ShopBack Dispute Rejected, What Are My Options?

Hello,

I've been a long time Cashback user for over 8 years but never had this problem before.

Rarely Cashrewards or ShopBack doesn't track despite following all instructions and I have to dispute it. It always gets corrected and Cashrewards even pay it out early as an apology.

Anyway, I used Shopback for a few orders on Black Friday, 2 of them didn't track and others did.

So I raised a dispute, showing the receipts (purchased soon after the click was made). They have rejected both claims (never had this happen before especially with Cashrewards) saying it's my fault?

"We regret to inform that your missing Cashback claim for David Jones has been rejected.

Upon investigation, your David Jones transaction for order ID xx was not tracked accurately which could be due to the following reasons:

  • You've clicked on another browser extension after clicking from ShopBack
  • Other web pages or browsers (including search sites, social media, store sites, promotional or discount sites) were opened after clicking from ShopBack
  • Clicking through to another page from a banner, pop-up or advertisement from the store's page.
  • Using Antivirus, Cleanup or Adblocker applications may also disrupt Cashback tracking as tracking cookies are required to accurately track your transactions."

They rejected me for their app not tracking correctly and blaming me that I did 1 of 4 things wrong (which I didn't and other clicks/orders on Black Friday tracked). It seems they don't even have proof and are just saying it's my fault.

Anyway at this point this is pretty much outright a scam if they are refusing to honour the cashback. I purchased those orders based on these cashbacks and I followed all correct steps properly.

What would be the next steps to take this further? Is there a regulatory body that I can report them to?

Related Stores

ShopBack AU
ShopBack AU
Third-Party

Comments

  • +13

    option: bikies
    yeah lots people are SB fans they said no issues for me they are great.. until…. they got problem and not happy.
    basically treat ALL cashback schemes as gambling. you win some you may loose some. depending how lucky you are, some win lots of small money and then got rejected on one big claim.

    • +5

      Happy user for 8 years. 1 missed cashback = SCAM!!!!.

    • +1

      The "option: bikies" is beginning to sound really old.

  • +2

    @gotyourback

  • Interesting. been using Cashrewards and Shopback for a few years as well, in September I did a transaction to get my NBN with cashback through them, $85, estimated approval was 16/12. still hasn't been approved, I sent them a message and they said it has been escalated etc, sent another e-mail earlier this month and never got a response back. interesting as I have never had issues like this before.

    • +1

      This is so weird. Your experience is basically a carbon copy of mine. I have all the supporting documentation, have re-emailed them after the first few emails, which WERE responded to, but it's been nothing from them for a fortnight now. It is so dodgy. I agree it's just a gamble, but when you choose one retailer over another because of promised cashback, and they don't approve, it's just dodgy. They know there is very little we can do. I wonder at what point does it become some sort of false advertising.

      • +1

        Interesting. had an email at 10am ( 2 hours after this comment ) and they have honoured the cashback. great outcome.

    • The ecconex cashbacks have been a hot topic when it comes to rejected claims. I had an issue late 22 where they claimed my cashbacks via tangerine was rejected. Argued it and eventually got it approved 6 months later. So they did the right thing. But it can be a crap shoot.

  • It sucks, but you should be ahead if you've used them for 8 years…I don't think you can escalate to anyone apart from rep gotyourback

    • +1

      But only registered on OZB today.

    • +5

      So you didn't follow their instructions, but this is somehow their fault 😂

  • I've just got a large cashback from Agoda literally days ago from Cashrewards (CR).

    From experience, I have a greater likelihood of obtaining cashback from CR than from Shopback. It may be perception but CR is Australian and Shopback is Singaporean so perhaps the avenue of recourse is likely to be taken seriously by one than the other. This is my perception so others may experience differently.

    Having said that, my rejection rate from Shopback has been low and at one stage, I thought they have improved a lot but again, perception is reality sometimes and when I see deal that happens at both sites (often at different times), I tend to choose CR despite on average their payback were lesser than Shopback (not by much). Some exceptions apply such as the one I got from Agoda's 14% cashback which Shopback never offered that.

    I am finding the most boring and vanilla way of using cashback sites have been working which I detailed in another thread.

    For me, it was as vanilla as it could be. Literal search for the service/product on cashback, then I disabled every single ad blocker and clicked from CR/SB and went straight to the site I was looking before and confirmed the product and costs, and made the purchase without going anywhere else. Rinse and repeat for the next product after shutting down the browser.

    Yes it takes buying say a 5 product pieces exponentially up to 500% longer but that's how it is and I have to say, I haven't had a problem since.

    • Fair comments.

