STATUS HP 25% Bing Cashback (October 18th)

This poll is to see what the status is of the 25% BING cashback from October 18th.

I along with a few others have had our BING cashback canceled for what appears to be just having access to EPP, Academic, or Friends and Family pricing.

If everything is showing as good and your HP account has access to any of the HP discount programs (Friends & Family program, HP Academy program, and the Employee Purchase Program), please post what you ordered and what discount(s) your account has access to.

If there is an issue please post what you ordered and the results of any contact you have had with HP.

As far as I have gathered mine was canceled for having EPP available on my account. I did not attempt to use the EPP pricing discount with the 25% BING cashback. I bought through the HP 'Home' store like everyone else (or at least everyone that didn't try to push the limits).

HP support has offered me $100 to make the problem go away.

Others have been offered $200.

Customer support does not appear to be a good line to pursue a reasonable resolution. My rep kept telling me 'upper management' is not authorizing anything more than $100. We both stuck to our message and 30+ minutes later I closed the call.

I am currently in contact with 'Frosty' the admin for the HP Envy Community board and may get some more information from him in the coming week.

If someone took screen shots of the 25% offer can you post any parts you have or PM them to me. The two parts were: 25% sponsored link on BING.com and 25% popup after you click the link.

If anyone has seen any other policy type statements published by hp concerning bing cashback please post them. I cannot find anything on HP's site.

The only policy I have seen is from the BING cashback FAQ:

Code:

Do I need to know anything specific about shopping with HP?

Yes, customer should note the following when shopping with HP

   1. The cashback percentage offered will apply to your entire order, before taxes and shipping costs.
   2. Entering a coupon code at the payment page will void your cashback. Also, beginning 10/2009, the Friends & Family program, HP Academy program, and the Employee Purchase Program can no longer be combined with cashback.
   3. Instant rebates and automatic free shipping on the HP Home & Office site will not void your cashback.
   4. Partial returns of an order will be recalculated and the cashback will apply to the new total purchase amount before taxes and shipping charges.

Thanks for any feedback/response you provide.

 

Well I guess I am first. My 25% cashback still shows as pending. I ordered a dm3t the day of, and do not have access to any discounts. So no EPP, Academy, or Friends & Family.

Also for the record, I did post this before in the other thread. I've never had a problem with Bing Cashback. Each time when my money was canceled, it was suppose to be canceled due to a return or whatnot. Every other instance, I did indeed get the money back just fine, including last year with the 40% Bing Cashback offer.

 

I think I had EPP on my account, but I didn't see any discounted pricing. My cashback is still pending.

 

Thanks for the responses. Probably should not have posted the poll just before going to sleep... wording is a little off, but seems like you got the gist of it

Jonathan360, I assumed people who ordered and have not registered their account with HP under any discount programs would be fine, which it appears so. I believe the program works, but in this case for some reason they have disqualified valid orders (orders from the full price home store made by accounts with access to EPP). Unless you or others think the terms and conditions exclude using accounts with access to EPP/other discounts even when they purchase from the full retail store(thus not combining discounts)?

dagamer34, can you login to HP and check? If your account has access to any programs they would show link near the top in the right hand column. From the normal store's landing page mine says '» Visit EPP Home & Home Office Store.'

 

I ordered the Envy15 on October 18th with the 25% BCB as well. I was the first that got my cashback cancelled from Bing.

I Do have an academic discount with HP but made absolutely sure that I did not combine any discounts.
I currently have a case open with Bing and I hope to find out what happend.
(Not likely, but one can hope

edit:
I also forgot to add that HP offered me 10% off my purchase as well, I refused.

 

This.

I called HP, and most did not know what I was talking about at first. I called the next day to see if I get a different response, and they seemed to know more of what I was talking about. At this point though, I was just going to cancel it, so I didn't listen to any of their "deals".

I asked Bing about it, they sent me an e-mail about an hour later stating that HP needs to report the purchase to Microsoft to qualify for CashBack.

Now I'm waiting to receive the package, at which point I'm calling HP for an RMA#, slapping that on the box and returning it. They said they couldn't re-route it and that I shouldn't just flat out refuse delivery for some reason. Not sure yet if I'll open it and keep it for a week or not.

