Additional Docker promos
 

I know the JCPenneys/Docker promo was posted but here are 2 other variants. Keep in mind the purchases need to be made by Sunday 6/17 for Macys and Sat. 6/16 for Kohls as they are designed to be Father's Day promos.
Macys: $100 purchase of pants or shorts/ get a free year of golf. Details are available by: www.tlc-rewards.com/dockersgolf07
Kohls: $100 purchase of apparel and accessories/ get 2-night hotel stay plus 2 dinner entrees. Details: www.dockershotelbreak.com

Too good to be true?
 

Anyone ever used these before? Is there very limited availability or something? It almost seems to good to be true. For the hotel stays, I am thinking I might go buy some Dockers, which I don't wear, put them on Ebay, then use the 2 night hotel stay...anyone ever use these or the golf certs? Or is this a new promotion?

Wish the free flight promo would return. The relative I had buy for my second ticket bought didn't buy enough before tax. Very frustrating! Now I can do only one bumprun.

BTW, is there a list of the most traveled dates (preferably between specific airports) somewhere?

I would guess that, for the most part companies, that offers these bonuses, do not realize how big of a risk they are taking. Ralph's, a supermarket chain, contracted with a company to provide 2 free nights. I forget the purchase requirements, and someone gave me there offer. The 2 free nights would have been in a not so great hotel, if you could ever get it booked.
Well, that failed miserably, but eventually people ended up with a 2 night Marriott Award, bookable through Marriott for a large variety of Marriott branded hotels.

So, if you trust the company that is offering the bonus, then I would recommend taking them up on it. If their contractor fails to provide, then you can probably get something from the well known chain (Kohl's, Macy's, etc)

For that Ralph's promo years ago, I recently received a $100 Visa gift card as settlement from a class action suit. No complaints in the end on that one (never did use the Ralphs hotel cert as it ended up being worthless to me).

This Kohl's Dockers hotel promo does sound too good to be true, but at least Mr.Steph58 will get some new clothes out of it cause I plan to give it a try.

Did you get $100 in addition to the 2 nights at Marriott?

Apparently, the hotel deal requires you to list first, second, and third choices, like the airline deal did, but I could find nothing to say that they had to be in different cities. Could one pick, say, three different hotels in Manhattan? If so, this is a really good deal, a better one than the airfare one for me.

Wow, there are some really decent properties in NY (Hilton, Marriott). Well worth the $100 of quality Dockers apparel.
They must be taking a loss on that.

Kohl's is also offering a $10 gift card (good June 17-30) for every $50 spent through June 16th. So if you actually shop at Kohl's on a regular basis, that makes this offer even better. I notice the T&C state "participating Kohl's stores" how do you know which ones are? This could be a really great deal for NYC hotels, there are some nice ones listed on there.

I, too, am trying the Kohl's offer for the hotel. The list of properties In DC is impressive also. These hotels seem to be around $200-$300 per night normally. My plan in to put in 3 DC hotels with three different dates in the same week (April 2008). I like the idea of contacting Kohl's if there is trouble with the offer. The fine print says something about being liable for hotel tax. I hope this would not apply to us.

What the heck, I'll try it too. Two 3* or 4* hotel nights and two dinners in NYC for $100 can't be beat. I'm anticipating some trouble it getting to actually work, but it's worth a try.^

Thanks OP.
Just opted for the Docker/Kohl's hotel deal.

So I went out to Kohl's to get the deal I got to 99.96 and asked if they would charge me an extra 4 cents on one of the shirts. They said no so i did a little more shopping I ended up getting 104 and change and 105 and change. Really a great deal since now i have $40 to send in the next couple weeks.

Another example of overly enthusiastic marketing? How much will they loose on this offer per customer? A skilled FTer can easily get a $500 hotel, or a $1000 flight out of these deals. And even Joe Sixpack's stay at the Des Moines Travelodge will cost them a bunch.

thanks for the post. Wish i would have seen it sooner, it is 11:20 pm and I don't think Kohls is open anymore:(
"between 6/7/2007 and 6/16/2007 (in-store only). "
wish I could buy on-line. thanks anyway

Here's my story: I picked out three items (navy blue blazer, pants and a really nice belt) totaling $124.98. At the register, I applied for a Kohl's card. That gave me a 15% discount or $18.75 off. With tax of $8.23 added, the grand total was $114.46. The cashier gave me a 15% off coupon for my next purchase and $20 Kohl's cash. The store was clean, the Kohl's employees were top notch service professionals and the clothing selection (i.e. Chaps and Levi's) seemed pretty darned good! If this promotion was designed to introduce Kohl's to new shoppers and impress them, they did a great job!

If the promo does come through with a two night stay at a Manhattan Hilton and two dinner entrees, I will be infinitely more impressed.^^

Of course, YMMV!

