Back in late June I came across freegamingmachine.com which I later learned was owned by I-Deal Direct. I followed the instructions and completed the offers I needed to. I paid for several different services amounting to over $50 in order to earn my "free" XBOX.
I was told to allow 30 days for all my offers to be approved prior to contacting customer service to inquire as to the status of my free gift. I had completed and paid for my offers and not received credit for all of them so I spoke to the companies I purchased from to receive new authorization numbers to provide freegamingmachine.com with...
Sent: Tuesday, July 19 10:05 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Response from the FreeGamingMachine.com website
"My orginal email with this service was * but that acct may be deactivated soon, so I am using *. I am waiting for verification from TrimLife (which was received and paid for), Entertainment 2005 (received and paid for) and Gevalia (billing problem, resubmitted and approved 7/19/05 10am EST - will take 4-5 business days to generate new verifiable acct #) I just wanted to keep you informed so you know I am completing the requirements, and so I receive the free XBOX I am entitled to per the program rules. If there is anything I should be aware of, please contact me at the above email address. Thank you in advance for your attention in this matter and for arranging this kind of service!"
Which I received a reply to:
Message from "maggie" on Wed, 20 Jul 13:56: 05 0000
To:
Subject: RE: Response from the FreeGamingMachine.com website
Kim,
"Unfortunately, we do not have your confirmation on file for all of your offers. While this may not be your fault, in order to receive your free gift, we still need to verify that you did in fact complete that sponsored offer through our site.
Through the US Mail, please send:
1. The confirmation email, complete with the header of the email that you received from the sponsor company which includes your account number and signup date.
2. A copy of your paper credit card statement showing proof of purchase, verifying dates and your name and address.
3. A copy of the latest utility bill confirming your name and address.
Please be sure that you include these three requirements for all necessary offer confirmations. We want to verify that you did in fact sign up for the offer by clicking on it directly through the final page of our site. As soon as we receive your applicable response, we can mail your free gift!"
This seemed fair enough but since I was never told I needed the confirmation emails from the participating companies, and I had since deleted my old email, I figured I'd just have to sign up for some more offers to ensure my brother got the XBOX I promised him.
After completing the new offers I waited the obligatory 30 days before inquiring on the status of my gift. Since I received no communication or a certificate to fill out I thought I may have to complete yet more offers.instead, when I tried to log in to check the status, a message informed me that the time on my offer had expired and to check the rules.
The rules do say that the certificate has to be postmarked no later than 15 days after the program requirements had been met. This, however, is unreasonable since apparently they have no real communication with the companies who place offers through their site. You end up having to do even more offers than are required just so you can get credit!
I thought at first that it was just my fault for not checking every day because freegamingmachine.com was not listed among usacomplaints. Coms at the time. When I checked the program rules and saw the company was I-Deal Direct, however, 15 usacomplaints.com were returned, with similar stories to my own.
It would seem in that case that I-Deal Direct has structured these programs to make it as difficult as possible to receive the free gift that was promised. Either not enough time has passed for approval or too much time has passed for redemption. However you want to look at it, I-Deal Direct and their sponsors are making money off of people who will very likely never see their gift.
I have been ripped off for much more money in the past but I am writing this report and buying the Ripoff Revenge primarily because this was supposed to be a birthday present for my little brother. I had wrote in his card July 8th that in a little more than one month he'd have his very own XBOX... And it kills me each time I see him when he asks where it is.
I would be willing to chalk this up to a bad experience because let's face it... Life's not fair... But I'm not going to let down my brother. I-Deal Direct shouldn't be allowed to ripoff anyone else!
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