New Terms for 2009

[SunshineGirl]

We have modified a few of our membership terms for 2009. They aren't huge, so they shouldn't impact anyone much. But they are a direct result of changes by our advertisers. Mainly, our advertisers are taking longer and longer to pay us for shopping and offers. For example, most of our shopping money does not get to us for 45-120 days. Therefore, we have extended by a little bit the payout periods. Nothing has been changed too much.

Changes:

Shopping credits will pend for 28 days for non-Super Members and 10 days for Super Members.

Paypal cashouts will be done by the end of the month rather than the 15th.

Gift cards will be received within 4-6 weeks rather than 30 days.

This is pretty standard for most other cash back sites in terms of how long a time it is between when you shop and when you get your rewards. That's because many merchants still take money away from us when you do returns up to 120 days, and we still see a fair amount of fraud in big sales.

Hopefully the changes are minor enough that everyone will understand.

[loretta32965]

When does the new guidelines take effect? Hypothetically, paypal cashouts for Dec. 2008 done by the 31st of Dec. will be paid on or about 1/30/09?

OR

Does it start with Jan. 2009 payouts?

Thanks ahead of time!

[askomsky]

Sounds good to me and completely understandable!

[disney_girl]

Thanks for letting us know!! Since I'm definitely here for the long haul, the changes don't really bother me! Thanks Tricia!

[m 'n c]

When does the new guidelines take effect? Hypothetically, paypal cashouts for Dec. 2008 done by the 31st of Dec. will be paid on or about 1/30/09?

OR

Does it start with Jan. 2009 payouts?

Thanks ahead of time!

When I cashed out Christmas morning I noticed the change in terms stated cashouts had changed to the 30/31st of the next month so I think it is starting with December paypal cashouts.

[faithhope]

Thanks for keeping us well informed.

[PSL1013]

No problem, I'm fine with it...just thankful to even be a member of SR and don't want to lose it! :love:

[missymouse]

I have no problem with the new terms.

[jaime]

Sounds good! Thanks for the heads up!

[JOLAROCHE]

It works for me. Thanks for letting us know

[SunshineGirl]

For Super Members, I think it is going to help with the confusion that happens when you make a purchase on Friday but we don't get the numbers until Monday and then your history says that something was pending until the day before. It ends up happening almost every week for someone and newer SMs get confused and open trouble tickets. This gives us time to get all of the shopping credits in and processed so that you don't have anything weird in your histories.

[Hedy]

Silly question-if I have something I ordered in '08, that will credit in '09, will the hold be for 10 or three days?

[lanny76]

Some places, like Childrens Place, always took longer to credit for me anyway. So, while I confess to not feeling overly cheery about a longer wait, I can certainly deal with it, and appreciate being informed! Thanks.

[jollytammy]

Thanks for keeping us informed:p

[mmm611]

Thanks for the heads up. No problems with me, but I appreciate knowing how to plan ahead.

I would like to get clarification on one point....for Paypal cashouts, do those still have to be cashed out for by the end of the month to be depositted next month by the new payout date?

[StitchandPooh'smom]

I don't mind the longer wait. I am always excited to see credits pend because I know everything worked right and they will hit my account. It doesn't matter to me if they credit in three days or ten days as long as they credit! :sunshine2:

[Hedy]

Silly question-if I have something I ordered in '08, that will credit in '09, will the hold be for 10 or three days?

Answering my own question-it's a 10 day hold.

[~Kathie]

Silly question-if I have something I ordered in '08, that will credit in '09, will the hold be for 10 or three days?


I have credits pending until January 10th in my account for shopping I did on 12-30. For shopping I did on 12-31 the credits are pending until January 11th.

Look like anything that posted as pending prior to 12-31 was 3 days for Supermembers. Anything posting beginning January 1st is under the new terms of 10 days for SM's and 28 days for everyone else.


I don't mind the longer wait. I am always excited to see credits pend because I know everything worked right and they will hit my account. It doesn't matter to me if they credit in three days or ten days as long as they credit! :sunshine2:

Exactly!!! :)

[Sunni]

Makes sense to me....thanks for the heads up!

