How I got my “FREE” Mac Book Pro. I read a thread on how “acadiel” and “jmirabella” in the All Things Macintosh forum got free Mac Book Pros, and the pictures they posted of their prizes sparked my interest. These instructions here are just an extension of their notes posted in that forum. Here’s how it works: a company called World Avenue USA helps other companies recruit new customers for their online businesses. These businesses pay World Avenue USA a certain amount for every person that they refer to their site who signs up for a trial offer or an outright purchase of their merchandise. World Avenue USA makes enough money from these companies in marketing expenses that they can afford to not only give you a gift, but have enough left over that they make profit on the transaction too over the long haul. I started this process on January 16, 2007. First I got a throwaway phone number from http://www.evoice.com They offer a free 30 day account. After that it costs $4.95 a month. When you call your phone number you get a recording asking you to leave a message. You then get an email telling you you have a message. They do not offer fax services. The Evoice player does not work on the Mac yet, but you can email them and request they save your calls in a Mac audio format (which is a .wav). I did a test and the message quality was just fine. You will want this phone number since you have to give a phone number to every trial offer you must complete. You really don’t want to give out your real home or cell phone number do you? Next I logged into my Bank of America online account site and checked with one of my credit cards linked to it (issued by MBNA). This particular card offers a feature called virtual credit card numbers. This is important because when you sign up for these trial offers you must give them a credit card number. Once again I don’t want to give them my real credit card number in case they give me a hard time canceling, or if they charge more than they say they will in their advertising. The virtual credit card number allows me to set a maximum amount that any merchant can charge.
Transcript
How I got my “FREE” Mac Book Pro. I read a thread on how “acadiel” and “jmirabella” in the All Things Macintosh forum got free Mac Book Pros, and the pictures they posted of their prizes sparked my interest. These instructions here are just an extension of their notes posted in that forum. Here’s how it works: a company called World Avenue USA helps other companies recruit new customers for their online businesses. These businesses pay World Avenue USA a certain amount for every person that they refer to their site who signs up for a trial offer or an outright purchase of their merchandise. World Avenue USA makes enough money from these companies in marketing expenses that they can afford to not only give you a gift, but have enough left over that they make profit on the transaction too over the long haul. I started this process on January 16, 2007. First I got a throwaway phone number from http://www.evoice.com They offer a free 30 day account. After that it costs $4.95 a month. When you call your phone number you get a recording asking you to leave a message. You then get an email telling you you have a message. They do not offer fax services. The Evoice player does not work on the Mac yet, but you can email them and request they save your calls in a Mac audio format (which is a .wav). I did a test and the message quality was just fine. You will want this phone number since you have to give a phone number to every trial offer you must complete. You really don’t want to give out your real home or cell phone number do you? Next I logged into my Bank of America online account site and checked with one of my credit cards linked to it (issued by MBNA). This particular card offers a feature called virtual credit card numbers. This is important because when you sign up for these trial offers you must give them a credit card number. Once again I don’t want to give them my real credit card number in case they give me a hard time canceling, or if they charge more than they say they will in their advertising. The virtual credit card number allows me to set a maximum amount that any merchant can charge.
This is the card I used to pay for the phone number:
The phone number I was given by evoice was: XXX-XXX-XXXX, the PIN was XXXX. There is the option of also recording your own outgoing message. Simply call your number and press * while the default message is playing to access the recording menu.
Next I got a new email account in anticipation of the spam: [email protected] (I got 32 emails within an hour of applying for all 18 of my offers). Once again, when you are done with this offer you want an email account that you can just walk away from once you have your gift.
Before going to the website to start signing up for trial offers (I recommend using FireFox and not Safari since Safari has at least one known issue with some of these offers like redirecting you to a link where you have to pay for a Sirius radio instead of just filing in a form to complete the offer instead of paying). I turned off my pop-up blocker. Pop-ups will become very important soon and the offers need to track who you are. Also keep in mind when signing up for things, you should do it all in one fell swoop. You can come back and sign up for offers later, but you may need to clear your cache so the site continues to track what you are doing and credits you appropriately. When signing up for these offers, you need to sign up for whatever the particular package is that’s mentioned on the computer offer website. For example, the offer site lists a phone company add for a $199 yearly package. You better make sure when you go to the phone company site that you sign up for this package and not some other deal. If you don’t, this may not qualify as a credit toward your fulfillment agreement with the computer website. Some have gotten away with using a cheaper option, but I wouldn’t risk it. I’ve also heard if you click on an offer the first time and decide you want to keep looking at other offers and then click back to this original offer, it may not count unless you clear your cache/cookies first. That hasn’t been my experience though. I read almost all the offers at least once before going back to some of them a second time to sign up for the most appealing ones.
