Ibotta: Get $5 back on $100 in Best Buy purchase(s) (online and/or in store) - $10 back on $100 for Microsoftstore.com too!

BudzMcGee

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Since Ibotta has been regularly having Best Buy and Microsoftstore.com offers I've restructured this thread a bit. I have also added an FAQ below.

Current "CAG Friendly" offers:

- Best Buy (in store and/or online):

$5 for spending $100 (can be multiple purchases)* - Expires "02/10/15 at 12:59 am",

*On occasion some users get different offers so it may vary - you won't know until you open the app.

- MicrosoftStore.com (online only):

$10 for spending $100 (can be multiple purchases) - Expires but has been ongoing regularly

- New users can also get a $2 bonus (read below).

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Ibotta is basically an instant rebate app for smart phones that allows you to get money back for certain items (typically grocery). The money can be deposited into your paypal or used for some gift cards.  It is an app actually worth checking out anyway but these deals are certainly bound to speak to some CAG folk.

You can download the app through their site (or read below if you'd like to thank me for sharing this offer with you): https://ibotta.com/. There is no bonus to using my referral link in my signature but if you'd like to as a thank you for posting this I certainly won't argue - your rebate will go through all the same but yes, I get a bonus too.  To do so correctly make sure to register at the below link and then sign in with those same credentials once you install the app.

New Ibotta user you can earn an additional $2 bonus for redeeming your first offer. Simply redeem your first offer (this offer or any other) within 10 days of signing up. Once you redeem your first offer (again, you must do so within 10 days of signing up not just installing the app) you will get a bonus $2 welcome reward. 

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General Ibotta FAQ

Q: How do I unlock a rebate?

A: Each rebate has a couple of task that must be completed before it is "unlocked" and you can redeem it. Most of these task consist of a poll or "learning a fact" but on occasion they include posting to Twitter or Facebook. 

Q: How long can I submit a receipt?

A: Receipts can be submitted for up to one week from the purchase date. I.e. a receipt from the 1st can be submitted up through the 7th. Offers do expire though, and an offer may expire before a week's time preventing you from submitting it. 

Q: How do I complete an online offer such as BestBuy.com?

A: Once you've competed the "task" to unlock the offer there will be an option to click a button to "shop." You will then have the option to send yourself a referral link to use later or to shop directly from within an in-app browser. Online purchases tend to show up in your account in 2-3 days.

Q: I bought something three days ago and a new rebate has been added for that same item! Can I still submit my receipt?
A: Yes, you can submit any receipt less than a week old, even if the offer didn't exist when you originally purchased the item. For example, if you spent $100 at Best Buy on the 1st and an offer for $10 back when you spend $100 was added on the 3rd, you could submit the receipt from the 1st. 

Q: How long do rebates take?

A: They can vary a bit, and receipt photos that are hard to read seem to take longer (most likely are manually reviewed) but often times rebates post to your account within an hour. 

Q: How can I get the money I've earned?

A: Once you've reached a minimum of $10 you can "cash out" a number of ways including sending the cash directly to your Paypal or even gift cards such as Best Buy and Starbucks (among others). 

Q: How come some people have a $10 for spending $100 and others have $5 for $100 or $20 for $100? Why don't I have the same offer as someone else?

A: Ibotta does seem to periodically offer different offers to different users. This appears to be from a combination of different reasons, everything from geographical location, how long you'e been a user or even if you redeemed a previous offer for the same store. 

Q: If I pay with a gift card will it still count? Can I use other coupons and still qualify for an Ibotta rebate?

A: Ibotta really doesn't care about the form of payment or other coupons used (with one exception). So long as you bought the item and it is on your receipt it will qualify. It is possible to buy a grocery item that is on sale for $2, use a $1 off coupon and get $1.50 back in Ibotta rebate. The exception to this is the "Spend $$$ to get $$$" offers. Since the final total paid is what matters. If you lower the total with coupons/sales/reward certificates (for Best Buy) will result in less money being counted as "spent."  

Q: How do "Team Bonuses" work?

