Continued here: http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173655
www.yourfree360games.com
DO NOT POST REFERRAL LINKS IN THIS THREAD!
Use Ctrl + F to search the OP for specific results!
Frequently Asked Questions:
How much does this cost to sign up?
Signing up for the website is completely free. They don’t spam your email either. If you are signing up to the site, I recommend using someone’s referral link (to be discussed below).
I signed up. How do I get a game?
There are two account options on their website: The Points Account and Referral Account.
Points Account: My personal favorite, as you don’t have to pester other people. With a points account, you must try and complete TWO offers.
Referral Account: With a referral account, you are given a special web address. You give this link out to friends and others online (NOT in this thread). If they click it and complete an offer of their own, you get one referral credit. Collect TWO of these credits (two people must complete one offer each with your link) and complete ONE offer of your own to get your game.
Can I switch between a Points account and a Referral account?
Yep.
What if I have received a referral credit from somebody? Can I switch to a Points Account? Will I lose the referral credit?
You can freely switch between the two account types without losing credits. I have done this in the past and never lost any credits.
Can I use prepaid/gift credit cards to complete trials?
This gets asked often. It will vary on an offer-to-offer basis. I asked Trainn specifically, and the rep told me they don’t mind if you are using them. However, they did mention some companies will not recognize prepaid cards. I myself don’t use them, so I can’t tell you which allow them and which don’t. Try it at your own risk.
What about Paypal one-time use cards?
You can indeed use these. Log in to Paypal, and click the "Paypal Plug-In" on the left side. Install the plug-in, and you can then use one-time use Mastercard credit cards.
Could I just close the one-time use card out, and not cancel the trial?
You could, but it really annoys me (and others). For a while, many trials took down the option of using Mastercard credit cards on their sites. And you know why? Because too many people were simply closing cards, rather than cancelling the trials. Don't do this! Eventually, they may take down Mastercard use permanently, and this affects many of us. Take the five minutes to cancel your trials!
What offers do you recommend?
We cannot specifically tell you which offers to do here in the thread. Read the comments in here and check the offer descriptions. You should be doing offers you are interested in. To help out, I have compiled a list of offers that I have personally completed. Their details are located in the second post of this thread.
I signed up for an offer. How do I cancel it?
This comes up more often than it should. Almost every offer must be canceled with a phone call. Some offers can be canceled online, but I still recommend using their customer service number. Why? Because you get a cancellation number on the spot.
Please do not specifically ask how to cancel an offer. We are not allowed to discuss those matters on CAG.
Can I just cancel the trial as soon as I sign up for it?
Technically, you could…but I wouldn’t recommend it. Trainn will most likely close your account, and ban you from using their site.
I use my own system for cancelling:
If the trial is 7 days long, cancel on the fourth day.
If the trial is 14 days long, cancel on the seventh day.
30 day trial? Cancel on the twentieth day.
Those are just the numbers I use, and I have never had any problems. The only reason why they would close your account is if you are cancelling practically right after you sign up. Don’t do that, and you will be fine!
Can I repeat offers? I mean, couldn’t I just sign up again for the same offer?
Nope. Once you complete an offer, it will not allow you access to it again.
What if I make another account?
They will probably find out (overlapping IP addresses) and close both of your accounts. I wouldn’t recommend trying it.
I signed up for an offer but I have not received credit for it. What happened?
Every offer will not go through 100% of the time. Many users recommend clearing your browser cookies before signing up for an offer. I myself don’t usually do this, and have only had problems with a few offers. Trainn (the company running YourFree360Games.com) has an option on their website to get credit. It is the Missing Credit Request (MCR).
Under the Support tab, choose View your click history. If it has been seven days since you signed up for the offer, a Request Credit link will be next to the offer. Follow the directions on their site to get your credit.
But it hasn’t been seven days since I did the trial. Can I fill out an MCR?
Nope. The option won’t be available. Just wait it out. It will appear after seven days.
It says I need full headers with my MCR email. What are these?
Full headers show IP addresses, as well as many other options. You must enable them before sending Trainn your email. Go to Google if you need to find out how to turn headers on with the email provider you are using (Hotmail, Gmail, etc.).
Trainn gave me this link. I'd read up if you are having trouble with headers!
What if I received no email from the trial company?
CAG galvatron2k1 had this to say:
Send the company an e-mail requesting the following information (by e-mail):
My MCR was filed a few days ago, and nothing has been updated. What now?
