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Re: New claims "appeals" process

Posted: Mon Apr 09 2012 12:32pm
by cccashbacklover
mark_r_abcd wrote:. Personally, I'd rather lose cashback than take part in such a process, .

Nobody needs to lose anything – “ Power” is with the Consumer/Cashback user, where it/they have responded to a Cashback offer/advertisement/marketing inititive by a company they can and have done ( I have done and so have many on MSE) contacted the company concerned direct who have either paid the Cashback direct or made sure that the consumer received it via the Cashback site.

A few points to this – Relates to all Cashback Sites


Cashback sites say don’t contact the company direct – Ideally it is better to let the Cashback site secure the Cashback rather than 100s or 1000s of people contacting the merchant


Cashback sites sometimes say if you contact the merchant direct we will close your account – If the consumer doesn’t get satisfaction from the Cashback site company he/she is likely to click elsewhere to another Cashback site for future transactions anyway – those who do valid transactions via Cashback site are its best customers, very few companies/businesses will close its best customer accounts


Cashback sites say – “Merchant wont have heard of the Cashback site” – It isn’t suprising that all companies would be horrified at the thought that its company has been seen to have renaged on an advertised marketing offer –contact soon gets made with marketing department who very quickly find someone who knows exactly what the company has been promoted via Cashback sites


As Mark has pointed out you Richard have contradicted yourself re bogus/fraud claims, in addition you have also ignored the majority expressed view - ( It is easy to see why you dont appear to like the idea of 1 member 1 vote ;) ) that appeals on the forum should not show members id – i.e. we shouldn’t know if the appeal is from someone who posts on the forum or from someone who never has done so ---Supporting evidence for claims/appeals should be obtained as they are everywhere else from the member to admin via account support.


Ultimately Richard who appeals, who doesn’t and any subsequent outcomes is Irrelevant as you will know both from reading MSE “Q” follow up thread over the last few years + M+S life insurance saga on old CBK those who are determined to get what they are entitled to will get it whether it be easy way or hard way – if forced to take hard way route then the consumer is likely to vent his/her fury on MSE


Solution – Offer a Cashback guarantee on majority of merchant offers similar to that one that’s already in operation elsewhere with exclusions/conditions to protect against fraud/bogus claims


Or Richard does this initiative have more to do with attempting to increase forum activity and/or making a few members with large shareholdings feel “powerful” than it does anything else – being paid advertised Cashback for a valid transaction should not be related in any shape or form either to whether someone posts on a forum or not.or how much it will cost the Cashback Company to honour an offer that it has advertised/promoted.

If a Cashback Site company cannot afford to honour a Cashback offer/deal that it has advertised/promoted on its website where a valid transaction has been proved to have been done as a result of the promotion/advertisement then dont promote/advertise such Cashback offers/deals ;)

I dont believe a merchant/company is going to be pleased to see its name on a public forum associated with alleged non payment of a marketed/advertised Cashback offer

Re: New claims "appeals" process

Posted: Mon Apr 09 2012 1:15pm
by xrppzi
I agree with cashbacklover. I think the whole procedure smells of giving power to the few and increasing forum activity. It could easily result in stirring up resentment in others, especially those who believe they have a perfectly valid case but have never used the forum and are then berated verbally by forum members. I would rather any case I had was decided by management who in my opinion are in a far better position to judge.

Please leave everything exactly as it is.

Re: New claims "appeals" process

Posted: Mon Apr 09 2012 1:22pm
by kevinchess1
leyts just give it ago and see what happens
if it don't work then we can knoc it on the head.
I would hav thought most clam would be paid personally

Re: New claims "appeals" process

Posted: Mon Apr 09 2012 2:01pm
by BeautifulSunshine
cashbacklover wrote:
mark_r_abcd wrote:. Personally, I'd rather lose cashback than take part in such a process, .
if forced to take hard way route then the consumer is likely to vent his/her fury on MSE
You just need to read imutual threads on MSE to see this is so true. I'm in favour of one person, one vote and anonymity.

Re: New claims "appeals" process

Posted: Mon Apr 09 2012 4:17pm
by richard@imutual
Please leave everything exactly as it is.
Let me clarify that nothing about our existing approach to claims will change. All the points about how best to handle fraud / legal uncertainties etc will continue to be taken into account. I am simply proposing an additional means of appeal (when cashback sites would normally say "that's it, case closed"). We already have a low % of transactions that require claims in the first place, most claims do get resolved by the merchant and many of those that don't, we pay out anyway - based on information provided by the member. As I say, there have only been 16 rejected claims since the company started - that's less than 1 a month.
cashbacklover wrote:you have also ignored the majority expressed view
I don't think I've ignored anything or anyone :? I asked for comments and feedback and can assure you I'm listening to all comments. But I do feel I should also express my own opinions and (as you all are) seek to influence the outcome accordingly. It's not clear to me that there IS a majority view on that particular aspect, but I'm happy to be persuaded
appeals on the forum should not show members id – i.e. we shouldn’t know if the appeal is from someone who posts on the forum or from someone who never has done so ---Supporting evidence for claims/appeals should be obtained as they are everywhere else from the member to admin via account support.
Let's say we gave people the option of appealing without revealing their normal forum identity. Should we go further and actually forbid someone from revealing their id? Ban them from making any mention of it? On their post, in PMs etc ? Censure them if they do so (either deliberately or inadvertently)?

Re: New claims "appeals" process

Posted: Mon Apr 09 2012 4:25pm
by richard@imutual
cashbacklover wrote:Offer a Cashback guarantee on majority of merchant offers similar to that one that’s already in operation elsewhere with exclusions/conditions to protect against fraud/bogus claims
If something has "exclusions/conditions", it's hardly a guarantee, is it? Let me put a hypothetical case to you: merchant rejects a claim, saying the member used either a link from another site, or a voucher code which invalidated their cashback. Member says "No, I didn't". What set of rules would you propose which would be practical to operate and would ensure a just outcome every time?

Re: New claims "appeals" process

Posted: Mon Apr 09 2012 5:01pm
by cccashbacklover
[quote="richard@imutual. I am simply proposing an additional means of appeal (when cashback sites would normally say "that's it, case closed"). )?[/quote]


Belief that I have is that both T and Q sites have appeal against decline built into its claims/ticket systems ;)

Re: New claims "appeals" process

Posted: Mon Apr 09 2012 5:04pm
by cccashbacklover
[quote="richard@imutual

If something has "exclusions/conditions", it's hardly a guarantee, is it? Let me put a hypothetical case to you: merchant rejects a claim, saying the member used either a link from another site, or a voucher code which invalidated their cashback. Member says "No, I didn't". What set of rules would you propose which would be practical to operate and would ensure a just outcome every time?[/quote]

The rules that you currently have in force ;) Cashback offer listings at least elsewhere often state that using a voucher code may/will invalidated cashback

http://www.imutual.co.uk/help/14/1021/

Re: New claims "appeals" process

Posted: Mon Apr 09 2012 5:08pm
by cccashbacklover
[quote="richard@imutual
Let's say we gave people the option of appealing without revealing their normal forum identity. [/quote]


There shouldnt be any need for them to post - all the supporting claim info/proof should have been collected by I-Mutual from the member and the case merely replicated to us to read and vote on.

Re: New claims "appeals" process

Posted: Mon Apr 09 2012 5:19pm
by richard@imutual
The whole idea (which I thought you'd initially embraced) was to allow a member to appeal to their peers. How does banning them from posting fit with this principle or the mutual ethos in general? We can take a poll on this element though, and I'll be guided by the majority view ;)