TopCashBack - decline payouts for larger amounts

deleted102169's avatar deleted102169
Posted 14th Jun 2022
Seems the second time I have purchased something with the tantalising promise of a cashback from TCB, only for months later, to have it declined.

I only seem to have success with triffling amounts. Any big cashbacks seem to get rejected, declined.
I purchased a piece of tech from Currys who were advertising 10% off via TopCashBack. So, off I pop leaving cookie breadcrumbs for them to pick up.

Nearly three months later, I get the transaction marked as declined.


Second big ticket item that TopCashBack rejects.
Strange how their system works when it's for a couple of quid, but falls apart when it comes to a chunkier sum.
That's £150 odd quid they've in effect stolen off me.

Anybody out there with similar experiences?
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  1. chrb's avatar
    Same shoddy experience from all these cashback sites including Quidco- it is theft really you bought it via their link and you don't get paid. Used to annoy me so much I stopped using all of them
    bozo007's avatar
    Cashback is never guaranteed and to count on it in your purchase decision is a bad idea.
  2. TopCashbackRep's avatar
    @deleted102169

    We do pass on all of the cashback we receive from retailers for purchases made back to members as cashback offers so we certainly do not keep anything back or hope that we offers are not tracked as we are not passed any funds for these which is why we dispute through the claims process we have to get cashback tracking.

    For larger purchases we do most commonly see members make more searches for the very best deals before visiting our site to make a purchase which can leave cookies on a web browser which potentially can hinder tracking with affiliate networks when a click through a purchase is made from our site. This is why we do advise members to manually clear web browser cookies and cache before every visit to our site as well as check for any adblockers or extensions to disable these as this can also help.

    If you would like us to take a closer look into your missing cashback claims to look into the declines we have received from the retailer's affiliate network please drop us a DM with your username and we can check this out

    Best wishes
    Phil
    deleted102169's avatar
    Author
    I've raised the query with Customer Service.

    On the subject of common causes for purchases not tracking,.. having been a member of HUKD for a few years now, I have absorbed imparted wisdom from multiple posts by other forum users.

    The cookies vs price searching counter raised, this is something I avoid falling foul of by launching web-browser B (after having reached a conclusion from my price research performed on web-browser A, not new tab or cleared cache - although that happens by default. 'Shift-CTRL-Delete, ALL TIME and ALL checkmarks selected' is a reflex action when it's shopping time), but with a browser with zero plug-ins and no anti-banner/pop-ups etc preventative software installed. The browser runs, as momma nature intended with full unhindered access to the cookie monsters out there.

    Once I have conducted my research on my everyday browser, I launch the different browser software application and log in to TCB, select the link on TCB's website which launches the vendor's page, and away I go and make my purchase. It tracks on your website within a short while, or by the following day, and I cross my fingers hoping the cashback gets honoured.
    It works without issue when purchasing a TopGiftCard purchase, but that's only for a couple of your finest Pound Sterling.

    Put it this way, TCB were aware of my order number that this grumble relates to, so I'm fairly certain the two web entities (yourselves and the vendor) exchanged data. Quite why I'm not getting yet another chunky sum of money still belies a satisfactory explanation.
    Either the tech works, or it doesn't.

    Just judging by the tone and the vagueness in TCB customer support's response, just imparts the feeling that my concern is being shooed away.
    Odd that the error just occurs with high ticket items.

    Yes, yes, yes, you may quote the cashback isn't guaranteed, but as a consumer I feel grossly swindled.
    I'm sure all the web analytics studies have proved that offering cashback helps convert online footfall into actual sales. (edited)
  3. d_agra's avatar
    For some reason i always get rejected by Currys and they are the only ones that reject me. Everyone else is usually fine for me.

    It also for £3 so I am not sure the amount matters.
    N_BennettXfx's avatar
    I think Currys rejected me. And AA but ive had loads of little ones. But i really dont trust them any more
  4. TheNoid's avatar
    Yes, same here - 2 out of mine would have totalled over £150 - the lack of any sort of regulation means they can do what they want unfortunately. I have a dedicated browser for cashback with no security or ad blockers and cookies clear after i close it each time, yet they always just patronise with a 'clear your cookies next time' response.
    deleted102169's avatar
    Author
    Exactly what I do.
    But, as you say, doesn't stop them with the ITCrowd helpline-like patronising advice.
  5. Drekly's avatar
    Mine is filled with declined from insurance sites as I do all my family's renewals and even though I make sure all cookies etc are clear and tracked and make sure I read terms and even opening cases fails ,mainly on go compare .
    So this year I didn't waste my time and won't bother with them anymore.
  6. thenormalone's avatar
    I had a couple large ish transactions totalling ~£160 track and payout with TCB over the past couple months.