[sweetiee]

I was going to cash out for our Disney trip at the end of the month of January. Should I do paypal or a giftcard to Disney? I've never done paypal. My paypal account is with another email than what I use here.
Thanks!

[spring]

The most important thing about SR terms is communication. As long as I understand how the process works, be it shopping credits, paypal cashout, etc., I can easily adapt my cashouts around that.

Thanks for clearly spelling out the new details, Tricia.:sunshine:

[zummi525]

i agree with everybody else the changes are not bad at all and whatever you guys need to help keep sunshine chugging along i am good for
this place is quite an addiction for me
:sunshine:

[faithhope]

"Gift cards will be received within 4-6 weeks rather than 30 days."

Tricia - you might want to update the information on the Rewards/Gift Card page to reflect the changes.

[Pooh's Pal]

Once again, thanks for the updates, we really do appreciate them. :love:

[chipndale]

Really it is just small changes and I can totally deal with them. Thanks for the heads up so I know what to expect!

[T1nkrules]

Ditto! Thanks, SR! :thanks:

[pbhall13]

Thanks for the heads up.............glad I saw this........I am so bad at reading all the sticky's.......will remember to check them often for any changes......

thanks again

[Alice28]

thanks for keeping us well-informed. Love ya SR! :sunshine: :heart:

[m4travels]

Well, we're 23 days into the new year and I just realized that things had changed a bit when I saw some pending items that had dates longer than I realized. Thanks to Angie for pointing me to this thread!

BTW, I really do miss the forum. The next couple of months are going to be a bit crazed - as were the last couple - and I've still got a trip report to get up!

Thanks for the update, team!

[wilsonfamily4]

Well, we're 23 days into the new year and I just realized that things had changed a bit when I saw some pending items that had dates longer than I realized. Thanks to Angie for pointing me to this thread!

BTW, I really do miss the forum. The next couple of months are going to be a bit crazed - as were the last couple - and I've still got a trip report to get up!

Thanks for the update, team!

It was because we were on vacation! I wouldn't have even known about these changes if you hadn't bumped this. thanks Dude!

I am a tad bummed, but not a big deal, because I ordered something today thinking it would show up before the end of the month but now I see it will pend for 10 days. Not a big deal just glad I saw this today.

[mommommouse]

I'm glad I found this thread. I was just goinh to e-mail trish,to find out why it was taking so long for my payout. It has been more than a month but not 6 weeks. I guess I got to wait a little longer,
Debbie

[SunshineGirl]

We've updated our terms again based on some feedback from merchants. Most of it will not really impact members. Cashouts are limited to $500 a month now. We've added a disclosure statement about getting cash or product samples for review. We also extended the number of days your account can be inactive before we remove it. Take a look if you are so inclined. :)

http://www.sunshinerewards.com/terms.php

[m 'n c]

Seems straightforward enough. Is the $500 cap an antifraud measure? It seems reasonable to me.

[SunshineGirl]

Seems straightforward enough. Is the $500 cap an antifraud measure? It seems reasonable to me.

It is. In case anyone hasn't seen the Big Board this month, we have had another member make thousands of dollars in fraudulent purchases. Even after we contacted him personally and told him we suspected the account of fraud. We have lost hundreds of dollars in commissions but thankfully caught it right before a cashout was possible. If he had sat on his account for 45 days before making the purchases, he would have really hurt us. As it was, he couldn't cash out anyway yet.

[mmm611]

Just wondering here....I've made a few purchases this quarter and had a few returns as well. I also had one in January that the merchant messed up, but filled out a TT and it was fixed. I'm aware that my credits will be revoked once the return processes and I'm ok with that, because that's reasonable. Now you have me wondering if those returns would be considered fraudulent purchases?

I have a pair of shoes I need to send back to Shoebuy and while I know it's a legitimate return, I'm wondering where the line gets drawn.

