Quidco Cashback Declined Whilst Waiting For Service To Be Installed

[#1]

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@HarryB wrote:

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cooldude50 wrote:

Trust Pilot tends to be the review site most useful to a company to post on.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.plus.net

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Although I do appreciate our scores on Trustpilot are low, people tend to be quick to post publicly or vent their frustrations when things go wrong, but not so often/quick when things go just as they should (Or better).

 EDIT:

@jfraser I don't believe CISAS would give advice to raise a case through small claims court. We use CISAS for ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) if a complaint can't be dealt with after going through our complaints process as per our Complaints Code of Practice.

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With respect, the suggestion that customers only report bad service is a fallacy.

Plusnet had every opportunity to admit (at best) a very confusing signup/cashback process through Quidco or (at worst) buggy code with lead to false advertising and misleading new customers with your own backdoor reduced cashback offer - and correct it.

You have to ask yourself why any new customer would follow a link for 110.00 cashback through Quidco, then willingly nullify it with an offer valued at less than half the Quidco offer on your website.  It makes no sense.  We were duped, plain and simple.

Correct it and receive public praise, or deny any liability and accept poor reviews.  Seems fair to me.

[#2]

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@HarryB wrote:

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cooldude50 wrote:

Trust Pilot tends to be the review site most useful to a company to post on.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.plus.net

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Although I do appreciate our scores on Trustpilot are low, people tend to be quick to post publicly or vent their frustrations when things go wrong, but not so often/quick when things go just as they should (Or better).

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With respect, the suggestion that customers only post negative reviews is a fallacy.

Plusnet had every opportunity to handle these claims correctly.  What we have exposed is - at best - a very confusing signup/cashback process using a legitimate link on Quidco's website to redirect to your landing page, and - at worst - deliberate misleading of new customers with false advertising and a backdoor reduced cashback offer which customers are unable to reject during signup, nullifying the more than twice higher value cashback offer.

The truth is somewhere in the middle, I suspect - some buggy code from your tech guys or an oversight by your marketing department which we brought to your attention, followed by concentrated damage control through denial of liability to those affected by your customer service team.

The simple question you should ask yourself is this:

Why would any sensible person click a link for 110.00 cashback, only to willingly reject it for an amount of less than 50% of that value?  Does that make sense to you?  

Plusnet/Quidco:  "Here's 110."

Me:  "No thank you, I'd rather take just 50."

Plusnet:  "Thanks for joining us."

If this had been handled differently, you would have received public praise, at least from me.  Instead, I'm being told I deliberately chose to accept 50 instead of 110, like a clown.  The mistake/oversight happened on Plusnet's watch, not mine.  

Poor form.

[#3]

I have not tried to suggest that customers only post negative reviews.

I am simply pointing out (As other customers have in the past on this forum) that people are much quicker/likely to post negative reviews than they are for posting when things go right or better.

As far as I am concerned, I have dealt with this matter correctly.

Once we had found the landing page was incorrect, I asked the relevant people for the dates this was incorrect, they investigated and provided me with the dates. I then provided the dates I had been given.

[#4]

It takes a lot of negative reviews to average 1 Star out of 5 from 1200+ submissions (77% rate it 1 Star).  Not great by anyone's standards.

I have previously acknowledged that I believe you to be truthful in the messages you're relaying.  What I find contentious is the content of those messages being given to you. 

That said, you have omitted to answer the question all this boils down to:  

Why would we willingly reject a Quidco?Plusnet cashback offer of 110.00 in favour of Plusnet's 50.00 cashback offer?  Would you?  For exactly the same product/service/contract length?  

I wouldn't, and I didn't.  I'm satisfied @cooldude50 didn't either.

EDIT:

The reason they can't or won't answer that question is because the would have to admit that the sign-up process was, at best, misleading on the dates we contend (pre May 27).  

No sane person would click a link for a cashback offer of 110.00, only to choose to reduce that cashback amount through the service provider's signup process by over 50% to 50.00 for the same products/terms. 

All they can keep implying is:

"You clicked the 50.00 cashback offer on our page.  Whether you followed another verified affiliate link to our page on the promise of 110.00 isn't our problem, even though we're aware you clicked that link because we had to reject the 110.00 offer from Quidco.  Also, we recognize this is misleading, so we're changing it on the date you brought it to our attention.  We are CERTAIN no one was affected on prior dates and we stand by that.  Enjoy your 50.00, sorry the 110.00 didn't work out.  You should have de-selected our cashback offer to complete Quidco's original offer of 2 minutes ago."

The whole process from Quidco to Plusnet to sale confirmation took approximately 5 minutes.  Hands-up who would decide within minutes to reject 110.00 in favour of 50.00 for the same service?  It only happens if you weren't aware of the 50.00 being added, or if it was added automatically and you were unable to or unaware of how to remove it.

Am I the only one who thinks this is completely absurd?  They won't admit that in so many words, though.  Much easier to deny culpability and stress that they are not at fault or misleading in any way (before May 27, when they admit to being misleading..).

One last thing, this is a quote from the administrator above:

"Once we had found the landing page was incorrect..."

