, but I’m not familiar with your sites and wondered if it is normal to have only 1 offer approved out of the 8 that I did complete. I know that you must allow up to 30 days, but I’ve never seen this before on any site and thought you might be able to tell me something. I did most of the offers starting the 20th of july and had all completed by the 25th. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

I-Deal’s response to member, “Dear customer,

Per the terms and conditions of our website:

We do not guarantee that you will receive credit for an offer. We reserve the right to refuse crediting your account for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to improper sign-up, lack of appropriate information or documentation or improper browser settings.

We are not responsible for delays in reporting offer completion. The time it takes to receive credit for an offer varies with each advertiser.

We are unable to manually credit an offer.

We would suggest completing another offer before your account expires. All accounts expire 60 days after the original registration date.

Sincerely,

Customer Service”

This member is one of many who are experiencing difficulty with I-Deal’s gift sites. There are 3 crediting cycles to go by: 7-day, 20-day and 30-day. Most people would rather do a 7-day site than a 20/30-day, because the 20/30-day sites push you closer to your expiration date. That’s why it is recommended to do your offers all in one sitting, then do any replacements once you see that you’re approved for all your other offers. Now with I-Deal’s faulty crediting system, people who have done their offers all at once are doing double the amount because of the replacements. When only 1 out of 8-10 offers credit that is very bad news. And I-Deal will only tell you to complete more offers, as they always have. What to do? Here are some tips if your offers haven’t credited: Complete more offers. Close browser and delete cookies before opening browser and doing offers. Only click offers once. Set your security and privacy settings to low while you do your offers. Make sure your firewalls are turned off. If that fails, try doing one offer at a time. Clear cookies/cache, open browser and do another offer an hour later. Or take it a section at a time. Do just one the first day if you’ve had trouble with a previous I-Deal site. Check your status the next day, then move on to the next.

I-Deal crediting cycles

Silver = 1, Gold = 3, Platinum = 10
Then 20-day and 30-day periods

I-Deal’s offers have been crediting the next day for many people. Meaning, if you signed up and registered for a gift today, most of your offers would show “Approved!” by tomorrow. That is how my last one went. All but two showed “Approved!” on my status page. I listed I-Deal’s crediting cycles in case someone needed them.

Surprise!!

My $1,000.00 gift came in the form of two $500.00 Visas. I was so happy!~! They showed up Tuesday, August 16, 2011, 3 weeks after my approval. Was nice to do I-Deal again, especially since being limited after CRS.

If you have been following our anonymous member’s Nuitech progress, then you’ll want to see the end result. For those who haven’t kept up with anonymous’s gift, please read “DIYfreebies’ third annual anniversary blog…“, and “End of summer bash…” to get the details. Below is my correspondence with anonymous regarding their gift.

member, “from member xxxx@xx.com
to “diyfreebies@gmail.com”
date Fri, Aug 5, 2011 at 7:58 PM
subject Nuitech may come through after all !
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.com
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.

hide details Aug 5

I’ve religiously checked my status everyday and finally today when it’s too late to do anything I got confirmation that i’m approved for my gift. I’ll have to wait till monday to get it notarized and it said I should receive my gift in 4 weeks ! Boy, this one was tough. I still made a profit of 5-600 but I usually don’t spend that much. I’ll be relieved when I get my check. It’s been trying.”

member, “from [Busy] wozniack diyfreebies@gmail.com
to member
date Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 1:33 PM
subject Re: Nuitech may come through after all !
mailed-by gmail.com

hide details Aug 6

member,

Congratulations! I am so happy about your approval. You should post a proof pic on your blog once you get it! I would like to share this good news in September’s blog if you don’t mind. It would give my readers some relief. ) You did a great job.

Have a great weekend!

wozniack”

Me again, “from [Busy] wozniack diyfreebies@gmail.com
to member
date Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 2:07 PM
subject Re: Nuitech may come through after all !
mailed-by xxxx.com

hide details Aug 6

member,

Could you tell me how you were able to get Nuitech to accept your billing statement? I ask because, if you read my latest blog, you will see that is where I left off, with Nuitech accusing you of copying and pasting your statement. I just wanted to know what you had to do to get them to accept it, or if they went on and approved it as is.

