Cashback declined

[#1]

So far i've had a terrible time trying to get any cashback from plusnet....

I signed up on the 14th DEC with the fibre up to 38mb 12 month contract £70 cashback offer as it worked out after cashback slightly cheaper that who I was already with.

1.I used my phone to sign up,clicked on the Plus net link on Top cash back site and waited for 1 month without hearing anything.I then raised a missing cashback ticket with Top cash back and rang Plus net on the 14th Jan. Spoke to some lady from customer services who seemed concerned and said she was going to look into it personally and back to me a few days later while she contacted the marketing team as she couldn't see any claim from Top cash back, she also said she had never heard of them and  Plus net weren't doing any cashback with them and Top cash back shouldn't of linked them off their site....never heard from Plus net again until....

2. Feb 14th I Rang back Plus net rather annoyed explained the situation over and over again while being passed around for an hour on the phone to be given a number for their cashback marketing side...a company called Grassroutes I GOT THIS NUMBER FROM PLUSNET. I then left it for few weeks hoping Topcash back and Plusnet would resolve it as the response from Topcashback was wait a month for the retailer.

3.29th March After hearing nothing rang and spoke to a helpful chap from Grassroutes who explained to me that 10 days after you sign up with Plusnet through Topcash back site, Plusnet are supposed to give them your account details and then the cash back process begins...as they were waiting on Plusnet and Plusnet hadn't done this. so to give them a call back....

Rang Plusnet on the phone over an hour...passed around to about 6 different people having to explain over and over again ....finally get told there is a code for when i signed up....but dosen't say its for cashback...they don't even know what it is for...

and that it'll be escalated to the marketing team...and you have no record of me ringing in Jan....mmm  then today i recieved this..

4.April 5th

Thank you for your patience,  After speaking with you regarding the cashback offer, I have has a response from our escalation team. They have advised that as you used Topcash to submit for the offer you would need to contact them and not Grassroots. They have advised from our knowledge Topcash and Grassroots do not work together so we don't know how you have used both companies in conjunction with a cashback offer. We cannot issue a cashback cheque because we do not have a valid Promotion code on your account.You would need to contact the 3rd party you signed up with as we have no details of a company or the cashback. Kind regards, [CSA Removed]

I mean seriously.....what the hell...don't you guys communicate with each other? Why has a customer got to waste hours chasing you around...it's not even about the money anymore...rant over...

Moderator's note by Mike (Mav): Two posts released from Spam Filter and duplicate removed.

Moderator's note by Mike (Mav): CSA name(s) removed (to an area staff can see) as per Forum rules.

[#2]

I have finally heard back from topcashback after several replies fobbing me off and they are going to contact Plusnet again regarding my claim. If Plusnet reject it again, topcashback have said they can't do anymore. If that happens I will contact an ombudsman and if needed follow legal proceedings as clearly somewhere down the line one of the companies is choosing not to hand over the cash. Cash which we, as the customers, were told we could have on sign up.

[#3]

@Laura86

I'm sorry to hear your cashback has been declined.

I can see this is being dealt with by one of my colleagues in our complaints team.

As he's not in the office at the moment I'm looking into this and I'll update your ticket shortly.

[#4]

I have received your reply via my account:
"Dear Mrs White,
Thanks for contacting us via our community forums.
I'm sorry to hear your cashback has been declined.
I've looked into this myself and I can see that unfortunately, your account hasn't been attributed to an affiliate offer.
The most common reason is that this may be due to a cookie attribution error. This happens if the last cookie on the device you're using isn't Top Cash Back's before you confirm the order on the affiliate website.
This normally happens due to your browsing habits. For example if you have several tabs or windows open at the same time on the device you're using, or if you don't clear cookies from your web browser before starting the signup process.
Ad-blockers can also block cookies from being stored on the device you're wanting to make a purchase from.
Please accept my apologies for any disappointment caused. If you're not satisfied with this outcome, we'd recommend raising this further with Top Cash Back because there's nothing more we can do I'm afraid."

I can assure you that I clicked through in exactly the same way as I did for my aunt's account, who's tracked fine. It came up on screen with the "in partnership with top cashback" so the fact that I am being told that topcashback was not the last referrer is ludicrous. It showed on my top cashback account under missing claims the exact time I had done the click through too.
Using excuses like cookies affecting it and such, is just excuses for not wanting to pay out monies owed to customers
If you are going to refuse to pay out then I will go ahead with contacting an ombudsman to follow this up. I am not going to just accept your refusal to pay out. Clearly this is a widespread issue given all the other threads I have seen with customers having the same issue. Maybe Plusnet need to be investigated for making false claims of cash offers through other sites in a bid to gain custom.

