Black Friday Disaster: Microsoft’s Live.com Cash Back Fails Big Time

I was able to get the deal. Still can not see the cashback info on live.com. Page doesn't load up.

The farthest I have gotten is the login screen at HP that you enter the squiggly letters. THen I get the 5 green flashing (please wait) dots.... they dont go away... Gonna let it go a while and see what happens. Maybe I will give up on this and maybe try one more time late tonight.

i want to know if hp and microsoft are going to realise that they have ALOT of unhappy people that want a notebook at 40% off!

is there any hope still?

im kinda upset about getting all hyped up too.

I think there's still hope- some people are getting through- just keep trying.

I think I successfully got through. I created a windows live ID before going to live.com. After logging in, I sat for about 4 hours refreshing the page and finally I got into the store. Once in the HP store, everything worked smoothly. We'll see in 60 days if they actually recorded my 40% off and send me the check. (I think I played by the rules).

do you think there is any more luck in hitting the f5 button?
i dont want hp to think that im a spammer or something so they dont let me through

There's also an extremely long thread at FatWallet regarding this problem too:

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/88195...

I think I got this to work successfully around 9:45pm last night; with lots of refreshes and trepidation during the process. Will this work after so many refreshes?

I ended up placing my order for a pretty high end HP (total around 1200 bucks after the 200 instant rebate).

Not a bad price for what I speced out. 750 gig HD, 4 gigs ram, quad core processor. 768 meg nvidea card...

When I was done, HP didnt give me any message about Cashback. This was the first time I ever used cashback, so I didnt know if it worked or what. I assumed that it didnt work....

No emails from HP or MS an hour later...

This morning, I had an email from HP that my order was processed. But no mention of Cashback..

I did have a confirmation from MS cashback and it stated I have about 468 bucks pending in my account! So I think it worked and I got a great deal on a new PC.

Have to wait 60 days in case of returns it says...

I hope others had some success. This was a great deal, but MS must have underestimated demand big time...

After watching my computer screen grind away for several hours it finally let me through just after 10 last night. I went ahead and completed the order. Got my confirmation e-mail from live.com and I got a 3% ($42) rebate instead of a 40% ($570) rebate. I'm canceling my order. What a disaster. HP should know better than to partner with Microsoft.

Dave- I'm in the same boat as you. Got a 3% CB email/credit from MS.

Called HP. They told me that Microsoft was extending the time and gave me an 800 number to call MS. Called MS. They transferred me to a department that was closed.

These people have no idea what customer service means

Dave- Can you please shaer the 800 # with the rest of us?

HP redirected me to MS as well. I've got the same scenario going on. I clicked the 40% link before nine and completed my order shortly there after(central time). This morning my account showed a 3% and NOT the 40% cashback. Spoke with HP they gave me a general MS 800 number. Is there not a phone number for Live.com? What department handles Live search? Right now I'm awaiting an email response from Live.com. If it gets to be too much of a hassle I may cancel my order. I saw this deal go from 25% prior to Black Friday to 40% to not getting through to now a 3%... I really hope something is in the works to patch up this fiasco.

I did get in with 2 hours to go, but the offer was only 5%. Where did you guys come up with 40%?

barry- the 40% cash back offer was being promoted pretty heavily by both HP and Microsoft. The 5% cash back offer is their standard offer on HP's home store.

During Black Friday of you went to Live.com and searched for "HP" or any hp product like "tx2" or "Touchsmart" you would see an ad for that product and a Cash Back logo with a message about getting 40% off.


What's really perplexing a lot of us is that somehow Microsoft credited a lot of us only 3% after clicking on the 40% cash back ad.

Xavier, did you ever hear back from MS's PR dept?

I still haven't received my cashback notification either

I haven't heard back from Microsoft about the Cash Back offer, but I've heard back from at least half a dozen folks from HP.

It's a long holiday weekend so you have to extend them a little slack- they've got families and Thanksgiving dinners just like the rest of us.

Hopefully I'll hear more Monday.

I got this email yesterday as a response from an email I had sent on Friday.


Thank you for your email yesterday. Our site had technical issues that made it difficult to consistently use live search cashback. The issue is now resolved. If you were not able to complete your purchase yesterday due to the technical difficulties it is possible that sometime this next week the offer will be extended.

Thank you for shopping with live search Cashback.

Sincerely,
Chris G.
Live Search cashback Support

Jonathan, Thank you for sharing this with Notebooks.com. I've yet to hear back from Microsoft's cash back team and am trying to figure out if this is an official email or just one MS rep trying to help.

After trying all day, I finally got in on Friday night. Got my HP confirmation, but still nothing from Microsoft.

Kevin- please let us know if/when you get the Cash Back email from Microsoft. I know they're working on something, but unfortunately there are a lot of us experiencing similar issues.

