Better Business Bureau: "Gratis 'unsatisfactory'"

From the Better Business Bureau website:
http://www.dc.bbb.org/report.html?compid=W1035561&national=Y

Customer Experience
Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau due to unresolved complaints. The company has resolved other complaints presented to it by the Bureau, however. The company responded to complaints with an explanation of its advertising and reference to its terms of service, conditions affecting fulfillment of orders and rewards, and other information available on its web site.

Additional File Information
Consumers report questions arising from solicitations received from the company offering merchandise for sale that can be used to "earn" other merchandise. The company enforces its rule that only one account can be established for use in transactions, and checks for more than one user at an e-mail or physical address. The company provides contact information to its advertisers based on those participating in its freeDVDs.com web site or free ipods promotions. As in all transactions, consumers should read any terms and conditions about transactions and offers and restrictions before signing up to participate.

Day 66: I give up

January 12, 2005

Gratis will not give me credit for my final two referrals. They've released my account from "hold" status, but there's no way I'm going to put $180 more dollars (they get upwards of $90/referral from their marketing partners) in their pockets only to go through this whole experience again, and inevitably be denied the free ipod.

Gratis- you win. I'm no match for the design of your Terms of Service, which gives you all the outs.

I completed not one but two offers, and your marketing partners gained five new customers on my behalf. That's the bottom line.

Conclusion: You can't get something for nothing. It's never been more true.

-Larry
"adam_sf at yahoo dot com"

Day 65: Another letter to Gratis customer service

January 11, 2005


Dear Gratis Customer Service,
First off, I'd like to thank you for reviewing my account and removing the hold status. I appreciate your need to scrutinize every account for fraud, and I don't make light of it.

I've read your response to my inquiry and I can't for the life of me understand how your database would determine that my referrals had violated any of your policies. The first, [email1] is my dad, who signed up completely independently of me, at his house, with no help from me. The only information I gave him was that the Rhapsody service was pretty cool and I thought he would like it. The second, [email2] is my friend Bobby who also signed up with no assistance from me. The only thing I can think of is that we sometimes connect using the same wireless net, so if you are logging IPs you might've logged our common router.

To assist you in reviewing my case, you can view the detailed chronicle of my experience with freeipods.com at this blog:
http://gettingthefreeipod.blogspot.com

I have worked hard for over two months getting my friends and family to sign up for your offer- to the best of my knowledge, none of my referrals cancelled their offers. I studied your requirements very carefully before I got started and educated all of my referrals about the importance of following your TOS strictly.

Thank you for your time in reviewing my case. I trust that you will find that everything checks out, and I have earned the free ipod.

Sincerely, Lawrence Rubin

Day 64: Negative press for Gratis and FreeIpods.Com

January 10, 2005

User complaints are beginning to bubble up through the popular media:

From The Daily Pennsylvanian (October 7, 2004):
Users complain about free iPod site

And a petition has been started condemning Gratis' business practices:

www.imonhold.com

And an interesting analysis of the Gratis business model:

http://people.bu.edu/jbrock/ipod_analysis.htm

Day 63: Drawing support from the freeipodguide.com community

January 9, 2005

Yesterday I posted my grievance against Gratis to the Account Issues forum on freeipodguide.com. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of people like me who completed all of the freeipod requirements in earnest and had their accounts put on hold.

Several people replied to my post with support and encouragement. You can follow the thread here:

http://forum.freeipodguide.com/viewtopic.php?t=4522

Stiles05s wrote:


yeah, i see where you are coming from with the hold thing. it almost seems impossible to get through the entire process without being put on hold now. and its unfair that they seem to put everyone on hold before they finally let you have the damn ipod, but its just their way of narrowing it down more and giving away less. i think you have a good argument, its not everyday that a customer takes the time and energy to write up what you have, or even care as much as you. personally i don't think they are scared by threats, but i do think its evident how hard you tried, and how much you really do want the ipod, and it proves to them you're someone who deserves it.


stroid wrote:


Trust me i understand what you are saying because i felt like i would never get an ipod but i was persistant and i did recieve my ipod. The main thing is that they want to make sure nobody is trying to fraud them and you would be surprised how many people try to cheat the system so they have to be anal. Im sure you didnt try to cheat them but they must protect themselves from fraud. Keep trying they will help i think. Also alot of people dont ever get put on hold and they get their ipod without a hitch.

New marketing copy for Gratis...

Complete an offer, have 5 of your friends do the same, and then jump through any random number of hoops that we'll change from day to day, all the while making it almost impossible for you to contact us to complain.