    I also have a bunch of smaller transactions that usually pay out without issue.

    Switched over from Quidco -> TCB years ago as I had a feeling they were pocketing cash back that they had declined but concerning to see this post. Wished these cashback sites were more transparent and banned prolific cheating retailers with high rejection rates
  7. cecilmcroberts's avatar
  8. NuffinisFree's avatar
    What reason did they give for declining the cashback
    deleted102169's avatar
    Author
    No reason, just, 'Declined'.

    I've raised a customer service request, let's see.
  9. saphiryman's avatar
    Sometimes going through tcb or Quidco, prices are higher comparing to their own.
  10. T2G's avatar
    Had one declined in Nov last year for a mobile contract by TCB. Raised a claim and mentioned I have screenshots of the whole process - its a painstaking. Got paid this month. Therefore anything that works out to over £25 in cash back, I just take screenshots.

    Worked for an insurance renewal too. (edited)
    deleted102169's avatar
    Author
    Ok. So they are trying it on hoping they can keep the spondoolies for themselves? (edited)
  11. razo's avatar
    The only one's that haven't paid out for me, have been from garbage companies that are themselves untrustworthy (AliExpress, Carpetright, Currys).

    Overall TCB have been really good chasing up non-paying companies. Have had over £6k cashback with very few problems.
    razo's avatar
    Exactly this. And I've had the cashback declines from exactly the same 3 companies, which is a weird coincidence (or not!).

    The problem is not topcashback (who are great, and have paid me over £6000).

    The problem is that topcashback don't bin off Currys, AliExpress, carpetright etc. Who say they'll pay cashback, but in fact never do.
  12. swag's avatar
    I have a similar experience , any higher paying value of 20+ or more even if it gets tracked , gets rejected. I had twice an incident where it was confirmed and even payable and then a month or so later when i had not withdrawn it those high value ones were removed saying declined and when i complained they were giving me all sort of vauge excuses but questioning this on twitter in front of wider public got me my money back. I feel these people are netting the money from the companies through the affiliate programme , but never passing that on back to us.
    TopCashbackRep's avatar
    Hey

    We can assure you that this is not the case. We pass on all of the funds we receive for transactions from retailers back to members as cashback offers and want members to save as much as possible on their purchases.

    If you would like us to take a closer look to help with tracking please drop us a DM with your username and how you make purchases so we can help

    Best wishes
    Phil
  13. cainer1's avatar
    I'm currently waiting for £42.80 to track from using Topcashback-compare for buying my car Insurance,
    my Insurance only went 'live' 6 days ago and it may take a few weeks or even months to track as per the t&c's
    so i'm not worried yet...

    Everything else seems to track ok except Just Eat, i don't use any voucher discounts and so i want to know why it doesn't track,
    if some other affiliate is steeling my cashback then tell me who it is...
    TopCashbackRep's avatar
    Hey

    If you could please drop us a DM with your username and how you are making Just eat purchases through us, we can take a closer look to see what's happening and advise help with tracking

    Best wishes
    Phil
  14. TheCosmos's avatar
    Just had a £60 Iceland purchase with £2 May Bank Holiday Bonus declined for unknown reason.
  15. leeanne123's avatar
    I very rarely use TCB or Quidco nowadays, the amount they offer is usually poor, and the chance of payout, along with the time it takes, makes it hardly worth it. I now just use Complete Savings - at least 10% cashback, and paid within a month or so. I've never had any decline, even for £700+ purchases
    deleted102169's avatar
    Author
    What is the monthly fee?
  16. TristanDeCoonha's avatar
    As many apps (on android) open up on their internally set Chromium browser, then there should be no cookies as it is an independent occasion. Thus no transaction that is done through the app should be declined. I am not an avid shopper, with all large priced items usually paid for with discounted cards which a) are not accepted despite being a legitimate payment method, and b) usually offer a better return on expenditure, so therefore the failure to pay out on high priced goods is not in my experience.
    Sometimes I can imagine failure to record a transaction happening because the retailer has incorrectly labelled the item's category. For an (fictitious) example, ebay offers 1% on normal spend, but 80% on garden. You then find a bbq in the "garden" category and expect to get your rebate accordingly, only to find it was classed as cooking equipment.
  17. BustyB293's avatar
    This is an older post but I get declined by both quidco and top cashback for AA and RAC everytime… like it’s a scam 
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