OK, I called HP back again and they said that I should be receiving an e-mail from Live.com within 24-48 hours. He suggested that I do not cancel the order until I hear from MS. He wouldn't say it, but I got the impression that HP believes MS will extend the 40% to everyone who got through, even if it was after the deadline. We'll see.

After trying for several hours, I finally saw the confirmation screen that my cashback was active and I purchased a HP laptop. Like most of people, I only received 3% cashback. I emailed Microsoft about it and they asked me to contact Live.com. So, I contacted Live.com and they said that they have nothing to do with it. This is what they said, "Hi, thanks for writing to Live.com technical support. It looks like you may have a question about a different Windows Live product instead of Live.com." Then, I emailed at cashbk@microsoft.com and received an response that someone will escalate the issue for me.

I got my order in with several hours to spare on Friday, got the cashback is active notification when I entered the site, and got the HP order confirmation before the 12 hour window ended...then nothing. MS Support reply was the "wait until Dec 2nd and ask again," e-mail that I understand many people got. Well its the 2nd, so I'll see what they say now.

Here's a mainstream article about the fiasco! :( Cashback still has a chance to turn this around before the press/PR gets even worse!!! Before the current users tell people they know about the real experience of shopping with Cashback & Live Search. :(

http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2008/12/02/...

I too made a purchase and am waiting to see what happens. I don't have much hope at this point, as I haven't heard a peep! What a waste of time and missed opportunity to get similiar deals eslewhere. At this point, it would just be better to honor the deal MS, beter for the future! Otherwise, how are we to trust Cashback. Why would we switch to being loyal customers of Cashback???? We can't trust you at this point.

And HP, you should reconsider about doing business with this shaky system, sadly, it could end up damaging your brand! Cashback seems to be acting a little shady and we shoppers aren't happy. We already have to wait over 60days through eBay buys and then we still don't really know what exact % we get until days after purchasing. Lots of returns and wasted business time. Not looking good so far! :(

I'm currently starting to look at other laptops as I figure, I'll have no choice but to return the one I ordered (3% when I saw 25% and ordered with 40%, what a joke!). This time it'll be Sony or Toshiba...maybe even a Dell. Anything to get away from this mess if time isn't kind.

SOLUTION (last chance with most shoppers): MS & HP please honor those who spent their time, energy, and money to do business with you. Show us you truely care and win us over FOR LIFE!!! Put some positive PR out about how Cashback stands behind it's deals...customers will be loyal if they know they can trust the system!

Goodwill! Show us Cashback doesn't let users down. Shop with us and save! Show us. Otherwise, what's the point? Close the piece of :) now. Google & Yahoo work just fine...no false hope, no hassle-full promises, and no time wasted.
Why waste time with the launch of Cashback? MS, save the money if you don't plan on going all the way towards truely winning us over for life, winning our loyalty! So far, it feels like we have to beg, plead, and wait in the dark to shop through Cashback. :( Not a lasting relationship. I don't plan on telling my friends about a site like that...in fact, quite the opposite!!!

However, gives us some hope. Honor the deal. Reassure us that MS & HP truely care for our business and want our loyalty. Win us over for life!!!

Is this a real launch of a new search/shopping experience or just an un-funny joke??? MS & HP, you decide.

http://www.fool.com/investing/value/2008/12/02/...

Xavier, I just posted the latest news here on TechFlash: http://tinyurl.com/5wqxhn.

Looks like people hoping for a quick restart of the HP promotion will be disappointed.

@Xavier - You guys need to look into the accusation that HP has been canceling orders because they are out of stock on warranties. If they are really doing that they are operating without a shred of integrity and all of us should cancel our orders, regardless of the cashback %.

Dave- thanks for the suggestion. Could you please do me a favor and email me your order details and I'll see if one of my contacts at HP can help get to the bottom of this. Use the about page or just email Xavier at this domain.com

I sent live.com a very polite email telling them I spent 12 hours trying to get thru and that they should give me a 40% cashback coupon to HP to use at my leisure. They probably won't reply but I encourage other to do the same.

I finally received the 40% cashback pending in my cashback account. I sent a 3rd email yesterday to the cashbk(at)microsoft.com address and this morning I had an email from one of their employees saying I received the rebate and sure enough, it is now showing in my cashback account. I am not sure if my 3rd email spurred them to take action of if I was simply in queue waiting to be helped, but either way I am very happy to have this resolved. This morning's reply and subsequent cashback rebate were the first time I received any feedback from Microsoft (except for the canned automated reply). Prior to today I never had 3% or any other amount pending in my cashback account. Now I don't have to return the HP items I purchased as a Christmas gift for my wife. This has left a bittersweat taste in my mouth about the live.com cashback program, but I can't say I wouldn't use this service again should such a sweet deal come around again (40% off your HP order is hard to turn down). For those still waiting, hang in there, you have until after Christmas to return your laptops, and if you can I suggest waiting a while longer before sending back your hardware (assuming you really want the hardware and aren't itching to stick it to HP by returning your purchases).