A: Teams are fairly new and still a little unclear but the primary way they work is that everyone you invite to Ibotta and joins through your link winds up on your "team." Once your team has received a certain dollar amount in rebates and you've also redeemed a certain amount you qualify for a bonus. For example, a hypothetical Team Bonus might require that your team redeems $20 in rebates total and you redeem $10 in rebates personally. Once both conditions are met you'll receive the bonus for that month. This will typically unlock a "level 2" where you can gain another bonus when the next levels are met. So far there have not been more than 3 "levels" of Team Bonuses.  It may be possible to add others to your team through Facebook. 

Q: Can multiple accounts on different devices send to the same Paypal account?

A: Short answer, yes. Ibotta does appear to have realized that some households may have multiple phones but maybe only one Paypal account so you could, for example, have yourself and your spouse both cash out to the same Paypal. Having more than one account per person is almost certainly against the terms however so do so at your own risk.

Previous deal info
Best Buy and Ibotta deal for Black Friday

Find gifts for everyone on your list at Best Buy!

Earn $5 when you Spend $100 in-store at Best Buy or online at BestBuy.com on Thanksgiving or Black Friday.
Once you earn your first $5, you’ll unlock a special bonus offer where you can earn an additional $10 when you spend $10 in-store (on your next trip) to Best Buy. Be sure to hurry, this special unlocked bonus offer will only last until the weekend of 12/6/14.
Check your special unlocked offer for more details.
Best Buy In-Store Details
To qualify you must:

  • Spend a total of $100 at Best Buy between 12:01 AM (PST) on 11/27/14 and 11:59 PM (PST) on 11/28/14
  • The $100 minimum may include receipts submitted from one or multiple shopping trips across in-store and online Best Buy purchases.
  • Spend at least $100 prior to adding any taxes or shipping and handling costs
  • If your in-store purchase is cancelled or returned, your earnings will be reversed and your Ibotta account balance will be adjusted accordingly
  • No partial credit will be awarded if the $100 minimum is not met
  • Offer excludes gift card purchases
  • Subject to Best Buy’s Return and Exchange Policy
  • Terms subject to change.
Best Buy Online Details
To qualify you must:

  • Spend a total of $100 at BestBuy.com between 12:01 AM (PST) on 11/27/14 and 11:59 PM (PST) on 11/28/14
  • The $100 minimum may include receipts submitted from one or multiple shopping trips across online and in-store purchases.
  • Spend at least $100 prior to adding any taxes or shipping and handling costs
  • If your online purchase is cancelled or returned, your earnings will be reversed and your Ibotta account balance will be adjusted accordingly
  • No partial credit will be awarded if the $100 minimum is not met
  • Offer excludes gift card purchases
  • Subject to Best Buy’s Return and Exchange Policy
  • Terms subject to change.
Check your app on 11/27/14 or 11/28/14 for additional details.

The money can be deposited into your paypal or used for some gift cards (Starbucks for example).  It is an app actually worth checking out anyway but this new deal certainly bound to speak to some CAG folk.

You can download the app through their site (or read below if you'd like to thank me for sharing this offer with you): https://ibotta.com/. There is no bonus to using my referral link below but if you'd like to as a thank you for posting this I certainly won't argue - your rebate will go through all the same but I get a bonus too so it's pretty awesome.   :) To do so correctly make sure to register at the below link and then sign in with those same credentials once you install the app.

New Ibotta user you can earn an additional $2 bonus for redeeming your first offer. Simply redeem your first offer (this offer or any other) within 10 days of signing up. Once you redeem your first offer (again, you must do so within 10 days of signing up not just installing the app) you will get a bonus $2 welcome reward. So $7 total back for a $50 purchase (or $12 for $100).

 
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So I'm kind of super irritated that they cried fraud on one of my GS receipts and invalidated it weeks after the fact even though it was $50 and all my receipts were only submitted once.

 
Ibotta has they worst customer service. I fighted them for over 6 months on a $20 rebate. It wasnt time consuming, they just didnt answer or shifted from person to person.
 
Did they explain why it was fraud? So they paid you $5 weeks ago and now took it back?
Nope, just took it back and sent this email:

Oops

After reviewing your receipt it has come to our attention that you were credited for rebates that are not located on your submission. We have reversed credit for the items that were not found. If you believe this was in error, please email[email protected]. Thank you.

Please note: Ibotta reserves the right to terminate the account of any users who have submit fraudulent receipts. Thank you for complying with Ibotta's Terms of Use.