Now, I just need to find a new girlfriend that wants to spend a weekend in New York!

Perhaps they have negotiated low rates to pay the hotels. I've read where Marriott, for example, might reimburse its hotels only abour $30 for a $200 hotel bill when the customer used points.

I couldn't believe how low their Dockers prices were yesterday, had to buy 2 shorts and 3 golf shirts and then still add something else to get to $100 (had been even cheaper before I got there due to a special sale!) Plus the $20 Kohl's Cash, and *hopefully* the 2-night stay coupon... I only wish I had paid better attention to this promo so I could have planned better. I did buy everything in duplicate on 2 different receipts (that size issue...), would be worth it to get a store credit or something similar for the returns (without receipt) to be able to have a friend help me with this promo... I can think of about 101 uses for the hotel/meal certs with our son's wedding being next year :)

Guess we'll see how it all works out, thanks for this thread!

No, I didn't know about the 2 nights at Marriott until I read it on here just now.

My total at Kohl's came to $100.96 pretax. I was sort of doing the math in my head and knew it was close. Almost everything was 50% off and then I saw the $20 Kohl's cash cert when I got home. I think they're using the marketing strategy that people won't end up redeeming or will forget about their certs, like with rebates. A huge percentage of people don't bother. Of course that wouldn't apply to anyone on FT!

Okay...here's the deal on the free hotel night offer at Kohl's. I am familiar about how these types of programs work. First off, this offer is not a scam of any kind. Dockers would never mess with one of their biggest customers (Kohl's) and jeapardize their relationship by funding or supporting a "bad offer."

So how do they do it???

If you do the math you'll quickly see that Dockers (or Kohls) can't make any money selling $100 in pants and giving away a gift-with-purchase (GWP) that has a value of as much as $500 (if you are lucky enough to book the best hotel on the list). The promotion company (Kohls and Dockers) are banking on the fact that "breakage" will occur. History suggests that only 30% - 40% of consumers will ever take the time to book their free trip. That means as many as 70% of consumers will spend the $100 on Dockers apparel, but never redeem the free offer. As a result, the promotion company can charge Dockers a small fee for each certificate redeemed based on the breakage model described above. The only loser in this deal is the promotion company (Vendor) if redemption comes in higher than expected.

That's why the promotion company adds "steps" in the program to increase "breakage" - i/e. must mail receipt to fulfillment center to get a reservation form, then fill out reservation form and send back to fulfillment center, then choose 3 hotels and 3 different dates, an so forth. All of these steps are designed to increase breakage so the promotion company can make money. The biggest breakage factor is time. History again suggests that if the offer is valid for one (1) year, many consumers will simply file away the free travel certificate and forget about it until its expired.

The promotion company rarely gets much of a break on hotel charges from the participating properties. The bottom line is that if you take the trip, the promotion company pays. Sure they negotiate favorable rates, but not $30 rooms like some of you suggest. In essesnce, they go out and buy rooms that would have gone unsold anyway because occupancy rates are low. If occupancy rates are high and they can't obtain a low rate, they will simply book you in your second or third choice property. I wouldn't bank on staying at the Hilton Times Square folks!! It looks nice on the hotel list, but rarely available. Set your sites on the Courtyard or Ramada Inn and you won't be disappointed.

This offer is really for the person who is flexible and enjoys a good deal at a reasonable cost (i/e. buy $100 in Dockers). As long as you are very flexible in your travel plans, and can adjust your schedule based on when the rooms and dates are available, you will go on vacation as promised. If you go into this offer thinking that you'll stay in Times Square over New Years, or Panama City FL over spring break, you'll be very disappointed.

In short, this deal is real and you WILL get one of your three choices, provided you are flexible. Again, Dockers and the promotion company would never attempt to scam a Kohl's customer, nor do they want to upset them in any way.

By the way, the JCPenneys free airfare deal is run the same way as the free hote ofer. It's the same promotion company and works very much the same way. Persoanlly I don't like the free airfare offer because it makes it difficult to book a second ticket for the person(s) you may be travelling with, especially if fares are high for the second ticket, or worse yet unavailable. You WILL NOT earn frequesnt flyer miles or qualification miles for your free trip (same with the hotel offer). Also, ever wonder why there are only 10 cities you can travel to?? It's because those cities are almost always serviced by AirTran, Southwest or other low-cost acrriers where there are usually low fares to be found throughout the year. If you asked to go to Miami in December, you might be told that Chicago (your 2nd choice is available). Why...because Southwest flies to Chicago Midway and perhaps offered a very low fare at the same time you were looking to go to Miami.

Anyway, that's the deal!

