Welcome to Upromise Community

[#1]

This time it's Turbotax. It's usually Ebay for me, but I did my taxes online through TurboTax and, since I have the Upromise toolbar installed the nice yellow banner saying I'd earn 6% popped up. Of course, it's now over 30 days and no reward and the typical email from Upromise telling me it could be up to 60 days and I may not get it because of not following the terms of service. Um...I do have the toolbar installed and I get some rewards, but I have to keep track of all my online shopping and then hound Upromise for rewards I should get.

I'm wondering if I should just go back to Ebates and throw the checks in an interest paying savings account to use toward a college savings......

[#2]

I agree, it does get very tiring to have to keep track of all of the credit that you're supposed to get.  The reply emails stating to make sure you followed the terms of service are annoying when you specifically stated in your email that you did click on the link from upromise.  I'd feel a little more reassured if my emails were actually read when I send them.

[#3]

IF you think 30 days is a long wait, then don't use Priceline.com or 123 inkjets. Both offer great upromise savings for using them, but it has been 92 days for some of my priceline.com pending purchases and going to be 120 days soon for the 123 inkjets which offers 13% and toner is at a low price.  With both I thought I could turbo charge my account, but I am starting to think I will never see the benefit of using the site.

[#4]

I agree with the previous comments. I'm giving up on Upromise.

None of it works like it is supposed to! I have used my registered credit card dozens of times at Mobil and I've never gotten any credit. I usually shop at Price Chopper (probably 20 of so times since I started in Aug '09) and I have a total of $0.16 of credit that has been pending for 60+ days. I understand that I need to buy to certain products to get the credit, but I don't want to have to work for $0.16. It is only worth it, if it is transparent to me.

I've read several of the threads and people say that the REAL savings comes when you sign up for their credit card, or use their tracking software. Well, I don't want another credit card and I definitely don't want to load their software. Those things are not part of the original advertised deal. Honestly, I feel that the 60+ day waiting periods for the vendors is just so that the customer will loose track of what they purchased and not complain when they don't get their money. In this modern electronic era, they could route that money electronically within minutes if they really wanted to.

Too bad, it seemed like a good program.

[#5]

dugolo, I'm sorry to hear that.  You're right, with our grocery program the way to earn college savings is by purchasing specific/participating products.  A couple of other ways to make the most of Upromise are through online shopping, dining, eCoupons, and booking travel online.

While I hear your frustration with the contribution times, and I see you've made your decision, please let me know if there's anything I can do to help.  I'm happy to answer questions or connect you with other members in the community if you prefer.

Thanks,
Jeff

[#6]

Installing the TurboSaver toolbar is not required to earn money through UPromise - you can just simply shop through the UPromise site.  Think of the toolbar as a friendly reminder that the site you are surfing to will contribute to your UPromise account.

I've never had a problem with getting my contributions from Mobil - they're one of the fastest for me.  Keep in mind, you do have to purchase at least 20 gallons of gas per month to earn contributions for that month (I think most people have no problem hitting that 20 gallon mark).

As for contribution times for other companies, I don't know what UPromises reasonings are (or any other cash back program that I participate in), but I haven't had any that instantly give you money back - I expect to wait awhile.  Possibly because they want to make sure the items purchased aren't returned?

[#7]

Hi dugolo, you've come to the right place to vent your frustrations with Upromise. There are quite a few of us out here having the same issues with missing contributions, extended waiting times for posts to show up, malfunctioning inquiry forms, etc. I have to admit that I, too, have wondered whether there are motives behind the madness, so to speak. So, like you, I finally took my grievances to the message boards, where I discovered that I was not alone in my experiences with Upromise. Not only that, but I also found some great advice & extra help from some of the moderators, like Jeff, too.

I agree that Upromise can be more work than it's advertised to be, but I've decided not to cancel my account yet (although I am being more selective in how I use the program). While it's true that the people using the Upromise credit card are probably saving the most, those of us who don't have or don't want one can still save money, too. For example, I still use the dining program because I have had good results with it. Also, I check out & activate the new eCoupons every month & so far I haven't had any trouble with them, either. As far as the grocery shopping goes, the way I look at it is that it's kind of like tossing your spare change in a jar. You may not get rich quick, but even spare change adds up after awhile.

Another feature I like is the McDonald's Arch card program. Except for one contribution that is still unaccounted for, I have found the Arch card to post fairly quickly & reliably. I'm still hoping the missing contribution will show up soon, so I'm going to stick with the Arch cards for now.

Also, inviting friends & family to join and help you save, as well as sharing your guest shopping link with everyone & even posting it on your social networking sites can really help to boost your savings, too.

The best advice I can give you, though, is to contact Upromise if you don't see your contributions after the expected amount of time goes by. Keep contacting them if you have to & keep posting here on the message boards. Like I said, Jeff & some of the other moderators are really good at getting to the bottom of these issues, but they can't help if they don't know what the problems are. Plus, there's strength in numbers, so I think it helps all of us when we raise awareness through these message boards about any issues that crop up with Upromise.

[#8]

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mrsbandme wrote:The best advice I can give you, though, is to contact Upromise if you don't see your contributions after the expected amount of time goes by. Keep contacting them if you have to & keep posting here on the message boards.

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Thanks for the advice, but it isn't worth my time to chase down Upromise for nickels. I've already wasted too much time on this to date. I regularly discourage people I know from participating in this program because it definitely does not work as advertised.

I'm sure Upromise counts on participants throwing up their hands. That way the vendors get the personal information on the participants without having to actually provide any money. I feel I've been duped - I have about $0.36 total that has been pending for two months. I could clip one coupon and save more than that - without having to hound anyone or vent in an online forum. How does everyone have so much free time that it is worth it to hound someone to get $0.10?

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mrsbandme wrote:
Also, inviting friends & family to join and help you save, as well as sharing your guest shopping link with everyone & even posting it on your social networking sites can really help to boost your savings, too.

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So let me get this straight: you are also frustrated by the program not working as advertised, but you recommend getting friends and family to sign up? I'm not selling out my friends and family for a program that provides negligible benefit and puts these people on marketing lists for vendors. I intend to spare my friends and family from this.

It is time to cut my losses with Upromise.

[#9]

Read some of my other posts & you'll get an idea of just how frustrated I've been with Upromise. I've been pretty vocal & critical about it when necessary. I have also found that it helps to voice my opinions & concerns, especially if other people speak up & add their voices, too.

Despite the occasional problems that I have with Upromise, I'm still not ready to throw in the towel yet. Because they do respond to complaints & I have seen some improvements, it makes sense for me to continue my account & save on the programs that work for me. As I said above, I have become more selective through trial & error, so I don't spend enormous amounts of time on parts of the program or merchants that have given me problems in the past. When these issues are resolved, I may give them another try, but for now I focus on the things that do work for me.

I just received $1.81 for dining out recently that will double when the Dining Double Bonus Promotion closes at the end of the month. These are the kind of contributions that really add up for me. I was going to eat out anyway & I chose my favorite restaurant, which happens to participate in the program. No effort there.

As far as being put on marketing lists, anyone can opt out of that through their own profile. 

At any rate, I thought I might share my perspective & some suggestions that have worked for me. I was only trying to help.

[#10]

Besides my issue with Quicken, I haven't had any problems since learning how to use Uprom correctly. So far, I have seen every purchase credited to my account. I have to call Uprom back to follow up with the Quicken issue, keep you all posted.