This thread is for disclosing take-down requests from merchants and related discussions. We at OzBargain often receive requests from merchants to remove pages and deals on this website. Sometimes the requests can be reasonable but sometimes not. The moderators will use this thread to post requests from merchants + our actions.
For merchants / store representatives:
Buy 1 Burrito, Get 1 Burrito Free @ Mad Mex (Los Locos Members)
Deal post removal. Deal is to reward Los Locos members. 27/8
Free Sample of Comfies Nappies
Received an email request from Cottons Pty Ltd:
Please remove the Comfies "deal" from this website
(https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/160334). We will not be sending samples
out to the 200 people per day requesting them because of this site.
While their contact page with free sample is still present, it is not likely that Comfies will send out those samples. Deal marked as expired.
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37% off Gold Coast Theme Parks Gold VIP Magic Pass
Members Special - Books Discounted $50/ $45 Delivered before SEPT 1
Request
Received a request from Entertainment Book
we need these pages removed (even though they have expired). As per our terms and conditions; The barter, trade, sale, purchase, re-publication, or transfer of this Book or any of its Entertainment™ Offers, Merchant Redemption Codes, or Free Trials, by any person or entity, including but not limited to travel servicers, travel providers, and printers, third party websites, publishers, and distributors of the Book or any of its Vouchers, is strictly prohibited, unless expressly authorised by Enterainment Publications of Australia Pty. Ltd. All Entertainment™ Offers are subject to the Entertainment™ Rules of Use.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/157995
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/157444
Action
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2 for 1 Tickets to The Cake Bake & Sweets Show Melbourne 3/10-5/10
Request
Received a request from OP that says that she was "asked by Entertainment Book to remove this deal as it's breaching their sharing policy."
Action
Deal unpublished.
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[Vodafone] Free Pocket WiFi 4G (Huawei R215) or USB 4G Modem (K5150) on Additional Services
Request
Received a request from OP (9/9) that Vodafone didn't want the deal published officially by Vodafone rep.
Action
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Free Boost Drink - Whats Ya Name Game (22nd Sep - 3rd Oct)
Request
Received a request from Boost Juice (10/9) requesting removal citing "leaked confidential information".
Action
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2015 Australian Open Pre-Sale Access Code
Request
Received request from CIO of CPA Australia requesting removal.
This is an offer solely for CPA Australia members and staff and is not publically available. Please immediately remove any offer that you have posted in the above or similar terms from your website
Action
Post unpublished.
Free Screening of "Pride" Movie for HCF Members (Various Cities)
Received from HCF where they have issues with
Thus the deal removed & HCF domain permanently banned
Linked deal removed & domain permanently banned.
Good on you Mr Scotty and Mrs moocher.
Please keep up the good work.
Thank you
10% off at Chemist Warehouse Online
Reported by Entertainment Book Rep:
Against the Terms and Conditions of the Entertainment Book. "The barter, trade, sale, purchase, publishing or transfer of this Book or any of its Entertainment™ Offers, Merchant Redemption Codes, or Free Trials, by any person or entity, including but not limited to travel servicers, travel providers, and printers, third party websites, publishers, and distributors of the Book or any of its Vouchers, is strictly prohibited, unless expressly authorised by Entertainment Publications of Australia Pty. Ltd. All Entertainment™ Offers are subject to the Entertainment™ Rules of Use"
Linked deal removed.
Free: Eco Minerals Make up Sample Sachet $0 Delivered
ECO Minerals Makeup emailed in:
Please remove ECO MINERALS cosmetics immediately and do not ever post offers on oz bargains.
Linked freebie removed.
Melb CBD Secure Parking - Free Christmas Parking Via Booking 1st to 24 Dec 14
Email from Marketing at Secure Parking Pty Ltd.
To whom it may concern,
I formally request immediate removal of the below promotion from the OzBargain website
…
No permission has been given to OzBargain to promote this.
Please confirm by COB today once the page has been removed.
Linked deal is now removed.
The post has been republished again, on the condition that it's available to Emporium Melbourne's members only.
Coles $5 Voucher When You Spend $100 (Tell Coles Survey Voucher)
Request via TWAM from FraudWatch International on behalf of Coles Group.
… requesting the removal of this deal page, as the coupon is intended as a reward for the completion of a survey and not for public distribution.
As the coupons are targeted specifically for those who participated in the survey, the deal post is now removed.
