(FREE) ECA Membership, Amazon Codes are down for time being

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emeraldgsl

emeraldgsl

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No begging for codes. Beggars will be permabanned on the spot.

[img-l=5198]6006[/img-l]Get 10% off all your Amazon gaming purchases for a year and receive other special benefits by joining the ECA, a non-profit advocacy organization which is dedicated to defending and advancing the interests of gamers. Codes aren't available at the moment, unknown ETA when/if they'll be back.

icon4.gif
Join the ECA $14.99 (college students & military), others $19.99

(Free memberships available, see below.)

Complete list of discounts/benfits [hiddenlist]
Discounted games sales/rental offerings from:

  • Amazon.com - download a code from the Benefits section to use at Amazon.com towards 10% off your games purchases. If you buy three or more games a year, this benefit alone makes being a member worth it.
  • Direct2Drive.com - download your code from the ECA's exclusive member benefits section to use at Direct2Drive.com towards 10% off your game purchases.Direct2Drive's easy and secure system lets you download full pc games, arcade games, anime, game guides, and comics from home instead of dealing with waiting time and inventory stock-outs. Check out thier site for the best way to buy!
  • GameFly - is offering ECA members a 30-day free trial to their video game rental service.
  • Good Old Games - a leading destination for download-to-own DRM-free classic PC games, is offering members 20% off of new game purchases.
  • Newegg/Patriot Gaming - get $10 off when you buy select memory sticks.
Discounted admission/access offerings from:

  • NYComiCon - is offering members a discount on the price of admission.
  • Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) - members receive 10% off the price of admission to the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, Washington for pre-registrants.
  • TooManyGames - get $1 off entry to gaming community events.
  • VGXPO - America's Video Game Expo is offering 10% discounted admission.
Discounted/Free Trial offerings from:

  • GameJobs - ECA members receive free resume uploads at GameJobs.com, the leading job board and career site serving the games business.
  • Hyatt Hotels - members receive a 5-10% discount on room rates at Hyatt Hotels throughout the US and Canada.
  • Prima Publishing - get 10% off of over 500 hint book and strategy guides.
  • Warcry - ECA members are invited to take advantage of a 30-day free trial membership in the Warcry Network's "Choice" program.
[/hiddenlist]

[quote name='dallascowboys']If you use the code GIMAG on theeca.com (found in an article of the new Crackdown GI issue), you can receive a free, full 1 year membership (I think it's only for new accounts). You do need a credit card to sign up, but if you cancel before the 1 year is up, you won't be charged. This is a great deal for the free amazon discount. Be sure to use the coupon soon, because the article doesn't mention the expiration for the coupon.
Enjoy guys!
dallascowboys

P.S. Now all of CAG can have an ECA membership!

Also, after you enter your CC number and the coupon, the page after lets you check everything before you submit your order. That way you know that the coupon worked and you won't be charged.

-----------------------

LinkinPrime Edit:

Check your spam filters for the confirmation link, if you signed up for the newsletter you will get 2 emails, one for the newsletter and one for the membership. For some reason the newsletter one showed up in my inbox and the membership was in my junk mail folder, so keep an eye out.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='slickkill77']You weren't kidding. Ok I found this on page 28. All credit goes to jacknicklson for the original faq (1-6).



ECA/Amazon FAQ

1. I can't get into the member's area/can't find out where to pay. Help!

After the initial registration email, you should receive a second email linking you to a payment page. You can request that this email be resent if need be. Make sure to check your junk/spam folders as well.

2. Will this work on consoles?

No. Games and most accessories only. Physical point cards are also eligible, but not digital point codes.

3. Do these work on Quick Picks/Deals of the Day/Trade-in Coupons?

Yes, Yes, and Yes!

4. How do I get my Quick Picks to show games?

http://betterelevation.com/2009/02/1...old-box-trick/
This should be a basis to get it to work for whatever you are interested in. It is not a science though so be persistent.

5. Does this work on Pre-orders?

Yes, it does. The price will also automatically take off 10% of whatever the final selling point is due to the Pre-Price Guarantee that Amazon offers.

