Users complain about free iPod site
FreeiPods.com gives away MP3 players for subscribing
by Byron Kho
The Daily Pennsylvanian
October 7, 2004
For better or worse, consumers nationwide -- and across campus -- have started to take notice of a novel online marketing scheme that seeks to acquire new customers through the lure of free iPods.
FreeiPods.com, run by Washington, D.C.-based company Gratis Internet, offers users a chance to receive a free iPod by first subscribing to one of several online offers and promotions, then persuading five friends to do the same.
The company may have to give out an additional $50 million worth of iPods, if all "confirmed identities" redeem their iPods.
However, complaints of lengthy delays and spam e-mail have brought a shadow on its reputation that the company has vigorously defended.
"We are working extremely hard to get orders out the door," said Peter Martin, a company co-founder, in response to complaints that iPods were not being shipped and that queries were being left unanswered -- some of these from Penn students, who are still waiting for delivery of their iPods.
"We are currently working with new vendors, and making improvements on shipping times, customer service and more. About 1,000 iPods are on back-order status right now."
Martin and his partner, Rob Jewell, contend that the fault lies with Apple, which produces most of the iPods that FreeiPods.com distributes.
"The wait is 100 percent due to Apple's manufacturing. The delay is three weeks-plus," Martin said. Jewell added that it "hurts us to get them out slow."
Hewlett-Packard iPods are being offered as an alternative. Released in August, the HP iPods use different software and contain the HP logo on the product in addition to the Apple logo, but are otherwise the same.
As for spam, the site's terms and conditions warn users that they might "receive e-mails we or another [third] party may send." However, the site owners say they maintain privacy standards necessary under their certification by TrustE and the Better Business Bureau.
"I personally wouldn't do it," said Steven Ujifusa, a graduate student in Penn's School of Design. "Considering the amount of identity threat that is out there, it would be best to err on the side of caution."
Another point of contention for would-be users includes the clauses written into the site's policies that allow the company to change the number of referrals necessary, or put a user's account on hold for whatever reason. Martin responded that the reason for all of these policies possibly stems from concerns about user fraud.
Whatever its policy, the company has purportedly been generous with its payouts. According to Jewell, Gratis has given away over $4 million in products through a network of free sites that includes FreeCondoms.com, FreeFlatScreens.com and, most recently, FreeDesktopPC.com.
"We are a leading online marketing company," Martin said. "Our campaigns have been very successful. We get referral fees, as high as $80 bucks. We simply run their offer, and send our advertisers a high volume of leads."
The company is able to distribute its free wares in conjunction with leading companies seeking advertising, including Blockbuster, Columbia House and BMG Music Service.
In the past, the site has also featured offers from The New York Times, AOL and eBay. Gratis does not directly deal with these companies, but works through a third-party marketing agency.
While it may be an easy way to get an iPod, Wharton marketing professor Peter Fader argues that this form of marketing is a flawed idea.
"It has no long-term value, and is non-sustainable. It relies on a gimmick rather than an interesting product or service -- in the long run, it does not leave sponsoring companies better off," Fader said.
In the short-term, however, the company is making money, and customers are hopefully receiving their new iPods.
"Even [for] the people who wait a month, it's free, and they end up being happy in the end," Jewell said.
Linked at eCommerce Times, MacNewsWorld, MyAppleMenu and Highbeam Research Library
Article comments include:
- I signed up for a free ipod on one of those wonderful gift sites (TopFreeGifts). It said to just complete any one of the listed offers, and once my credit was confirmed, I would be eligible for my free ipod. After signing up for Blockbuster on-line, I checked my email and found that I had to click on a link which circled me back to the offer page to confirm my information. There, it instructed me to sign up for an offer all over again. Since I was confused as to if what I had done so far was sufficient to be eligible for the ipod, I e-mailed the site and asked if I had done everything right so far and to confirm if I was eligible for the gift. They responded the next day with the requirements. Included in them was that I had to sign up for three offers (this was not mentioned anywhere I could find on the original offer page). I also had to be active with each offer for at least 60 days (that was mentioned). The cost of going through all that trouble setting up a bunch of accounts that I really wasn't interested in was well over $300. I can just directly purchase and ipod for less than that and avoid many headaches. So much to my dismay, I had signed up for something I really didn't need or want (I just wanted an ipod), and am going to subsequently cancel the offer before my credit card gets charged. I can only imagine the amount of unwanted email I will be deleting over the next year. For any one else who is looking for the freebie, I would suggest you forget it. If you want an ipod, save yourself the trouble and just buy the damn thing!
- The other reader's comment is extremely off mark. He signed up for a site not owned by the owners of freeipods.com and is trying to tie the two together. Perhaps he should have done his homework on what is legit and what is not.
One only has to do some research to see that Gratis Internet has been fulfilling it's orders. People may not like the fact they're waiting 6 to 8 weeks, but the site's Terms of Service state that. What people are forgetting is they agreed to those TOS when they signed up. If they didn't like them, then they shouldn't have done the offer.
Granted, I don't have my iPod in hand yet, but I have no reason to believe it's not coming. It is well worth the little effort I put into completing an offer and asking a few friends to do the same to get a $300 item for nothing.
And the professor who said it's flawed just proves the point that many of these people should not be in teaching roles. They are academics with no sense of reality.
The reality is the Internet has changed everything. The idea of recruiting Internet users to recruit their friends and lead them to advertising is a rather good idea. Gratis has made it work because it hasn't made requirements too high. The key will be if Gratis pulls the plug when it is apparent that it has become too hard for people to find others who haven't already signed up. But really, all they have to do is keep starting new free items sites to keep it as attainable as possible.
- I agree with Matts comments. Johnathan may have started out on the wrong foot and gotten bad experience with another site. Freeipods is not affilated with them I don't think. I signed up right after my boss received his IPOD from the freeipods.com he even took pictures and sent it to everyone to show his friends it wasn't a scam. I would expect there will be a certain amount of email spam no matter what. That goes with any company you give out your email address to even the banks. So to be on the safe side i signed up with a spam email addess which i know would be spammed and use a credit card which i have that have a little credit in them. And now here I am signed up with the millions of people out there. I believe those gratis guys are busier than ever since all this press releases and television interviews about the so called scheme.