Does shopandearn.com.au ever work?
Oct 5, 2011, 11:37 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2001
Programs: IHG Diamond, HH Diamond, BW Diamond Select, Accor Silver, Marriott Gold
Posts: 4,227
Does shopandearn.com.au ever work?
A few months ago, I decided to make some ebay purchases through Virgin's shopping portal and see how it goes. I've used those kind of sites many times when in the USA to earn extra credit on AA, UA, etc, and seldom have a problem. They always have a dedicated email or web form to report ones that don't go through.
Virgin's site appears to be worse than useless. None of my purchases ever credited. I tried following up and it's a total pain. No web form for the information that they need. No dedicated email to enquire to either. I reported the problem and was asked to provide details, including "(email confirmation) for the above", so I did.
3 weeks later (!), they emailed back: "To assist us with this process could you please forward the "Proof or Purchase' in PDF or JPEG format, as the text format which you have sent to us earlier was unable to provide us with the required details." Inane. They asked for email confirmation in the first place and those never come in PDF or JPEG format! It's just text/HTML. Anyhow, I went onto ebay.com.au, screen-captured the proof of purchase and emailed it to them. That was almost 3 months ago. No reply and no points credited.
Does this site ever work properly? Is there some other email address to contact, as [email protected] clearly have no clue?
Virgin's site appears to be worse than useless. None of my purchases ever credited. I tried following up and it's a total pain. No web form for the information that they need. No dedicated email to enquire to either. I reported the problem and was asked to provide details, including "(email confirmation) for the above", so I did.
3 weeks later (!), they emailed back: "To assist us with this process could you please forward the "Proof or Purchase' in PDF or JPEG format, as the text format which you have sent to us earlier was unable to provide us with the required details." Inane. They asked for email confirmation in the first place and those never come in PDF or JPEG format! It's just text/HTML. Anyhow, I went onto ebay.com.au, screen-captured the proof of purchase and emailed it to them. That was almost 3 months ago. No reply and no points credited.
Does this site ever work properly? Is there some other email address to contact, as [email protected] clearly have no clue?
Oct 6, 2011, 3:57 pm
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Melbourne
Programs: ►QFWP/LTG►VA WP►HyattExpl.►HiltonGold►ALL Silver
Posts: 21,990
It's very hit and miss ... I HAVE GIVEN UP!.
See this appropriately titled thread from AFF:
See this appropriately titled thread from AFF:
Oct 12, 2011, 7:58 pm
#3
Company Representative - Virgin Australia
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Australia
Programs: Velocity Frequent Flyer
Posts: 35
e-store
Hi Kremmen,
Sorry to read of your frustrations regarding the newly named "e-store" (yours to Serfty!)
The key to earning points through the e-store partners is to ensure that you go to the e-store website everytime and follow the process correctly when making your purchase. Bookmarking particular pages won't allow for the correct tracking tags to be attached to your booking hence the issues you are having.
In saying that, you may have followed the process correctly and it still hasn't processed correctly - we are fully aware that this may occur.
We can appreciate your frustrations at the claiming points taking so long.
You should be able to contact the Velocity Member call centre and the team there will be able to assist, and they may request more information for it to be processed.
If you would like to PM me your velocity number and the vendor you purchased from, I can escalate this now.
Thanks
Sorry to read of your frustrations regarding the newly named "e-store" (yours to Serfty!)
The key to earning points through the e-store partners is to ensure that you go to the e-store website everytime and follow the process correctly when making your purchase. Bookmarking particular pages won't allow for the correct tracking tags to be attached to your booking hence the issues you are having.
In saying that, you may have followed the process correctly and it still hasn't processed correctly - we are fully aware that this may occur.
We can appreciate your frustrations at the claiming points taking so long.
You should be able to contact the Velocity Member call centre and the team there will be able to assist, and they may request more information for it to be processed.
If you would like to PM me your velocity number and the vendor you purchased from, I can escalate this now.
Thanks
Oct 13, 2011, 2:19 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2001
Programs: IHG Diamond, HH Diamond, BW Diamond Select, Accor Silver, Marriott Gold
Posts: 4,227
Have a look at ebates.com if you'd like an example of how to do it properly. e.g. Your site tells me my "favourite" store is ebay, so it obviously knows that's where I clicked through to. It could have remembered the dates and given unique transaction IDs to my visits and it could tell me those on the site, but it doesn't do anything useful like that.
Oct 18, 2011, 5:31 pm
#5
Company Representative - Virgin Australia
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Australia
Programs: Velocity Frequent Flyer
Posts: 35
No, the key to it is for Virgin Australia to ensure that its web site works correctly and that, when a partner fails to capture the purchase data, there is a clean, fast, efficient means to get credit.
