The Juggle Zone: Bargain Blog

I've come to the not-so-difficult-conclusion that freeiPods.com can not be trusted. Though they did send me my iPod, they later put my account on hold. When I inquired as to why, their generic response was:

Thanks for writing in about your account's status. We have placed your account on hold due to suspicion of fraud. We have taken a closer look at your account, and have decided that it will remain on HOLD status. Due to high levels of fraud, we are forced to take actions against users who attempt to take advantage of our free offer. The reasons for this action may include multiple accounts, improper offer completions, more than one account to the same household, etc. We take all types of fraud very seriously, and since we give our products away for free, we cannot afford to be lenient on dishonest methods users try to obtain their free items.

In addition to the fact that they closed the Customer Service Inquiry without giving me a chance to respond, my response, below, details the main reasons why I find their actions highly suspicious.

About a week ago, I asked for specifics as to why my account is on hold, and the generic answer provided did not provide them. Please follow through. Keep in mind, my account was obviously not suspicious when you SENT OUT MY IPOD. It's only now that my friend (who referred me) is trying to get his iPod that you are placing my account on hold.

The fact that your FAQ now states, "we hold the right NOT to tell you why you are on hold for proprietary reasons." sounds like an excuse to defraud members of freeiPods.com! I can assure you that I will be warning my friends who have not yet been suckered into freeiPods to beware of their questionable practices.

The fact that they have a "I know I have done everything correctly according to the ENTIRE Terms & Conditions. I know my referrals completed offers they were legitimately interested in, and signed up without my help, and from their household. I have no idea why I'm on HOLD." question in the FAQ is also problematic. People who have played by the rules should not be encountering holds. The answer states:

We take fraud very seriously. If you were placed on hold it is likely your account raised some concerns that caused your account to be suspected of fraudulent activities.

Reasons can range from the following:

- Multiple accounts
- Offers not being completed correctly
- Not being legitimately interested in an offer (ie. canceling right away)
- Helping a user join, and "walking them through the process."
- 2 Accounts to the same household

Or other reasons not listed here.

If you feel like you still have no idea why you are on hold, or may know and want to inform us of what could have happened, then please do so below. Please note, we hold the right NOT to tell you why you are on hold for proprietary reasons.

Some of those reasons are fine, others are not.

"Offers not being completed correctly" - Then don't give credit for the offer.

"Not being legitimately interested in an offer (ie. canceling right away)" - How do you define right away? Furthermore, just because cancellation occurs right away does not mean there was no legitimate interest. For example, the product/service could turn out to be really bad.

"Helping a user join, and 'walking them through the process.'" - I don't recall reading anything about this in the T&Cs**. The closest seems to be 2.(d): "A user may not use another person's name or information to receive products from this website. For example, one person may not join the site for another person, or complete offers for another person's account."

"Or other reasons not listed here." - Broad language such as this is ridiculous!

At any rate, from what I've read, one of the main "other reasons" for an account to be put on hold (when nothing fraudulent was done by the account holder) is when there is a problem with referrals. Specifically, if a referral signed up twice, there is the possibility that they'll penalize the referrer.

*As if this doesn't impinge on free speech. I find it interesting that my blog is the first hit when you search for cancel aol freeipods on Google. If this is the reason that they put my account on hold, it does bring a bit of good news. Violating their T&Cs doesn't constitute fraud, so they won't be coming after me trying to get the iPod back.

**The T&Cs do, however, contain a different list of reasons for holds, including:

V. HOLD
1. Common Reasons for Being Placed on Hold
(a) Multiple accounts.
(b) Fraudulent referrals.
(c) Negative feedback from one of our affiliates or offers being completed and immediately canceled.
(d) More than one account at a user's shipping address.
(e) Posting information on a website, forum, or auction that has to do with "canceling the offers" included, but not limited to, cancellation phone numbers, cancellation time frames, and any encouragement or direction to cancel the offers after signing up with them.*
(f) Any other reason or a combination of reasons at the sole discretion of Gratis Internet.
2. Additional terms regarding "hold" status
(a) We reserve the right to place a user's account on hold at any time.
(b) We are not responsible for notifying a user about his or her account being placed on hold.
(c) If an account is placed on hold, all orders will be frozen and the user will be unable to order from any of the Gratis Internet websites.
(d) A user who has had his or her account placed on hold may not create another account.
(e) A user's account will be on hold indefinitely. Holds do not expire.
(f) A user may not receive any reimbursement for points or referrals accumulated prior to being placed on hold.
(g) If a user feels that he or she has been placed on hold in error (i.e. has not acted against the terms of Gratis Internet), he or she may contact us via our website.
(h) We reserve the right to place a user's account on hold after they have gotten credit for a free item, and even after ordering and receiving their free item. We also hold the right to follow up legally on fraudulent activities.

Other contradictory information in the T&Cs:

I.2.(f) Each user is personally responsible for maintaining the security of his or her account. A user should not share his or her account information and is responsible for keeping his or her password confidential. Gratis Internet is not liable for any losses incurred through the access of your account by a third party or the disclosure of your password or account.

vs.

I.2.(b) Only one account is allowed per shipping address. We do this to ensure quality leads for our advertisers. Since we are 100% advertiser supported, we cannot afford to support multiple accounts at the same shipping address. If there is more than one user at a shipping address, we suggest that they share an account. All accounts which are found to contain shared shipping addresses will be placed on hold.

But don't worry, in case anything goes wrong, Gratis Internet has made it clear that they're a customer service oriented company:

VI. CUSTOMER SERVICE
1. Contacting Customer Support
(a) Due to the volume of customer service requests, we do not offer a telephone support. All questions, comments, and concerns should be sent to us only after reading our entire FAQ/Help page on our website, as many answers to common questions can be found on that page.
(b) Please allow two business days for responses to customer service inquiries.
(c) In order to ensure the preservation of account security and to promote customer service efficiency, users should only email us using the address with which they signed up for this website.
(d) We reserve the right to block any email address.
2. Contacting Us
If a user chooses he or she can contact us at the following postal address:
Gratis Internet
PO Box 50945
Washington DC 20091