[SunshineGirl]

Just wondering here....I've made a few purchases this quarter and had a few returns as well. I also had one in January that the merchant messed up, but filled out a TT and it was fixed. I'm aware that my credits will be revoked once the return processes and I'm ok with that, because that's reasonable. Now you have me wondering if those returns would be considered fraudulent purchases?

I have a pair of shoes I need to send back to Shoebuy and while I know it's a legitimate return, I'm wondering where the line gets drawn.

Returns are to be expected. The fraudulent purchases were each over $1000 and never actually fulfilled. For example, they ordered with a stolen credit card and the merchant caught it before they send the merchandise but after they gave us the credit. Or they ordered $1000 worth of stuff at Target and then returned it all within a week. Things like that.

[OhMari]

Returns are to be expected. The fraudulent purchases were each over $1000 and never actually fulfilled. For example, they ordered with a stolen credit card and the merchant caught it before they send the merchandise but after they gave us the credit. Or they ordered $1000 worth of stuff at Target and then returned it all within a week. Things like that.

A couple of posts were made, because they saw the amount on the Big Board. I don't know if you saw those posts, but I think it was sort of nice, that those that posted, knew something was wrong.

I have one question with cashing out the $500. This is only for paypal right, not the $600 Disney Gift card reward.

[lswheatly]

A couple of posts were made, because they saw the amount on the Big Board. I don't know if you saw those posts, but I think it was sort of nice, that those that posted, knew something was wrong.

I have one question with cashing out the $500. This is only for paypal right, not the $600 Disney Gift card reward.

I am also wondering the same thing...

[SunshineGirl]

Hmmm...I totally forgot that we even have that $600 cashout option. I don't think I've ever had more than a couple of people use it. Would people be too terribly upset if we took that out?

[mdapiggy]

That would be ok with me, I think we need to do what is in SR best interest and keep those who try to cheat the system out. Just my thoughts.

[lswheatly]

Since I am new and have never cashed out, I can't miss what I never had.

[Leslie]

Ok, I will be the PITA on this thread and ask for a little more clarification for those of us that build our balance up and then cash out. Is the $500 rule for cashing out for Disney gift cards once a calendar month, or once every 30 days?

[SunshineGirl]

Ok, I will be the PITA on this thread and ask for a little more clarification for those of us that build our balance up and then cash out. Is the $500 rule for cashing out for Disney gift cards once a calendar month, or once every 30 days?

It's a calendar month just to keep it easy. $500 tends to be the highest that most people ever cash out for at a time. So it seemed like a fair place to set it. And it will be very clear in your account. If you cash out for $200 in walmart gift cards and then go to paypal, it will tell you that you have $300 left for the month. So you won't have to keep track of it.

[29apr00]

I don't know, the limits on cash outs seem to be a bit much to me. My 1st cash out was for a $600 disney gift card. Last week i cashed out for $350 with paypal for a gift for my Dh, and now i'm thinking of buying somethign for myself, but I'll be over my "limit" if I do it. Our next Disney trip is well over a year away, I certainly hope i'd have more than $500 to cash out for my Disney Gift card by then. But I certainly don't want to cash out every 4 months or so and end up with 3-4 gift cards laying around the house for a year until we leave!

I understand the need to protect SR from fraud, and I'm glad that this other person was caught before he cashed out. But perhaps maybe there can be no limits for SM or SMP cashouts or if you've been a member for a certain amount of time, espically for the disney gift cards.

[PSL1013]

I don't know, the limits on cash outs seem to be a bit much to me. My 1st cash out was for a $600 disney gift card. Last week i cashed out for $350 with paypal for a gift for my Dh, and now i'm thinking of buying somethign for myself, but I'll be over my "limit" if I do it. Our next Disney trip is well over a year away, I certainly hope i'd have more than $500 to cash out for my Disney Gift card by then. But I certainly don't want to cash out every 4 months or so and end up with 3-4 gift cards laying around the house for a year until we leave!