When we're satisfied that you've played the 'how bad do you want it' game for long enough, we'll throw in a few more hoops for you to jump through and then MAYBE, JUST MAYBE we'll come through with our end of the deal.

Day 60: Freeipod acting shady again

January 6, 2005

Gratis is acting shady again...

They are claiming that my referrals are not unique individuals.

They have withdrawn credit for my Dad and Kevin's referrals and changed the status of those referrals from "Offer completed" to "Referral not approved".

Here's the message displayed on my status page:


While you have completed all the requirements to get a FREE iPod, we have reviewed your account and referral offer completions and have placed your account on hold. We have determined that your referrals appear to not be unique users. Because we make money from advertisers who only pay us for unique users, we cannot credit you for these referrals.

You have not received credit for 1 or more of your referrals because they do not appear to be unique user(s).

For the record, my referrals are unique users. Here's the list:

1) Amber - a friend who lives in Montana
2) Heather - a friend who lives in Washington, DC
3) Kevin - a friend who lives in Hawaii
4) Bobby - a friend who lives in San Francisco
5) My Dad - lives in Marin county, north of SF.

Freeipod is giving me the runaround again, and I guess they have to, because if they really lived up to their offer and gave away a free ipod to everyone who could complete their requirements, they would go out of business.

At this point I attempt to use their website to message Customer Service. The web page used to do this is often broken, making it totally impossible to contact freeipod- it seems pretty clear that freeipod does this intentionally, another method of giving people the runaround. Here's the message I write:


Greetings Customer Service, I recently completed all my requirements, but two of my referral offers were not accepted and I don't understand why. I have followed all of your terms & conditions to the "T". One of the referrals you rejected is my dad and the other is my friend bobby. Each and every one of my referrals are unique individuals. I have invested much time in following your requirements and have promoted your offer in earnest to my friends and family. Please correct this problem so I can continue to say good things about freeipod to my friends and colleagues. Thanks, Larry Rubin

I get a response the same day:


We take abuse of our website very seriously, and will place accounts suspicious of fraudulent activity on hold.

The reasons for this may include multiple accounts, improper offer completions, more than one account to the same address/household, abusing an advertiser, etc. Additionally, we do not allow users to create accounts for, sign-up for, or "walk through" referrals.

Due to high levels of fraud, we are forced to take actions against users who attempt to take advantage of our free offer. We take all types of fraud very seriously, and since we give our products away for free, we cannot afford to be lenient on dishonest methods users try to obtain their free items.


After receiving this response, I attempt to use the freeipod Customer Service web page to send another inquiry, but clicking on the link to get there yields an application server error page. This has happened many times over the past two months when I've tried to contact freeipod about problems getting credit for offers and referrals.

I'm at wit's end.

It seems fairly clear now that freeipod probably gave away a few ipods at the beginning of this program to generate excitement and persuade people that this wasn't a scam, but the reality is that they are just playing a little game with everyone who falls into their trap. Are they still giving anyone free ipods? I doubt it. Have they made millions at the expense of people who trusted them. You bet.

Do they believe in karma? Doesn't matter...karma doesn't care.

---------------

Update- January 8, 2005

FreeIpods.Com customer service contact form has been down since January 6 (3 days). Clicking on the customer service link results in a system error page.

There is no way to contact the company right now through their website. They do not provide any other means by which to access customer service.

However, I looked up their listing on the Better Business Bureau website (apparently there have been complaints) and sent a letter to the customer service manager at each address:

Main Address:

Gratis Internet
819 7th St NW
Suite 200
Washington, DC 20001

Alternative addresses:

2000 15th Street NW, Ste 1
Washington, DC 20009

P.O. Box 50945
Washington, DC 20091

Day 55: Credit received for Dad's offer

January 1, 2005

I have officially completed my requirements for the free ipod! Hooray!

A check of the status page shows that 5 of my referrals have completed their offers.

I'm in the home stretch...my referrals will now be verified and freeipod.com will give me an update within 5 business days.

Day 50: Credit received for Kevin's offer

December 27, 2004

Kevin's offer is complete and now I'm just waiting for my Dad's offer to yield credit.

Day 48: Thanks Dad!

December 25, 2004. Christmas Day.

My Dad volunteers to be my 5th referral when he finds out I just need one more to get the free ipod. He signs up on the spot.

Still waiting to get credit for Kevin's offer, and my Dad's should come through in about a week.

Day 47: I get credit for Bobby's offer

December 24, 2004

A review of my "Check Status" page shows that Bobby's offer is now completed.