Now headed on over to: http://www.computeroffer.com/rd_p?p=104136&t=1069&c=512015&gift=13514&a=13514-free%20macbook%20pro to sign up for the free Mac Book Pro. This link has a offer for a $50 gift card now, oh well.
I filled out the form with all my actual personal information including my phone number and email account (throwaway account). After all, these are the people who will give you your new Mac Book Pro. You want them to be able to contact you.
Once you click the submit button be careful on the next few screens. This is a survey that is “optional” to fill out. These offers are not the offers required to get the Mac Book Pro. I just answered “No” to everything. It was several pages long. There were some ten screens to say no to. Some say you can just close your browser at this point and go back to the bookmarked page from earlier and click on the “Check Gift Status” link and you can just go right to the offer pages directly from there. Your call.
Sometimes there is a skip button at the bottom, which can save you a ton of time instead of clicking 40 radio buttons that say no.
Next I had to go through some single full page ads that I just kept clicking “skip” on.
After a few of these it was back to the first style of survey questions again. Just keeping saying no.
I got to a point where I was forced to answer yes to one of these offers before it would allow me to click the submit button. This was on the very last page of the optional surveys. Finally you will get to a page that says LAST STEP, this is where the real offers are. There are three pages of offers. On the first page you must select three (note Discover card may have up to 7 ads per page, you can only choose them once), on the second page you must select 6 and on the third page you must select 9 offers. I recommend starting at the third page first and working backwards. Some offers are repeated from page to page and I find page three to be the hardest page to make all your selections from. You can try reloading the page and a new offer may appear. This worked for me on page three allowing a Sirius radio offer to appear.
Each time you select an offer you will get this pop up window:
A new page will open and you will fill out the offer on its own page.
I took screen shots of every offer. I made sure to always look for the terms of service so that I had a phone number to call or an email address to write to so I knew how to cancel my offer before I started getting billed at a monthly rate. Many offers just charge you a few dollars which aren’t refundable, but after your trial period is over a monthly charge will begin. Some offers are very sneaky and sign you up for three things, all with different cancellation dates and amounts they will charge you. Make sure you note everything you are purchasing with these offers. You should write down everything so you know what you are getting into. You don’t want to have a hard time trying to cancel all these offers later on. I also got screen shots of the confirmation pages just in case. Save all the emails you get too.
Write down any login name and passwords for these offers in case you need to go back to their website to maintain or cancel your account. Since I am using a virtual credit card number for each transaction, I also wrote down that credit card number, the expiration and the three digit security code, in case I am asked this to access my account to cancel it. Once I paid for my first choice I logged into my account for the offers at http://www.computer-offer.com/redeem.htm?user_gift_id=&promo_name=dynamicgift&gift=71 Simply enter the email address you signed up for the Mac Book Pro offer and it will show you your account status. You can see here, no sooner did I finish signing up for Blockbuster Video, that it appeared as “Completed” in my account. I hadn’t even been charged for the merchandise yet. Not bad.
I then chose Advantage Spanish Language, be careful, it displays some other offers once they have confirmed your order. Just scroll to the bottom of the page and click the “no thanks links”. It went complete right away. Next was Onlingo2 language CDs, it did not complete the first time, I had to do it a second time for it to complete. Apparently it never accepted my first application. I later called the company to verify this before signing up the second time. Next was PeoplePC, and it completed right away. Make sure you download the software from them before closing the browser on the offer. Next was Video Professor, got 5 additional offers, look for the no thanks link. It completed immediately. Next was 4 Seasons Wine Club which was listed as “not reported” for several days until I was charged. Next was Columbia House DVD which listed as “not reported” for several days. Next was Pitney Bowes, it completed immediately. I then chose Sirius radio and not the subscription, just the radio which listed as “not reported” for several days. That ended the page 3 choices. On to page 2 I chose InkBlvd (I never got a confirmation screen) but it did go through in my account where it was listed as completed right away. This was a one time purchase of printer ink. At this point fraud prevention was activated on my credit card through the Bank of America website. I had to verify who I was to the online banking website so that I could continue to generate virtual credit card numbers. I also got a phone call from the credit card fraud department the next morning about my rash of charges. Next was Entertainment Weekly, it completed immediately. Next was Auction Money Kit (eBay), which listed as “not reported” for a couple days. Next was New York Times which listed as “not reported”. It wouldn’t complete for about six days.