Boeing 727, perhaps you would know:

Short of receiving the 'original receipt', what other tracking of the original purchase may occur? Some things I bought need to be exchanged, which would be easier with at least a copy of the receipt -- but I am concerned that any computer reference to the original transaction would show exhanges (usually showing as returns of the original merchandise and re-purchase of new) past the 6/16 deadline (if this makes any sense!)

Just a reminder: For the Kohls deal, you need to submit your receipts within the next two weeks

Another reminder: While YMMV, I received $20 Kohls Cash, which must be used by today.

BUT... you can fly FROM lots of cities, even some very small one, such as Decatur, IL where I think only one carrier services. And since WN and AirTran (I think) do not offer connecting flight with legacy carriers, they would have to use major airlines. I know Champaign, IL was also a Fly From city. Only served by AA and NW.

As others state, your 3 destinations should be 2 high cost cities, and the third the one you want.

727,
you are right about the "breakage". For me, I won't be using the $20 store credits since I don't have a Kohls' cc (also declined to get one when offered at the counter). But I will try hard to use the hotel deal.

Macy's Dockers and Golf
 

Did anyone recieve the golf certs yet?

You don't need the Kohl's credit card to use them. I used the cert and paid with a credit card for the rest of my purchase.

I used the $20 Kohl's cash for a pair of $29.99 Levi's jeans, worn below the waist, like the cool cats do, these days. $20 off, then 15% off, add sales tax and I was out the door for $9.14.^

Has anyone gotten their hotel voucher/book yet? I am at week 7 so I guess they have another week to get it to me.

Nope. Haven't seen mine yet either. Sent it in right away. I did call 2 weeks ago, and they said it hadn't been processed yet, and that I should call back in 2 weeks.... guess it's about that time.

Isn't there another thread on the Kohls/Hotel version of this deal? Seems it would be useful for people to post their choices and what they received so that other people can optimize their selections. Of course, keeping this all in one place would be useful!

I received my Hotel packet under the Kohls promotion last week. It contained a list of participating hotels and a voucher (with serial number) that needs to be completed at returned with your top three hotel choices and top three dates. Upon receipt, they contact you with availability. I'm saving mine until the spring.

I still have not received mine yet. I am eager to try using the promotion.

I got my packets today.

They say they will get back within 14 days of the request. Not bad. Has anyone made the request and what was result.

I am thinking of looking at fares for destinations/dates I want and put in the higher fare options for my 2nd and 3rd choice. And hopefully get my first choice.

Also wonder if the 1st choice ends up being $30 more than 2nd choice if they will allow one to pay the diff. to get first choice?

Reports please!

do they promise to honor all requests. I can see people picking three weekends in nice nyc hotels...or at least that's what i am going to do if i ever get my voucher.

LOL, same here!

I just called for a status update. Mine has not been mailed. They now say it's going to be 9-10 weeks, or in other words, 'another week or two'. Considering that they told me it would be another week or two back in July, this is really annoying.

They basically read from a script that tells them to continually apologize and blame the delay on the larger than expected number of submissions. Albeit nice and friendly, the CSRs are not very helpful. Almost makes me want to take a walk over to Fanueil Hall and have a chat with the TLC manager in person!

If we have to abide by all the T&C's, shouldn't they as well? It clearly states 8-10 weeks for processing. I would be willing to be a little more patient, but I was hoping to use this for a trip in September. Guess that's not going to happen now.

Golf offer - any email address?
 

Does anyone have an email address for the golf offer?

I'm trying to get a list of courses by mail and the phone agent swears there is no list to mail even though the form states call this number for a list by mail. They claim if the certificate hasn't been mailed to you, that they can't see you in the system and to wait another 1 1/2 weeks.

Gosh if it takes 30 minutes to get through just to ask a simple question of how to get a list by mail, I'd hate to see how long it actually takes to book a course. Pretty disappointing so far.

Interesting. They usually pick right up when I choose #3 for the Kohls/hotel version. And I've called 3 times now -- every 2 weeks! I would assume it's the same bank of operators answering all three lines, right?

Ok well I called again today, was on hold for about 7 minutes, not too bad. Anyway I have been waiting 9 weeks. The lady asked me to wait another two weeks. She told me it wasn't in the system yet, which was a concern. However she assured me they have plent of mail bags in the back that are unopened. I'll give them there two weeks and then I'll call Dockers corporate.

I received my packet today.
On the booking request form it does say at the bottom: "The Promoter and TLC give no guarantee that the hotels will be available for your preferred stay dates."
I called a CSR to ask about putting overlapping dates- e.g. mon tues for choice 1 and tues wed for choice 2. She said no, but I am going to try it on one of my choices.
I am submitting for April 2008 in Washington DC. All of the hotels are nice Marriott properties; I just do not want to end up on a weekend. (My vacation runs from April 12-20th).

10 weeks and still no certs and now they say another 1-2 more weeks. Emails to [email protected] bounce!