mercinary
November 30th, 2004, 10:31 AM
Today I almost bought into a new type of "get something for free" scheme. I'm not going as far as saying that this is a scam, but I wanted to put some facts out there for anyone who was considering joining the program.
The link I was emailed is:
http://therestaurantreportcard.producttestpanel.com/rsrt/register.php?
The offer claims to give you a $500 gift card for just signing up to be a food critic. Unless you read the terms and conditions closely, you truely do not get a feel for what the website is all about.
#1: They can (and will) sell your imformation to telemarketers & junk-mail companies:
Right to Sell/License Data: CRC may sell and/or license the personal information that you provide to us to third party businesses. These businesses may include providers of direct marketing services and applications, including lookup and reference, data enhancement, suppression and validation, email marketing, and telemarketing.
#2: The gift card isn't free at all. In fact, I don't think it has anything to do with being a critic. The website gives out the offers
To receive the free membership incentive gift card you must complete all of the steps outlined herein. Prospective members must: (a) submit their zip code to determine geographic eligibility; (b) register with a valid and deliverable email address; (c) submit accurate contact and demographic information including a mailing address and phone number; (d) select a restaurant in their area where they would be willing to eat; (e) acquire two advertiser action points from each of TRRC's three Offer Groups for a total of six advertiser action points. Action points are earned when a TRRC user fully completes an advertiser offer after accessing the offer by clicking on a link provided on the TRRC website or from the TRRC member area. Attempting to gain action points in any way other than clicking on the advertiser links provided by TRRC will result in the cancellation of your TRRC membership. Please understand that this means completing two offers from the Top Offers group, two offers from the Prime Offers group, and two offers from the Premium Offers group; (f) you must complete and return an Incentive Program Redemption Form after accumulating the required action points. The form may be downloaded from the member area after you have earned six points. Please understand that failure to supply current and accurate address and demographic information on the redemption form may hinder our ability to deliver the incentive gift card to you.
-Merc
The link I was emailed is:
http://therestaurantreportcard.producttestpanel.com/rsrt/register.php?
The offer claims to give you a $500 gift card for just signing up to be a food critic. Unless you read the terms and conditions closely, you truely do not get a feel for what the website is all about.
#1: They can (and will) sell your imformation to telemarketers & junk-mail companies:
Right to Sell/License Data: CRC may sell and/or license the personal information that you provide to us to third party businesses. These businesses may include providers of direct marketing services and applications, including lookup and reference, data enhancement, suppression and validation, email marketing, and telemarketing.
#2: The gift card isn't free at all. In fact, I don't think it has anything to do with being a critic. The website gives out the offers
To receive the free membership incentive gift card you must complete all of the steps outlined herein. Prospective members must: (a) submit their zip code to determine geographic eligibility; (b) register with a valid and deliverable email address; (c) submit accurate contact and demographic information including a mailing address and phone number; (d) select a restaurant in their area where they would be willing to eat; (e) acquire two advertiser action points from each of TRRC's three Offer Groups for a total of six advertiser action points. Action points are earned when a TRRC user fully completes an advertiser offer after accessing the offer by clicking on a link provided on the TRRC website or from the TRRC member area. Attempting to gain action points in any way other than clicking on the advertiser links provided by TRRC will result in the cancellation of your TRRC membership. Please understand that this means completing two offers from the Top Offers group, two offers from the Prime Offers group, and two offers from the Premium Offers group; (f) you must complete and return an Incentive Program Redemption Form after accumulating the required action points. The form may be downloaded from the member area after you have earned six points. Please understand that failure to supply current and accurate address and demographic information on the redemption form may hinder our ability to deliver the incentive gift card to you.
-Merc