      How do you deal with LARGER money-back offers where their partner-stores (baddies) reject claims & hence CR/SB (gooddies) have no-choice but to also-reject claims…as per 'gotyourback @ ShopBack AU' comments below ?

      Larger money-back offers: may be there's a pattern ?

  • I've had a pretty good run with Cashrewards but am now considering recording the process for large value purchases to prove that I did nothing wrong in the event of a denied claim.

    • +1

      Don't make large value purchase via cashback sites. Find or Negotiate at a merchant that doesn't participate in affiliate marketing (cashback) scheme but has discounted giftcards, e.g. JB Hi-Fi, Kmart, eBay(with special discount code). Credit cards statement offers are usually reliable too.

  • -8

    lol… Another day another "Shitback" thread of someone not getting their returns.

    They rejected me for their app not tracking correctly and blaming me that I did 1 of 4 things wrong

    Well, they don't make money by giving it away willy nilly…

    It's ok, your $3 "we're sorry" voucher for use at Harry's Slacks and Corduroy Jacket Emporium will be on the way ASAP.

    InB4: BuT wOt AbOuT aLL tHe FrEe PiZZa aNd PoSiTiVe ThReAdZ!1!!! Yeah, still not worth selling giving away all my private details, just to be hacked and leaked and years later still be suffering the effects of…

    • -1

      I am happy to take up those $3 bonus offers but won't make a large value purchase via it as explained above.

    • -1

      You linked a post that disproved your own arguments and presented it as some sort of a win - lol. Another foot-in-mouth moment.

      'ín b4'

      You're the one repeating the same rant here. Edgy, yet oblivious.

      Cheering at other people's misfortune when they've not wronged you or anyone else is a sign of deep seated issues btw. Not that its going to stop your next old man yells at cloud episode.

      giving away all my private details, just to be hacked and leaked and years later still be suffering the effects of…

      Who asked you to give out all your private details? Were you even registered with Shopback at that time, or are you just picketing Shopback out of ignorance?

      You had better avoid using Service NSW too, since they were hacked. Are your treasured 'all mah private detailz' already owned by hackers?

  • Anyway at this point this is pretty much outright a scam if they are refusing to honour the cashback.

    You understand how these businesses work right?

    ShopBack gets a referral commission for sending you to David Jones where you make a purchase, they will then give this cash back to you.

    If for some reason David Jones won't pay that commission to ShopBack, then how can they give it to you? They literally don't have it.

    • +1

      How do we know they don't have it?

      • We don't, we receive the commission only when the purchase "tracks", as that's when the successful purchase is reported to us by the store. We don't get any commission for a "click" or "shopping trip", only when a purchase is made and when the store confirm this has occurred.

        • +3

          And don't take this the wrong way…but who is policing this? It's just that ppl have very random cases rejected, and yet this happens regularly, despite doing exactly the same things consistently. 80% of the time things track for me….but I think the point here is….what happens the other 20% of the time? We just have to put up with it? I mean, if I ran a business and 20% of the time I didn't provide what I advertised, I think I would get found out and shut down pretty quick.

          • +2

            @HappyPants: Hey mate, I offered a bit of explanation below, but tracking is a two-part process, where we register the click through, the store reports the purchase details for you. When a claim is submitted, the store help us approve the claim and report the purchase details. These claims can be rejected, and typically this is because the purchase has been attributed to another service. This could be another shopping extension, or other cached data, such as a click through using Google ads or another marketing avenue. We don't often have visibility on where this has been attributed, which is why the above supplied "generic" sounding email is sent. If a user reaches back out disputing this rejection, we will attempt to escalate this with the brand further for additional review to try and get this rectified or more information on why this has been rejected.

            It's in our best interest for purchases to track, as it not only means that users have a great experience with ShopBack and continue using ShopBack to shop, but also as mentioned, means that we won't receive commission for the purchase, so know that we are in your corner there.

            We are also consistently working on improving the tracking process so any gaps are closed. We know how important reliability is, and it's always a priority for us to be constantly reviewed and improved where possible.

            Let me know if that answers your queries here, happy to chat more about this in the DMs also if you'd prefer.

          • +1

            @HappyPants:

            but who is policing this?

            Coast guard

          • @HappyPants:

            And don't take this the wrong way…but who is policing this?

            There's only on way to be sure. Set up your own affiliate business and put in a transparent procedure to show all OZBers. And hire uni English graduates for customer support to send non-generic email explanations. Imagine all the business you'd win.

            Oh, but all the costs means you'd pay out diddly. Still, you'd get a lot of the non-tracking OZB customers.

  • +2

    I've been a long time Cashback user for over 8 years but never had this problem before.

