ECA Membership - Currently Free - Amazon Code Status: Gone for good

[jacknicklson]

Mods' edit:
No begging for codes. Beggars will be permabanned on the spot.

Current Status:

This promotion is no longer available

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.

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

Free memberships available - Use coupon code GIMAG to receive a full 1 year membership to the ECA

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.

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.

Thanks to dallascowboys for the coupon code and Linkin Prime for the tidbit about your junk mail folder!

Complete list of discounts/benefits:

Spoiler

Discounted games sales/rental offerings from:

• Amazon.com - America's largest online retailer is exclusively offering ECA members 10% off all computer and video game purchases at Amazon.com (software and some accessories/peripherals).
• Astro Gaming Promo Code - Astro Gaming creates premium video gaming equipment for pro gamers, leagues and their lifestyles.
• BringIt.com Promo Code -BringIt.com allows gamers from across the world to compete in 1v1, team challenges, as well as NCAA bracket style tournaments and win REAL CASH and Prizes. Promo code will give you 25% of your deposit matched.
• Buy.com - $5 off of your purchase of $75(one time use)
• Dawdle - Reduced commissions on sold items, 10.99% down from 11.99%
• 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 - ECA members will receive a 30-day free trial to their video game rental service.
• GameHQ - 10% off of all pre-played games with free shipping.
• Good Old Games - A leading destination for download-to-own DRM-free classic PC games, is offering members 20% off of new game purchases.
• MAINGEAR - Manufacturer of high end PCs. 5% discount on phone orders.
• Maxmodz.com - Receive 12% off of your order. Expires 12/31/2009.
• Newegg/Patriot Gaming - Get $10 off when you buy select memory sticks.
• ThinkGeek.com Promo Code - Promo code will give you $5 off of orders between $25 and $50, and $10 off of orders of more than $50. Expires 12/31/2009.

Discounted admission/access offerings from:

• America's Video Game Expo 2009 - 10% discount
• GameX - 3$ off of a day pass, $9 off of a 3-day pass.
• Infinite Bits Convention - 10% discount. Convention is 10/23 through 10/25.
• NYComiCon - is offering members a discount on the price of admission. Coming soon!

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.

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?

Quick Picks FAQ

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. Modifying these orders is at your own risk, don't bother asking about them because no one has a definite answer for you.

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 order. Amazon and the ECA are working on codes tied into our accounts but this option is not yet available. There have been recent reports of these codes not auto-applying after cancelling an order so do this AT YOUR OWN RISK. Also, if any part of your order has been fulfilled(i.e. shipped) the code will not be added back to your account after cancelling the remaining items in your order.

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

You cannot add 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.

13. How do I cancel my recurring subscription to the ECA to avoid future charges?

Visit the Entertainment Consumers Association
Sign in and click on your username
Select the View tab
Towards the bottom of the page, you will see a Recurring Fees table
Click cancel
Ignore the warning and click confirm

13. I can't find the codes, please help?!?!?!?!

Visit the Entertainment Consumers Association
Click on "Visit Members Area"

Credit to slickkill77 for assistance with this FAQ!

 

[VWarrior]

[quote name='Lanman']I don't blame ECA at all. I blame the jackasses that were too stupid or selfish to believe that stacking the codes wasn't going to bring the system down. If someone burns down your Toys R Us you don't get mad at Toys R Us because they aren't selling you toys anymore.

ECA represented one of the best deals on new games (combined with the often free shipping and no tax at Amazon.[/QUOTE]

I used to cut grass for my neighbor next door. He paid me about $20 a week for a full grooming (Cutting, edging and blowing out his driveway). One day a neighbor behind him asked me if I could do her a favor and cut her grass that week as her husband was away. Now under normal circumstances I would've just gone and done it for free. But my conscience told me that wasn't fair to the man living next door who was paying me for the same service, so I charged her as well.

I do believe paying members have a right to be angry at the ECA for allowing all the free memberships. And while I won't say it was all (as in only) the freeloaders that abused the system and ruined it for everybody (it probably would have happened anyway among the paying members), hoards of people have a way of swarming to conveniences and handouts and ****ing all over the place at the same time, like a flock of wild geese scavenging scraps on the ground. This situation is a concrete example of that.

 

[vherub]

perhaps this thread should be locked or moved until new information warrants otherwise

 

[phantomfriar2002]

I don't blame ECA at all. I blame the jackasses that were too stupid or selfish to believe that stacking the codes wasn't going to bring the system down. If someone burns down your Toys R Us you don't get mad at Toys R Us because they aren't selling you toys anymore.

That's a ridiculous comparison. It's not OUR problem that the ECA couldn't see what might happen if they had this promotion and the issues that might occur with it. So WE get penalized for their lack of foresight? When you start running a promo like they did, they should have "hack-proofed" their system and way of distributing codes ahead of time so that these issues didn't happen.

Bottom line is the ECA looks bad -- real bad. You don't bait and switch people the way they did, promising Amazon codes for a membership fee, and then not only revoking that fee, but abolishing the codes completely. The first one was bad enough -- and completely unethical to everyone who paid -- the second one even more inexplicable. The people (myself included) who paid for a service that they just gave out to everyone for free later have a massive right to complain.

All of it is on them. This mess is something they could have prevented in the first place if they knew what they were doing.

 

[farfus]

[quote name='SimaYi']I'm not mad at all. I signed up two months before the program went free and in that time paid for my membership at least three times over. ECA made great deals a hell of alot better. Even now I think I still have a saved code in my account from a canceled order.

I think the good has come to an end though. Not blaming the free riders at all, ECA should have just made the membership 3-months or limited them to one code a day (per ip) so the codes wouldn't have run dry so fast. I am sure the Amazon financial division is pissed about all of the intentional stacking that went on, when those orders ship they'll end up losing more money than they gained in most cases.

That's why I don't expect it to come back, if it does i'm only expecting 5% off. Well, it was good while it lasted.[/QUOTE]


Still working for me as of last notice, a paying member...

 

[wynams]

[quote name='Lanman']If someone burns down your Toys R Us you don't get mad at Toys R Us because they aren't selling you toys anymore.[/QUOTE]

Thankfully in Oregon (where I live) the sentence for stacking ECA codes is considerably less than arson.:lol:

 

[jacknicklson]

Thread will reopen if/when codes come back, just serves as a tear bucket at this point