Tweeter, which is an electronics store specializing in home theaters and TVs, has started advertising what appears to be a remarkable offer: Spend $999.99 or more at the store, and get $500 in free gas.
This promotion appears on the front of their September catalog, and on their homepage. You need to follow the asterisk to page 32 of the catalog, or inside the website to find out the details.
*MOUSE PRINT:
Translation: You have to buy $2000 worth of gasoline over a 20 month period, in increments of $100 per month, in order to receive a monthly giftcard worth $25.
There are even more details spelled out here, including the fact that you must select the brand of gas you will buy in advance for the entire 20 month period. In addition, not mentioned is the fact that in months when you redeem the $25 giftcard, you actually have to buy $125 worth of gas to qualify for that month.
If the company wanted to be straight forward about the offer, and not bury an important detail in the fine print, the ad should have looked like this:
Similar promotions promising $500 of free gas based on the freebeegas.com program are also popping up at furniture stores (Jennifer Convertibles) and banks.
Thanks to David B. for submitting this example of mouse print.
Just last week, I purchased a “freebee gas” offer on Ebay. Unfortunately, AFTER I purchased it, I found that this is an offer promoted for free at stores around the country. Also, AFTER the purchase, I check BBB complaints in Florida about this company, and there are many. The company has an “unsatisfactory” rating. Customers are having trouble actually getting their rebates. I don’t mind picking out the brand of gasoline as I always go to the same station in my area. Nowadays, it’s very easy to buy $100.00 in gas per month. We’ll see how it works.
Freebee gas’ web site tells you to report anyone receiving a fee for the offer, so I reported the transaction. Big deal, it sounds like I’ve been ripped off!
I was thinking about this, what with gas being over $4 a gallon, $100 in gas every month is about what I’m already paying! It costs me about $50 to fill my tank, every time I fill it up… So, $100 is 2 fill ups in a month. I can do that. In fact, I usually have to fill my tank 3 times a month! So I’m already spending almost $150 every month in gas! And, since I already go to the same gas station every time, that’s not a problem either. I understand that your site is all about the fine print, and such, but this one doesn’t seem to be that big a deal. I think the hardest part for me would be remembering to keep my receipts to send in… Still, I want to thank you for bringing things like this to the attention of the general public. We normally don’t notice things like that. So…. Thanks! *smile*
“Just last week, I purchased a “freebee gas†offer on Ebay.”
Ouch!
I went to a time share come on that offered $300 worth of free gas and a free 3 day hotel stay if you listen to their presentation. We went and didn’t want the time share, just the freebies. The free gas is just as you mentioned. You have to spend $100 a month on gas, buy it at the same brand of station every time and send in receipts totaling $100 along with a coupon that has your account number on it. You then are supposed to get $25 dollars back each month for 12 months. I already spend $100 as I have 2 vehicles and every little bit helps.
I accept your premise that the offer could be more forthcoming in details. I don’t really think the fine print is really all that bad in this case. As other people have said it’s not too difficult to spend $100. a month on gas. Plus many people usually go to the same gas station anyway.
What I don’t like is fine print that makes it nearly impossible to take advantage of an offer. Such as if it were one fill up of $100 or more per month.
Even with our higher prices here in Canada it doesn’t take $100 to fill the average car’s fuel tank.
Whether the company actually comes through and pays the money is another story.
I have to agree with Nico’s sentiment on buying the freebee gas thing on eBay. Anyone that does that is just begging to get screwed.
tweeter and freebee gas can kiss my honkey *ss!
Of COURSE you have to buy gas with these offers–after all, they are offered by the gas companies to build loyalty during these times of unsettled prices. Most of us spend at least $100 per month in gas, so that’s no big deal. And getting $500 or whatever back (even at $25 a month) is STILL $500! There’s no rip-off here whatsoever. I just want to know how I can get one of these. 🙂
I received a $500 free gas offer from an Auto Transport Co. that I was considering using. But after I read a whole page of FINE PRINT from their web site I decided that even though the offer was do-able it just required too much. I then decided that if the company would offer something like this there services might be mired in fine print also. So, I found another company.
I agree with Bill and Kat – you basically get $25 back on every $100 you have to spend ANYWAY. Yeah, it takes a while to get it back and you have to stick to one gas station – but isn’t that what we do anyway?
Anyway, I found that sticking with the pro’s is what’s working for me. I followed Al Unser’s lead and started using Ethos FR in my car.
People will complain about anything. I hate ripoffs just like the next person, but people put crap on line without a clue. I got my certificate for $100 worth of free gas for buying 12 carwashes in advance. I took my $100 worth of receipts the 1st month and put a .41 cent stamp on it and got my $25 gas card about 5 weeks later. It took a little longer than I thought, but I got it.. I then took my little plastic card from Chevron and went and got my $25 worth of FREE gas, just the like retailer promoised. Thank you Anderson Car wash for giving me up to now $25 worth of free gas, and i plan on getting my $75 free gas over the next couple of months. Pam
I consider this deceptive because I expect to get a $500 gas card for my purchase, but all of the paperwork and hassles of having to track this over a period of years to get the money promised to me. And what happens if my gas station of choice goes out of business or merges over that time period?
I can understand getting a gas card with a $500 credit that is only good at one brand, but having to do all that extra work to only get back $25 per month is too much effort…and what if I send in my gas receipts 3 months later? Can I accumulate them and get 3 gas card or do I then have to wait another month to get the next one or, worse, lose my $25 for the months I skipped?
I got a $500 dollar gas redemption coupon from Ashley Furniture in Carle Place, NY. I have to say, if you follow the DIRECTIONS.. you have no problem. They explained it to me thoroughly at the store, and I read all the fine print. I spent over a 100 the first month easily (2 fillups), about 3 weeks later I got a 25 dollar gift card. I bought smokes and road beers with it.