 

I sent an email support questions to HP's home store. Live support wasn't up yet, but looks to be online now. I was trying to get an HP response in writing to the scenario of buying from the home store for BING cashback with an account that has access to EPP.

Support accessed through this page ( http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/feedback.do)
Select: Contact an HP Home & Home Office Store sales specialist
-> Drop Down 'Terms and Conditions Question'

I probably should have used a different email than my primary HP account, but I sent this support request into HP Home sales:

What I believe most of us thought the answer to this question based on published terms and conditions is:Yes you can get BING cashback from the HP home store even if your account has access to a discount program. The only condition is you cannot combine the discounts. We'll see what HP says the terms are...

 

Can anyone help me decipher this:

'Since you want to avail of the cash back, I suggest you place your order under the General Store account. '
I don't know if he/she is saying I can use my existing EPP account to access the General Store?

 

My cashback was cancelled entirely... I followed all the rules and conditions meticulously. The 25% amount appeared in my account in a matter of hours, but THE SAME DAY I got my netbook it was cancelled with no reason.

I am a member of the HPA (HP Academy), and it's my only registered email with HP. I used my account because it's the only one I have, but since I used the Bing cashback process it automatically DID NOT apply the HPA discount to the order... So, I went ahead with the order. However, I guess according to HP this still counts as fraud on my part (even though the HPA discount didn't apply). I sent several emails to bing with the latest response being:

"We are sorry to hear that the merchant, Hewlett Packard, has denied your cashback reward. We have provided you with you all the information we are able to share about this decision. We are unable to reverse the decision or provide you with any further details. Again, we truly apologize for any disappointment or frustration this has caused."

Wonderful. Looks like I'll be on the phone with HP now... I'll probably end up sending my netbook back. I refuse to let a company cheat a steal peoples money and get away with it. I was really looking forward to my new netbook... thanks for stomping on my hopes HP. I probably won't be dealing with them any further if I don't get my money.

 

Ardoth,

Several of us are in the same situation. I am still trying to salvage the deal, but like you will return my product if this can't be fixed soon. My 21 day clock will start in the next few days when my item arrives.

Did they really say you committed fraud?

Right now I am trying to get HP's email support to answer the question if HP.com accounts with access to a discount store (EPP, Academic, etc) can still use the 'Home and Home Office' store to participate in BING cashback promotions. I believe they will say yes, and with that confirm in writing from an HP source that we did nothing wrong. I don't know if that will be enough to get HP to fix our orders though... seems like it would be.

Unfortunately their support is outsourced (English as a second language), so my first attempt shown above got lost in translation as the rep answered the question in an imprecise way. I've tried a second email with less wording to hopefully elicit a clear concise response.

I would probably wait on contacting phone support. As many of us have been offered poor resolutions and until HP changes their internal stance they will probably only offer you the same resolution (10% or $100-$200).

You might contact Frosty, an admin on HP's community site:
http://www.thenextbench.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/7
He has responded to my thread on this topic on that forum and responded to email.

My thread on that forum:
http://www.thenextbench.com/t5/HP-Envy-Notebooks/HP-Canceling-Launch-Day-25-Bing-Cashback/td-p/49390
Maybe the others on this forum that attempted BING cashback with an HP account that has access to a discount program (but did not use that discount) should post in that thread?

Frosty did say there is a debate within HP on how to handle this...

 

I dont know why some guys tried to use the additional EPP & Academic discount anyways. It was clearly warned several times any additional coupons, codes, or special buys were not allowed.

Mine was bought through the HP store.. no coupons applied. Bing still showing pending:

October 18, 2009
HP Home & Home Office Store $162.50 Pending
Date of purchase:October 18, 2009
Purchase ID:4090051200XXXXX
Go to store
You can request your cashback reward in 45 days.

 

I still have it pending.

 

It's applied by default. In fact I tried to shut off the EPP last night for my account and couldn't find a way to do it, though admittedly I didn't look for very long. I'll just create a non-epp account for Black Friday if I buy anything.