Uber - One FREE Ride with Uber (up to $30 off)
An iiNet staff sent this email through through OzBargain's support system:
I have just been made aware that a private Uber promotion has been put up on your website. This is NOT meant for people outside iinet. Could someone get back to me with how this can be taken off your website?
As the offer is targeted for iiNet subscribers only and not meant to be public, the deal post is now removed.
FREE Gecko Bottle Opener Keyring (Delivered) by Harwin
A member of Harwin UK made this request:
Could you please remove or kill this post https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/174516 - these keyrings were offered in an email that was sent to specific e-mail registered recipients. We will not be sending these to members of the public, it is a limited offer to known recipients on our mailing list. We are checking every recipient - and as no-one in Australia was sent this e-mail, I'm afraid nobody from Australia will be receiving this keyring.
As the merchant has confirmed nobody in Australia will be receiving this offer, it was removed immediately. The domain was also banned from future posts to ensure this or a similar deal aren't published again (not available to Australia).
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Virgin Australia 10% off Every Domestic Flight
Request
Virgin Australia requested:
Can you please remove reference to the following discount code and any others like it. It is a private promotion and should not be displayed.
Action
Removed code from deal, expired deal, updated description with explanation.
Free Access to Gault&Millau Restaurant Guide Online (Value $20)
From the Gault&Millau rep:
This offer is an exclusive offer for American Express card members and forms part of our legally binding agreement with them. Please remove this offer from your website as a matter of urgency.
Post removed.
Free Sample of ProPlenish Marine Collagen (Facebook Required)
From the ProPlenish rep:
We do not wish for this to be made public like this and do not give permission for this.
Can you please remove the post immediately.
Post marked as EXPIRED.
Pink Corporation Genuine Leather Handbags up to 70% off RRP @ Genuine Baggage
From the Genuine Baggage:
We have insisted this thread be removed from public viewing and it is still visible. We have sought legal action through our solicitors xxxx Lawyers of Sydney. The purpose of this email is seek a conciliation and if the thread is not removed we will commence proceedings as of Monday.
Lots more responses.
Post removed. Store banned. Rep banned.
FREE $0.00 Cadbury Medium Bars 30g-60g @ Coles (or $1 off Other Cadbury Products)
In both TWAM and Email from both Cadbury/Mondelēz and the marketing company responsible for the promotion, where
- Using the extract of the voucher is fraudulent
- Unauthorized use of Cadbury's trademarks and IP
Legal threat was mentioned if OzBargain does not remove the said page immediately.
Instead of removing the entire page & 100+ comments, we have
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FREE eBay Shipping (Selected Sellers & Items) to Any Woolworths Supermarket or Petrol Station
Request
In both TWAM and support ticket from Senior Manager at Woolworths:
This thread is contravention of both Woolworths social media policies and your posting T&C's. It contains numerous in-accuracies and the topic is commercial in confidence.
OP is not an authorised representative of Woolworths
Action
Thread unpublished.
The take-down request was 2 days ago, before it was publicly announced. Will discuss with the other moderators but should be fine to republish.
Looks like there is already another thread since the service was publicly announced. Since the original thread caused some confusion with lack of details, perhaps it's better to just discuss in the new thread.
FREE Reusable Bag Clip from Carman's
Received an email from Carman's requesting for the deal posting to be removed. Basically their bag clips are offered only for their customers, thus will not be available to those who have simply requested them.
Post removed.
They're making sure you're a customer too
Hello!
Thank you for enquiring about our wonderful bag clips.
We are thrilled to hear you enjoy our products as much we do! We are very proud of the job we do and would love to see a picture of your favourite Carman’s product where you read about obtaining one of these handy clips. If you could please reply to this email with a photograph of your favourite product we will have them on the way to you in no time!
We also thought we’d share with you that the best way to obtain free samples and larger prizes is by signing up to our Carman’s Kitchen Facebook, Twitter & Instagram accounts and also our Muesletter (all of which you can do from the home page on our website: www.carmanskitchen.com.au).
Kind regards,
FREE $10 Priceline Voucher When Leaving Prescription for 3+ Repeats at Any Priceline Pharmacy
From marketing @ Priceline requesting the old page to be removed. Quoted the reason that was forwarded to me:
it was a part of a program and the construct of the program has changed to now not include this offer, and it has the potential to upset customers.
Page removed.
$20 off When You Spend $79+ at RedBalloon
A rep from REST Super contacted us with the following request:
Please can you remove the coupon code xxxxx (removed actual code) from your website. This is a REST Industry Super member only offer and should not be available to the general public. thank you in advance for your help.
