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Samsung offer for $250 visa gift card on new Galaxy 8 scam?

Your Verizon ad telling us we can get a $250 visa gift card when we buy a new Galaxy 8 is very effective. I feel for it. The salesperson even made me think it was real by sending in the receipt to SamsungPay for me. What the ad doesn't say, is that you have to pay the full retail price of the phone in order to quality for the gift card. You cant finance the phone, and the ad and salesperson will say nothing about this until you've given them your monsy. So,.... do the math; Pay $746 for the phone using the 24 month installment plan, or $960 to buy it outright. Financing the phone saves you $214. So if you want the $250 gift card, you have to pay $214 in order to get $250 from Samsung, giving you a net savings of $36 dollars. Nice advertising scam folks!!!! Why cant you be honest and upfront with your advertising. Do you really think you'll earn our loyalty playing these games?

Comments

deloused

That math is way off. If the phone is financed through the device payment plan then you are paying the full retail price, as shown here- Samsung Galaxy S8 | Specs, Pricing, Reviews | Verizon Wireless

If bought outright the retail cost is $756. Financing the phone saves you $0, as 24 payments of $31.50 is exactly the same as the full retail cost. Both buying outright in one lump sum or completing the purchase by financing the device through the payment program are both acceptable methods to qualify for the promotion.

The gift card promotion does have terms and conditions to qualify for the offer, so looking beyond an ad and reading through those details is always a good idea to understand how it works.

DBJH

This is a response to Deloused. The math is right. The Verizon ad is a scam. I am financing the phone, and yes, 24 payments of $31.50 costs me $756, but if I finance the phone, Samsung disqualifies me for the promotion. Read the terms of the promotion - section #3, subsection #e, "loan agreements or leases do not quality and will not be accepted". Installment purchase of the phone is a "loan", and in order to quality for the promotion you have to pay the full retail price of the phone $960. So to get the promotion, you have to pay over $200 more to get $250 back. Samsung has rejected my submission for the claim 2 times under the terms. Brilliant collusion between Verizon and Samsung. Verizon posts the ad to get sales, gives the money to Samsung, and Samsung gives the money back to the customer under as a "promotion saving them $250". This should be illegal.

DBJH

More information for Deloused, as it appears that even Verizon staff do not understand how this works. Here's the link showing the fake promotion. https://www.verizonwireless.com/smartphones/samsung-galaxy-note-8/

This clearly states that the full retail price of the phone is $960 but the design of the add shows the $250 gift card to get people to think they save $250. They don't. Financing the phone costs $746. So, $960-$746 = $214 MORE that has to be paid UP FRONT to qualify for Samsung's TWO PAGE terms and conditions which states that loan agreements do not quality. Its sad that even Verizon employees do not understand how this really works. Only the senior sales and advertising people really understand how Verizon and Samsung designed the handoff of the money from the customer, to Verizon, to Samsung, and back to the customer as "Promotion". Making this even more frustrating is the fact that Samsung requires the customer to manipulate the multi page paper bill in order to photo it and send ALL the required information in a single image, within a short timeframe to qualify. They list several items of information that MUST appear in the image; Date, address, price of the phone, etc, so you have to carefully fold up the paper pages of the receipt to get all the data in one image, and if you don't do this properly, they reject the submission WITHOUT telling you which of the conditions you did not meet, and when you try to submit it again, you get a message that you reached the maximum number of submissions permitted for the "promotion", and it takes 3 days to get the rejection. They obviously hired some pretty smart people to design this promotion to make it impossible to get through the process successfully before the "promotion end date". Nice job!!

deloused

The retail price is $756 for the Galaxy S8, (its shown right on the link in my first response to your post. You also posted your original question in the Galaxy S8 Forum. The link you posted is for a different phone, the Note 8, which has a different (higher retail price of $960 and higher monthly installment charges of $40/month.)

Check your math again at either device link, the financed price is exactly the same as full retail ($40x34=$960) for the Note 8 or $31.50x24=$756 for the S8. I’m not sure how or why you keep calculating a $200 price difference between financing and full retail cost as the numbers are correct on the link you posted for the Note 8 just as it is on the one I posted for the S8.