 

DK.. if thats the case then that is stupid on HP's fault. Hopefully you can argue your case and recieve something the equivalent of the 25% cashback.

 

3 People in the poll above tried to combine cashback with one of the HP store discounts.

There are 5 of us who responded with the bottom option that paid the full retail price, but had the cashback canceled simply because our accounts are registered with access to one of the discount stores. We bought through the same retail store as everyone who selected the first option and received no discounts from the respective programs (EPP, Academic, Friends & Family).

Discount enabled accounts are being disqualified for BING cashback, but this was not and still is not disclosed by HP or BING. HP is sticking to their guns and denying cashback for these purchases even though no combining of discounts occurred.

It defies logic.

 

Efforts to get something in writing not going well...

They recommend you maintain two accounts with them in order to take advantage of BING discounts and any discounts they offer. Their retail store continues to accept orders with Bing cashback for accounts that will eventually have the cashback disqualified. They are a technology company, but can't maintain a single account for their online store?

 

Hmmm Frosty from the HP forum said an HP rep should be contacting me in the next day or so... wonder what is up.

 

So I finally got confirmation from Bing this morning after being thrown to five different reps in 1 week peroid. This is what they emailed me:

Thank you for contacting Bing cashback Customer Support. My name is Angela. I will be assisting you with Service Request 1115690890 regarding your missing cashback from HP Home & Home Office Store.
Unfortunately, the merchant decides what purchases are eligible for cashback and which are not. After further research we have found that Hp Home & Home Office Store has decided that your purchase is ineligible for cashback rewards. To ensure that future purchases qualify for Bing cashback, we encourage you to review article 17 (g) of the Microsoft Service Agreement:
http://help.live.com/help.aspx?mkt=...ype=topic&query=TOU_CONC_WLSearchCashback.htm

I sincerely apologize for any disappointment and inconvenience this may cause you.

Thank you for contacting Bing cashback Customer Support.

Warmest regards,
Angela

I knew that keeping in touch with Bing was not going to get me my 25%, but I was hoping they would come up with a definite answer to why a good amount of us were all of a sudden ineligible for the cashback.

Based on what peppe1 has compiled and the lack of communication from HP. I'm am thinking that HP did something to get our cashback revoked. Like peppe1 has said form the beginning, It may have something to do with our names being attached to EPP or HPA. Bing never gave me the run around and I mean look at the email. Bing took like a week to come to this conclusion and they are pointing the finger directly to HP. I have yet to hear that from HP that Bing did something wrong. This is not a he said she said, it is rather a, point the finger at the Culprit (HP). It makes sense to because HP is trying really hard to make us keep our Envy's by offering us 200 dollars off. Now why they hell would they do that If they didn't do something wrong?

 

HP rep never contacted me. Frosty, the Envy community admin had tried to arrange a call.

Anyway, RMA'd today.

Rep reviewed my account offered $150 to keep it. I said 25% or its going back...


@yay,
If you call HP phone support a rep should basically tell you what I posted here. Something like, 'Your bing cashback was cancelled becuase you have an EPP account' (enter the discount store you have registered to) or less directly 'your account does not qualify.'

 

Ok I just confirmed it on the phone.... HP is certainly at fault. I spoke to a rep and I went out guns blazing at them, poor little Ellen (the rep I spoke to).
This is bs. YOU GUYS are right!!!!! we were all denied cashback because Our names are in the HP system. By the very fact that we are eligible for other discounts, we are ineligible for BCB discounts.

The rep kept on talking about how I purchased this with my HPA discount, and I denied it. I told her to read my reciept to me. I asked her how much did I pay for my laptop? wait, What does it say on the reciept in the system in front of you. She said 1799. Duh!!!! Doesn't that prove to you already that I did not combine discounts. I asked her, do you know how much the envy sells for with HPA discount? She checks and said it is 1655. I say exactly, now if I used my discount woudln't my reciept say that I paid 1655, not the full price of 1799. Ahhhh, she was driving me mad, she is like a freakin robot that doesn't use logic or brain power, but just reads off the freakin computer screen. I even went as far as to read section 17 to her on the bing website.
And I asked her did I combine anything or not? obviously I did not. So I asked her once again...

