A unique ‘verified’ compliance program to curb escalating customer complaints about cash-back and gift promotions is now available in Australia.
 
Supported by agencies representing companies such as Panasonic, Suncorp, NRMA and Boehringer-Ingelheim, the program – The Winning Process, developed by Net Response – ensures adequate funding and prizes are held in trust at all times to guarantee delivery to consumers with an industry leading average of seven days turnaround from validation of despatch.
 
“This compares outstandingly to the weeks, months or even non-delivery experienced by many complainants about some of the top name brands such as Hewlett Packard, Acer and JVC,” says Stephanie Dale, managing partner of Net Response.
 
“The need to introduce a confidence-restoring program with the buying public was emphasised by the Office of Fair Trading’s recent announcement of a 140 per cent increase in complaints concerning cash-back offers in 2008. Added to that, the ACCC reported receiving more than 190 complaints about HP’s cash-back and gift promotions in the past year.”
 
According to Consumer group Choice, cash-back schemes have redemption rates as low as one per cent, either because people don’t bother to submit a claim, or are deemed to have failed to have complied with strict and often burdensome claim requirements.
 
Choice said that retailers, already suffering from the economic downturn, are also losing business and customer goodwill because of manufacturers and distributors defaulting on consumer competitions and cash-backs.
 
“Although it is our suppliers who are at fault, we have customers complain that, after months of waiting, they have not received their promised cash back or the prize they had been told they’d won hadn’t arrived,” said the manager of one of Australia’s leading electronic outlets.
 
“When the customer gets no satisfaction, we on the front line often take the heat. As a result some regular customers go so far as to change brands. Many move their business elsewhere which erodes our bottom line even further,” he said.