It all starts with a misleading email that has a subject line of "Get a complimentary Sony VAIO Notebook". My first gut reaction was to delete the spam because it sounded to good to be true. Well I checked it out because it peeked my curiousity. My complaint is this: The Consumer Research Corporation/producttestpanel.com website had thier entry rules buried so deeply in their participation terms that I missed it when reading it. They state that you need to "Remember that you need two action points from each page group to qualify for your free gift."
This means that you need to spend money at 2 locations from the limited selections on the "Top Offers Page 1 Group, Top Offers Page 2 Group, and Top Offers Page 3 Group".
You will not be eligible for the Sony Notebook computer unless you participate in Script Connect Pharmacy or DirecTV with DirecWAY from the "Top Offers Page 3 Group". Participating in Script Connect Pharmacy or DirecTV with DirecWAY is expensive. With the money that you would pay for those services you could afford to buy your own notebook computer. The only two "Top Offers" that I was interested in were Blockbuster Online and Video Professor. It is not right to tell people they are getting a free gift and then requiring them to spend more money than the gift is worth. This is deceptive marketing and misleading/false advertising.
I am considering a formal complaint to the Better Business Bureau. I would prefer not to do that but there needs to be more honesty and accountablity in sales and marketing.
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