Have a look at ebates.com if you'd like an example of how to do it properly. e.g. Your site tells me my "favourite" store is ebay, so it obviously knows that's where I clicked through to. It could have remembered the dates and given unique transaction IDs to my visits and it could tell me those on the site, but it doesn't do anything useful like that.
Have a look at ebates.com if you'd like an example of how to do it properly. e.g. Your site tells me my "favourite" store is ebay, so it obviously knows that's where I clicked through to. It could have remembered the dates and given unique transaction IDs to my visits and it could tell me those on the site, but it doesn't do anything useful like that.
The correct process for earning points:
1. Login
Login to Velocity Global eStore before you start shopping.
To ensure your Velocity Points are awarded to your Account, please make sure you have your internet browser cookies enabled
Cookies will track your path from Velocity Global eStore to the retailer’s website and enable Velocity to allocate the Points you earn from your purchase.
2. Shop Online
Browse through the categories and start shopping at your favourite retailers
3. Earn Points
Once you have made a purchase you will receive an email from us advising that your Points are pending, within 60 days your Points will be allocated to your Velocity Account.
Hope that helps!
Oct 19, 2011, 9:25 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2001
Programs: IHG Diamond, HH Diamond, BW Diamond Select, Accor Silver, Marriott Gold
Posts: 4,227
And it could have all ended amicably at that point, but you decided to add this ...
... To ensure your Velocity Points are awarded to your Account, please make sure you have your internet browser cookies enabled ...
Hope that helps!
Hope that helps!
It may come as a shock but, no, an attempt to blame the customer for your system's faults is not helpful.
I've used the equivalent shopping sites for a number of overseas airlines and Virgin Australia's is by far the worst I've ever come across. I don't know why you keep telling me to ensure cookies are enabled. I haven't turned cookies off. Many sites don't work at all without cookies, including all the other purchase tracking sites I've used successfully in the past. You might just as usefully tell me to breathe air.
The procedure for making claims when your system/ebay don't do it automatically is abysmal. Having to make such requests to your general email means we get replies from anonymous, untraceable agents, who make conflicting requests which waste their own time and ours. They have wasted more of my time, and their own, than the points are worth. The only helpful further comment you could have made would have been to report that you were fixing any of these issues.
Oct 19, 2011, 5:46 pm
#7
Company Representative - Virgin Australia
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Australia
Programs: Velocity Frequent Flyer
Posts: 35
Thanks for that.
And it could have all ended amicably at that point, but you decided to add this ...
Oh, yeah, that's as helpful as the proverbial fart in a spacesuit.
It may come as a shock but, no, an attempt to blame the customer for your system's faults is not helpful.
I've used the equivalent shopping sites for a number of overseas airlines and Virgin Australia's is by far the worst I've ever come across. I don't know why you keep telling me to ensure cookies are enabled. I haven't turned cookies off. Many sites don't work at all without cookies, including all the other purchase tracking sites I've used successfully in the past. You might just as usefully tell me to breathe air.
The procedure for making claims when your system/ebay don't do it automatically is abysmal. Having to make such requests to your general email means we get replies from anonymous, untraceable agents, who make conflicting requests which waste their own time and ours. They have wasted more of my time, and their own, than the points are worth. The only helpful further comment you could have made would have been to report that you were fixing any of these issues.
And it could have all ended amicably at that point, but you decided to add this ...
Oh, yeah, that's as helpful as the proverbial fart in a spacesuit.
It may come as a shock but, no, an attempt to blame the customer for your system's faults is not helpful.
I've used the equivalent shopping sites for a number of overseas airlines and Virgin Australia's is by far the worst I've ever come across. I don't know why you keep telling me to ensure cookies are enabled. I haven't turned cookies off. Many sites don't work at all without cookies, including all the other purchase tracking sites I've used successfully in the past. You might just as usefully tell me to breathe air.
The procedure for making claims when your system/ebay don't do it automatically is abysmal. Having to make such requests to your general email means we get replies from anonymous, untraceable agents, who make conflicting requests which waste their own time and ours. They have wasted more of my time, and their own, than the points are worth. The only helpful further comment you could have made would have been to report that you were fixing any of these issues.
We are always looking at ways of making processes better, so rest assured your words have been taken on board.
Oct 26, 2011, 7:17 am
#8
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: too far from the airport
Posts: 3,297
+1
You said it so well, Kremmen. We have completely given up on this site. Shop-and-NOT-Earn seem to be a bunch of dilettantes, and the points almost always have to be chased, often with no results. We tried them a few times a couple of years ago and gave up. Then a few months ago I found the above-mentioned thread on AFF and figured I'd give it one more try. Well, we're still waiting for the points for our small Dell purchase since mid-July. We contacted their so-called customer service twice, and each time they requested proof of purchase, which we sent twice, and we never heard anything again or seen any points. Meanwhile, when we had to make the next (much bigger) electronics purchase, we went to Dick Smith and got QF points automatically. What I don't understand is why DJ/Velocity is associated with such a fourth-rate e-commerce portal... It really doesn't make Velocity look good...