Added link to a CBA deal that gives the exact same discount at Red Balloon.
lol ;)
Free Entry to Melbourne Zoo, Free Breakfast @ COM Urban Forest Event - 9:30AM Sat March 21
A rep from The City of Melbourne contacted us with the following request for removal:
The City of Melbourne is undertaking a Community Engagement Workshop. We are seeking feedback regarding the trees in Parkville, which is an important issue for the local community.
The invitation to this event is for people to participate in the workshop. Those people who have volunteered their time to participate in a workshop are provided with breakfast and entry to the building where the workshop will be held.
There are limited spaces available for workshop participants.
The invitation does not extend to the rest of the zoo.
Please remove this offer, as it misrepresents the purpose of the workshop. We have had a spike in registrations since the posting of this site and we would prefer to avoid disappointing people who actually want to take part in the workshop.
NRMA Insurance Family and Friends Offer - Receive a $100 Voucher for New Policies
Received an email from NRMA / IAG stating that the family and friend offer is an internal offer only and not meant for the OzBargain forum. They have requested to have the page removed.
Page removed.
Received an email from BigW:
It has been brought to our attention that there is a post on your site by one of your users which is communicating confidential information from BIG W. The post relates to a BIG W catalogue which has not been made public and on embargo until June 20.
We would ask that you have this post immediately removed from your site and all related social media mediums as it is unauthorised use of our copyright catalogue.
As the post is a breach of merchant's embargo, the deal has been removed on OzBargain.
Complimentary 100 Australia Post 500g Satchels - Excludes Postage
From AusPost via email:
In the meantime, we have had to take the offer page down to address a related technical issue, so the link that is published on your post is not working.
They have also contacted us trying to explain the eligibility of this offer so the unpublishing might be temporarily.
Deal taken down for now.
Thanks, Scotty!
They have also contacted us trying to explain the eligibility of this offer
I hope they fulfill the ones that were able to register for them because it did say "you will receive them soon".
Explanation from AusPost:
Today, I received 10 500g Satchels from AusPost, mentioning this deal. Very strange.
Also received the same today.
I also received the satchels today. Completely forgotten about these.
@wc: same and same.
"Email was a glitch, targeted, here's a complimentary 10 pack of 500g bags"
Nice
Get 10 Free Safe Sex Packs (One Condom & Lube Pack) in an Unmarked Envelope
Received an email from CHEP requesting the page to be removed.
… a small Charity organisation who provides free safe sex packs for people AT RISK of HIV. I have recently received over 70 orders for free condoms in the last 2 hours, from this site. As you can appreciate, no permission was gained from any party to promote our service on Ozbargain. As a small non-for-profit organisation we cannot cater for this number of orders orders from people who are not considered high risk.
Deal removed.
FREE 12 Month AFL Live Pass or NRL Digital Pass for Telstra Mobile Customers
Received email from Telstra
We (Telstra) were recently made aware that an offer was posted on your site which details the redemption process of our free AFL and NRL digital season pass offer. This offer is specific only to Telstra customers who have recently connected to Telstra as a new customer or recontracted as an existing customer.
This post has taken our offer out of context and we are requesting that this offer be removed from your site immediately as it is costing our business money.
Since it is a targeted offer, deal has now been unpublished.
Free Breakfast at The University of Western Sydney Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
Received an email from University of Western Sydney.
I work with the University of Western Sydney and have noticed there is currently an advertisement on your website promoting our Free Student Breakfasts… As these breakfasts are strictly for UWS Students only, this is not content that is appropriate to be on your website.
Could I please ask you to remove this advertisment immediatley to prevent any confusion.
It is now a targeted offer for University of Western Sydney students. Deal unpublished.
Zoos Victoria: Purchase a 12 Month Membership & Get 3 Months Free
From Zoos:
We have recently sent out an email with a membership offer which is only valid for our database of subscribers and have noticed this has been placed on your site.
This email is to request to have this removed please.
As it's a targeted offer for the existing subscribers on their database, the deal is now unpublished.
Kennards Hire $50 off Voucher (for Hires over $100)
From Kennards Hire
Someone has uploaded this voucher. Its not available for general use. Please remove it, thank you.
As the vouchers are not for public, it's targeted offer and the post is now unpublished.
Maybe they shouldn't publish it in the paper.
I wish all the retailers out there would understand that if it is accessible on the Internet, it can be shared and it will be shared on OzBargain if it's a good offer.