6. I have heard that these offers have expired/been removed, is this true?

There have been a few instances where codes expired or they ran out but The ECA and Amazon have usually rectified the situation within a week or so. Also, the Terms of Service state that any membership benefits can change or be canceled without any notice so keep that in mind when signing up.


7. Double and Triple stacking

This is no longer possible. Don't bother trying. Originally when the ECA would run out of codes and switch to a new batch members were able to stack codes. A glitch in Amazon's system would keep older codes in your account, and it was possible to add codes from the newer batches to obtain more than 10% off. Amazon found out about this, hence the reason the codes are currently down/ being worked on.

8. Begging/Asking for codes

This is not allowed. If you beg/ask for a code you will be permabanned. No questions asked.

9. Selling codes

Definitely a big no no. If you do this, you will get reported to the ECA and your account will be shut down.

10. If I make a pre-order with a code a cancel it, will the code still work?
Yes. Codes should remain in your account but again they will no longer stack. It is one code per game. Amazon and the ECA are working on codes tied into our accounts but this option is not yet available.

11. If I already have a pre-order made, can I add a 10% off code to it?

You can not add a anything to an order once it is made except a gift card. You can try emailing Amazon customer support and ask them to add it. Generally they have no issue doing this for you but it's a crap shoot.

12. What if I already have a pre-order with the old codes applied? Should I be worried?

We don't know definitively, but chances are good that Amazon will not touch the pre orders we have already made.[/QUOTE]
 
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Almost all PS3 Gold Box today. Seems all the other pre-orders I've had made an effect on it. Dead Rising 2, Bayonetta, Dante's Inferno and Demon's Souls w/ Artbook.

Wish I had some 360 games coming up like Forza 3. I've been getting more Wii games there, like Punchout today.
 
[quote name='PVJAG']How do I join? I followed the link but it didn't give me the option for a paid membership....[/QUOTE]

Go to the sign up/join section and fill out all the information. When you submit it, you'll get an e-mail with a confirmation link. When you click on that link, it will take you to a shopping cart page with the $19.99 annual membership fee. At that point, though, lot of us who have tried to sign up in the last couple days have noticed that, while you get the cart, there's no checkout option. With that, you're stuck.

I've not received a response to my e-mail about this problem, and apparently neither have others who contacted them with the same issue.
 
I can't even get the confirmation e-mail. I logged in and even had them resend it but still nothing. I guess this is a sign I shouldn't be pre-ordering my expensive ass games anyway.
 
[quote name='chillin23']I have the same problem, registered monday and now not recognized:bomb:[/QUOTE]

yeah i signed up on the 27th and was also billed but i still can't log in.

i sent them an email last night, and they replied with:


I just checked our system and very strange that I could not locate your profile anywhere.

I tried using the following search criteria’s: first, last and email to locate the profile, but no luck.

The new registration log does not have your name on it from yesterday.

Sorry for any inconvenience, please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

-----

i replied with my full name [ forgot to do that the first time ], date of registration, and the last 4 #s on the credit card i used.
 
I tried to join last night and had the same problem as everyone else. I thought I was going crazy because I couldn't figure out what to do after the validation e-mail.
 
[quote name='aznguyen316']yup some codes I generated back when they restocked the first time all did not work a couple days ago.. so there goes for hording codes lol. I had to login and regen a code and that worked fine.[/QUOTE]

So it seems the codes have a "self destruct" built in if not used quickly. I actually think that's a good idea to prevent selling the codes and stuff. As long as they don't run out of codes again.
 
[quote name='saturnotaku']Go to the sign up/join section and fill out all the information. When you submit it, you'll get an e-mail with a confirmation link. When you click on that link, it will take you to a shopping cart page with the $19.99 annual membership fee. At that point, though, lot of us who have tried to sign up in the last couple days have noticed that, while you get the cart, there's no checkout option. With that, you're stuck.

I've not received a response to my e-mail about this problem, and apparently neither have others who contacted them with the same issue.[/QUOTE]

Wonderful - I was trying to sign up to get an Amazon gold box item with the discount and I am having the same problem. I was hoping to come here and see the solution. This is just great - I have some sort of "shopping cart" with no ability to check out or pay for it. Stunning!
 