You can find a Support Ticket request section under Support and then View your support tickets. Fill one of those out and (nicely!) ask them to check on it for you. I have never filled out a support ticket myself. Why? Because I prefer to email them. Their customer service staff is extremely helpful and friendly. Send them an email at: [email protected] if you like. Nicely ask them to check on the MCR for you. They will need the email address you used on their site to sign up. NOTE: They usually take 48 hours to reply to your email.
Recently, Trainn has been slipping a bit, due to the excess traffic around the holidays. They are now taking 4 - 5 days on average to reply to emails.
I was ready to order a game, but it says I must submit my account for review. What is this?
You chose a referral account. They check your account to make sure your account is not violating any of their terms. It usually takes them five or so days before the review is complete. You just have to bite the bullet and wait it out. If you can’t stand the waiting, don’t do a referral account!
When their review is complete, a Click here to place your order link will be on your main page. It means your account was reviewed and you can now place your order.
I just ordered my game and I am ready for more. What do I do now?
Good deal. When you are ready to order another game, simply find and click the Reset your account button. This will NOT mess up anything you have previously done. In fact, you should click it as soon as you see it available. It clears off the old data, and allows you to earn another game.
Just to say it again: It does NOT hurt your account in any way!
I’m not ready to order a game, but I would like to save up some credits for the future. Is this possible?
Yes it is. I (and other users) have completed many offers at once and saved them up. However, the credits will not really be shown on your account all at once. Once you do order a game and reset your account, the next credits should appear where the old ones were. This will make more sense once you check the site out.
Could you shed some light as to when games get ordered and when they get shipped out? Do you send games all at the same time? Any particular day/night?
I asked Trainn this question directly, because so many were asking in the previous threads. Here is what they had to say:
“Orders are fulfilled within 7 days of being placed (excluding pre-orders), but, we do not have a specific fulfillment days or times for the orders. We simply fulfill the orders 2-3 times a week.”
Basically, they have no set time on delivery. And they are getting extremely backed up from so many Guitar Hero III orders, so don’t order that game if you can’t wait. It will take a long while before you get it!
Can I return a game/accessory to Amazon and get a Gift Certificate in exchange?
No. Amazon used to send gift certificates to uses that did this. Then, too many people took advantage, and Amazon noticed they were all gifts coming from Trainn. They now usually ignore the requests, meaning you send back your game and get nothing. You'd have to jump through many hoops with Trainn and Amazon to even try and get anything back. Definitely not worth the trouble (and risk).
When do they update the site with new games?
They update once per month. In the last few months, the update has came the second week of the month. So, expect an update between the 10th and 15th of any given month.
I heard you received over $600 worth of games from their site. True? And what’s this I heard about a tax form?
Yes, I have received more than $600 in goods from them. If you do this within one year, you are required to send them a W9 IRS tax form. You must then claim it on your taxes for the year. The form is here. It is a standard prize claim form; 100% legitimate. Your account will be locked down until you send them the form. But again, this won’t apply unless you get more than $600 worth of merchandise from them.
Once you have filled out the form, you can mail it to Trainn at this address:
Transcendent Innovations, Inc.
9624 S. Cicero Ave #319
Oak Lawn, IL, 60453
Trainn doesn't really send you any warning about reaching the $600 limit. When you order a game after passing the threshold, the status: "ATTN: Contact Required" will appear next to the most recent game you ordered. Just send them a support request or email, letting them know you sent your form.
CAG nihilopt gave some great tax information:
Any other tips?
Yes! This is, IMO, the most important part of using their site: Keep track of your information!
Here’s how I do it:
Plan ahead for wait times! Most of these companies have you on hold for a number of minutes. Don’t try and cancel an offer at 4:30 when they close at 5:00! Make sure and have a few days (and a few hours) ready when you cancel. That way, if you don’t get in at first, you can try again later.
Last tidbits
If you sign up for an offer and do not get credit for it, don’t keep the trial open past the specified date. For example, you sign up for a seven day trial, and it hasn’t credited yet. You wait until day ten or so, in hopes that your credit will appear. DO NOT do this! Cancel before the trial is up. You can still file an MCR for an offer you have already canceled. I have done it more than a couple times myself.
If you have a question not answered here, ask in this thread. There are many helpful people around here. Just make sure it hasn’t been answered 100 times before!