Thanks,

wozniack”

Member, “from member xxxx@xx.com
to wozniack
date Sat, Aug 6, 2011 at 2:58 PM
subject Re: Nuitech may come through after all !
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.com
Important mainly because of your interaction with messages in the conversation.

hide details Aug 6

Hi, I had to download it as a different txt file and resent them, they accepted it. There was several file types I could choose. I didn’t know whether they were going to accept it or not though i’ve been waiting to see if they were going to deny it or not. As you may have noticed one of their responses is that they don’t accept word documents. I replied that it wasn’t a word document it( actually popped up in it’s own window to be printed ) they then replied that they don’t accept copy and paste. Ok, so apparently they didn’t like the way it looked. I’m just glad it went through. Let me know if you have any other questions.
BTW, on my Ideal offer only one of my replacements has approved, hopefully more will go through.

Thanks,

member”

I must criticize companies who I feel are unfair, its what I do. Doing the “dirty work” isn’t easy, but I do it to #1. Help the victim. And, #2. to get the company’s attention. If a company reads my blog, they gain a better understanding of what is going on with their members, and may work on changing the operations within their company. Which helps improve their service, and it keeps their members smiling from ear-to-ear. As the author of this blog, I am sometimes asked for my opinion on a company’s performance and what I think they should do. I go by the customer response, because it tells me how well a company is performing. If there are an abundance of complaints, then there is an unresolved issue that hasn’t been dealt with. By connecting with members I relay their concerns to the company and we work together to reform their business.

Congratulations once more, anonymous. Glad you were finally approved. Now comes the fun part… Waiting for your gift’s arrival! A “thank you” is in order to Nuitech for approving this member. Thank you for running a legitimate DIY network.

Come get your hot links! Check out these cool Labor Day deals…

*links ‘n such*

I-Deal–

http://www.giftcardsurveys.us.com/?session_id=d8773514ce7e11e094cfc6b9a68cb92e – 8 offers, no refs/$500.00 JcPenney gc

Nuitech–

http://www.freegiftcardsnow.com/rd_p?p=313458&t=11469&c=40439-fgcn_234x60_500chilis&a= – 8 offers, no refs/$500.00 Chili’s gc

http://www.exclusivegiftcards.com/rd_p?p=205468&t=15177 – 6 offers, no refs/$250.00 Motorcycle Superstore gc

http://exclusivegiftcards.com/rd_p?p=124395&t=964&c=&a=sub=194753 – 8 offers, no refs/$500.00 Best Buy gc

http://www.consumerincentiverewards.com/rd_p?p=313572&t=17593&c=53210-cirvitawiiu250gc_728_hibrand&a= – 6 offers, no refs/$250.00 Visa gc

http://www.consumerincentiverewards.com/rd_p?p=313572&t=17593&c=53210-cirvitawiiu250gc_728_hibrand&a= – 6 offers, no refs/$250.00 restaurant gc of your choice (Visa option)

http://www.consumerincentiverewards.com/rd_p?p=314479&t=17712&c=txt_030&a=Custom_Variable_For_This_Creative_Here – 6 offers, no refs/$250.00 Visa gc

http://www.consumerincentiverewards.com/rd_p?p=208015&c=49072-cirihopdennys250gc_728_hibrand&a=PEERFLY – 6 offers, no refs/$250.00 gc to IHOP or Denny’s

http://www.onlinerewardcenter.com/rd_p?p=305720&c=49947-orceconomysurvey_728_hibrand&a=SUBID – 6 offers, no refs/$250.00 Visa

http://www.mypremiumrewards.com/rd_p?p=203190 – 8 offers, no refs/Motorola Droid X phone or Apple iPhone 4

http://www.premiumproductsonline.com/rd_p?p=305875 – 8 offers, no refs/Nintendo Wii Bundle + $250 Sports Authority or GNC Gift Card

Nice to have decent I-Deal offers again even though their sites don’t credit so well. Will be working on another I-Deal site very soon. Summer went by in a whirl, now it’s September. I like it when it gets this time of year though. I’m tired of the heat. I’m ready to rake leaves and shovel snow. The months leading up to Christmas are just as delightful as the holiday itself. I am savoring every minute of it when the time comes. *w* Hopefully we see more amazing offers from I-Deal and Nuitech, and one of us will be able to test an Ifficient or LeaderDirect site. That would be two more DIY options for us! I can’t test because their sites lack offers I can do or else I would. This concludes September’s blog. As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. I love hearing from you!

