Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

I prefer to order a crapload of preorders with a couple codes all at once (or all in one order, if you have Prime). If you decide you don't want that game later, just cancel part of your order.

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

was able to get a new code last night. thanks for the heads up.

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

Got a code finally and locked in GT5 for $51.29. Can't beat that.

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

It seems that there's a limit of one code per day now. Thanks Freeloaders! -rolleyes-

Anyway, you can keep one available in your account by adding it to an order but not placing the order (even if you remove the item, the 10% discount should still be active). So I try to always keep one in my account just in case I should need two in a day or in case they run out.

---This is weird, though : I just went to buy Williams Collection Pinball for the 360. They're selling it for $29.99 instead of MSRP of $39.99. I put it in my cart and the previously entered code for 10% came off immediately, dropping it to $26.99. Then I added today's code for me (for later use, I presumed) and it dropped it another $3.00 to $23.99. Great deal, no doubt but I wonder why I could stack it. I suppose someone in CS gave me a $3 credit before, but that would be a heck of a coincidence. Either way, it's something to look out for.

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

Boy, that guy was on to something. The Amazon discount has been discontinued. What a bummer, that's been my video game life-blood for the past six months. Consider those of us who paid for the ECA as officially double screwed. Maybe triple screwed.

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

My apologies for signing up and using one coupon.

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

Was the free membership the cause or the sign of the end? What was in it for Amazon anyway?

I do hope everyone that paid made back their initial investment. I only got to use two codes for a total of $8 or slightly less.

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

Nice. I signed up about four hours after the codes died the first time (and I actually signed up after reading the article in GI) and never got one. I guess I might as well cancel now, since I sure don't want to be charged a renewal fee (I despise auto-renew.) and while I didn't join to abuse a coupon code, I am also not getting much out of my membership. .....Where do I go to cancel? maybe I already did...

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

I think I used two codes...or it might have been one code on two games. :(

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

I'm getting an email a day!

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

CAG is reporting that it is YMMV, but a lot of them there have had amazon apply the 10 percent to their order from emailing them and letting them know that you are an ECA member.

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

I spent $20 on the membership to get $25 off the Beatles bundle, so no complaints here. That's all I've used it for--but I do have a few codes squirreled away that will hopefully still work the next time I try to use one. Guess I'll know for sure when I preorder Modern Warfare 2 next week.

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

That was sarcastic and more tongue-in-cheek than it actually read. I'd gladly take one code-per-day now.

I most definately got my $20 out of this promotion, but it seems like they sold it as a 10% Amazon game discount with no strings. It's the fact that they later gave it away and overwhelmed Amazon with abuse that makes me mad. Had it stayed a paid program, for people who actually used it and cared about it, I think it would have lasted. Just like the free CD or DVD that remains unopened in your closet, when something has no cost, people will often treat it like it has no worth.

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

I'll admit -- I signed up when it became free, solely because of the free Amazon coupons. I got to use them once (I saved $20 on a hard drive and Halo: ODST).

Sorry to ruin it for everyone else. :sad:

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

I also got in one coupon before they went away. Oh well, my membership will artificially boost their numbers until I let it lapse in a year. :lol:

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

Well that blows. I know I didn't help. :sad: The first couple of stacks were unintentional, but the last few definitely were. I paid though and I did get my $20 back in the end.

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

Just make sure you don't have auto-renewal still active or they will be the ones :lol:

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

Damn, I can't believe I missed the codes. I'm one of the losers that actually paid for this membership. I've only used 4 codes too.

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

What a joke....I'm calling BS on this for Amazon not being able to fix their own system and not allow multiple codes to stack....like a lot of people here, I didn't pay for a membership, but these codes are the only reason I bothered to sign up in the first place....
Whatever, I luckily still had my one (and only) code valid in my account that I finally used today when New SMB Wii showed up as a Quick Pick in my Gold Box....only $39.94 plus a $10 credit once it ships!

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

Looked up a thread on the ECA board last night and supposedly their IT staff is trying to work something out with Amazon to bring the codes back. Sounds like on top of people stacking codes, there were also some ebaying them. The whole thing's a little annoying, as I paid for a membership and the ECA's official stance is that they won't refund membership fees because it would allow people to join, use the benefits and then get their money back. Pretty shady considering they're ok with people joining and then being unable to use the benefits that were promised. Still, I ordered enough when it was active to pretty much break even.

Well, that sucks. I too paid for membership.

What they should do is create one unique code per account that can only be used by that account. No stacking, no ebaying can happen then.

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

Ooh, that is an interesting development. I just assumed they could tie the code to your account and cross-check when redeemed to make sure they weren't getting transferred.

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

Yeah, that would be terrible... much worse than giving out memberships for free.

Every single deal site had the free ECA membership codes. Who can blame Amazon for terminating the codes? If they wanted to give 10% off to anyone with a pulse, why go through a middleman? Heck, I'll pay Amazon 20 bucks directly to get a discount.

Say what you will, but the membership fee at least created some kind of barrier to entry. The stacking was likely the final nail in the coffin, but the discovery of the stacking was largely because of people hoarding due to the codes running out so quickly due to the large influx of new members.

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

Yeah, I'm not sure why this was such a big ordeal. I paid for a membership. I got my use (and then some) and I always assumed they had some restrictions in place to prevent selling the codes since they specifically warn against it as ground for account termination. But it seems pretty simple to tie the codes to an Amazon account if they wanted to do so, like using Prime or something. They'd need some cooperation from Amazon but it would prevent selling and stacking just to have it tied to your account.

Re: Free 1 year membership to the eca
 

As implemented, there's nothing to tie your ECA account to any other website's account, Amazon or other.