A review of the offers at freedvds.com, etc.
 

I know this has been talked about in some of the other threads, so I thought I'd take the plunge and start the list. Please, only post reviews (ie: security, ease of cancellation, any tips, etc.) of the offers you've completed...save all other comments for other threads.

<b>TrimLife (All Offers)</b> - excellent offer, minus the fact you have to pay for shipping. The site was secure. Was able to use a web certificate. Cancellation was a breeze. Just reply to the email you receive upon enrollment. I don't think it was necessary, but I stated that my "doctor" said taking trimlife with my current medication wasn't recommended. I received a prompt reply (within 1 business day) saying they were sorry to lose my business but that they cancelled my membership. I would suggest emailing them a few days later to verify that your account had been cancelled. I still received some of the free samples though.

<b>The Good Cook</b> - As with most book offers, these are really easy. They offer the "Bill Me" option which is even better. Upon completing the order form I waited about 20 minutes then logged in to their web site and cancelled my order. Very easy.

<b>Homeworks Plus</b> - I had heard some bad things about this offer but tried it anyways. Didn't accept my WC, so I had to use a "real" CC. Upon completing the order I waited an hour then called the 800 number listed on their web site to cancel. Cancellation was a breeze. I'm not sure if it was necessary, but I said that my "wife" had signed us up for this offer and I didn't think we needed it. 4 days later I emailed them to confirm my cancellation.

Yeah, but just be careful with the Homeworks Plus and other similar offers through the Dealpass network. Not sure what others' experiences have been, but I have signed up for a bunch of them through the free DVD sites and even after I am very careful about cancelling them, they have still managed to charge me for the monthly fee on a handful of them. It especially sucked because it was on my PayPal debit card and they for some reason let it go through despite the fact I had a zero balance. Can't tell you the number of times I had to call them up and argue the fact that I did in fact cancel. They are still good deals, but if you do them, be sure to keep very good records of when you signed up, when you cancelled and who you spoke too when you cancelled. That helps a hell of a lot in case they do "accidentally" try to charge you the monthly membership fee.

I actually had one woman tell me there was no way I had cancelled because it wasn't in their system and then went to talk to her supervisor for 10 minutes, came back and told me they could cancel it, but they weren't going to give me a refund. So I got pissed off, said I would dispute it with my cc company and then tried calling back an hour later. Got a different customer service agent who when I told her of the previous call, laughed and refunded the amount without an argument.

Oh, the MP3 Stealth deal is a good offer they have added more recently. I gave it a try and it charged me the $1 one-day trial and the points were credited instantly. Very easy to cancel by just logging into their billing site and cancelling it and it's a nice way to get 220 points. Not a lot of points, but if you need some, give it a try.

All offers are explained and talked about at length in this forum:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=292312

That FAQ is a bit out-of-date, and many of the newer offers either aren't covered in any depth or aren't listed at all. I think thread's a good idea and will probably add to it later in the week.

Yeah, just try navigating that sucker. And like ben12 said, much of the info in the FAQ is now way out of date. It's still a good primer, but for new offers, it's not much help. Neither is trying to wade through 90+ pages of the thread to find information.

I've been following that thread basically since it was started and I still find it hard to find the information in there that I want. I can't imagine it's easy for someone visiting it for the first time to navigate. It's been suggested in that thread a couple times that maybe a new FAQ or even a separate area for free DVD site threads would be good and I have to agree.

For instance, that FAQ has no info on MP3Stealth and several other offers that are newer that i have found to be good, easy ways to get more points. This thread is a good start for listing those at least.

MP3 Stealth
 

I am having a hard time finding where exactly to cancel this thing. Any help?

Re: MP3 Stealth
 

Go to this web site: http://www.Epinoixltd.com. It's their billing site and then click on customer service at the top, scroll down and look for link to cancel.

You can't cancel immediately after signing up I think. I tried to right after I signed up and had some trouble, went back like an hour later and it went through fine. Hope that helps.

Re: MP3 Stealth
 

Thanks, badger, that did the trick.

I can add:

Credit Card offers: Pick the one with the most points and do it. Then forget about the rest. Completing too many credit card applications WILL affect your credit rating negatively.

AOL: Any AOL offer is worth doing. Their reps who handle cancellations can be a little pushy. I had one account that was a bitch to cancel - they ended up charging my PayPal account for two consecutive months, but I was able to get the charges reversed both times.

Columbia House: Always easy to deal with. The TV club is a better offer than the regular DVD club - $3.99 for one DVD (and 600 points), then you can cancel.

Shopping4Money: I had a good experience with this offer over at FreeDVD4Me, but some have complained that they have been charged and had a hard time getting the charges reversed. As with all the offers, make sure you read everything and understand how long the trial periods are, when and how you can cancel, hidden charges, etc.

WinAnyLotto/FitMD: I think this is from the same company as Shopping4Money, but all they take is Visa so I've never done them.