Financing the device does not disqualify a consumer from Samsung Rewards Promos, as it would still be a qualified device purchase as indicated in their terms and conditions here- https://www.samsung.com/us/samsung-pay/rewards-terms-and-conditions/

“Earning Points through Purchase of Select Samsung Products- Participant will receive Points based upon the final cost paid at check-out (whether paid in full or approved for Samsung financing) on Qualified Product Purchases.”

The terms and conditions you quoted regarding submitting your purchase information are stating that 1) Samsung wants you to submit your proof of purchase. 2) You need to submit your Equipment Purchase RECEIPT Document as the proof, they won’t accept the Loan Document as the proof they require.

The Receipt Document is pretty small so it would fit in a photo nicely, if you submit other documents related to your purchase such as a Loan Agreement that wouldn’t qualify.

DBJH

Thanks for responding again. Appreciate the follow-up. I posted the wrong link in my frustration with this process. I'm sure its not intended to be difficult, but I'm sure finding it that way. Since Verizon/Samsung wont provide any information on why my submissions have been rejected, I assumed it was because of the 24-payment process being considered ineligible for the $250 gift card. There as several requirements that have to be met when making the photo, as you know, you have to piece together the pricing from page #1, and hide the credit card info on page #2, and provide a piece of page #3 showing the store location and date. Its like an origami exercise :-) Then the final frustration, the image has to be smaller than 5K AND it needs to be clear. Please note that the Samsung Pay application DOES NOT allow us to take a photo of the origami'ed receipt pages and save the photo to the phone so that we can determine if the image is 5K in size or less. The application requires you to take a photo during the submission process. So, when, 3 days later, we get the rejection, we are left wondering;

Was it:

Missing information?

Too blury

Too Big

Or not purchased in the manner qualifying for the gift card. If Verizon would JUST SAY WHATS WRONG, it would help.

And, you only get one or two chances to submit requests, until you get the message that the maximum number of submittals have been reached. Please understand that this process is horrific and leaves me wondering if its purposely designed to frustrate the customer in just giving up on trying anymore. I will try and call the Samsung Pay support people to see if they will let me try again. The first submittal was submitted by the Verizon sales person that sold me the phone. If he couldn't make this work, what are my chances??? Understand my frustration???????????????

rpiehl

DBJH deloused Thought I would chime in as I just received my 50k points and redeemed them for $250 in Samsung Rewards Card. I purchased my Galaxy S8 in an official Verizon Store on Sunday (11/12) and uploaded my receipt the same day. To be clear, I did NOT pay full retail price for the phone. I paid off my iPhone 6s and upgraded to the Galaxy S8, under agreement to pay the $31.50/mo. for 24 months ($756 total).

The second page of my Verizon receipt says that this is not considered a lease, but is a retail purchase agreement (hence not being disqualified). After reading this post, I called Samsung Pay (twice) and confirmed with two different reps that as long as the Galaxy is purchased at a Verizon store, it does not matter if you agree to purchase the phone via 24 monthly payments or pay full price.

I received my points today (11/14) after calling the specific promotion phone number (1-888-869-0638) as directed by a Samsung Pay representative last night. I did wait on hold for an absurd 48 minutes, however the rep was able to pull my receipt photo submission and approve it immediately- I also kept her on the line until the points were uploaded - so worth the long hold time.

Just make sure to take your time arranging your receipt to show all of the required info. in one picture and take a good picture.

kathy65793

When I went to that page that is what I saw about the 50k and trading that in for the $250.

Enroll in Samsung Rewards & get 50K free Samsung Reward Points redeemable for a $250 Visa Gift Card or available Samsung Pay catalogue items. Must redeem in Samsung Pay app before 9 PDT on 11/22/2017. For more details, go to https://www.samsung.com/us/samsung-pay/

I am so confused myself but from what I read on Verizon site then going to Samsung site I do believe that rpiehl does have it right

DBJH

Thanks for responding. Nice to hear that some people are finding a way to qualify. My Verison salesperson did my original submission, so you'd think it would be right, but it got rejected, with no specific reason why, leaving me guessing. I tried three times to call in to Samsung, staying connected 45 minutes each time, no luck. Still prevented from submitting another receipt, with the app saying I reached the maximum allowed. Ive never seen a process so convoluted and impossible to use. I cant help but get the feeling they don't want many customers to be able to get their $250. Waiting for support window to open again and call,... but i'm really tired of this.

