Microsoft's Cashback failing to pay for holiday purchases
Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams, Shopping
Is Microsoft's Live.com Cashback search engine offering living up to its promise? Maybe not. The idea of the service is to give you a percentage back from purchases made at qualifying merchants. Since the service launched, it has become very popular for offering deals of up to 30% off at eBay during the holiday season. The promotion promised to credit shoppers' Paypal accounts within 60 days for qualifying purchases but there are resounding reports coming in that suggest Microsoft is having trouble making the payments.
Affected users have been greeted by the following when they log in to check the status of their transactions:
"We've encounterd[SIC] a problem depositing your cashback reward into the Paypal account that you used for your eBay purchase. But we will keep trying."
This unhelpful and frankly ambiguous message fails to let shoppers know who is at fault for the delay or what steps customers should take to get further assistance. Users who have emailed the Cashback support team haven't fared well, with many reporting waits of over 72 hours without an email response.
These problems are not isolated to a specific subset of shoppers or stores within the Cashback network. Many users have reported receiving payments from Live.com's Cashback to their Paypal account in the past -- a few as recently as this week.
When WalletPop reached out to Microsoft for a comment the only response we received was, "We're actively looking into the issue, but don't have anything to share at this time."
There isn't all bad news; apparently Microsoft has been keeping their CSRs updated and they are a bit more forthcoming than corporate. Almost the days after I sent them a request using this form I did receive a response and was delighted to learn that the delayed payout issue for all users should be corrected by the end of the week with funds showing up in Paypal accounts by February 9.
It is unfortunate that Microsoft couldn't add that to the initial error message which currently greets users. Seeing a, "We're working on it", instead of the despair riddled, "Failed", would go a long way to reassuring those who are affected by these delayed payments.
WalletPop will continue to follow this story as it develops and provide you with directions from Microsoft to receive your cashback if they are made available to us.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-04-2009 @ 12:03AM
Jonathan Harkness said...
I am waiting on $410 from four purchases. This has become a PR nighmare for Microsoft and indirectly for EBay and Paypal. Microsoft is not being honest about accepting the fault on this one and instead refers to a problem making a payment to your Paypal account. There is a problem but it is not a technical one--I think the problem is they have no money. There is a reason Microsoft is laying off 5,000 employees.
So much for having any trust in a promotion jointly offered by Microsoft, EBay, and Paypal. Rip-off.
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2-08-2009 @ 6:13PM
Jon said...
Looks like a big time cash flow problem.
Could be they far under estimated the response to their promotion. I could not understand how they could offer so much back with so little conditions. 30% 20% 15% then single digits dropping quickly to 0.
All the cashback deposits that should have be deposited into my paypal account show failed. The email I sent them received the standard 72 hour to correct reply (that was 1/28/09) and still no deposit. I'm glad the items I purchased were items I would have purchased regardless of the cashback offer (but it was to be a nice little bonus). I have lost some regard for the Microsoft name.
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2-09-2009 @ 2:26PM
Mike said...
Microsuck still not paying. Their customer noservice is pathetic.
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2-11-2009 @ 11:12AM
ken said...
The 9th has come and gone and i still have not received my money as promised. I was supposed to have been paid out months ago.
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2-13-2009 @ 1:19PM
peter said...
Purchased 6 items for 250 cashback 70 days ago, now microsoft live account displays Faild to deposit into my PayPal account and will continue to try. But stoped trying 7 days ago.
No customer service at all is insane for the whole program.
Microsoft sucked for years, obviously won't come back anymore.
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2-26-2009 @ 2:35PM
Ellen Larson said...
I've been waiting on 65 bucks for over a month. I was told a that a someone from "technical support" would be getting in touch with me, but nothing. They have not even answered my last two emails. What are other people's experiences?
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2-26-2009 @ 10:18PM
HELLO MASTER said...
I got 111.35 USD cashback on a Wii purchase that ended up getting refunded and he never sent the Wii. Paypal refunded the purchase as the guy was a deadbeat seller. I still got the money 30% cash back through microsoft though. AWESOME. Someone at Microsoft made a boo boo.
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3-10-2009 @ 11:30PM
pritam said...
hi
I am still waiting for cash back its allready 10 weeks.
claim number is: 0186879005
4976346074
thanks
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5-01-2009 @ 8:11AM
Tim said...
Live Search cashback at Microsuck still owed me $137.xx cashback for an eBay purchase in Nov. 2008 and some other smaller cashback from other online vendors. Microsuck's explanations went from "We've encounterd a problem depositing your cashback reward into the PayPal account that you used for your eBay purchase. But we will keep trying" (the same PayPal ID was used as before and there was no problem with receiving funds till present), to "The store notified us that the purchase has been returned, exchanged, or canceled" (I never did a return), to "you had already reached your limit on cashback" (my 2008 cashback was still less than $2500) . . . to refuse to pay my earned cashback. Their chain responses obviously showed how fishy Live Search cashback at Microsuck has become. They have now totally stopped answering my inquiries. People should be aware of this "bait & switch" tactic from Live Search cashback at Microsuck.
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