Take care,

wozniack

Hi everyone,

If you get an e-mail from “Ebates customer care”, that’s from me. Right now if you purchase at least $25.00 from their list of online retailers, you get a free $10.00 gift card to any of these merchants: Barnes & Noble, Target, The Home Depot, magazines.com. They also have a referral bonus going on where you can earn $30.00 for referring 3 friends, or a $100.00 gift card for 10 referrals or a $250.00 gift card for 25 referrals. And if you earn 50 referrals you get an iPad 2! Your referral must make a qualifying purchase of $25+ between 8/13/11 and 8/31/11.

Click the button below to sign up:

As for MyView, MyPoints and Toluna, I am still having trouble with their refer-a-friend invites. I’m sorry it has taken so long. I will try to send out another batch of invitations as soon as it gets resolved. The ebates bonus promotion ends 8/31/11, so act fast and tell all your friends! Everyone wins with ebates.

Have fun…

wozniack

Say good-bye to summer with CRS settlement letter and communication issues; an anonymous member is back with Nuitech update + DBA rule reminder; Acquisis never left town! link list, and more. Make a splash in the pool of amazing deals and thrills this month!

The $300.00 settlement checks from CRS keep rolling in. One member allowed me to share the note CRS left for her with the $300.00 check.

member, “Just an update to let you know that I received $300 from CRS. They never asked for a utility bill so I guess my name and adress match 411.com. Along with the check there was a small photocopied paper stating (exact words) “This check is payment in full and in full and final satisfaction of all claims arising from or relating to your participation in Brand Sample Center. By cashing this check, you agree that this payment of $300 shall be a full and final settlement. Further, you agree to irrevocably and unconditionally release, renounce and discharge Brand Sample Center and Consumers Rewards Solutions from any and all future actions,suits, debts, and claims arising from or related to your participation in Brand Sample Ceter“. Those are the exact words. It’s interesting they misspelled their own name in the last word Center for Ceter”. Also, I thought I was dealing with Consumers Reward Solutions not Brand Sample Center. In any case, I am not cashing that check since I don’t accept that as a full payment especially at this point.”

This member went on to say, “I have sent them over a dozen emails with no response. I have called all of the numbers you provided me. Only one worked and the man on the line put me on hold then hung up on me when I asked about my account. Then when I called back it went to voicemail.”

Could the man on the line be John H.? CRS’ manager who told someone that he is a busy man and had no time for them? See August’s post from 2010 to learn more: http://www.diyfreebies.com/surfs-up-with-consumers-reward-solutions-exposed-and-indicted-nuitechs-rule-change-webprizeland-wave-of-new-links/ — The fact that you are hung up on while asking for help is ridiculous in itself. And Dave disconnected his phone number, and hasn’t been responsive to e-mails. Is Dave quitting his job at CRS, or is he hiding out? Why did ‘Mystery Man’ hang up on a member? I had sent the member above these phone numbers: 1-866-393-4824, 1-866-351-1721, 1-866-985-9444, 1-866-994-9894. She could not remember which number was Mystery Man as it had been too long since she’d dialed the number. But the number that John H. answered is not any of those numbers, only one of them was Mystery Man. John H.’s number is: 1-877-680-4175. Who is ‘Mystery Man’? A thought: What if… Dave is Mystery Man? Think about it. His phone number is disconnected, and he doesn’t answer e-mails. What else is there to do at the office? Could he be working a new support line? He’d still have a job at CRS, same position (customer support), just working a line other than his own. But what would that accomplish? Wouldn’t those who’ve spoken to Dave recognize his voice? Or has that yet to happen? If Dave has left the island who’ll replace him? What are CRS’ plans moving forward?

I gave them another chance after the $300.00 settlement and lowballing incident, and I cannot give them anymore. They choose to avoid their members by disconnecting phone numbers and hanging up on them. Why have a number at all? Unresponsiveness or no mode of communication is something you watch for with DIY companies. It is the reason I shy away from many of them, as I found there isn’t a way to contact them and/or they never reply to your e-mails. CRS were paying well and Dave was right there when you needed him. Not long after the LG washer & dryer site “DIY classes” took place did CRS hit the bottom slope. If it were me who received the $300.00 settlement check, I wouldn’t cash it. By cashing it you accept the payment. I would hold on to it until after I learnt the outcome in court. Afterward I suppose you could cash it since you already have it in hand. You would still get $300.00 if you lost.