I gladly answer PM messages, as long as you are friendly and have a legitimate issue. Feel free to send me a question if it isn’t getting answered in here.
[quote name='archibishopthedoge']
archibishopthedoge provided some more Q&A:
Does Trainn provide tracking numbers?
No. Although the site states that a tracking number will be provided if it becomes available, the majority of the regular users of this site have never received one. However, considering the majority of their orders are from retailers, you can email Trainn if you feel your order is late or hasn't arrived and they can look into it for you. There have also been reports of people receiving tracking numbers by requesting them directly from Trainn, but that is definitely YMMV.
I ordered ____ on (day). When will it get here?
None of us can answer this with a definitive answer. Trainn doesn't work like a retailer. Using information from the regular users, it seems that they have specific days of the week that they place orders, but it changes at times. Once shipped, you can expect your item to arrive anywhere from 3-10 days.
Note on Guitar Hero III
This game is an exception to the above. There have been reports of it taking weeks-months to receive once you put the order in. This is getting better lately, but there is still a delay from the norm with this game because of it's popularity amongst users on the site.
Where do they order the games from?
They order the games almost exclusively from Amazon. On occasion if a game is very popular (i.e. the 2007 holiday season and GHIII) they will order from other vendors, like Circuit City, or even shipped directly from Trainn themselves.. This is not the norm though. Most of the time they will be from Amazon.
How do the games ship?
Almost exclusively UPS, like the vendor question though, there are exceptions. There have been reports of games arriving via FedEx and DHL, but again, these are exceptions to the rule. If you're ordering a "regular" game, 9/10 times it will come UPS via 1st or 2nd day air, and same with GHIII, most of the time it's UPS, but there are exceptions.
1st or 2nd day air? WTF?! You said above that I shouldn't expect it for 3-10 days!
This applies to the somewhat "erratic" way that Trainn processes orders. Even if you receive a shipping email on say Monday, it's not guaranteed to have been ordered/shipped from the vendor yet. The regular users have come to see this as the day the order was placed, but not necessarily shipped. Rest assured, your game is likely in the next queue to go out, and it will be to you shortly. Again, there's always exceptions. The author of this FAQ once received a shipped email on a Wednesday, and the game on that same Friday. However, most of the time it's about a week to arrival from the shipped email. There also seems to be multiple order days per week. It just depends on when the game is physically shipped, not when you receive the shipped email.
What game should I order?
You're on one of the best video game communities on the Internet, head over to the dedicated 360 section and read some user opinions, or go on over to a review site like IGN, Gamespot, or TeamXbox and read some reviews. Don't limit yourself when trying to choose. If you're on the fence about an order, you can always stack your credits and wait until something comes along that is what you really want.
When does ____ come out? When will Trainn add ____?
Amazon is very reliable with release dates for the most part if the game/item has a definitive street date. Just search for the item on there and look at the description, you can even see future dates for preorder items on the search results. The 360 section here has threads dedicated to many games, and chances are the release date will be in the first post of that thread or even in the subject. Trainn normally updates 1-2 times per month, however this is not scheduled and tends to be different every month. They usually will add the next months releases in an update, but there are occasions when they will get things that are pretty far out from release. If the recent posts are talking about an update, chances are theres some new choices.[/quote]
www.yourfree360games.com
DO NOT POST REFERRAL LINKS IN THIS THREAD!
Use Ctrl + F to search the OP for specific results!
Frequently Asked Questions:
How much does this cost to sign up?
Signing up for the website is completely free. They don’t spam your email either. If you are signing up to the site, I recommend using someone’s referral link (to be discussed below).
I signed up. How do I get a game?
There are two account options on their website: The Points Account and Referral Account.
Points Account: My personal favorite, as you don’t have to pester other people. With a points account, you must try and complete TWO offers.
Referral Account: With a referral account, you are given a special web address. You give this link out to friends and others online (NOT in this thread). If they click it and complete an offer of their own, you get one referral credit. Collect TWO of these credits (two people must complete one offer each with your link) and complete ONE offer of your own to get your game.
Can I switch between a Points account and a Referral account?
Yep.
What if I have received a referral credit from somebody? Can I switch to a Points Account? Will I lose the referral credit?
You can freely switch between the two account types without losing credits. I have done this in the past and never lost any credits.
Can I use prepaid/gift credit cards to complete trials?