DBJH

Thanks. Cant tell how clear the photo is because they don't allow you to see the image saved on your phone. Also cant tell if its under 5K in size. I tried the 3-page origami folding approach with the invoice and failed, and so did my Verizon salesperson, and failed. Perhaps someone in Japan can do it :smileyhappy: Every other application I have used to submit receipts allows me to take a photo, save it to the phone, and submit the image after verifying it is clear and readable. I wonder why Samsung wanted to make it so impossible. If someone would answer the phone before November 22, I might find out why they wont accept my receipt.

greenlevel

Hi, I am in no way an expert on this. I used the small receipt on the Verizon site under billing > documents and receipts. It is about the size of a regular cash register receipt. It has the address, date, price, some code for the phone and the total price. Samsung accepted it after three days. I called, stayed on hold for one and a half hours, but the rep checked and said it was ok. Then I got the confirmation email. So, maybe this will help someone, because we really were not given in detailed instructions.

derickrose92

Unless they somehow deny you after sending you the email saying that within 14 days, you receive the points, I had no issues. Mind you, it's only been 5 days since I got that email but I took the picture of the receipt, submitted it, and they approved it so clearly financing the phone isn't an issue. Not to mention, when I paid for the down payment on my S8, and chose the payments, beside both the full retail price and installment, was the $250 visa.....if financing the phone DQ'd you then you'd think they wouldn't list the promotion beside each option if you only qualified for it by buying the phone full price.

MICSCH48

This process is very unfortunate. I'm also experiencing what others are, an incredibly difficult process. I'm on the phone now with (888) 869-0638. I've been on the phone 1 hour and 14 minutes now. I'm stubborn like that however; like everyone, we all have limits.

I'm going to allow this call to continue until I hit the two hour mark and if I don't get a response by then, I'm going to take a screenshot before I hang up showing the amount of time on hold. I don't care about the money at this point, but Samsung and Verizon should. I believe the best response, is to hit them in the pocket which is exactly what I'm going to do.

First, I will cancel my smart pay account and never use it again. Next, I'll be contacting Verizon before the return period ends for me to return this phone, and I will never purchase Samsung electronics from here on out!

Now I realize I'm only one person so, that means nothing to Samsung or Verizon however; if everyone took this approach to what's happening here, companies like this would be very careful about playing games like This!

Look what happened in the 80's when "The New Coca" was introduced. People were outraged that Coca-Cola had the audacity to do such a thing. Needless to say, Coca-Cola heard the people and fixed that mess in short order!

23 more minutes to go and Samsung has lost a customer for life!

We all deserve better than this!

They would be nothing without us!

Good luck to everyone...

SILLYLILIPUTIAN

I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I suggest everyone do the same. This is a clear case of purposely deceiving consumers in order to sell a product.

Filing a complaint takes only a few minutes. Much less time than calling the Samsung number, that has put everyone on hold for 45 minutes to over an hour.

You can file a complaint here, the BBB usually responds within 2 days.BBB Online Complaint System | Get Started

derickrose92

I honestly don't understand why everyone is having such a difficult time with this....its not a scam or a way to con people into buying devices. I got my S8 on the 9th of November, on the 14th my receipt was accepted and two days ago I received my 50K points and redeemed a 200$ rewards card....call the BBB for what? I got my points so what' the issue with you guys?

derickrose92

Received my points two days ago. Not a scam, and reporting to the BBB claiming it is a scam...just stop.

LAMOCKLER

I got the email that my receipt was declined. So I re-sent and got the email, that it was approved. Still no points, so I called last night.

After 2 hours on hold, I was told that my receipt should not have been approved because Sam's club is not on the approved vendor list. I argued that yes, they were and was told that Sam's is on the NOT approved list and I will not be receiving the points.