    Considering yourself lucky.

    Anyway at this point this is pretty much outright a scam if they are refusing to honour the cashback.

    Welcome to the world of cashbacks, where the big ones fail ;)

    I purchased those orders based on these cashbacks and I followed all correct steps properly.

    Never do that, all cashbacks should be seen as a 'bonus' IF they work.

  • I purchased those orders based on these cashbacks and I followed all correct steps properly

    Your mistake.

    Options

    Close thread.

  • Hey mate, I'm the rep for ShopBack here on OzBargain and am happy to help out with queries and issues where they arise. Often these rejections come from the store's side so we don't always have visibility on what's gone wrong, however we are always more than happy to chase up and escalate claims if one has been rejected in error. I'd either reply to the email you've received regarding the rejection and our team will chase this up for a second look by the store, or shoot me a DM and I can ask the team to do so one your behalf.

    • Appreciate the good work @gotyourback. I think there is a lot of misunderstanding in how cashbacks work.

      I've had my share of rejections as well although it has improved significantly in 2023 especially after I did what I mentioned above (a really vanilla way of making trackable purchases). Maybe try this method in 2024 first and see how we all go.

      I certainly will give Shopback a go this year.

      • Glad to hear it mate, always keep the feedback coming here, the more we hear and the more we investigate the more we can work on improving tracking and ShopBack as a whole.

  • +1

    As others have said treat it as gambling or a scam. There is no way to get recourse as they just blame the store, you didn't click properly..so many ways to get an out.
    The best way is to complain on here and the store rep who calls people "Mate" may get it fixed, but I doubt it. Just a PR stunt.
    I stopped using these sites as there is no oversight by any Government body.

    • -2

      Wah… anything that is being oversight by Govt body rarely works. Plenty of example.

      Banks/Samsung clocked most complaint in 2023 but where is ACCC?
      NBN being run by Govt and it's price keep going up
      Australia post being run by Govt and it's postage keep going up and the story about couriers tossin goods are almost like daily sports
      and airlines are about to overseen by another Govt entity to make sure we get more than just "bundle of rights" and have we gone better? I think not
      Oh look at Costco Docklands, they are shutting down because of "council and state govt" which of course means, exorbitant rates and land tax (land tax up minimum 100% this year)

      Sorry I don't agree with anything run by Govt body at all. The moment it does, I think both CR/SB will exit.

      Look, they are doing their best they can. You should consider it lucky both have reps here to deal with complaints.

      • -1

        Oh dear what a grim picture you paint.
        You seem just want to have an anti-Government rant, missing the point that these cashback schemes are not accountable as their is no transparency.

        • You are missing the point and it is you who wants to involve govt, not me. I am just highlighting the fallacy of your argument.

          It is in their (CR/SB) best interest to be able to pay you as their business model depends on it (they get $$$ from vendor and pass $ to you so you can buy from the vendor again).

          Once again, they don't have to have a presence here but they do so please at least consider they are not as bad as you are attempting to portray them.

          • +1

            @burningrage: A point you raised is why I distrust them.
            Without transperancy/ovetsight how do we know they are not received commissions and not passing them on.
            On three occasions my large claims have been denied, yet the small ones around a few dollars are always approved.
            I use the same phone, same settings every time.
            When I query, they always blame the store.
            Many other people on OzBargain have posted the same.

  • +1

    Brand new user and first post. What did you buy from David Jones? Decorations for under your bridge.

  • No love for 'TopCashback'. So far they have been a 100% hit for me, and better rates than CR & SB, but I'm sure statistically, its only a matter of time, that 100% record is broken..

    Yeah, as always, do NOT make your purchase the sole reason for the cashback. Consider it a bonus. Chase it up by all means, but in some cases expect to get nothing back.

    Unfortunately, SB used to be my no 1 go-to CB promoter. They have now dropped to 3rd position.

    • New kids on the block usually offer a bit more to win over customers - like SB when they entered the Aus market and there was only CR.

      I try to support them with all my purchases, unless there's a special bonus with CR/SB.

  • +2

    I have a big cashback over $700 was supposed to be confirmed in Dec for a Expedia booking completed back in Sep 2023. Until today, it is still not confirmed even contacted Shopback support for 4 weeks now. I am feeling for a big cashback, they are going to try anyway to not honor it.

  • @gotyourback
    What are my options if I keep trying to get an update on missing cashback, but they keep pushing out the timeframe…
    I have done everything correctly, and they confirmed that :(
    Is it best to raise with the ACCC?

    • Hey there!

      Thanks for your patience on this. Do you mind dropping us a DM with more details we'll be happy to investigate for you!

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