We have been regularly spending thousands of $$$ every year on US-based web sites (airlines, hotels, ebates, fatwallet, etc.) for more than a decade now, and, while there have been occasional hiccups - which were eventually resolved, we have never had such consistently sub-par results as with this site.
On the Velocity site there is a mention of Westfield.com.au joining the program soon. I don't know if it's meant to replace their current shopping partner, but I certainly hope they have a decently designed program, and a way to really resolve missing credit issues.
You said it so well, Kremmen. We have completely given up on this site. Shop-and-NOT-Earn seem to be a bunch of dilettantes, and the points almost always have to be chased, often with no results. We tried them a few times a couple of years ago and gave up. Then a few months ago I found the above-mentioned thread on AFF and figured I'd give it one more try. Well, we're still waiting for the points for our small Dell purchase since mid-July. We contacted their so-called customer service twice, and each time they requested proof of purchase, which we sent twice, and we never heard anything again or seen any points. Meanwhile, when we had to make the next (much bigger) electronics purchase, we went to Dick Smith and got QF points automatically. What I don't understand is why DJ/Velocity is associated with such a fourth-rate e-commerce portal... It really doesn't make Velocity look good...
We have been regularly spending thousands of $$$ every year on US-based web sites (airlines, hotels, ebates, fatwallet, etc.) for more than a decade now, and, while there have been occasional hiccups - which were eventually resolved, we have never had such consistently sub-par results as with this site.
On the Velocity site there is a mention of Westfield.com.au joining the program soon. I don't know if it's meant to replace their current shopping partner, but I certainly hope they have a decently designed program, and a way to really resolve missing credit issues.
Thanks for that.
And it could have all ended amicably at that point, but you decided to add this ...
Oh, yeah, that's as helpful as the proverbial fart in a spacesuit.
It may come as a shock but, no, an attempt to blame the customer for your system's faults is not helpful.
I've used the equivalent shopping sites for a number of overseas airlines and Virgin Australia's is by far the worst I've ever come across. I don't know why you keep telling me to ensure cookies are enabled. I haven't turned cookies off. Many sites don't work at all without cookies, including all the other purchase tracking sites I've used successfully in the past. You might just as usefully tell me to breathe air.
The procedure for making claims when your system/ebay don't do it automatically is abysmal. Having to make such requests to your general email means we get replies from anonymous, untraceable agents, who make conflicting requests which waste their own time and ours. They have wasted more of my time, and their own, than the points are worth. The only helpful further comment you could have made would have been to report that you were fixing any of these issues.
And it could have all ended amicably at that point, but you decided to add this ...
Oh, yeah, that's as helpful as the proverbial fart in a spacesuit.
It may come as a shock but, no, an attempt to blame the customer for your system's faults is not helpful.
I've used the equivalent shopping sites for a number of overseas airlines and Virgin Australia's is by far the worst I've ever come across. I don't know why you keep telling me to ensure cookies are enabled. I haven't turned cookies off. Many sites don't work at all without cookies, including all the other purchase tracking sites I've used successfully in the past. You might just as usefully tell me to breathe air.
The procedure for making claims when your system/ebay don't do it automatically is abysmal. Having to make such requests to your general email means we get replies from anonymous, untraceable agents, who make conflicting requests which waste their own time and ours. They have wasted more of my time, and their own, than the points are worth. The only helpful further comment you could have made would have been to report that you were fixing any of these issues.
Last edited by honu; Oct 26, 2011 at 7:28 am
Apr 19, 2012, 6:30 am
#10
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: too far from the airport
Posts: 3,297
Tried again after we were contacted by the Virgin rep at AFF: Apple posted without intervention (but it took more than 90 days instead of 60). Of our two December Dell purchases, one finally posted, after 90 days and sending the info at least twice, the other has not. Which reminds me, we'll have to contact them again...
It's still our online mall of last resort...
It's still our online mall of last resort...
Apr 19, 2012, 7:18 pm
#11
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: SYD
Posts: 160
Sorry to hear that, honu. I know I should study AFF's thread before posting my comment here, but one thing makes me a real wonder. I also have pending points. On the pending points screen, there is a sentence "The time it takes to register as ‘approved’ is determined entirely by the retailers and can take up to 60 days." Is it true? Is this all partner retailers' fault or Velocity is misleading its members by stating this way...?
Apr 23, 2012, 6:01 am
#12
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: too far from the airport
Posts: 3,297
Sorry to hear that, honu. I know I should study AFF's thread before posting my comment here, but one thing makes me a real wonder. I also have pending points. On the pending points screen, there is a sentence "The time it takes to register as ‘approved’ is determined entirely by the retailers and can take up to 60 days." Is it true? Is this all partner retailers' fault or Velocity is misleading its members by stating this way...?