God bless.
I received a $500 freebeegas card. I have been doing the program for six months now. Sending in $100 worth of receipts each month. Then they send me an email saying they received my info and that I am doing everything correct. However, I have never received a $25 gift card. I called the company and they said that I will receive the cards, but that they were swamped with the program. I truly beleive this program is a joke/fraud.
Our company tried using Freebeegas but had nothing but issues. We found another company that does the same thing without the $5 processing fee and they get the stuff out on time. I don’t think the program is a scam…I just think Freebeegas sucks at customer service. Besides, Freebeegas is being looked into by the Florida Attorney General.
In response to the gentleman with the Tweeter complaint…Do you not have anything better to do with your time?? Sorry to be so blunt, but you act as though Tweeter was telling you that you must spend $2000 on gas you would not otherwise purchase. Obviously you purchase gas every month or this offer would never have been enticing to you. If you are going to spend money on gas anyway, why not get $500 of it for free?? With regards to saving receipts…think of all the people who clip coupons and stand in the grocery aisles flipping through them, and making sure they follow all the requirements to save $0.50. Anyone who wants to give me $25 at a time, with the state of the economy today, all I can say is “THANK YOU.”
The problem is that the ads that say “$500 free gas” are misleading. Not all
advertisers are even bothering with mouseprint disclaimers describing the actual deal.
You make the trip to the retailer and end up having to follow all the rules, conditions
and terms to get your “free” gas. I for one don’t want to save my receipts and send
them anywhere. For those that do, great, but let’s tell people what they’re getting
into upfront.
I received a $250 Free Gas Certificate, registered it on line and have already received $50 in cards. I spend $100 anyway per month, so why not get a free gift card back? My first card was a little late in coming, so I called the customer service number, and the person apologized for running behind. I received the card within 2 days after that.
There was nothing shady about it. It clearly told me that it was a rebate program and that I had to buy $100 in gas per month to submit for my card. It also told me that if I miss a month, I can’t get that back, but the program keeps going. All I know is at the end of 10 months, I’ll have received $250. That’s $250 more than I would have had without the certificate, so I have no problem. I just wish I had one of the $500 ones that someone mentioned.
We booked a hotel stay at Expedia.com earlier this year. One of the perks was a $50 gas card if we used them. We got the card, but it took several weeks to get here, and had an expiration date that fell only 3 days after it arrived. Of course, I didn’t notice this until 5 days after we got it and I tried to use it to fill up. Ripoff.
Been sending in receipts from August through October, all on time and still have not received 1 Gift Card. They owe me $75 in gift cards so far. Company always tells me they’re overwhelmed and behind schedule. They haven’t followed through on any of their promises and that’s not acceptable. It’s almost X-mas and I needed those cards really bad right about now. I feel duped. Glad some of your were lucky and actually got yours. Now, that gas prices have dramatically dropped, I can’t even get to the $100 level anymore. Hope the Attorney General puts the smackdown on this garbage company!
I have now sent in 2 months worth of receipts and have not seen any gas cards as of yet. I am still hoping to get them, but am beginning to think it is a scam. If I end up not receiving the cards I will ask the car company to at least give me the $5 I spent. I was frustrated at the car dealership because the person that gave me the card did not understand how the card worked and told me that I would be able to get the gas cards right away by sending in all the receipts from that day on – it didn’t begin until the next month and as you can read it is done by the month.
I haven’t given up yet, but I am not too hopeful at this point.
Ditto to the above. About to waste 42 more cents to send receipts in, but not very optimistic, considering what I read.
the problem is that nobody is getting the gas cards. See all the threads on this. All of us that bought at Tweeter will never see the $500. File a claim with bankruptcy court. The Tweeter people were professional liquidators and knew exactly what they were doing. They did the same with their service contracts.
I bought over $1000 worth of furniture from Jennifer Convertibles in September 08. I sent gas receipts in for 3 months in a timely fashion, and have not received 1 gift card. I have filed a compalint with the Better Business Bureau against Jennifer Convertibles. I am hoping that since Madoff—CEO of Jennifer Convertibles—was arrested that I will soon receive my gas gift cards as promised from the [deleted]!
I am in the same boat. I have filed, and urge everyone to file complaints with the Florida Attorney General. Go to the web site, it only takes a few minutes. There are hundreds of complaints so far, and the have been really slow to respond. They are getting flooded now, and staring to wake up. The BBB is another place to respond. The have received over 100 complaints so far. You call them and they send out a form. Call the Attorney General every week as I have done, to keep the pressure on them. If we all do it, they will be handling us full time!
Lastly, you can go to tampabay.com. and read the articles. They do not have much good to say about the Attorney Generals office, and its poor response to this problem. They also reported the owner, Cyrstal Clark is due into her next court case in the end of February for [allegedly] selling drugs to an undercover police officer.
We did the program for this freebee gas. I sent in the coupons for 4 months and my receipts as I was supposed to. I have never received my $100. free gas voucher and I have followed all the directions and received their verification emails. It is a fake deal-their 800 number is a wrong number. Mine was from listening to the Rainsoft presentation.
Got my “deal” through Tweeter. Been sending in receipts since October, but with the exception of a few emails telling me that they received my paperwork, I have gotten nothing from them. Sent the March receipts in and just had the letter come back marked “REFUSED – UNABLE TO FORWARD.” Guess they followed Tweeter down the drain. I’m only out the original $5 and $2.46 in postage. Could have been worse.
I got screwed by Tweeter. They go bankrupt and then the Gasoline Redemption Center in Largo,Fla. disappeared. My first bunch of receipts and other paperwork got a fat return to sender. Say goodbye to $500. My Sony Bravia works great but they(all involved) suck.