[#5]

Furthermore, I have never had an issue with topcashback tracking smaller cashback claims with dozens of purchases I have made. My browsing habits did not miraculously change when I went to purchase my phone and broadband package with yourselves. I used the same device and method as I always do. It comes up with a pop up on topcashback saying 'your visit has been recorded' and then it took me to a page which said 'in partnership with top cashback'. How it could then have not tracked after that is ridiculous.
It appears that Plusnet are raking up business by making false advertisements of cashback incentives and then sometimes choose to pocket the cash at the customers expense. All that coming to light after it is possible to get out of a contract too. With the number of people raising similar issues, I think it's about time companies like Plusnet get investigated to stop them conning customers out of money.

[#6]

Well at least you got a reply Laura.. Your right though, it shouldn't be so difficult to sort out....4 months here of being passed around and fobbed off.

After recieving an email today regarding price increase in June aswell i'll be leaving ASAP. Can somoeone actually confirm please if it's 30 days from the email today or 30 days from June 5th when the prices increase?

[#7]

Yes I heard about the price increase too. It's all just disgraceful the way they will try to rack up business by making false advertisements. Just to let you know I have contacted an ombudsman service who will be looking into it once 8 weeks Has passed since I originally complained (7th March). I will keep you updated. I am determined though to not let this go and will use small claims court if I have to. Based on reading lots of forums on here, it is evident that our issues are not unique. Companies like Plusnet should not get away with mis selling products in order to generate business. I am even more angry that thanks to myself, Plusnet have gained two further customers! All thanks to me! And what gratitude do I get for that?! Denying me cashback I am entitled to! It's totally shocking. And I won't back down. So Plusnet will just have to get sick of hearing from me if they choose to be stubborn over a measly £70 which is nothing to them!

[#8]

Welcome to the community forums @raetee

First of all I'm sorry about the really delayed response.

Did you get this sorted in the end?

Please let me know if you need further assistance into this.

[#9]

@Laura86

I've sent an e-mail over to one of my colleagues in our Marketing team to see if they can see anything amiss on our side.

@peps1max

Welcome to the community forums.

I'm sorry to hear about your experience.

To be clear, Grassroots is our supplier of cashbacks we offer directly through our site. Cashback offers through Quidco or Top Cash Back are affiliates, so you'd need to liaise with them. I'm sorry if that wasn't made clear initially.

I've checked your account and it doesn't look it has tracked via an affiliate offer.

Unfortunately it's likely it's due to cookie attribution as explained to @Laura86 here.

Apologies for any disappointment caused.

[#10]

Thanks for the reply @Gandalf I don't see how it was a cookie tracking problem as I used Safari on my Iphone with default settings.Also when i've raised a ticket with Top cash back,it asked which link I had missing cashback for and Plus net was right on the top, so it clearly tracked with them,but they have been waiting on the retailer{plus net} for almost 4 months.

I was also told there is  a code linked to my account but nobody seems to know what it was for?...

Also you guys have no record of me calling back in January when i've raised this with you,it's like no one knows whats happened and don't want to know. it just seems that this has been a problem for a lot of people and Plus net just seem to wash their hands of it.

Thanks for the reply though and not aiming any of this at you.

[#11]

I don't see how it was a cookie tracking problem as I used Safari on my Iphone with default settings.Also when i've raised a ticket with Top cash back,it asked which link I had missing cashback for and Plus net was right on the top, so it clearly tracked with them,but they have been waiting on the retailer{plus net} for almost 4 months.

Most websites you navigate to nowadays leave a cookie on the device. When you complete the transaction on the affiliate site the last cookie to be dropped on your device would have to be the affiliate's so the sale can be tracked as such.

To help ensure this happens we'd recommend clearing cookies before you start the transaction and making sure (If you don't already) that you don't have any other open windows or tabs on your web browser.

I was also told there is  a code linked to my account but nobody seems to know what it was for?...

The offer code on your account tells us what offer the account was signed up upon. The code provides us two main types of information; what channel you created your account through and the agreed costs.

it's like no one knows whats happened and don't want to know. it just seems that this has been a problem for a lot of people and Plus net just seem to wash their hands of it.

We'd love to help, but unfortunately there isn't much we can do if your account isn't showing as being signed up via an affiliate, because there's no account on the affiliate systems we use on our side.

With no account showing there, we've got nothing to validate as an affiliate deal.

I am sorry for the disappointment here.

[#12]

My claim from November has just been refused too.

I'm a seasoned quidco customer so know all to well about the rules you need to obey to get these tracked. £85 for agreeing to the top package is missing for me. After the long investigation and appeal (3 months) they tell me Plusnet has declined the cashback.

Not very sporting hey!

[#13]

Sorry to hear this @darsuke

From what I can see your account wasn't created under an affiliate offer.

I'm raising this to our marketing team for further investigation. We'll update you when we know more.

[#14]

Thank you @Gandalf

Alas, your powers that be have also declined after you asked them to investigate.

They too say the same, not attached to an affiliate offer.

The irony is I still have all the screen shots I secured at the time. And they all say right there at the top "In partnership with Quido"

Poor show old chaps

[#15]

Unfortunately due to the way affiliate signups work, it can still show the affiliate logo even when there's a tracking problem with the cookies. I am sorry for the disappointment caused here.