I asked if I would receive the points if I showed them that Sam's is, in fact, on the approved vendor list. The answer was no and was told there is nothing else I can do. The receipt should not have been approved, I will not get the points, there is no recourse.

deloused

In the offer terms and conditions listed here- https://www.samsungrewards.com/verizon102617/public/fulfillment/rules.pdf

Sam’s Club is on the list of the retailers where purchases do not qualify

DigitalAlien

It is not just you... I was on hold with that "Customer Service" Number for 30 minutes and 40 minutes. I followed instructions exactly, uploaded receipt from my phone, and received confirmation it uploaded but never a confirmation that it was accepted. This same thing happened to my sister. I called Samsung Customer Service a month ago now and have sent the receipt to them twice now via email (at their request) and still waiting on them to give me my points. Had I known it was going to be this big of a problem I would have return the Samsung Phone and gotten a Pixel 2. Who knows, depending on how things go I might get rid of Samsung for good. I like there phone but this kind of customer service is pathetic.

Verizon_Support

DigitalAlien, we would never want you to miss out on a promotion. Have you tried to reach out to Samsung directly? You can reach Samsung Rewards Team at 888-869-0638.

AlbertoR_VZW

If my response answered your question please click the “Correct Answer” button under my response. This ensures others can benefit from our conversation. Thanks in advance for your help with this!!

JAMKRZ27

I've had the same issue as DigialAllen....bought an S8 on 11/4/17, uploaded the receipt per the directions on 11/6 and got an email that it was received and I'd hear back in 3 days. Fast forward a week, heard nothing so i call and wait on hold for 70 minutes and finally said [removed] it, and hung up. Waited another week, same thing. So finally I call late at night and get someone from Samsung who couldn't help at all but gave me a new phone number to try. Called the new number on 11/23 and got someone who said email I should email the receipt and she started a ticket number. I thought now we're getting somewhere. WRONG! it's been "under review by their third party reviewers" ever since 11/23. I call every single week (just called) and get the same garbage. I guess I'll try yet again early next week.

Lesson learned, I guess I'm not going to use Samsung anymore either. Or maybe Verizon. I don't know. At the time I bought this, Best Buy had the same phone for $200 off. I figured well, I might as well get it from the Verizon store and save a bit more using the promotion. Big mistake. Looking back I would gladly have paid $50 to avoid all this aggravation. Or just gotten a Pixel 2.

Content removed as required by the Verizon Wireless Terms of Service.

Message edited by Verizon Moderator.

GadgetMutt

It's a scam and one of the oldest in the book, it's called false advertising. Here's my story:

So I bought a new Samsung Note 8 with a big $250 back from Samsung at the bottom of the page. However every attempt I make at actually getting the rewards needed to get the $250 is a joke.

Finding the actual page needed to do the upload is a nightmare and cleverly hidden
Waited 6 weeks and nothing
Sent email to address requesting help and it was rejected for "bad attachment". The bad attachment was my proof of purchase.
Sent email to customercare who advised me to send proof of purchase. Tried again, same result.
Zipped up all attachments and sent that. Again rejected.

Sorry but this is exactly the sort of nonsense a company pulls when they don't want to actually honor their published rebates/rewards.

Conclusion, SamsungRewards is a scam.

*** Actual Reject Message *** customercare@samsungrewards.com host mx.postdirect.com [206.165.245.160] SMTP error from remote mail server after end of data: 550 5.7.1 bad attachment

Update: Tried sending attachments (PDFs) from work, same result.

SILLYLILIPUTIAN

I got my rejection letter from the BBB. The reason it was rejected was that the Verizon website is not considered a qualifying retailer. Which is odd, because it was on the Verizon website, that was advertising the rebate that I found out about the rebate. This is a rip off from Samsung with Verizon as an accomplice. (that being said, Verizon has offered to offset some of the difference in my monthly bill). is still

This complaint is still open with the Better Business Bureau. I plan on being the itch that will not go away until I get what I was promised.

Droid4Life981

Experiencing the same disenchanting process as others in this thread. For those who successfully received your Samsung Reward points, congratulations!

However, there are many of us who are still receiving the runaround and being scammed out of the $250 promotion offer over a month later. In spite of:

adhering to the promotion rules and deadlines
receiving the initial receipt acknowledgement
calling the Samsung Rewards Team Escalation number (888-869-0638) for a 40+ minute hold
receiving a case number for escalation
sending multiple follow-up emails
requesting Verizon Wireless to assist in escalating and honoring a promotion featured on their website.