This gets asked often. It will vary on an offer-to-offer basis. I asked Trainn specifically, and the rep told me they don’t mind if you are using them. However, they did mention some companies will not recognize prepaid cards. I myself don’t use them, so I can’t tell you which allow them and which don’t. Try it at your own risk.
What about Paypal one-time use cards?
You can indeed use these. Log in to Paypal, and click the "Paypal Plug-In" on the left side. Install the plug-in, and you can then use one-time use Mastercard credit cards.
Could I just close the one-time use card out, and not cancel the trial?
You could, but it really annoys me (and others). For a while, many trials took down the option of using Mastercard credit cards on their sites. And you know why? Because too many people were simply closing cards, rather than cancelling the trials. Don't do this! Eventually, they may take down Mastercard use permanently, and this affects many of us. Take the five minutes to cancel your trials!
What offers do you recommend?
We cannot specifically tell you which offers to do here in the thread. Read the comments in here and check the offer descriptions. You should be doing offers you are interested in. To help out, I have compiled a list of offers that I have personally completed. Their details are located in the second post of this thread.
I signed up for an offer. How do I cancel it?
This comes up more often than it should. Almost every offer must be canceled with a phone call. Some offers can be canceled online, but I still recommend using their customer service number. Why? Because you get a cancellation number on the spot.
Please do not specifically ask how to cancel an offer. We are not allowed to discuss those matters on CAG.
Can I just cancel the trial as soon as I sign up for it?
Technically, you could…but I wouldn’t recommend it. Trainn will most likely close your account, and ban you from using their site.
I use my own system for cancelling:
If the trial is 7 days long, cancel on the fourth day.
If the trial is 14 days long, cancel on the seventh day.
30 day trial? Cancel on the twentieth day.
Those are just the numbers I use, and I have never had any problems. The only reason why they would close your account is if you are cancelling practically right after you sign up. Don’t do that, and you will be fine!
Can I repeat offers? I mean, couldn’t I just sign up again for the same offer?
Nope. Once you complete an offer, it will not allow you access to it again.
What if I make another account?
They will probably find out (overlapping IP addresses) and close both of your accounts. I wouldn’t recommend trying it.
I signed up for an offer but I have not received credit for it. What happened?
Every offer will not go through 100% of the time. Many users recommend clearing your browser cookies before signing up for an offer. I myself don’t usually do this, and have only had problems with a few offers. Trainn (the company running YourFree360Games.com) has an option on their website to get credit. It is the Missing Credit Request (MCR).
Under the Support tab, choose View your click history. If it has been seven days since you signed up for the offer, a Request Credit link will be next to the offer. Follow the directions on their site to get your credit.
But it hasn’t been seven days since I did the trial. Can I fill out an MCR?
Nope. The option won’t be available. Just wait it out. It will appear after seven days.
It says I need full headers with my MCR email. What are these?
Full headers show IP addresses, as well as many other options. You must enable them before sending Trainn your email. Go to Google if you need to find out how to turn headers on with the email provider you are using (Hotmail, Gmail, etc.).
Trainn gave me this link. I'd read up if you are having trouble with headers!
What if I received no email from the trial company?
CAG galvatron2k1 had this to say:
Send the company an e-mail requesting the following information (by e-mail):
- member/account ID
- product/service ordered
- date of sign-up
My MCR was filed a few days ago, and nothing has been updated. What now?
You can find a Support Ticket request section under Support and then View your support tickets. Fill one of those out and (nicely!) ask them to check on it for you. I have never filled out a support ticket myself. Why? Because I prefer to email them. Their customer service staff is extremely helpful and friendly. Send them an email at: [email protected] if you like. Nicely ask them to check on the MCR for you. They will need the email address you used on their site to sign up. NOTE: They usually take 48 hours to reply to your email.
Recently, Trainn has been slipping a bit, due to the excess traffic around the holidays. They are now taking 4 - 5 days on average to reply to emails.
I was ready to order a game, but it says I must submit my account for review. What is this?
You chose a referral account. They check your account to make sure your account is not violating any of their terms. It usually takes them five or so days before the review is complete. You just have to bite the bullet and wait it out. If you can’t stand the waiting, don’t do a referral account!
When their review is complete, a Click here to place your order link will be on your main page. It means your account was reviewed and you can now place your order.
I just ordered my game and I am ready for more. What do I do now?