 
Nope, just took it back and sent this email:

Oops
After reviewing your receipt it has come to our attention that you were credited for rebates that are not located on your submission. We have reversed credit for the items that were not found. If you believe this was in error, please email[email protected]. Thank you.

Please note: Ibotta reserves the right to terminate the account of any users who have submit fraudulent receipts. Thank you for complying with Ibotta's Terms of Use.
Yeah they actually terminated my account about a week ago. Said i had submitted a duplicate receipt. I think i might have once by mistake.

Honestly once they introduced the QR code with BB i haven't liked the app much. I think it took over a week to see a partial credit show up towards spending $100. Plus they increased the cash out at $20 for paypal.

 
Nope, just took it back and sent this email:


Oops

After reviewing your receipt it has come to our attention that you were credited for rebates that are not located on your submission. We have reversed credit for the items that were not found. If you believe this was in error, please [email protected]. Thank you. Please note: Ibotta reserves the right to terminate the account of any users who have submit fraudulent receipts. Thank you for complying with Ibotta's Terms of Use.
Hey Eld, did you email support to see if it was a mistake on their part?

The only other thing that I can think of is that Ibotta might be cracking down on gift card purchases, but you might have bought some games so idk.
 
I just got the same email as Eld.  I used solely gift cards purchases for those receipts I submitted for each time the GS rebate came up.  I am thinking that Ibotta did not mean to have the GS rebate appear as often as it did and are claiming fraud to get the money back that they issued out.

Edit:  Just got a 2nd one.  Looks like it might be buying gift cards.

 
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I just got the same email as Eld. I used solely gift cards purchases for those receipts I submitted for each time the GS rebate came up. I am thinking that Ibotta did not mean to have the GS rebate appear as often as it did and are claiming fraud to get the money back that they issued out.

Edit: Just got a 2nd one. Looks like it might be buying gift cards.
So they deducted $10 from your account? That sucks...I always try to cash out ASAP, whether it's reward certificates from BB or points from GS.

On that note, I just got hit with that same email smh and they took away $5 that I earned from another rebate unrelated to Gamestop. I'm left with $.25
 
Yup, my account is deactivated. Had a fraduelent email a couple days ago, then received another one right now, followed by a deactivation.
It was for the Gamestop rebates that kept reappearing for me. The purchases were for kindle cards. So it's either one of those that triggered it.
Luckily I cashed out my $60 before this happened.
 
I got a second one pulled back for the same BS! Don't know why I left my money in but requested a deposit now and will fight with CS for the $10.

I think I redeemed all the rebates on eBay and Kindle cards. Maybe one on PSN or that may have been one of the BBY ones. Think I paid with GS credit as well. Neither of those things has been an issue in the past though.
 
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I too just got an email about the Gamestop rebate. I bought a $50 Kindle card and that must've done it. I don't recall anything on the rebate saying that wasn't allowed, but I'm not sure whether or not it's worth fighting over. Either way, I'm not sure how that can be considered fraud.

 
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If you guys get a 2nd email about a rebate on your account with issues, you will probably get a 3rd email shorty with your account being closed.  That's pretty much what happened to mine in a matter of 20 mins.

 
So I'm kind of super irritated that they cried fraud on one of my GS receipts and invalidated it weeks after the fact even though it was $50 and all my receipts were only submitted once.
They just do the same thing to me and my mother told me they did the same thing to her, they reversed two $5 offers on both of us so $10 each. I cashed out the week before Christmas and used it to get some final gifts, so I'm now negative. I also made sure we all used separate receipts, I did all My shopping $50 at a time. Some of it was GCs but since it's happening to other I'm sure it's just them being huge c***s. They've pulled this before on legit things and I got nowhere. Between them and shopkick banning me early last year for no reason (I was just given the you violated the ToS bs and I take a lot of caution not to) I am getting very fed up with these damn reward/rebate companies.
 
They just do the same thing to me and my mother told me they did the same thing to her, they reversed two $5 offers on both of us so $10 each. I cashed out the week before Christmas and used it to get some final gifts, so I'm now negative. I also made sure we all used separate receipts, I did all My shopping $50 at a time. Some of it was GCs but since it's happening to other I'm sure it's just them being huge c***s. They've pulled this before on legit things and I got nowhere. Between them and shopkick banning me early last year for no reason (I was just given the you violated the ToS bs and I take a lot of caution not to) I am getting very fed up with these damn reward/rebate companies.
Yep, this seems to happen all the time. I did Shopkicks for a while and adhered to the policies and still got banned. I thought it was an isolated incident, but several co-workers and my mom told me months later the same thing happened to them. I think all of these companies have really bad business models and once they burn through their initial funding, they get desperate to continue collecting revenue from the companies that pay them commission and to stop sending out significant money to members. That's when they go on banning sprees justified or not to essentially pocket those revenues without paying out what is owed.