I chose My Smile Pro which completed immediately. Tri Clear also completed immediately. Zooba completed immediately. Cosmetique completed immediately. Done with page 2 (I signed up for more than I needed to just so you know). On to page 1. Vertue At Home Rewards completed immediately. The Home Depot card is an additional offer which you should not complete as it won’t count for your three offers on this page. I chose Google (Fast Auction money making kit) and it completed immediately. I chose Bargain Network Homes, it completed immediately. It took me several hours to do all this. Not bad, I had 12 out of 18 offers completed as soon as I had filled out the forms. Some offers like the wine and Columbia House and the New York Times will not report completed until they have shipped which could take a week. Since I did all I could at this time, I went through all my screen shots and made a nice time line of what offers needed to be cancelled when. Just keep checking in here: http://www.computer-offer.com/redeem.htm?user_gift_id=&promo_name=dynamicgift&gift=71 to find your current offer status. Once all 18 offers are completed then you’ll get a shipping voucher and 1099 form. Get this notarized and mail it to the company (World Avenue USA). When they receive it, they will process a shipping request, and your laptop will be on its way from 3-6 weeks. The 1099 is for claiming your laptop on your taxes as income.
I’m very good at record keeping so I saved every email, cancellation notice, screen shots of website offers and terms of conditions and all virtual credit card numbers, expiration dates and three digit codes just in case. I modified “acadiel’s template for information you should keep for everything you sign up for: Offer: #__ from page #__ Offer name: What do you get?: Contact information to cancel: Advertised cost: Charged: (amount, date, and transaction reference #) Credited to your free gift account?: Cancelled?: Returned?: Card number used: Comments: I also saved the shipping labels from anything that was sent to me. I’m sure when audited they would only be interested in your credit card statement, but they do mention the labels on their website for proof of purchase. If you want to cancel an offer you don't want to keep, you can cancel it after the World Avenue (incentive company) credits it as completed on your status page. Ideally you should also make sure you also have an actual credit card charge too just in case they do an audit (order confirmation e-mails are also good too.) Some of these offers don't charge for a day or two after completing, so if its a week-30 day trial offer, give it a few days before you cancel.)
I got to a point where I completed a few more offers than needed, and I finally got the “You are almost there message”. I received this on 1/24/07, 8 days later.
Now what happens is the company verifies that I actually completed my 18 offers. I have heard it could take up to a full week to move on to the next stage, so I was pleasantly surprised when I woke up the next morning and got this screen:
Wow, 9 days from initial start to the congratulations page. Now what you do is click the link to get your voucher. You print it out, fill it out and take it to a notary. I paid $10 to get it notarized. You can find notaries at those pack and ship stores or in real estate offices. Some have done this at a bank. Not all banks do this, they usually only notarize things for bank business. I then went to the post office and sent this overnight delivery. It’s only $14.40 and I’m impatient. Now it’s just a matter of waiting for the final screen which will tell me that the Mac Book Pro has been shipped. On January 31
st I got this screen:
Now I just wait for the Mac Book Pro to arrive at my door… At this point it is a waste of time to call World Avenue USA because they don’t know when your computer will ship, they won’t ever have a tracking number and if you should receive an email from them about it it’s generally the same day the computer arrives. So don’t expect to get a heads up on when it will arrive, you’ll just have to be surprised like every single person that I’ve read about who received one.
Success! The Mac Book Pro arrived on 2/14. What a great Valentine’s Day gift.