[quote name='io']Wonderful - I was trying to sign up to get an Amazon gold box item with the discount and I am having the same problem. I was hoping to come here and see the solution. This is just great - I have some sort of "shopping cart" with no ability to check out or pay for it. Stunning![/QUOTE]

Only thing I can suggest is to keep hammering them with e-mail complaints.
 
There is a forum there in which it seems this problem happened in April and they fixed it. There are two new posts in there from yesterday and today about it too. I can't even post there as when I try to log in it says it is invalid. Now none of the pages load for me. Top-flight operation they have over there :roll:.
 
What is this gold box everyone is refering to? Does the cupon's only work with gold box offers @.@ Thanks for helping a newbie.
 
Gold box are just random daily personalized discounts at Amazon. The code works on any game software but of course it always helps to buy them when they are discounted even further via the Gold Box. It took me a while to figure out what it was too - you have to be logged in to see them (the personalized ones anyway - you will see the general Gold Box sales no matter what) and usually when I peruse Amazon I am not logged in.
 
[quote name='Z(+)DIAC']Out of curiosity, for those that actually "contacted" ECA...has anyone actually put their fright aside and actually CALLED!?[/QUOTE]
I called them this morning and their automatic answering system aked me to dial an extension and since I had no clue what extension i should reach, I waited for the operator. It was a lady for some other company. Cant remember the name cause I called this morning. I thought maybe the ECA was part of that company, so I told her that I was calling in regard to the Electronic Consumers Assosication. She told me that she had no idea as who that company was. Maybe it was a dumb employee , or maybe their phone system is F%@ed up and routed me to the wrong place. Anywho, i just gave up and I am going to wait this thing out . Hopefully they fix it soon.
 
[quote name='io']There is a forum there in which it seems this problem happened in April and they fixed it. There are two new posts in there from yesterday and today about it too. I can't even post there as when I try to log in it says it is invalid. Now none of the pages load for me. Top-flight operation they have over there :roll:.[/QUOTE]

these guys are a joke...make that a bad joke.
I tried to set up a new account and finally got the registration link on my second attempt. I was able to click on the link which adds the membership fee to the cart. Which is great except there is no way to checkout. I sent them an email to complain and to let them know their website is one the worst out there. I got a reply back letting me know that my remarks were harsh but they'll look into this issue and will address it in the forum .

So I'm suppose to randomly check their forum to see when they post a solution.......... lol....

ECA doesn''t really seem to care about new memberships.

LOOK. If the registration system is BROKEN, take DOWN the registration link on the website. Or post a note on the registration page. You can't just pretend everything is running perfectly and expect people to randomly check the forum to see if the problem has been resolved.

Also...
This was my second email ECA.
The first one got ignored and that one didn't even contain any criticism.
:roll:
 
If I don't hear anything from them by tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to send them another e-mail with a link to this thread. I'll tell them they can keep their association. I'm half tempted to contact some of their partners, maybe Amazon and Newegg to tell them how they're treating prospective members.
 
bah my codes are working...if only i could actually get some games in my goldbox i could use them! i went and turned off browsing history and cleared all the recommendations except what i want, but when i checked amazon today i suddenly had some more crappy recommendations show up and those end up being in my goldbox instead! o well..try again tommorrow
 
Wow, some of y'all are terribly demanding of a non-profit that's more geared towards fighting for gaming rights than spending time, money and focus on customer service... especially just because some of you want a game that appeared in your Gold Box the day you wanted the membership.

I mean, hey, it'd be awesome if everything on their site worked and they responded within days/hours of your e-mail... but I don't want them spending my membership dues just answer your guys' bajillion complaint e-mails about how you want this membership NOW and PRONTO for Amazon products.

On a flip side, if you guys were e-mailing about, say, gaming rights and anti-game legislation, or maybe e-mailing to get in touch with game developers, find a gaming job, or whatnot, then, perhaps you might get a more rapid response than usual?
 
[quote name='zakai']Wow, some of y'all are terribly demanding of a non-profit that's more geared towards fighting for gaming rights than spending time, money and focus on customer service... especially just because some of you want a game that appeared in your Gold Box the day you wanted the membership.