Good deal. When you are ready to order another game, simply find and click the Reset your account button. This will NOT mess up anything you have previously done. In fact, you should click it as soon as you see it available. It clears off the old data, and allows you to earn another game.
Just to say it again: It does NOT hurt your account in any way!
I’m not ready to order a game, but I would like to save up some credits for the future. Is this possible?
Yes it is. I (and other users) have completed many offers at once and saved them up. However, the credits will not really be shown on your account all at once. Once you do order a game and reset your account, the next credits should appear where the old ones were. This will make more sense once you check the site out.
Could you shed some light as to when games get ordered and when they get shipped out? Do you send games all at the same time? Any particular day/night?
I asked Trainn this question directly, because so many were asking in the previous threads. Here is what they had to say:
“Orders are fulfilled within 7 days of being placed (excluding pre-orders), but, we do not have a specific fulfillment days or times for the orders. We simply fulfill the orders 2-3 times a week.”
Basically, they have no set time on delivery. And they are getting extremely backed up from so many Guitar Hero III orders, so don’t order that game if you can’t wait. It will take a long while before you get it!
Can I return a game/accessory to Amazon and get a Gift Certificate in exchange?
No. Amazon used to send gift certificates to uses that did this. Then, too many people took advantage, and Amazon noticed they were all gifts coming from Trainn. They now usually ignore the requests, meaning you send back your game and get nothing. You'd have to jump through many hoops with Trainn and Amazon to even try and get anything back. Definitely not worth the trouble (and risk).
When do they update the site with new games?
They update once per month. In the last few months, the update has came the second week of the month. So, expect an update between the 10th and 15th of any given month.
I heard you received over $600 worth of games from their site. True? And what’s this I heard about a tax form?
Yes, I have received more than $600 in goods from them. If you do this within one year, you are required to send them a W9 IRS tax form. You must then claim it on your taxes for the year. The form is here. It is a standard prize claim form; 100% legitimate. Your account will be locked down until you send them the form. But again, this won’t apply unless you get more than $600 worth of merchandise from them.
Once you have filled out the form, you can mail it to Trainn at this address:
Transcendent Innovations, Inc.
9624 S. Cicero Ave #319
Oak Lawn, IL, 60453
Trainn doesn't really send you any warning about reaching the $600 limit. When you order a game after passing the threshold, the status: "ATTN: Contact Required" will appear next to the most recent game you ordered. Just send them a support request or email, letting them know you sent your form.
CAG nihilopt gave some great tax information:
[quote name='nihilopt']If Trainn sends you $600 or more worth of items, they are required by federal law to file a form with the IRS reporting these "winnings"
This occurs because all items you recieve from Trainn are winnings, and technically all winnings should be reported on your tax returns. However, the IRS only requires those providing winnings to report them if they amount to $600 or more. They don't want to bother with added paperwork from every time somebody won $5 from a lottery scratcher. So if you make less than $600 in winnings, even though you are supposed to report it, the IRS has no real way of checking if you made them.
Winnings are income.
That means that you will pay income tax on winnings. Getting $1000 worth of stuff from Trainn bumps the amount of money you made this year up by $1000.
Here are the current income tax brackets:
Income Range: $0 - $7,825
Tax: 10% of the amount over $0
Income Range: $7,826 - $31,850
Tax: $782.50 plus 15% of the amount over $7,825
Income Range: $31,851 - $77,100
Tax: $4,386.25 plus 25% of the amount over $31,850
Income Range: $77,101 - $160,850
Tax: $15,698.75 plus 28% of the amount over $77,100
Income Range: $160,851 - $349,700
Tax: $39,148.75 plus 33% of the amount over $160,850
Income Range: $349,701 and up
Tax: $101,469.25 plus 35% of the amount over $349,700
If you are a student, and would otherwise have 0 income, then you are in the first tax bracket. So you pay a 10% tax rate. If Trainn sent you $599 in stuff, you'd pay $0 taxes on that. If Trainn sent you $600 in stuff, you'd pay $60 taxes on that. $2000 in stuff = $200 taxes. But it isn't really that easy. You also get to take a deduction. If you give a lot to charity, or have other means of getting plenty of deductions, you can itemize your deductions. Chances are this isn't the case, which means you just take a standard deduction. For 2007, the standard deduction is $5350 for single, non-head-of-household people. That basically means you get to erase up to $5350 worth of your income.