Here’s how I kept track of the offers: In my case blue color indicates the offer was fully complete (either no refund due or refunded). Red indicates that I’m still waiting for a refund. I realize some of these will not issue a refund. Offer #1 Page #3 Blockbuster video Offer type: DVD rentals Contact: online, from within “my account” screen Advertised cost: $9.99 trial, $17.99 after 30 days Charged: $10.81 1/17/07 #BLOCKBUSTER ONLINE Credited: Yes Cancelled/Confirmation #: Yes / n/a Return: nothing to return Card: Comments:
OFFER COMPLETE
Offer #2 Page #3 Advantage Language
Offer type: Spanish language CDs Contact: 866-809-8255 Advertised cost: $6.95, $69 after 10 days Charged: $1 1/19 #TMT*ADVANTAGELANG.COM $5.95 1/19 #TMT*ADVANTAGELANG.COM Credited: Yes Cancelled/Confirmation: Yes / Return: Yes, insured for $100 tracking Refunded: $1 & $5.95 on 2/1 Card: Comments: package arrived 1/19, issued email for refund on 1/30
Offer type: French language CDs Contact: 800-949-6880 #3 to cancel www.onlingo.com Advertised cost: $6.95 plus S&H, $69 after 10 days Charged: $1 1/22/07 ONLINGO LANGUAGE CD S $5.95 1/22/97 ONLINGO LANGUAGE CD S Credited: Yes
Cancelled/Confirmation : Yes, via online form / n/a Return: mailed CD kit, insured $100 and tracking number Card: Comments: the 2
nd subscripction went through, 1
st did not, package arrived 1/20
OFFER COMPLETE
Offer #4 Page #3 PeoplePC Offer type: dial up service Contact: 888-587-9669 Advertised cost: $5.47 x 3 months of service, $10.99 month after Charged: $5.47 1/17/07 #PEOPLE PC INT SVC Credited: Yes Cancelled/Confirmation: Yes / Lea Return: n/a Card: Comments: hard sell to stay
OFFER COMPLETE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Offer #5 Page #3 Video Professor
Offer type: 3 photoshop training CDs Contact: 800-525-7763 Advertised cost: $6.95, $79 after 10 days Charged: $1.00 1/20/07 #VIDPROF S&P PMT Credited: Yes Cancelled/Confirmation: Return: Card: Comments: if requested S&H will be refunded, I never received anything
OFFER COMPLETE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Offer #6 Page #3 4 Season Wines
Offer type: wine Contact: 800-842-4050 Advertised cost: ~$80 not refundable Charged: $76.83 1/23/07 #BSI*MERCHANT DRCT-WIN Credited: UNKNOWN Cancelled/Confirmation: Yes / Melissa Return: (Do you need to return something?) Card: Comments: 1/31/07, you can refuse shipment if you did not open the box, despite what
their TOS says, according to customer service department
OFFER COMPLETE
Offer #7 Page #3 Columbia House
Offer type: DVD purchases, not rentals Contact: Form on website 1-800-262-2001 Advertised cost: $12.40 & must buy 5 DVDs in 2 years $27.00 (2
nd time)
Charged: $27.35 PENDING COL HOUSE VIDEO CLUB $29.33 1/25 COL HOUSE VIDEO CLUB
Credited: Yes Cancelled/Confirmation: Via website form / n/a Return: Yes, refused delivery Card: Comments: do not open shipment, refused on 1/31/07, membership number xxxx, received 2
nd membership kit on 2/6, refused and returned on 2/7
Offer type: postage meter with $30 postage Contact: 800-468-8454 acct# 2107-6607-86-6 will send a return postage label Advertised cost: $30, $20 month after 90 Charged: $30.00 PBI POSTAGE METER 1/17/07 Credited: Yes Cancelled/Confirmation: Yes / xxxxx Return: Yes Card: Comments: arrived 1/23 waiting $30 refund, label arrived 2/3 shipped us mail on 2/5 000000663903 tracking, account # xxxx
OFFER COMPLETE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Offer #9 Page #3 Sirius radio
Offer type: radio, no service contract Contact: 800-422-7142 get an RMA# to return radio Advertised cost: $54 Charged: $53.43 1/17/07 #SRR*SIRIUS STORE Credited: Yes Cancelled/Confirmation: Yes / n/a Return: Yes, insured $50 and tracking number, refunded $49.99 on 2/9 Card: Comments: arrived 1/23