I understand the need to protect SR from fraud, and I'm glad that this other person was caught before he cashed out. But perhaps maybe there can be no limits for SM or SMP cashouts or if you've been a member for a certain amount of time, espically for the disney gift cards.

It's $500 per month I can't imagine anyone having that amount to cash out for every month? :confused: There is a $600 GC and I wouldn't be upset if that was eliminated, I don't want a $500 and a separate $100 anyway. We all just have to plan ahead for our cashouts from now on, not really a big deal, at least not for me anyway.

[sunshinecindy]

Personally, I would have even made it lower, so I don't think that limiting to $500.00 a month is a big deal. In looking over our cashouts, its extremely seldom that we see anyone cash out even close to that. So, if it means you have to cash out two months in a row instead of every other month, I'm just not seeing the big deal in that. And personally, as far as gift cards go, I'd rather not cash out for huge ones anyway just in case they got lost in the mail since we aren't responsible for lost gift cards. I'd rather lose a 100. one then a 500.00 one, thats for darn sure.

[lanny76]

I can't see that too many people would have 500 a month to cash out anyway, so I don't see that as an unreasonable limit at all. I've never made more than 125 or so in a month anyway, so a limit even lower than 500 wouldn't affect/bother me. I don't think I've ever cashed out through Paypal and I generally get smaller denomination gift cards to my favorite stores, so I guess I feel nothing is so different for me anyway!
At least this person wasn't so smart/patient to wait 45 days with his account....so nothing is ill-gained on his end and SR doesn't suffer a great loss from it. What people won't try, sheeesh. So limits for the sake of fraud protection are absolutely necessary and I can certainly live with them.

[PSL1013]

Personally, I would have even made it lower, so I don't think that limiting to $500.00 a month is a big deal. In looking over our cashouts, its extremely seldom that we see anyone cash out even close to that. So, if it means you have to cash out two months in a row instead of every other month, I'm just not seeing the big deal in that. And personally, as far as gift cards go, I'd rather not cash out for huge ones anyway just in case they got lost in the mail since we aren't responsible for lost gift cards. I'd rather lose a 100. one then a 500.00 one, thats for darn sure.

I agree with you, a lower amount wouldn't bother me in the least. I might cashout once every 6 months but I do like those $500 GC because I like the convenience of having just one card instead of multiples to carry around. I also do agree that it's scary thinking that they might get lost but maybe that number on the back of the card can be written down or emailed to us before mailing it out just in case, more work for you guys but for security purposes it might be something to think about?

[gpp2001]

The reason I like to cash out for $500 is that then I don't have to pay postage - I know it's only 44 cents but 44 cents is 44 cents!! I guess I'm always looking to get the most for my $$$.

[mmm611]

Thanks for the clarification. I was wondering if it might have been done with a stolen credit card or something similar.

[ravensdreamer]

I thought the disney gift cards were protected, i thought only disney dollars were not replaceable? I am trying to get to 300 to cash out for a trip in May and 100 by next week to make SM...lol

[SunshineGirl]

I thought the disney gift cards were protected, i thought only disney dollars were not replaceable? I am trying to get to 300 to cash out for a trip in May and 100 by next week to make SM...lol

We do not guarantee any of them. But if I have the numbers for the Disney gift cards, I will give them to you. If someone cashes out for a $500 card, I ALWAYS write down that number in case something happens because that's a huge chunk of money. But it would be so labor intensive for us to keep track of every single card that we send out. Some months it is tens of thousands of dollars.

[PSL1013]

We do not guarantee any of them. But if I have the numbers for the Disney gift cards, I will give them to you. If someone cashes out for a $500 card, I ALWAYS write down that number in case something happens because that's a huge chunk of money. But it would be so labor intensive for us to keep track of every single card that we send out. Some months it is tens of thousands of dollars.

Well this is a relief to know that you write down the numbers for the $500 GC, I didn't know that and I'm always on edge until it arrives. Thanks. :love:

[gpp2001]

Good to hear about the $500 GC! All this talk about cashing out got me to cash out - went for the $500 Disney GC!!