I find this to be somewhat disingenuous.  You didn't so much 'find' it was incorrect as we brought it to your attention, then as a result you corrected it.  Check my thread on this same subject for evidence.  

For the benefit of the board, let's try to keep things as correct as possible and give credit where it's due.

A more accurate statement would be:

"Once you made us aware of the incorrect landing page, we corrected it."

Thanks.

[#5]

As the screen shot that I have saved of the landing page proves Plusnet 50.00 Cashback image/logo just below "start your order" wasnt clickable/changeable/selectable in any way shape or form.

Ah, I nearly forgot Plusnet have claimed that 19th - 26th May we all landed on a different/correct landing page ( this is despite posts on HDUK clearly stating that Plusnet 50.00 cashback offer was on landing page after clicking through from Quidco) and that the Plusnet landing page from Quidco link changed for so far unexplained reasons from 27th-31 May. - The word "spooky" takes on a whole new meaning.

[#6]

I still can't believe they haven't stepped in and said:

"You're right.  It was at best misleading, and we're happy to honour the 110.00 cashback link you clicked on Quidco.  Naturally, we have to nullify the 50.00 cashback offer that was applied on our website after you followed the Quidco link as only one offer can be applied to each new account.  

Thank you for bringing the erroneous landing page to our attention, which has now been corrected.  Mistakes can be made, and for that we apologise unreservedly, but we endeavor to correct them at the earliest opportunity, and to compensate our customers who feel they have fallen victim to these oversights."

That would be 5 star service.  No body cares about mistakes, they only care about how they're addressed.

Currently, I'm with the 77.8% of TrustPilot reviewers who rate Plusnet's service as 1 star.

As an aside, my ADSL speed is 50% slower than with BT down the same line two weeks ago.  I hope it doubles during this 'training period'.

[#7]

As promised I have now escalated my complaint to CISAS

[#8]

https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Account-Billing/Plusnet-Cashback-DECLINED-ADSL-Quidco/m-p/1347068#M...

Many Thanks for your comments F.O.S, It is good to see others having pursued the matter to its ultimate conclusion

I am currently waiting to hear from CISAS, whilst aware that OFCOM dont investigate individual complaints I have made OFCOM aware of my concerns about Plusnet apparent cashback mis-selling

This was OFCOM response

"Thank you for contacting Ofcom on 28 June 2016. I was sorry to read of the problems you have had with the cashback offered by Plusnet.

From your correspondence it appears that you are unhappy Plusnet have refused a cashback payment despite you signing up for the service which would have triggered the concerned payment.

A customer having problems obtaining a cashback payment agreed at the point of sale can be a form of mis-selling. This is something Ofcom is committed to tackling. In order to ensure consumers are protected, we have regulations which providers must follow when selling their services.

Although we cannot get involved in individual complaints, we formally record all cases of mis-selling and if we see evidence that a provider is breaching our regulations, we can investigate them.

As you feel that Plusnet should honour the cashback agreed, I would recommend following their Code of Practice which you can find at:

http://www.plus.net/help/legal/plusnet-code-of-practice/

If you are unable to resolve your dispute with Plusnet, it can be submitted to an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme. I can see that you have already approached CISAS, if they are unable to consider your dispute, or you are unhappy with their ruling, you can consider legal action.

I hope the information provided will assist you in resolving your dispute"

[#9]

As i mentioned on my other post plusnet gave various reason why they where not going to pay the cashback. they stated that

1) i never signed up through quidco then it changed to

2) as plusnet had issued the cheque for £50 that , it automatically made the quidco transaction of £110.00 declined , then it changed to

3) that when i clicked on the quidco link i selected another offer for the £50 cashback on the plusnet page - which i never did because the quidco took me to the landing page for the only one dsl adsl offer that they had at that date.

I made complaints againt plusnet and quidco - quidco where prepared to offer a small amount of compensation of which i was not prepared to offer - hence i then issued legal proceedings.

they settled becuase at the end of the day it would have cost them more moneyto defend rather than pay out.

[#10]

This is what I said to OFCOM.

Subject:

Cashback Mis-selling

Brief summary of your experience/query:

Today I escalated apparent cashback mis-selling complaint to CISAS - briefly concern raised relates to Plusnet offering high value cashback via cashback sites in this case Quidco.com, in my case 110.00 cashback for "ADSL" sales when clicking through from Quidco to Plusnet web page, Plusnet had its own 50.00 cashback offer, after ordering what i required which was phone line and broadband service without any add ons e.g anytime call package minimum contract 12 months which was paid up front/in full at the time of ordering the service, subsequently Plusnet declined Quidco 110.00 and stated i was only entitled to its on site 50.00 cashback offer.

I have provided significant proof/illustrations via internet reviews of some new Plusnet customers receiving both lots of cashback/many new plusnet customers as was case with me having high value plusnet cashback via Quidco rejected in favour of plusnet lower on site cashback, many who have just had Quidco plusnet cashback rejected despite taking out Plusnet services as a new customer

I cited an example of where Plusnet was offering a higher value cashback than that offered via Quidco, in that instance Plusnet on site cashback was rejected in favour of lower cashback offered via Quidco.