I’d like to go back over Product Test Panel’s gift program. Some of you had questions, so we’ll revisit the topic of Product Test Panel. Please read what I have below.

Expect to front a lot of money as this isn’t your average DIY. The first and second page have your basic low-cost offers and, the last page, a higher offer requirement. Depending on the offers you choose you spend $1,600.00-$1,700.00 or more on the final page in addition to the regular offers. If you find a good deal, you’ll get back what you spent and then some. Bonus offers must be completed within 24 hours in order to earn credit. It may take 3 months maximum start-to-finish with PTP. After 8-9 weeks you may request an MCR on any offer(s) that have not credited. The premium offers are manual only, and are approved within 30 days. Shipping time for gifts is about 2 weeks.

Now let’s look at a Product Test Panel site…

Registration page with bonus advertisement:

Offer page #1:

Offer page #2:

Final page:

Bullseye bonus page:

gift site: http://retailreportcard.producttestpanel.com/

The bonuses are what I mean by “misc. gifts” in my *links ‘n such* section of my blog. An example: “::link here:: – offers unknown/$1,000.00 JcPenney gc + misc gifts.” So you can get several gifts if you grab the bonuses. The bonus offers are what make the site worth doing! Just do them within 24 hours and you’re all set. I have never done a PTP site myself, but I’m waiting for a mega deal to come along since you can only do them once per lifetime. I missed out on an amazing deal 3 years ago, so I’ll just wait until they go wild with their mega deals; TVs, gift cards, laptops, the works! *w*
There are smaller gift sites now with no OODs. You must do many regular offers for a lesser amount of $500.00+ gift value, with no bonuses, but it is not worth it because it still has the one gift per lifetime rule, so OODs are your best bet for a valuable DIY gift from Product Test Panel.

Anyway, I wanted to give my readers a page-by-page tour of your typical Product Test Panel site. The first two pages and bonus offers are easy, its the last page you worry about. If anybody needs further instruction on their first Product Test Panel site, please let me know. I am here to help.

We have an update from our member who had problems with Nuitech in this entry: DIYfreebies’ third annual anniversary blog… — Since they allowed me to post their messages to me, and from Nuitech, I’ll copy them here for your viewing.

from member, “from member xxxx@xx.com
to wozniack

date Tue, Jul 19, 2011 at 5:02 PM
subject xxxx
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.com
Important mainly because of your interaction with messages in the conversation.

hide details Jul 19 (10 days ago)

Woo hoo ! Thanks! I’m still dealing with Nuitech they are seriously driving me crazy. I sent them via mail all the info they requested and they emailed me and said they need more statements from my credit card . I’ll let you know how it goes. They really are being impossible. I keep all my documents and it’s like they want more than you can provide. I hope it goes through as It’s ended up costing way too much time and money. Thanks again, i’ll definitely check the offer out.

member”

member, “from member xxxx@xx.com
to wozniack

date Fri, Jul 29, 2011 at 9:37 AM
subject xxxx
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.com
Important mainly because of your interaction with messages in the conversation.

hide details 9:37 AM (6 hours ago)

Hey, I was wondering if you started this offer ? I did and none of my gold offers are being tracked. I’ve clicked on most of them and it never shows pending. I know i’ll have to do some replacements , but if none of them are showing up it concerns me. Any suggestions ? Also, i’m still fighting with Nuitech they are being impossible ! I’ve just sent more credit card statements to them. It’s a long story , but I’m hoping for payment but it doesn’t look good. I could scream!!!!!! They actually accused me of copying and pasting my credit card statement. They said they don’t accept word documents. Huh ? I sent them my credit card statements that I downloaded directly from my credit card company. Anyway, Have a great weekend!

member”

me, “from wozniack xxxx@xx.com
to member

dateFri, Jul 29, 2011 at 12:03 PM
subject xxxx
mailed-by gmail.com

hide details 12:03 PM (5 hours ago)

member,

I’m sorry for the trouble you are still having with Nuitech, and now I-Deal. People have been having major issues with their offers. One person ended up having to do 14 total to qualify for their gift! Exactly when did you do your offers? You may need to wait a week for them to post to your account as the crediting process has been somewhat slow. One of my platinum offers didn’t credit until a week after I registered, but, it was too late by then as I’d gotten too impatient and did another replacement that credited. Which offers didn’t credit, by the way?