I appear to be getting closer to my free ipod.

I still need one more referral and for Kevin to complete his offer.

Day 44: I sign up for a second offer

December 21, 2004

As a show of good faith (and also because I can always use some new CDs), I sign up for a second offer- the offer from BMG music. $20 in shipping later I've got a pile of new music and only need to purchase one additional CD to complete my end of the agreement.

Day 43: Kevin signs on

December 20, 2004

My friend Kevin in Honolulu uses my referral link to sign up with freeipod.

Current tally:

My original offer: completed and credited

Friends referred: Amber, Heather, Bobby, Kevin

Friends offers completed: Amber, Heather

Bobby and Kevin need to complete their offers before I get credit and I need to find one more person to sign up for the free ipod.

Day 41: I finally get credit for my Blockbuster offer.

December 18, 2004

Lo and behold, the kind folks at Gratis Internet, the genuises behind the freeipod offer, have granted me credit for the Blockbuster offer I signed up for 41 days ago. They're only 26 days late, but I'm happy as a clam.

Day 40: New referral but still no credit for my original offer

December 17, 2004

It's December 17th, 40 days into my journey with the dubious folks at Gratis Network (www.freeipods.com).

On this day my friend Bobby trys again to sign up on my behalf and is successful. I now need to refer two more people to complete my requirements.

I still haven't received credit for the Blockbuster offer I signed up for on the very first day. I should've received credit 25 days ago, according to freeipod.

My hopes of ever getting a free ipod are continuing to sink, and my trust in Gratis Internet is at an all time low.

Day 32: Not getting credit for new referrals now

December 9, 2004

Today, my friend Bobby used my referral link to sign up for the free ipod.

He is not showing up as one of my referrals. There is no way to contact customer service about this issue.

Their help page offers the following useless explanation:


I believe someone I referred has joined, but I do not see them under my status page.
Our referral system will automatically credit your account if your referral has signed up at our site via your referral link. If you believe someone actually did sign up by clicking your link, but under the status page it says they have not joined, a couple of things could have happened.
1. You possibly mistyped that person’s email address when you referred them.
2. They joined but did not come to the site from clicking on your referral link. They must come from that link in order for us to track proper credit. NOTE: some browsers remove our referral link. Also some users who leave the site before joining, and then come back later, will not be credited.
3. The user thought they signed up, but actually never did fully.

If they successfully joined via your link, our system will track it and give you credit.
(http://www.freeipods.com/Faqs.aspx?FAQID=338)

Day 31: Losing confidence in freeipod

December 8, 2004

So it's now been 31 days since I first signed up with freeipod and started my Blockbuster offer. I should've received credit for the offer after 15 days, but I still haven't received credit. What follows is a series of messages exchanged with freeipod customer service. My frustration is growing as I am starting to feel like they are giving me the run around and not following through with their end of the deal. They tell me I've been credited for my offer, but I haven't.

Message #1 to freeipod customer service:

Dear Customer Service
Please check the status of my offer- I've followed the instructions to a T, waited more than 15 days since completion, and have still not received credit.
Thanks, Larry


Their response:


We will need a copy of your order confirmation with Blockbuster. Please cut and paste the confirmation E-Mail into this form along with the date at which
it was received. Once we obtain this information, we will review your account for credit.


I immediately send them my original order confirmation from Blockbuster. I receive the following automated response and the status of my complaint is changed to "Closed".


Sometimes credit for offers will not go through due to a variety of issues, but it is very rare. If you clicked on the offer via our site, and were
legitimately interested, then you may still be able to get credit. Please make sure you have waited at LEAST 15 days for the credit to appear in your
account. Credit card offers can often take 30 days to appear on the account and require approval in order to be credited for the offer. If you have done all of the steps above and still did not get credit for your offer, please do the following: This is an automated response. If you feel that this did not
answer your question please respond to this message in the box provided below.


There is no "box provided below" so I have to open another trouble ticket. I send them the following message:


Dear customer service, It's been 17 days since I completed my offer and I still haven't received credit. I started my order on 11/7. It should've been completed on 11/21. Here is a copy of my order confirmation from Blockbuster. Thank you for your help, Larry

(I enclose the order confirmation from Blockbuster dated 11/7)

They respond telling me I have been credited. When I check my status, I have not been credited:


Lawrence, thank you for the confirmation E-Mail-- you will find that your account has been credited for the Blockbuster offer.