 
Yep, this seems to happen all the time. I did Shopkicks for a while and adhered to the policies and still got banned. I thought it was an isolated incident, but several co-workers and my mom told me months later the same thing happened to them. I think all of these companies have really bad business models and once they burn through their initial funding, they get desperate to continue collecting revenue from the companies that pay them commission and to stop sending out significant money to members. That's when they go on banning sprees justified or not to essentially pocket those revenues without paying out what is owed.
I could certainly see and agree with that theory. Especially since their CS, or lack there of, is abysmal at best.
 
I got banned from this shit months ago for "unusual account activity." They literally said I was redeeming too many rebates haha. They're trash.
 
I got banned from this shit months ago for "unusual account activity." They literally said I was redeeming too many rebates haha. They're trash.
Very first Best Buy receipt I submit to them was during the holidays and was rejected because it was 8 days old. Figured it might be because of the 7 day rule but thought I'd try it anyway and see if as a first timer they let it slide. Nope. Fair enough. What irked me was the wording of the rejection email they sent me, making me feel like a criminal for even trying. They warned me my account would be closed if I attempted to send anymore "fraudulent" receipts. My receipt was legit in every way, just a day late. I contemplated possibly giving them the benefit of the doubt in the future but not now, after seeing these posts.
 
Very first Best Buy receipt I submit to them was during the holidays and was rejected because it was 8 days old. Figured it might be because of the 7 day rule but thought I'd try it anyway and see if as a first timer they let it slide. Nope. Fair enough. What irked me was the wording of the rejection email they sent me, making me feel like a criminal for even trying. They warned me my account would be closed if I attempted to send anymore "fraudulent" receipts. My receipt was legit in every way, just a day late. I contemplated possibly giving them the benefit of the doubt in the future but not now, after seeing these posts.
Seriously? What a joke for something they rejected. Isn't that why they're supposedly checking them in the first place?

 
Just got a response from my email to them. I got credited for a Best Buy rebate. Not sure how that works since my account is deactivated and the rebates in question were for Gamestop.
 
Just got a response from my email to them. I got credited for a Best Buy rebate. Not sure how that works since my account is deactivated and the rebates in question were for Gamestop.
Well it takes about 4 months for them to get back to you so it's possible you contacted them in August/September and they're replying to that. You'll get a decision that your ban is permanent in May or so, ;)
 
Bought some Bertolli's, Ben & Jerry's, a red pepper, and carrots for $3 back today.

two-thumbs-up-md.png


Not banned!
 
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This is the email I received from Ibotta:

I am writing to you from Ibotta’s Fraud Prevention Team. We have completed a review of your account and as a one-time courtesy, we have reactivated your account for use with the understanding that future behavior that violates our terms of use may result in a permanent suspension of your account.

We verified that multiple items were selected for rebate credit, but the items were not present on the receipt. Per Ibotta's terms of use, Section 10.2, users may not redeem, or attempt to redeem, Ibotta Offers for products that have not actually been purchased.

The GameStop rebate details state: To qualify, you must spend at least $50 after discounts, coupons and tax. • The $50 minimum purchase requirement must be met in a single transaction. • No partial credit will be awarded if $50 minimum is not met. • Online purchases are not eligible for credit. • Rebate excludes all Gift Card purchases.

Since you only purchased gift cards on the three GameStop receipts you submitted unfortunately, we had to reverse the credit you received in your account.

 
I'm learning first hand of their wonderful support

Did the bestbuy rebate restart? I submitting a $100 then returned $79.99 of that.

Then when I went back in it said I'd spent -$79.99 out of the $100. The support guy won't tell me if the return is just being deducted from a new separate rebate or if they took away the original $5 (which I assumed was what they'd do) and then also deducted it from a new separate rebate. He even told me to send him my receipts, kinda thought they'd have it digitally. Luckily I still had them.

 
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