Video Professor: Kind of pricey for the points, but I've never heard anybody complain about cancelling.

NY Times: Did this over at FreeDVD4Me. Painless. If you sign up for Sunday delivery only, they'll charge you something like $12 initially. But if you cancel after receiving one paper, they reverse the $12 and charge you $2.90 for the one you received.

Homeworks Plus / Essentials / ValueMax / Simple Escapes / 24ProtectPlus / PremiereHealthPlus / Connections / Privacy Plus: I haven't had a bad experience with any of the DealPass deals, although others have. Just make sure you keep track of everything you do, write down the membership number you're issued (sometimes you'll only see it once when you sign up, or buried somewhere in your welcome email), don't forget to cancel, etc. Doing too many at one time is a sure recepie for disaster.

FreeBidding / Psychic Realm / Psychics4Free: I'm a big fan of these. Very straightforward. You can cancel on-line. Some have complained that they got charged, but I think they're the type of people who aren't very good at scooting around the Internet.

Ebay: Easy, painless. Just make sure you place a ridiculous bid on something (bid $5 for a Criterion DVD).

Consumer Info: Had no problem with this one.

FreeBidding.com: Had no problem with this one.

Bargain.com: Didn't have a problem with this one. Their salespeople can be super-pushy, so if you can't be firm and say "No thanks, no thanks, no thanks" when cancelling, you might want to avoid it.

NetMarket: Haven't tried it, but I hear it's similar to Bargain.com - pushy salespeople.

Looking at all of these again I realize how many points I could rack up with another membership to FreeDVDs. But I'd rather not kill the golden goose by squeezing too hard for more eggs...

I don't see this offer in my list. Does anyone know the offer ID? (You see the Offer ID in the URL when you click on an offer).

Also, anybody do the Cybershops offers?

thought this thread was worthy of a bump...

And of course with these offers, you can always send the package back and get the points for free.

NY Times: Did this over at FreeDVD4Me. Painless. If you sign up for Sunday delivery only, they'll charge you something like $12 initially. But if you cancel after receiving one paper, they reverse the $12 and charge you $2.90 for the one you received. [/QUOTE]

I told the guy that I'd been fired when he asked why I was unsubscribing, and he didnt even charge me for the one paper. Now of course YMMV - but that might be an angle to try and play.

Wow!!! In 1 page of this thread I've seen more useful informaton than in 10 pages in the Mega-90-page thread!!!!

I'd like to take this opportunity to put in another vote for giving these Free___.com sites their own subforum.
We could have 1 thread for each and every offer available.

I think that would be super, and make it VERY easy for everyone to share/read info.

People who decide to go on tangents for many consecutive posts will at least be limited to 1 thread among many so that not everyone is subject ALL rantings!!

Just my 2 bits!

I agree that a sub-forum, or at least separate threads for each site, would help. I know some people think it's just as easy to get info from the massive thread, but lately it just seems to be people bitching about PlanetFreeStuff/YourFreeDVDs, or talking about their NetFlip checks. The thread also gets very hard to follow when people are talking about 6 different sites at the same time.

Here's another vote for a separate section for this info. That other thread is huge and very out-of-date (and way off topic now as others have noted). Keep this one going at least. It's my first time and at least I've found some RECENT info!

xpfshost

wow - great info guys! thanks.

quick question in regards to the AOL offers - I noticed that you can request that they send you the cd instead of downloading the software right away. Does your free trial start as soon as you request the cd or after you install the software and log in?

Software's not required for the trial. Just get a screen name and provide your credit card. When your credit card is accepted, that's when your free trial starts.

You don't need to download or install anything. Unless you really want to use AOL during your free trial.

Gotcha - so would you say it's safe to assume, that because I didn't use my credit card and only requested the software via snail mail, I didn't start my free trial and will therefore, not have to cancel?

I never did get an email or anything from AOL indicating that I had begun my free trial (although I'm not sure they would even do that).

I've never received anything from AOL confirming my memberships. Did you receive a screen name? And I've never done an AOL offer than didn't require you to submit a credit card. Did you get any points?

Yes, I received the points...and no, I didn't submit a credit card.

freebidding question
 

OK - I may be really clueless - but how the hell do i cancel with freebidding?

all of the customer service links appear to be dead. Am I missing something?

Thanks in advance folks.

eddie

GOOD BOOK CLUB
 

I joined this at searchcactus with the bill me method.does anyone know how long it will take to credit and what other book clubs have the bill me option? thank you for any help.

Sounds like you got lucky. I've had a couple of flukey freebies come my way, and some bizarro "why can't I complete this offer?" moments. It's a wash...

Try the following sites to cancel freebidding:

https://www.billingsupport.com/cancel2.html
or
http://www.billingsupport.com/ (click on Cancel Membership on left)

Bad poster! Off topic! [swats nose with newspaper]
:)