OFFER COMPLETE
Offer #10 Page #2 Ink Blvd
Offer type: purchased 1 cartridge of ink Contacted: not needed Advertised cost: $30.79 Charged: $30.79 1/17/07 INK ORDERS Credited: Yes Cancelled/Confirmation: nothing to cancel / n/a Return: N/A Card: Comments:
OFFER COMPLETE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Offer #11 Page #2 Entertainment Weekly
Offer type: cosmetics Contact: www.cosmetique.com 800-621-8822 Advertised cost: $5.95 Charged: $1 (1/17/07) & $4.95 (1/25/07) #COS*COSMETIQUE Credited: Yes Cancelled/Confirmation: Yes / Tammy xxx Return: (Do you need to return something?) Card: Comments: arrived 2/1
OFFER COMPLETE
Offer #16 Page # 1 At Home Rewards (7 day trial) & Saving Smart (7 day trial) Offer type: access to cheap prices Contact: 800-511-0046 & 800-316-8774 Advertised cost: $1 + $1 Charged: $1 1/19/07 #ATHOMEREWARDS68798591 Credited: Yes Cancelled/Confirmation: Yes / Tony xxx & xxxx Return: N/A Card: Comments: For Saving Smart, check your email you should have one from them with a membership #. This is an automated process. I received an email with a cancellation number xxx.
OFFER COMPLETE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Offer #17 Page #1 Google Search engine learning center (21 days), Click builder (16 days) Google learning center (15 days) Offer type: CD and site access Cancel: 866-652-0479 Advertised cost: $9.95 + $7.95 + $39.95 Charged: $0 Credited: Yes Cancelled/Confirmation: Yes / n/a Return: no Card: Comments: this was a duplication of the Fast Auction Money Kit above, it’s the same number so I consider this cancelled, I replaced it with another offer , CD arrived 2/1
OFFER COMPLETE
Offer #18 Page #1 Bargain Homes Network
Offer type: access to services Contact: 800-333-1915 https://www.bargain.com:443/account/sign-in.aspx Advertised cost: $2 (refundable) Charged: $1 & $1 1/18/07 #6352823 BN PROCESSING Credited: Yes Cancelled/Confirmation: Yes ON 1/22 / xxx (email conf sent as well) Return: N/A Card: Comments: $39.95 a month, had to cancel while still pending - at the end of my trial period, let it ring 20 times, hold music for 10 minutes (same song), tried to give a confusing offer called a trial that was good for a year with no charges, just say no
OFFER COMPLETE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Offer #19 Page #2 (signed up due to impatience) Tri clear
Offer #20 Page #2 (did this because of conflict of 2 similar offers and 1 not completing) Zooba books Offer type: book club Contact: cancel account from account page. Advertised cost: $9.95 Charged: $9.95 1/20/07 #BMC*ZOOBA Credited: Yes Cancelled/Confirmation: Yes Return: $20 insurance, delivery confirmation USPS 1/31/07, refunded $9.95 on 2/9 Card: Comments: If you don't like your first book, simply send it back to us; we'll refund your money and cancel your membership. Do not open the box!
“OFFER COMPLETE” IN RED DOES NOT INCLUDE: ANY REFUND AMOUNTS UNLESS IT IS ALL IN BLUE Figures in red are out of pocket expenses. Figures in blue are refundable. Blockbuster $10.81 Return ship advantage CDs, Onlingo CDs and TriClear Plus envelopes, insurance and tracking $24.13 Return shipping for Sirius radio and insurance and tracking $9.56 Notary for voucher $10.00 Overnight delivery for voucher $14.40 Zooba shipping $10.85 Entertainment Weekly $0.83 Ink blvd $30.79 4 seasons wine $76.83 People PC $5.47 New York Times $1.30 Sirius radio $3.44 Advantage $6.95 Onlingo $6.95 Video professor $1.00 Columbia house $27.35
$29.33 $13.30
Pitney Bowes $30.00 Fast Auction money kit $3.94 Smile pro $4.97 Cosmetique $5.95 At home rewards $1.00 Bargain homes $2.00 Triclear $6.95 Stamps.com $1.00 ---------------- not including the blue which should be refunded 239.12