I've been a Verizon Wireless customer for 20 years, and a Motorola customer for last 3 phones. Was looking to upgrade to my 4th Motorola, but Verizon Wireless associate steered me toward the more expensive Samsung Galaxy Note8 that offered the $250 Visa card.

And if you run Google search on "samsung rebate scam", the results abound of Samsung customers being misled and defrauded on promotional rebates. I just never envisioned that vzw_customer_support would enable this practice to their customers. Any other recourse?

GadgetMutt

I like most are thoroughly shocked that Verizon and Samsung, both good companies in my book, are perpetuating this scam on their customers. Me, I spent 10 minutes filling out a formal complaint on the California State Attorney's General website.

On that note, if there is an attorney out there, this would make a great class action lawsuit. I don't like litigating but this is obvious fraud on the part of Verizon and Samsung.

derickrose92

A lawsuit for what? What scam are you talking about? I legit bought my kids Christmas gift with the $250 I got from this so called scam. I don't understand how you guys are having issues....

HOLSTER418

Glad you got your points but I'm getting the same runaround as others. Them claiming they'll get back to me within 3-5 business days and I never hear from them, then when I call again they claim they don't have my email on file or don't have my submission or didn't get my receipt. This has been going on since Nov 15th. Even involved Verizon and they got the same joke answer from them, that they'll escalate it and I'll hear from them in 3-5 business days. Yeah right. Clearly it is a scam if it's happening to so many of us

HOLSTER418

I don't understand how there are issues either when I did everything exactly as they required. But there are.

JAMKRZ27

Well, called again, over 2 weeks later. Still in the "3rd Party Verification Process". Ridiculous. I uploaded my receipt on 11/6/17 and emailed it also a couple weeks after that. I actually need a new TV, and I like the Samsung TV's, but after this I think Samsung will be going on my S-list. I've had two people say "i see you emailed your receipt, you'll be getting your 50k points.". Yeah, sure. I guess I'll call back yet again next week.

JASBAB92

Is this a put on ? I finally got my final confirmation after times to fulfillment@helloworldfulfillment.com...I was skeptical at One point until I became angry and then I had a come to Jesus with some muky-muk in New Jersey

Droid4Life981

Would be interested to see how this develops, JASBAB92! It sounds painfully successful, but would definitely like to hear the happily-ever-after of seeing 50,000 points added to your Samsung Rewards account for the credit after 2 months!

HelloWorld Fulfillment continues to deny honoring the promotion after 7 email exchanges and a phone call. They keep recycling the same excuses: Missed the submission deadline; never received the receipt; email the receipt and we'll review it; oops, the emailed receipt missed the deadline; escalate to management; the original receipt missed the submission deadline.

vzw_customer_support - This latest debacle purchasing this Samsung Galaxy Note8 from a Verizon Wireless store has been the worst experience ever. I didn't even want this phone--I wanted a next-gen Motorola phone--but your sales associate steered me toward this more expensive Samsung phone (and some accessories I didn't want/need). You have been gracious for these inconveniences, but this scam promotion is over the top.

You hosted this bogus promotion right on your purchase page. I've spent considerable time and patience working with the promoter to provide them what they needed because their broken website failed to adequately handle this promotion, while they continue to muster up one lame excuse after another.

Who at Verizon Wireless can contact Samsung, or their promoter HelloWorld Fulfillment, to help me and your other loyal customers receive the 50,000 points (that we would still need to convert to a $250 Visa card) for purchasing our Samsung phones and abiding by the promotion rules? Thank you!

JAMKRZ27

Called yet again. Same ol story. I told the guy at Samsung that I was really looking forward to having this same conversation with another person there next week. I asked him if he thought I'd have this resolved in the next two years. He laughed and said that it would be resolved by then. I asked if he could promise that. He said he was confident that it would be resolved before then. I have my doubts....oh well, i can probably start copying/pasting these replys on here soon too, just to save some time.

JASBAB92

Well thanks for your updates...I'm in receipt today of the local Verizon

150.00 prepaid MasterCard and IMMEDIATELY spent every penny save 3 cents at

AT&T for my new Phone and Service.

As always I check my Samsung points available balance daily before the 1st

coffee and I'm due to rattle HelloWorlds cage tomorrow...again. I'm always

hoping to get the SAME representative 2 weeks in a row but ive not been so

fortunate!

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