So if you otherwise made $0, and Trainn sent you $2000 worth of stuff, you'd still have to fill out the form once hitting $600, but come April of 2009 (when you're filling out your 2008 tax return) your stadard deduction is able to completely erase the $2000 of winnings you got, making your effective taxable income $0. So you pay 10% of $0... which is $0.
Note: if you are claimed as a dependant (for example: your parent still claim you as one), the $5350 deduction described above doesn't apply to you. Many factors can increase the amount you deduct, such as having dependents (kids), being married, paying for your or a dependant's tuition, mortgage payments, etc.
Long story short: if you have little or no income, getting more than $600 worth of stuff probably won't cause you to pay taxes. If you do pay taxes, it's probably best for you to stay under the $600 mark. If you're planning to go way way above the $600 mark it might still be worth it (if you're in the 25% bracket, and get $2000 of stuff from Trainn, you'd pay $500 in taxes on it. But you might still prefer that to getting $550 stuff from Trainn and paying $0 in taxes on it.)
Hope this helps clear things up for people
Disclaimer: None of this is legal advice, and should not be considered to be legal advice.[/quote]
This occurs because all items you recieve from Trainn are winnings, and technically all winnings should be reported on your tax returns. However, the IRS only requires those providing winnings to report them if they amount to $600 or more. They don't want to bother with added paperwork from every time somebody won $5 from a lottery scratcher. So if you make less than $600 in winnings, even though you are supposed to report it, the IRS has no real way of checking if you made them.
Winnings are income.
That means that you will pay income tax on winnings. Getting $1000 worth of stuff from Trainn bumps the amount of money you made this year up by $1000.
Here are the current income tax brackets:
Income Range: $0 - $7,825
Tax: 10% of the amount over $0
Income Range: $7,826 - $31,850
Tax: $782.50 plus 15% of the amount over $7,825
Income Range: $31,851 - $77,100
Tax: $4,386.25 plus 25% of the amount over $31,850
Income Range: $77,101 - $160,850
Tax: $15,698.75 plus 28% of the amount over $77,100
Income Range: $160,851 - $349,700
Tax: $39,148.75 plus 33% of the amount over $160,850
Income Range: $349,701 and up
Tax: $101,469.25 plus 35% of the amount over $349,700
If you are a student, and would otherwise have 0 income, then you are in the first tax bracket. So you pay a 10% tax rate. If Trainn sent you $599 in stuff, you'd pay $0 taxes on that. If Trainn sent you $600 in stuff, you'd pay $60 taxes on that. $2000 in stuff = $200 taxes. But it isn't really that easy. You also get to take a deduction. If you give a lot to charity, or have other means of getting plenty of deductions, you can itemize your deductions. Chances are this isn't the case, which means you just take a standard deduction. For 2007, the standard deduction is $5350 for single, non-head-of-household people. That basically means you get to erase up to $5350 worth of your income.
So if you otherwise made $0, and Trainn sent you $2000 worth of stuff, you'd still have to fill out the form once hitting $600, but come April of 2009 (when you're filling out your 2008 tax return) your stadard deduction is able to completely erase the $2000 of winnings you got, making your effective taxable income $0. So you pay 10% of $0... which is $0.
Note: if you are claimed as a dependant (for example: your parent still claim you as one), the $5350 deduction described above doesn't apply to you. Many factors can increase the amount you deduct, such as having dependents (kids), being married, paying for your or a dependant's tuition, mortgage payments, etc.
Long story short: if you have little or no income, getting more than $600 worth of stuff probably won't cause you to pay taxes. If you do pay taxes, it's probably best for you to stay under the $600 mark. If you're planning to go way way above the $600 mark it might still be worth it (if you're in the 25% bracket, and get $2000 of stuff from Trainn, you'd pay $500 in taxes on it. But you might still prefer that to getting $550 stuff from Trainn and paying $0 in taxes on it.)
Hope this helps clear things up for people
Disclaimer: None of this is legal advice, and should not be considered to be legal advice.[/quote]
Any other tips?
Yes! This is, IMO, the most important part of using their site: Keep track of your information!
Here’s how I do it:
- Create a new Word document.
- When you sign up for a new trial, copy/paste the email into the Word document
- Look around on the trial site for their Terms and Conditions section.
