We advocated going through the Topcashback portal for eBay purchases and getting them to match the 5% rate being offered by Inbox Dollars. This worked great until Topcashback changed the terms on their match guarantee and they’ll now only match a few top portals, not a small one like Inbox Dollars.
It just so happened that there were lots of eBay deals at that time and many of us had a high volume of eBay purchases with the expectation of getting 5% back on them.
Let’s clarify a few things:
Can I still get a 5% match for my eBay purchases?
No, under the new terms it won’t work. You best bet now is to go through Inbox Dollars directly.
When, exactly, did the Topcashback terms change?
Based on what Topcashback told a friend of mine, the exact time was Monday morning 9/21/15 at 04:23 am PST.
Can I get matched now that the terms have changed for purchases made before they changed the change?
Logically, you should be able to since at the time of the purchase the terms allowed it. Initially, they were denying the claims and we reached out to them on Twitter asking them to change this. They indicated on Twitter that they’ve rectified this and are now honoring such claims. Based on what I’ve heard from others, they are indeed accepting such claims now and possibly even rectifying old ones.
What do I do if they denied my claim?
While any future claims will hopefully go through without a hitch, previous claims had been denied. Here’s what to do:
- File a support ticket and explain that this purchase was made before the terms changed. This should hopefully get approved.
- If that doesn’t work, try replying to the support ticket and link in this tweet https://twitter.com/TopCashBackUSA/status/647323042692079616Â where they clearly indicate that they agree to honor all claims for cashback from before the terms changed.
- If that fails, reach out to them on Twitter and they’ve been helping people there. To make it easier to explain what your issue is, just join the conversation that we started and tell them that you are having the same problem.
Can I file a claim for a purchase made after 4:23 am PST on 9/21/15?
According to the terms – no. BUT if you honestly did not know about the change at that time (we only found out about it the next day) you can try asking them if they’ll give you the match as a goodwill gesture. Try invoking their Fair Play policy and say that it’s reasonable to give some time to adjust to a not-well-advertised new terms. (HT: DNT) I’m hopeful that they’ll agree to match for purchases made over the next couple of days, especially in smaller claims, but we don’t know that for sure.
How long do I have to file a guarantee claim?
Per the terms: “You need to submit your claim within 7 days of your cashback tracking.” I interpret this to mean that the 7-days begins at the time you received the email of the cashback tracking.
See also Highest Cash Back Guarantee for Online Shopping Portals