I mean, hey, it'd be awesome if everything on their site worked and they responded within days/hours of your e-mail... but I don't want them spending my membership dues just answer your guys' bajillion complaint e-mails about how you want this membership NOW and PRONTO for Amazon products.

On a flip side, if you guys were e-mailing about, say, gaming rights and anti-game legislation, or maybe e-mailing to get in touch with game developers, find a gaming job, or whatnot, then, perhaps you might get a more rapid response than usual?[/QUOTE]

:applause:
 
[quote name='zakai']I mean, hey, it'd be awesome if everything on their site worked and they responded within days/hours of your e-mail... but I don't want them spending my membership dues just answer your guys' bajillion complaint e-mails about how you want this membership NOW and PRONTO for Amazon products.[/QUOTE]

A simple notice on the main page that says, "We're experiencing some technical problems with registering new members. We're working as quickly as possible to resolve them and thank you for your patience" would go a heck of a long way toward assuaging some of the ill will that's sprouted up.
 
[quote name='saturnotaku']A simple notice on the main page that says, "We're experiencing some technical problems with registering new members. We're working as quickly as possible to resolve them and thank you for your patience" would go a heck of a long way toward assuaging some of the ill will that's sprouted up.[/QUOTE]
Perhaps the one guy they hired to write that message on the front page is the same guy working his rear off trying to fix the problem. Just a thought.

I don't know how well you'd manage things, but in my work experience, a non-profit is really hard to manage HR-wise during a bad economy. Not a lot of people can survive working virtually less-than-minimum-wage for a cause they believe in.... :)
 
[quote name='zakai']I don't know how well you'd manage things, but in my work experience, a non-profit is really hard to manage HR-wise during a bad economy. Not a lot of people can survive working virtually less-than-minimum-wage for a cause they believe in.... :)[/QUOTE]

Do you honestly believe it would take more than 5 minutes to do what I suggested? I would hope that if they believe as strongly as you seem to think they do, they would try to provide as much outreach as possible so as not to alienate potential members.
 
Woah, anyone had their Gold Box picks change mid-day today? I just noticed mine have changed early. (They normally change sometime overnight, after midnight PST, and stay the same all day) I had Super Mario Bros. Wii in it earlier and now it's full of totally different stuff.

(sorry, nothing to do with ECA but this turns into the Gold Box support thread occasionally..)
 
[quote name='Justin42']Woah, anyone had their Gold Box picks change mid-day today? I just noticed mine have changed early. (They normally change sometime overnight, after midnight PST, and stay the same all day) I had Super Mario Bros. Wii in it earlier and now it's full of totally different stuff.

(sorry, nothing to do with ECA but this turns into the Gold Box support thread occasionally..)[/QUOTE]

I think mine changed when I had gotten up(around 1pm est). I have such a crappy schedule that it's hard to notice, but I thought it's changed during the day before as well.
 
[quote name='saturnotaku']Do you honestly believe it would take more than 5 minutes to do what I suggested? I would hope that if they believe as strongly as you seem to think they do, they would try to provide as much outreach as possible so as not to alienate potential members.[/QUOTE]

Haha, calm down, man; I am fully aware that all these suggestions you make are valid and I know it only takes a 'few minutes' to update their site or make a post, or whatever. However, I am just saying that if you are truly down for their cause, you should try to keep an open mind.

Honestly, if you ever worked with a non-profit, you have to be willing to accept that like real businesses... sometimes they just aren't efficient. However, a non-profit has way fewer resources than a business does, and they have more government restrictions on how funds are used compared to a for-profit business entity. Sometimes the guy they hire for their online community management is the same guy that does their tech support and server work. There are plenty of times I've seen non-profits (or for-profit businesses) with an online focus end up having one person that's tech saavy and the rest of them just phone people or in-person workers (hence why sometimes calling an inefficient business is more effective than e-mailing them). And, sometimes, even if a business only had two people, there are bound to be miscommunication issues.