- Copy down their cancellation terms (how many days the trial lasts), as well as the phone number you need to call to cancel the trial. Paste this information into the Word document.
- Keep the document neat and keep it updated!
- When you successfully cancel an offer, put the cancellation number and the date you canceled into the Word document, for future reference. This will help if you suddenly see a charge on your credit card.
Plan ahead for wait times! Most of these companies have you on hold for a number of minutes. Don’t try and cancel an offer at 4:30 when they close at 5:00! Make sure and have a few days (and a few hours) ready when you cancel. That way, if you don’t get in at first, you can try again later.
Last tidbits
If you sign up for an offer and do not get credit for it, don’t keep the trial open past the specified date. For example, you sign up for a seven day trial, and it hasn’t credited yet. You wait until day ten or so, in hopes that your credit will appear. DO NOT do this! Cancel before the trial is up. You can still file an MCR for an offer you have already canceled. I have done it more than a couple times myself.
If you have a question not answered here, ask in this thread. There are many helpful people around here. Just make sure it hasn’t been answered 100 times before!
I gladly answer PM messages, as long as you are friendly and have a legitimate issue. Feel free to send me a question if it isn’t getting answered in here.
[quote name='archibishopthedoge']
archibishopthedoge provided some more Q&A:
Does Trainn provide tracking numbers?
No. Although the site states that a tracking number will be provided if it becomes available, the majority of the regular users of this site have never received one. However, considering the majority of their orders are from retailers, you can email Trainn if you feel your order is late or hasn't arrived and they can look into it for you. There have also been reports of people receiving tracking numbers by requesting them directly from Trainn, but that is definitely YMMV.
I ordered ____ on (day). When will it get here?
None of us can answer this with a definitive answer. Trainn doesn't work like a retailer. Using information from the regular users, it seems that they have specific days of the week that they place orders, but it changes at times. Once shipped, you can expect your item to arrive anywhere from 3-10 days.
Note on Guitar Hero III
This game is an exception to the above. There have been reports of it taking weeks-months to receive once you put the order in. This is getting better lately, but there is still a delay from the norm with this game because of it's popularity amongst users on the site.
Where do they order the games from?
They order the games almost exclusively from Amazon. On occasion if a game is very popular (i.e. the 2007 holiday season and GHIII) they will order from other vendors, like Circuit City, or even shipped directly from Trainn themselves.. This is not the norm though. Most of the time they will be from Amazon.
How do the games ship?
Almost exclusively UPS, like the vendor question though, there are exceptions. There have been reports of games arriving via FedEx and DHL, but again, these are exceptions to the rule. If you're ordering a "regular" game, 9/10 times it will come UPS via 1st or 2nd day air, and same with GHIII, most of the time it's UPS, but there are exceptions.
1st or 2nd day air? WTF?! You said above that I shouldn't expect it for 3-10 days!
This applies to the somewhat "erratic" way that Trainn processes orders. Even if you receive a shipping email on say Monday, it's not guaranteed to have been ordered/shipped from the vendor yet. The regular users have come to see this as the day the order was placed, but not necessarily shipped. Rest assured, your game is likely in the next queue to go out, and it will be to you shortly. Again, there's always exceptions. The author of this FAQ once received a shipped email on a Wednesday, and the game on that same Friday. However, most of the time it's about a week to arrival from the shipped email. There also seems to be multiple order days per week. It just depends on when the game is physically shipped, not when you receive the shipped email.
What game should I order?
You're on one of the best video game communities on the Internet, head over to the dedicated 360 section and read some user opinions, or go on over to a review site like IGN, Gamespot, or TeamXbox and read some reviews. Don't limit yourself when trying to choose. If you're on the fence about an order, you can always stack your credits and wait until something comes along that is what you really want.
When does ____ come out? When will Trainn add ____?
Amazon is very reliable with release dates for the most part if the game/item has a definitive street date. Just search for the item on there and look at the description, you can even see future dates for preorder items on the search results. The 360 section here has threads dedicated to many games, and chances are the release date will be in the first post of that thread or even in the subject. Trainn normally updates 1-2 times per month, however this is not scheduled and tends to be different every month. They usually will add the next months releases in an update, but there are occasions when they will get things that are pretty far out from release. If the recent posts are talking about an update, chances are theres some new choices.[/quote]
ed over by the overnight genius offer I have succesfully made a profit of an amazing...52 cents!!!