[#11]

This is what I meant - Under 3 Star review

http://www.quidco.com/plusnet/?st=plusnet&tr=2625&fn=home&fr=top&si=5788d529e673f&sv=4-MS

24 February 2016

Plusnet cashback offer

"I registered for ADSL Broadband and phone line 2 days ago. Plusnet advertise £50 cashback on their website so I expected to get this together with £30 from Quidco. I've been told by Plusnet that I cannot get their cashback amount because I did not go to them directly. I am £20 worse off as a result of using Quidco. I notice that you are now advertising £65 cashback instead of £30 that I will get from you. I am upset! Plusnet say I can cancel but then cannot reorder for at least 2 days. This will cause me more problems as I have already made the initial payment, received the new router and my current suppliers have been informed that I am changing"

To summarise

When Plusnet have offered higher cashback rate via Quidco than it offers via Plusnet site  many of its new customers including myself have had Quidco cashback rejected in favour of lower paying Plusnet on site cashback.

When Plusnet have offered lower cashback rate via Quidco than it has offered via Plusnet site, new customer had lower paying Quidco cashback paid with higher cashback offer via Plusnet site declined

On 29th June I replied to OFCOM email attaching the presentation I made to CISAS as regards my Plusnet cashback mis-selling concerns together with both review links and actual reviews ( copied and pasted in) as evidence in order for OFCOM to be furnished with a complete case history

[#12]

My post on MSE, Speaks for itself -

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3282000&page=152#3038

[#13]

Weeks and in fact months on - Quidco/Plusnet link still getting bundled with "anytime calls" package the same issue which caused myself and others to have Quidco cashback rejected in favour of lower paying Plusnet on site cashback and subsequently spend hours and hours on something that should have been paid automatically

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/plusnet-broadband-free-for-12-months-12m-contract-with-135-qudico-75... - Post 242

[#14]

@HarryB wrote:

@Piddles wrote:

Not that confidence needs further undermining, but have a look at the shambles on Hotukdeals.

As we've mentioned in other threads, Quidcos T&Cs advise that their cashback offer won't be valid.

Quidco T&C's

Quidco cashback will not be paid in conjunction with any cashback direct from Plusnet

The person who has posted that on Hotukdeals is incorrect.

Looking through the comments, others have pointed this out and if I recall correctly he has said it's a gamble and he'll be happy with just the plusnet cashback if the quidco one is voided by him trying to get both.

The person who posted that deal on Hotukdeals is wrong.

They have said in the comments of that deal they posted that they've tried to get both, other people have pointed out Quidco's T&C's to them and they've said they'd be happy with just the plusnet cashback ultimately if they've broken Quidco T&C's but see it as worth the gamble.

Having also followed the link, the landing page had no mention of any plusnet cashback, which I believe others had pointed out when I read through a few comments there yesterday.

[#15]

Hi Harry

I did indicate that I was referring to post 242 - Plusnet/Quidco link keeps changing, I tested on 1 August and 2nd August, landing pages were different

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/plusnet-broadband-free-for-12-months-12m-contract-with-135-qudico-75... - Post 242

"Quidco offers unclear again. It happens far too often. Its either incomptency or deliberate, but its extremely frustrating. Yes one can query through the contact form, but often by the time a response is received, offers have changed, cashback rates have changed etc

So right now clicking the visit retailer and get cashback button from quidco takes one through to a page clearly headed up in partnership with Quidco. The offer listed is 12 month unlimited broadband and anytime calls for £6 per month, with an offer of cashback of £75 direct from plusnet. However its not clear whether there is any cashback from Quidco too. As the quidco site plusnet page states the £135 cashback is only available for standalone asdl, this would suggest that the package which appears when the visit retailer button is clicked does not qualify, as it does include calls and therefore is not a standalone asdl package. Equally, there is another reason to suggest the £135 cashback does not apply. That is the £75 cashback offer from plusnet. Quidco site states cashback will not be paid where the retailer is offering cashback directly unless the direct cashback offer is also listed on quidco page. As the £75 plusnet cashback is not mentioned on the quidco page, this suggests the £135 will not be paid, only £75 will. With all that said then, if it is indeed the case that quidco will not be paying any cashback for the package which appears upon clicking the visit retailer button, then one has to question what the hell quidco are doing having a button that clicks through to an offer on the plusnet site clearly labelled as in partnership with quidco, if the offer does not in any way qualify for quidco cashback. The whole point of clicking through from quidco is to get quidco cashback and get and offer from plusnet which is more advantageous than going directly to the plusnet site. In this instance there is nothing advantageous, despite the plusnet page being headed up in partnership with quidco. The same offer and cashback can be obtained by going directly to plusnet site pages which are not associated with quidco. On can simply go to plusnet, select the 12 month free asdl broadband option with £75 plusnet cashback (cashback direct from plusnet) and add anytime calls for £6. This is exactly the same cashback and package and price as the 'in partnership with quidco' page offer"