$20 Allianz Stadium Food & Beverage Voucher with Every HSBC Sydney 7s Day Ticket Purchase
Via email from Australian Rugby Union
The Australian Rugby Union requests the immediate removal of the following post: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/215299 No approval was granted by HSBC or the ARU to post this HSBC offer on OzBargain. While we encourage all members of the OzBargain community to purchase tickets to Sydney Sevens, HSBC reserves the right to communicate this offer to its customers. Please confirm receipt of this request and removal of the post.
Post removed.
Woolworths 11/11: $10 off $100+ Spend, $10 off Next Shop w/$50 GC Purchase…
Lawyer letter from Piper Alderman, who represents Woolworths. Basically Weekly "specials" pricing information are confidential information. It cannot be published until catalogues are out. Therefore
Post removed. Moderators might look out for future weekly special posts so they don't get posted prior to catalogue releases.
Future weekly specials cannot be published until the catalogue is out
This is huge. When is a catalogue "officially" released …12.01am Wednesday ?
I'm guessing they might mean the online catalogue which is 5pm on the Monday before the catalogue.
We will keep deals with Woolworths future specials if:
In other words, when the deal is publicly released via Woolworths' official marketing channels.
Edit: This comment no longer applies. Please see update.
Do Salmat walkers count as they sometimes have access a couple of days before the online version is released?
@[Deactivated]: Likely not, they also have restricted dates allowed for public distribution I believe?
Will other stores be included.
@pointscrazy: Exactly. I sometimes get the weekly catalogue waay before Monday 5pm.
Anyway, since that stupid Woolworths rewards thing i've been going there less and less. Thanks to ALDI opening up here in SA soon, Woolies will probably be cut from my list of stores if they continue to be d!ckbrains
We have received further instructions from Woolworths that we are not permitted to publish any specials before 5pm Monday Sydney/Melb time for specials that begin on Wednesday. This means that we still have to unpublish the deal if someone has uploaded an image of the catalogue before then.
It'd be nice if somewhere in the back-end you had the ability to hide deals until a certain time, allowing someone to just have their deal re-published when it was allowed.
Ditto competitions as well, some are known before the start date :)
We could just unpublish it and republish it later, however the problem is that others won't know the deal has already been submitted. This will cause duplicate posts and users will waste their time writing up deals that had already been submitted before them but hidden.
Lol the Xbox Live one?
About $55-$60 is the usual market price from CD keys.
Careful of Gamesdeal who charge a payment fee (4% or so), and some members have had issues with codes not working
You haven't signed a confidentiality agreement with Woolworths, so the fact that they consider a piece of information confidential shouldn't be of any relevance to you. What legal obligations are they alleging Ozbargain has breached? If you refused to comply with their requests what cause of action would Woolworths theoretically have against you?
lol this is huge. They dont want people to know next weeks specials so they cant plan in advance and save further.
Wonder if topbargains will do the same.
You'd think with the ground they've lost to Coles/Aldi and the beyond spectacular way Masters is tanking that they'd be happy to get as much free exposure and promotion as possible. And in other brilliant money wasting moves, they get lawyers to do something a simple email would have achieved equally.
Even though the closest supermarket to me is a Woolies, I've found myself going there less and less and after this stroke of brilliance, it might well be time to just not bother with them at all anymore.
I wondered where this post went. It's a joke really but that is woolies now
What is this fascist shit lol. I got an email alert for eahop credit and it led here. Holy (profanity) I hate the supermarket duopoly.
Just as well this thing called google cache doesn't exist - http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?btnG=Search&q=c…
Getflix licenses in classified. Mostly from purchases from this deal.
StackSocial has contacted us via email:
I noticed that there were a lot of resell posts for one of our deals—the lifetime subscription for Getflix. I was wondering if we could possibly get those posts taken down from the page? Under StackCommerce's terms, reselling is considered a violation of the customer terms:
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/1/35093/terms_stacksoc…
Existing classified ads selling Getflix licenses will be removed. Also a reminder that please do not place the items you bought from StackSocial on OzBargain Classified.
Big W 27 Days of Christmas Advent Deals (Starts 28/11)
Big W has contacted us via email:
Hi, It has been brought to my attention that BIG W advent deals have been posted to OzBargain. Can you please remove this post. These deals have not been confirmed, and are subject to change. The employee that posted these is also in breach of their terms of employment.
We queried for when this deal will be made public:
The deals will be published on bigw,com,au starting Saturday 28/11.
Unpublished deal until the 28/11 or if it shows up in a catalogue/website.