As for Nuitech, I can’t believe they accused you of doing that. Obviously you never had problems when sending them your credit card statement before, right? You’ve been dealing with this since May, and they are still giving you grief. Would you mind sending me what they told you? Also, I would like to share this with my readers, if that is okay with you. I will make you anonymous. If they continue to follow your situation with Nuitech, it may help them understand what to do if they end up in the same boat.

Have a great weekend yourself! Thanks.

wozniack”

That was 5 days ago. Tonight this member sent me their Nuitech e-mails. With their permission I will post them below.

me, “from [Offline] wozniack diyfreebies@gmail.com
to member
date Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 5:10 PM
subject xxxx
mailed-by gmail.com

hide details 5:10 PM (5 hours ago)

Hi again,

I will be posting my blog tonight, and I wanted to see if it was OK to share your recent experience with my readers. Doing so may teach them what to do when stuck in a situation like yours. Did they ever accept your credit card statement?

Thanks,

wozniack”

member, “from member xxxx@xx.com
to wozniack
date Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 5:39 PM
subject xxxx
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.com
Important mainly because of your interaction with messages in the conversation.

hide details 5:39 PM (5 hours ago)

Sure you can share it. Nuitech responded that they received my confirmation and it will be 5-7 days. I know they’ll have another road block. They are being ridiculous.
I did 3 or 4 replacement offers for my ideal offer and only one has been approved. I’ve also ran into some issues with the companies that i’ve signed up with over a year ago. one being eyepothesis. it said i wasn’t eligible to sign up again as well as netflix and ivory white. So, I’m hoping some more go through. After Nuitech i hope ideal will be easy. How about your offers ? Have they all went through ?

member”

member, “from member xxxx@xx.com
to wozniack
date Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 5:46 PM
subject xxxx
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.com
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.

hide details 5:46 PM (5 hours ago)

I sent you a few of my emails with nuitech. I don’t mind if you share them, but if you could hide the offers named i’d appreciate it. You know how they can be about that.

Thanks,

member”

member, “from member xxxx@xx.com
to “diyfreebies@gmail.com”
date Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 5:45 PM
subject Fw: Confirmation received
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.com

On Tue, 8/2/11, member wrote:

From: member
Subject: Fw: Confirmation received
To: xxxx@xx.com
Date: Tuesday, August 2, 2011, 10:42 PM

On Fri, 7/15/11, Personalcashbailout Support wrote:

From: Personalcashbailout Support
Subject: Confirmation received
To: xxxx@xx.com
Date: Friday, July 15, 2011, 2:21 PM

Dear member,

Thank you for sending us your confirmation(s). We are missing the
following information:

– June charge (on your bank statement) from xxxx

– Initial charges from xxxx and xxxx on your bank
statement

– Subsequent charges on your bank statement, showing at least 30 days
history, from xxxx, xxxx, xxxx, xxxx,
xxxx, xxxx and xxxx.

Please send the documents to the following address:

Verification Department
13762 W. SR. 84 Suite 612
Davie, FL 33325

Or fax it to 954-653-9031 (Attention Verification Department)

Please do not reply to this email as the account this is sent from is
not monitored for incoming mail and you will not receive a reply. Please
use the contact form provided at our website.

Thank you,

Support”

member”

from member xxxx@xx.com
to “diyfreebies@gmail.com”
date Tue, Aug 2, 2011 at 5:45 PM
subject Fw: Confirmation received
mailed-by xxxx.com
signed-by xxxx.com
Important mainly because of the people in the conversation.

— On Tue, 8/2/11, xxxx wrote:

From: member
Subject: Fw: Confirmation received
To: xxxx@xx.com
Date: Tuesday, August 2, 2011, 10:42 PM

On Fri, 7/22/11, Personalcashbailout Support wrote:

From: Personalcashbailout Support
Subject: Confirmation received
To: xxxx@xx.com
Date: Friday, July 22, 2011, 11:43 AM

Dear member,

Thank you for sending us your billing statements. After reviewing your
information, we see the statement you sent is a word document and we
need the actual (bank) billing statement with the account number blacked
out except for the last four digits and your name on the statement (bank
logo/letterhead needs to display as well).

Also, we need proof of current membership or cancellation email from at
least one of the following:

– xxxx. If still active, we need late April and May charges on
your bank statement

– xxxx. If still, we need the July charge on your bank statement (if
applicable) or if you canceled, the cancellation email indicating the
date of your cancellation.

