New Customer Cashback Tracking Failure - £125 Incentive Discrepancy

[RJV88]

Hi,

I switched my broadband line over from Vodafone last week specifically because of a Quidco comparison deal offering £65 cashback and a £60 Giftcloud voucher (an effective total value of £125).

Despite following all browser tracking rules perfectly, the automated cashback tracking has been rejected. Without this incentive, staying with Vodafone would have been the cheaper option for my household.

I am currently within my 14-day statutory cooling-off window. I want to remain a Sky customer, but I cannot absorb this financial loss. Can a forum moderator please escalate this to the Community Messaging Team so an advisor can look into a manual bill credit to honor the original deal value? I am currently at work and need to handle this via online messaging rather than calling but the chat is always unavailable.

Thank you.

[caesarome]

@RJV88 

If you signed up via Quidco then this is nothing to do with Sky as you would need to ask them why this was rejected and if needs be put in an official complaint.

[RJV88]

I appreciate the response but I get a sense of deflection here.

Quidco have stated it was rejected/declined by Sky. It has everything to do with Sky. Quidco cannot specifically reject/decline this. They stated that they already received confirmation that this was Sky's decision, unless you believe otherwise and that Quidco a not telling the truth. Everything was followed, and I have all the proof required if needs be.

Btw, I have already put in a complaints form with Sky and awaiting a response but I though the 'community' would also be a welcoming place to alleviate my concerns. I hope I'm right?

[MightyQuinn]

Hi @RJV88   What was the reason for the rejection from Sky? Easy for Quidco to deflect you to Sky unless they gave you a reason.

[MarkGoldsmith]

@RJV88 That unfortunately is the danger of using cashback sites like Quidco. The cashback is never 100% guranteed, and you really shouldn't consider any cashback offered from those sites as part of a deal when considering what to purchase, in stead it should be viewed as an additional extra if you do get the cashback.

The way the cashback sites work is that they are only paid money for successful referrals, which have to meet the terms and conditions of the cashback offer for them to get paid for the retailer and subsequently pass some of that payment over to you. If your Sky purchase didn't meet the criteria or it was recognised as being referred via Quidco, then Sky ( or any retailer) won't pay Quidco for the referral and therefore you won't get the cashback.

[PandJ2020]

The usual tracking failed so you've submitted a claim?

As noted, you should have received a reason for the decline.  (Such as conditions not met, another referrer has been detected etc.)

[PandJ2020]

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@RJV88 wrote:

I have already put in a complaints form with Sky

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That's the route to take and eventually ADR but the process is painfully slow and you may not hear back within your cooling off period.

[RJV88]

They stated that Sky did not recognise Quidco as the referrer of the purchase and would not payout the referal fee. However, everything was tracked via their automated system and acknowledgements were communicated when making the purchase. It was only a few days after my broadband had been activated that it had been declined by Sky.

It's hard to know who's telling the truth but fundamentally, everything had been done on my side to warrant the incentives.

The fact Quidco confirmed that it was Sky's decision was the reason for me reaching out towards Sky.

[RJV88]

I appreciate that there is a risk with cashback sites but that still doesn't mean Sky can just decline something without fully investigating whether the criteria were met because they were. I have the acknowledgement comms, screenshots, and screen record video enabling cookies, etc. Anything that would have prevented this from tracking from my side has been accounted for. If there was an issue on Sky's or Quidco's end, then that's not been acknowledged but ultimately Sky have declined it without acknowledging the facts.

So, Sky's decision to decline this baffles me.

[PandJ2020]

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@RJV88 wrote:

It's hard to know who's telling the truth but fundamentally, everything had been done on my side to warrant the incentives.

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True, but what has happened behind the scenes can be critical.  I've had a few QuidCo purchases declined, generally for similar reasons.

Tracking can fail for many reasons:

Browsing other sites that can cause the tracking cookie to be overwritten

Ad-blockers or device security settings, e.g. blocking 3rd party cookies or using VPN

Pre-existing basket (where the tracking was not performed)

If Sky won't (or cannot) recognise the purchase then your only route is via ADR with no guarantee of success.

[RJV88]

Thanks.

Yes, I did receive a reason as stated to my reply above. Doesn't mean its right or have to accept it if it wasn't properly looked into.

[Anonymous]

Hi @RJV88, I had exactly the same issue when attempting to claim a £100 voucher when signing up as a new customer via the USwitch website

I ultimately cancelled the order in the end as Sky ultimately advised they don't honour third party offers regardless of any issues with third party reward sites

Be very very careful of letting your cooling off period expire in this situation no matter what any Sky agent tells you as once it expires things will be a lot more problematic for you

[RJV88]

Thank you. I'm fully aware of the issues with Ad-Blockers, other tabs opened, etc. I had nothing else opened and used the browser within the Quidco app.

Appreciate the advise. I understand these types of processes can be slow but if I don't get a response from Sky then I'm still within my cooling-off period so I'll consider my options.

[Anonymous]

I can tell you from experience you won't get Sky to honor the reward, Not a hope when it's from a 3rd party site

Your 2 options are:

Take the loss and stay with Sky for your broadband

Or

Cancel in your cooling off period (The option i would take without hesitation)

Sky will have read your post here too like they do all post (They step in and escalate here and there) but as you can see they won't touch this one with a barge pole

[RJV88]

I agree. I was mainly hoping for another comms route to Sky as I've exhausted what's available. I think to save a lot of hassle, option 2 is my best course. Thank you.