$20 off for Any Booking on Vaniday
Received request from an employee:
That code was meant to be for employees to give to their family only. The company demands it to be removed asap.
Unpublished deal as it was not meant for the general public.
Even though newsletter subscribers get $10 off lol wasn't exactly a huge discount to be worried about :)
$50 off $150+ Orders @ McWilliam's Cellar Door - Ends 31st March 2016
Received request from McWilliam's Wines:
I would like to put in a request to have the post at this link removed please: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/217206
This code that is published is specifically for a closed-end user group (Citibank Customers) and not for broader public consumption.
Email from Menulog:
This offer is only for Qantas employees. Would you be able to remove it immediately?
Menulog is about to disable the coupon code, which would be no benefit to OzBargain nor to Qantas employees that the coupon is targeted to. Therefore we have now unpublish the page.
Ah Google cache…
:)
Hmm, not loading this one any more. 404. That’s an error.
That was a 1 day offer code anyway, expired midnight 2/12.
From an email from BigW:
We have noticed the BIG W boxing day deals have been published on your site. This is confidential information and needs to be removed. Please remove at your earliest.
Deal temporarily unpublished, and will be re-published once Big W has made this a public information.
Got my copy in the mail yesterday.
I'm negotiating with them to get an official time when this is supposed to be available.
This is the response we got from Woolies this morning:
Customers should start receiving the catalogue in the mail this afternoon or first thing tomorrow. Don't think it would have been delivered on the Weekend!
I'll re-publish it later afternoon.
Do you want a pic of mine.
@nocure: No that's okay. Distributors / maildrop subcontractors might have post them on Sunday but it's their problems with BigW / Woolworths not mine, and Woolies will sort it out with them. However once we publish deals that are considered confidential by the retailers, it becomes our problem.
UPDATE: Deal re-published. BigW should have distributed the material by Monday afternoon.
FREE $10 Voucher for Officeworks. No Min Spend (for International Students)
Email from Officeworks:
It would appear one of your users has taken this and posted a photo of the voucher for people to print out and take to our stores to redeem. This was not the purpose of the voucher.
Is it possible for this post to be removed? We have worked hard to build a relationship and give a hand to international students coming to study in Australia and it is a shame to see it taken advantage of.
Link updated to Insider Guides so we are not linking the photograph of the magazine. Updated title to emphasis International Students. Pending negotiation with Officeworks.
Welcome to OzBargain Officeworks.
Lovely and absolutely great to see them giving a hand to Australian Students. FAIL.
They said on the voucher they don't take printed copies so not sure what their complaint is about. Main part of the post stated that you needed the original. lets see if they are happy with your alterations.
Thanks Scotty
Update: Officeworks is fine with the changes.
Update: Now Inside Guides wish to have the offer removed. Email received from Inside Guides:
It has come to our attention that an Officeworks coupon in our 2016 guide is a popular deal on your site at the moment. It has also come to our attention that some of your members are printing digital versions and trying to redeem the voucher.
As we are a very small publishing company who relies solely on advertising revenue to publish the free guides for international students, I ask the moderator to please remove this deal in good faith. We feel it is being exploited by non-international students through your community.
We have had to remove the advert from the digital guide and the client has been forced to issue a notice to stores about the deal.
I call your attention to a recent comment posted today saying staff are being harassed for not accepting digital copies.
I respect and appreciate the OzBargains community for fair and honest bargain hunting, but please appreciate that it is a targeted guide designed to help international students settle in to their new home. If oz bargain members are going to our distribution points looking for guides, then an international student will likely miss out on one.
Looks like currently the "offer" is benefiting no one — Officeworks are not honouring it unless original copy, magazine publisher gets affected, targeted audiences (international students) might not be able to claim it, and many OzBargainers aren't able to use it either. Not to mention some appalling behaviour from some members here.
Deal unpublished.
Maybe OW need to be more explicit in their wording on the vouchers? I feel it's fair game with its use in its current state.
Indeed, it was a very unprofessional and and ill conceived promotion. They only have themselves to blame.
The inclusion of a single line requiring students to show their student visa would have solved the broad use of the voucher, however, it wouldn't stop the multi usage issue. Just plain dumb.
What? Them coming to the site, explaining and asking isn't good enough?
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FREE One Day Parking @ Ace Airport Parking
Request
Deal post removal. Requested by both the merchant (Ace Airport Parking) and Entertainment Book, as it is an Entertainment-Book exclusive offer.
Action
Deal post unpublished.