– xxxx. If still active, we would need you to log into your
account and print your profile page/billing history page showing
(current) date somewhere on the page or if you have canceled the offer,
we need the cancellation email showing date of cancellation.

Please send the documents to the following address:

Verification Department
13762 W. SR. 84 Suite 612
Davie, FL 33325

Or fax it to 954-653-9031 (Attention Verification Department)

Please do not reply to this email as the account this is sent from is
not monitored for incoming mail and you will not receive a reply. Please
use the contact form provided at our website.

Thank you,

Support”

So that is where we are. I’m copying and pasting the billing statement paragraph from above.

“Thank you for sending us your billing statements. After reviewing your
information, we see the statement you sent is a word document and we
need the actual (bank) billing statement with the account number blacked
out except for the last four digits and your name on the statement (bank
logo/letterhead needs to display as well).”

In order to do this, this member would have to approach their credit card company and request a new statement. They may not send “an actual (bank) billing statement” like Nuitech wants. If this member downloaded it from the credit card site, then that is an ACTUAL billing statement from the credit card company. Word document or not, it is a billing statement made available to all the credit card company’s customers and, therefore, should be accepted. A Word document can be easily manipulated, which is probably why many financial institutions and companies use files like .pdf. This is yet another problem that is out of their members’ control. First it was the members’ responsibility to get the sponsors to report back. Now, if a credit card or bank statement is in the wrong format, then members are required to send them another way. And how can they when the credit card company or bank must do it themselves? Surely the member wouldn’t want to risk making a fake copy to get paid.

Before the subject shifts, I’ll post Nuitech’s response regarding the DBA rule to clear up any confusion surrounding it.

Nuitech’s reply to a member, dated July 15, 2011:

“Thank you for your inquiry. Only one gift is allowed per year on a site
operated under the same company. If you qualify for a gift, you will
have to wait 12 months to sign up again for a site operated under the
same company.”

Only one gift per year per DBA. So once you have qualified for your gift, wait 12 months before registering again with that DBA. You can do other Nuitech sites in the meantime provided the DBAs on them are different. More on this rule and Nuitech can be found in the official T&C and DBA list: http://www.diyfreebies.com/official-tc-and-dba-list/

On December 1, 2010 Acquisis sent out a mass letter stating they where discontinuing The Reward Depot gift program. The termination letter and Acquisis discourse can be found here: Santa’s Sleigh… — I will post it once more, as there are recent concerns with this company.

“Dec 1, 2010

Dear ____,

Thank you for participating in the Reward Depot program.

The reward program is being discontinued. Please accept this letter as our formal notice of termination of The Reward Depot program, pursuant to Section 8.4 (End of Program) of the “Terms & Conditions” under which you registered.

Due to numerous issues including, but not limited to, widespread fraud and violation of program rules detected across our programs, The Reward Depot is unable to fulfill the original gift of a ::your gift here:: for which you registered. We would, however, like to thank you for your participation by offering you the enclosed $500 gift card.

Sincerely,

Customer Support,
The Reward Depot”

Acquisis is said to still be running a gift program even though they nixed The Reward Depot. I think they really did terminate their gift program, BUT it was the one under The Reward Depot. They probably are running another gift program under a new DBA or subcompany, which is why we keep seeing their sites. Its still a concern no matter the DBA or subcompany behind it. Acquisis can’t be trusted anymore. It began with the the scam of 2008-2009. Then there was the two billing statement rule, which threw everything into complete chaos; more scamming, and now they ignore e-mails. I’m afraid because of that, and the fact they started fresh and are carrying on like nothing happened with the old DBA. Anyone unfamiliar with Acquisis may research the new DBA info, wherever it is, find no ugly grievances, and lose money if burned by them. I’m taking matters into my own hands by searching for those vulnerable to Acquisis. Those who haven’t a clue as to who they are and what they’re capable of. I always Google to find people who are doubtful about this industry. Then I tell them what I know to help them make the right decision. You must be careful online. Through words and images we can be misled by faithless companies. It happens all too often, especially to those who’re inexperienced. If I can save someone from a scam it makes my day.