I am not defending ECA's inefficiency except to say that I prefer to see them do work in the field for the cause they believe in with my membership dues to support them towards our shared goals rather than spending extraneous funds for a whole proper online team (hell, they could just put a PalPayl donation button up and be done with it). I'd hate to imagine how cynical some of them must be now with the bajillions of gamers they are trying to represent who are just e-mailing them to get their Amazon discounts rather than talk about the cause.

Whenever I work with a non-profit, especially a new one, I try to keep an open mind. They are trying to do something and provide a service at the same time. If you don't like their inefficiency, well, you don't have to give them your monies right now... you can always wait until they get better or they crash & burn into the ground.... haha. However, I hope they do get to accomplish what they set out to do (the idealist in me). Anyway, that's my two cents; I just think you can waste your time & anger on more important things than their online registration system.

I mean, after all, you didn't even give them your money yet.... haha.
 
[quote name='speedrunner17']Can I use ECA for a psp?[/QUOTE]
Games and accessories only I believe, but I heard of people having early successes with consoles when the codes first came out.

I went to check for you, but it seems it will not work... on the PSP-3000 at least.
 
I finally got Uncharted 2 in my Gold Box! I got an ECA membership for free so I used that with my 50% coupon code.

Here's the run down:

$60: CoDMW2 (normal, don't care for the Hardened or Prestige Editions)
-$30: 50% Coupon
-$6: ECA
$24 Total

$54.14: Uncharted 2
-$5.70: ECA
48.44 Total

I had $74 in amazon credit with the trade ins, which I spent $55 getting during the B1G1 for $15 at Blockbuster. I now have $1.57 in amazon credit. Retail I would have paid $$130 or so for those two games, so I saved myself $75 thanks to ECA+trade in promo. I also got a $10 gift card for ordered MW2, which I PLAN on using for BioShock 2 to get it for around $40.
 
Looks like I'm having difficulty receiving my confirmation activation letter in my ucsd.edu address. I already looked through my spam folders and submitted an additional letter request 3 times already...

I wonder if I should just cough it up and go with my more generic gmail or yahoo account. Is the email necessary for the ECA? Like do they send you the amazon code there when you request it? Or do I only need it for registration purposes.
 
Yay - I repasted the verification link I got earlier in the day into a browser window about an hour ago and it went straight to checkout and I was able to pay and generate a code for immediate use at Amazon (DDS 1 in my Gold Box!).

hmbtnguy - you generate the codes right on the ECA web site and then just copy and paste them into the Amazon promo code area. Easy as pie.
 
[quote name='el swordo']how do i let them know i'm a college student?[/QUOTE]Sign up with your ".edu" e-mail. If you don't have one, then you won't be able to get the discounted price.
 
[quote name='SteveMcQ']Sign up with your ".edu" e-mail. If you don't have one, then you won't be able to get the discounted price.[/QUOTE]
ok thanks man i would never have guessed that think i will sign up save $6 per game will make up for the $15 really quick
 
Yeah! Checkout button is back! However, I never get anything good in my Goldbox. All I get are CDs, water filters and crap like that. Oh well. I'm not going to complete checkout until something I want shows up in my Goldbox. At which point the checkout button will have disappeared again, no doubt.
 
[quote name='menikmati']Woot, Uncharted 2 popped up in my goldbox today.[/QUOTE]



Ugh, well at least I know its possible now. Been waiting forever for Uncharted 2 to show up.
 
Seems like it's Uncharted 2's day to be appearing in Gold Boxes, as Uncharted 2 and Ratchet and Clank Future popped up in mine today. Yesterday, it was God of War III. Went ahead and snagged Uncharted 2 and GoW3 for $48 each after ECA. Now if I could just get some Xbox 360 games in there ;)

The membership has already paid for itself since I signed up, and I haven't even had a chance to order Modern Warfare 2 Prestige Edition yet (waiting on the 50% coupon to arrive).

Once you've really tweaked your Amazon account to recommend only video games, it's like Christmas every day in there :D
 
Is anyone else having trouble getting the registration email to their .edu account?

edit: Nevermind, as soon as I posted I got the email.
 
[quote name='GuardianE']Well that's wonderful. Today, my Goldbox is completely empty. In fact, the section is flat out gone. Ugh.[/QUOTE]

Make sure you're logged in, as it will be empty if you aren't :D
 
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