At the same time, I receive the following email message from them:


From: info@freeiPods.com
Date: Wed, 08 Dec 2004 17:11:01 -0500
Subject: You have completed an offer at
freeiPods.com!

Congratulations, you just received credit for completing the Blockbuster Online offer!

Click on the link below to see your account status:
http://www.freeiPods.com/ReferralStatus.aspx

Thanks,
- The freeiPods.com team
http://www.freeiPods.com

(This is a one-time automated response. Please do
not reply.)


I send them another message trying to clear things up:


Dear Customer Service, I just received the following message from you, but my account is still not credited. Can you have a look and get back to me?
THANKS! -Larry
Here's the message you sent me:
Larry, thank you for the confirmation E-Mail-- you will find that your account has been credited for the Blockbuster offer.


To which they respond:


If this does not appear as a completed offer on the site at this time, please be patient. Please note that receiving a notification from the offeror does not mean
completion will be reflected in your account status on our website. Your account status is updated on our site only after we receive a confirmation of offer completion directly from the offeror. We are diligent about preventing abuse of our website(s), and now require users to wait this amount of time so that we can confirm with our offer providers that users’ completions are valid. We are forced to take these steps so that we can continue to operate our business and provide our users
with free items. Thank you for your patience.


I send them another message:


Dear Customer Service, Please review the message you sent me yesterday where you state that you have credited me for completing my offer. My account has not been credited.
Thanks for your assistance. -Larry

Day 15: Something's not right

November 22, 2004

I've now waited two weeks since beginning the Blockbuster offer. I should have been credited for completing this offer, but when I check the freeipods website, the "Check Status" page says I haven't completed my offer. I decide to wait up to 15 days (this is how long they say it can take to get credit) and follow up if I haven't received credit by then.

The status for Heather and Amber's referrals are "Offer Completed".

Day 2: A little help from my friends

November 8, 2004

After quite a bit of convincing, my friends Heather and Amber agree to help me get the free iPod. I still need to find three more recruits, but this is a strong start.

Amber chooses an offer that gives instant credit, and freeipods.com immediately credits my account for the referral. One down, four to go.

Heather chooses the Blockbuster offer which takes two weeks to give credit. After just under two weeks, I receive credit for Heather's referral. Two down, three to go.

Day 1: Let's Get Started

On November 7, 2004, I visited www.freeipods.com and signed up to receive a free 20GB Apple iPod.

In order to get my free iPod, I will need to do the following:

• complete a trial offer from one of several companies (Blockbuster Video Online, BMG Music Service, GMC Credit Card, etc)
  
  
• get five of my friends to sign up for the free ipod offer and also complete one trial offer
  

I signed up for the Blockbuster trial offer, which will last two weeks, after which I will be credited for completing the offer. Instant credit (for completing an offer) was available for some of the other offers, but I wanted to try Blockbuster.

First a little background

In early November 2004, I came across a couple different media reports (in Wired Magazine and Geek.Com) about the Free iPod offer from www.freeipods.com (operated by a company called Gratis Internet). It seemed too good to be true- sign up for a trial offer from one of several products or services, get five of your friends to do the same, and Gratis Network will send you a free 20GB Apple iPod.

Normally I would write off such an advertisement immediately, having always been taught that you can't get something for nothing. But this offer appeared to have dozens of happy customers, many of whom were showing off their new free iPods with stories and photos in their blogs. After a little research, I concluded that it was in fact not a hoax or a scam.

On November 7, I set out to get my own free iPod. This is a chronicle of my experience.

It hasn't been easy by any measure- trying to convince five of your friends to get involved with the free iPod offer is *a lot* harder than you might think. The sticking point for most of my friends was the need to enter their credit card numbers to sign up for the trial offers. They were very concerned about credit card fraud or having their identity stolen (read more about identity theft).

I have also had a very difficult time getting credit for the offer I completed. After following all of the instructions and requirements to a "T", several back and forth message exchanges with customer service have still not yielded credit. In one of those exchanges I was told directly that my offer was in fact complete and I had been credited. After receiving this message I was relieved that I had finally been given credit, but when I checked the status page they had still not given me credit for completing the offer. I suspect that they are intentionally giving me the run around, and probably do this in the hopes that a lot of people will just get frustrated and give up.

I have also experienced performance issues with the www.freeipods.com website. On several occassions the links to customer service were suspiciously defective. The only way to contact customer service is by answering a lengthy list of questions about the nature of your complaint. There is no customer service phone number or email address.

Will I ever get my free iPod? I'm not really sure at this point. Hopefully this blog will help other people decide if they want to get involved with the free ipod offer.