My stash from July-August…

All from MyView, ePoll, MyPoints and Toluna. MyView is a market research panel created by New York based marketing research firm Authentic Response Inc. I discovered them 5 months ago, and started earning points instantly. I earned the $50.00 and $25.00 virtual Visas in one month max! They send you surveys all day long, so you can do them while you check your mail. They don’t take up your time either. I also have a referral link for MyView if anyone is interested. And I made $25.00 in Target from ePoll, and $20.00 in Target from MyPoints. Then there was my $20.00 check from Toluna. I racked up $140.00 just by doing what I do everyday– shopping and taking surveys! If anyone is interested in becoming a member of these research panels and points program, MyPoints, please contact me at: diyfreebies@gmail.com.

*links ‘n such*

producttestpanel–

http://bigbrandrewards.com/kfam/index.php?lid=kfam_pubid_subid&add_offerid=add_offerid – offers unknown, no refs/$1,000.00 K-Mart gc + misc. gifts

http://bigbrandrewards.com/toysrus/index.php?lid=toysrus_pubid_subid&add_offerid=add_offerid – offers unknown, no refs/$1,000.00 Toys R Us gc + misc. gifts

http://bigbrandrewards.com/lowes/index.php?lid=lowes_pubid_subid&add_offerid=add_offerid – offers unknown, no refs/$1,000.00 Lowe’s gc + misc. gifts

http://giftcardrewardzone.com/kohls/index.php?lid=kohls_pubid_subid&add_offerid=add_offerid – offers unknown, no refs/$1,000.00 Kohl’s gc + misc. gifts

http://homeprojectrewards.com/lozzas/ – offers unknown, no refs/$1,000.00 Lowe’s gc + misc. gifts

http://giftcardrewardzone.com/walgreens/?lid=walgreens_1952_31108_127599532&add_offerid=97693551&addomain=rsgauge10.com&addomain_id=62&uniclk=true – offers unknown, no refs/$1,000.00 Walgreens gc + misc. gifts

http://myfreesportsgear.com/espn/?lid=espn – offers unknown, no refs/$1,000.00 ESPNshop.com gc + misc. gifts

http://myrewardadvantage.com/retumiyos/index.php?lid=retumiyos_12967_PF672&add_offerid=151441&addomain=rsgauge10.com&addomain_id=62&uniclk=true – offers unknown, no refs/$500.00 Ruby Tuesday or Red Robin gc + misc. gifts

http://mypopsurvey.com/employmentzas/ – offers unknown, no refs/$500.00 Visa gc + misc. gifts

http://giftcardrewardzone.com/gamestop/index.php?lid=gamestop_13326_[=afid=]&add_offerid=9468142&addomain=sbfollow10.com&addomain_id=61&uniclk=true – offers unknown, no refs/$500.00 GameStop gc + misc. gifts

http://giftcardblowout.com/amazon/index.php?lid=amazon_14053_[=AFID=]&add_offerid=763561&addomain=avcounter10.com&addomain_id=67&uniclk=true – offers unknown, no refs/$500.00 amazon gc + misc. gifts

http://giftcardblowout.com/visa/index.php?lid=visa_pubid_subid&add_offerid=add_offerid – offers unknown, no refs/$500.00 Visa + misc. gifts

I-Deal–

http://www.electronicssource.us.com/?session_id=e4345182bbed11e08605f64ba83e1266 – 10 offers, 1 ref/$1,000.00 Visa gc

http://www.electronicssource.us.com/?session_id=13adc2e0bbee11e09df01d4ca83e1266 – 10 offers, 1 ref/Macbook Air + $100.00 iTunes gc

http://www.electronicssource.us.com/?session_id=68f9611ebbee11e0a0361af5b7df804b – 10 offers, 1 ref/iPad 2 + $100.00 iTunes gc

http://www.electronicssource.us.com/?session_id=d1926c7abbee11e0a387234ca83e1266 – 10 offers, no refs/iPad 2 (choose from a variety of colors)

Nuitech–

http://www.myexclusiverewards.com/rd_p?p=205400&t=15107 – 10 offers, no refs/$1,000.00 Continental Airlines gift certificate

Can’t believe its August… This time last year the “Surf’s up…” blog was posted, and CRS are having twice as many problems as they did then. And it’s getting worse. I don’t quite get what is going on in their minds. But, I will save those CRS thoughts for a rainy day. I was recently approved on a $1,000.00 Visa site from I-Deal, and I’m ready for some more amazing deals! What is everybody else working on? Sorry my blog came so late. My messages are backed up, so please bear with me as I answer them all. Alrighty, if anybody has anymore questions or concerns, send them to me. In the meantime, enjoy the links and blog…

Bye for now,

wozniack