Due to the very fact that my name is in the computer system, Am I being denied my Bing cashback?
She says no, you used your HPA account to purchase the laptop. I tell her the way HP's website is set up is through cookies. Once you open the web page, it will automatically log in for you and reflect all prices discounted. "I MADE ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY SURE THAT I WAS NOT LOGGED INTO MY ACCOUNT" I said it's obvious, look how much I paid for the laptop, 1799 right?
That means I paid full price without any discounts. And if I was logged into my account wouldn't the price automatically reflect on the webpage 1655?
Does it say on my reciept in front of you I paid 1655? she says no.

At this point I don't even know what to say to her, She then offers me the $200 discount. She tells me that is all she can to do for me because he BCB has already passed, fair enough. I say nope give me an RMA i'm done.
I tell her that HP needs to get their system checked and updated. I let her know that I am displeased with the service HP has offered me. I think by this time she finally understands what I was saying to her exactly about HPA and the full price that I paid.

Anyway, the only way I think that you can circumvent this problem is to;
- NOT USE ANY ACCOUNT THAT IS ATTACHED TO HP'S WEBSITE WITH DISCOUNT.
- USE A DIFFERENT EMAIL ADDRESS THAT IS NOT ATTACHED TO YOUR HP DISCOUNT.
- ORDER BY PHONE WITH A REPRESENTATIVE TO BE ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT YOUR ORDER IS NOT ATTACHED TO ANY DISCOUNTS.
-AVOID USING BCB AT ALL WITH HP.

 

Yeah but the problem is that the reps can't even expain to us why we got cancelled, they are like robots. She didn't even tell me, I literlly had to explain it to her.
At least we figured out what was wrong. I will notify the owners lounge.

 

Agreed. Complete BS. Same exact thing happened to me... I considered calling HP in some capacity, but after reading several failed attempts I think I'm just going to spit in their face and return the laptop... who cares if I lose $30 on shipping... at least I'll get my dignity back.

The terms and Conditions of this promotion were very clear, and we ALL followed them. I didn't try to use my HPA discount because it wouldn't let me (even if I wanted to). The excuses they are using are outright pathetic... what a shame. I've been a faithful HP user for 10 years. Now, I am done. 25% for ONE day isn't that much... are they really losing that much?! They would be much better off saving their name by following through, and thus increasing the reputation of the new machines and company. Now everyone hates HP and think the new releases are terrible.

 

For anyone still with hope:

 

I wonder if they are able to discern who the "affected consumers" are. For instance, are you only considered "affected" if you have contacted support first? Or, will I just automatically receive and email? If "Frosty" is telling the truth then I need to know exactly HOW and WHEN we will be receiving our Cashback.

 

Got the email a couple hours ago from BING support, and then an email from BING announcing my cashback has posted to the account.

Support:

Bing reinstatement:

Should cancel out when HP notifies them I returned the item, but if you keep the item you should get similar email as the above.

 

Yes, I have been sent the same email as well. It's unfortunate that I already sent mine back.
I am really glad that everything was sorted and worked out in the end. I can now put faith back into HP and Bing. I'm really hoping that HP has a black friday sale.

 

^ agreed. im looking to get either a dv3z or a dv8 - depending on which gives me the best % saved.... it should be an interesting black friday this year

 

Same here. Too bad they were slow on the draw, I would've given it to my dad, who needs a new lappy, and gotten the M15x anyway :/

 

Yeah, same here. I received the full 25% amount in my account again.

Good thing, because I was about 2 days away from RMA'ing my netbook... then I received the same random email from Bing. This was yesterday... I'm still a bit annoyed that this happened in the first place, however I can't complain... Of course, that's assuming they don't RE-cancel it for some other fake reason (especially if it's past the 21 day trial period - if that happens then there will really be some issues).

There's no fault on Bings side... but I will still give HP some credit where it's due, since they DID follow through on their promise to their customers after all. But again, NONE of this should have happened in the first place. Let's hope that the people who DID return their laptops make a statement to HP that it's not OK to pull this crap.