Caution - Freebies Ahead!

I love freebies just as much as the next guy/gal. There's all kinds of opportunities out there to simply fill out your name and address, and then look forward to receiving your little gem of a deal in the mail within 4 to 6 weeks. But I don't post a whole bunch of freebies just because I feel like some of them are really shady. I don't want to pass anything along to you that I haven't tried myself. And we all have our limits on what we will do or tolerate to get a freebie.

Fortunately for me, I received a comment from a reader, I'll not mention her name in my post because I haven't directly communicated with her in order to get her permission, but I am grateful to her for, in a roundabout way, pointing out the error of my ways.

This is her comment in response to the EasyBakeWare freebie that I spoke about in an earlier post:

"I tried to order a free easybakeware but in order to get the $1.00 shipping I needed to sign up for a free 7 day trial program. The program was free for the first 7 days and then would cost a/b 15.00/month. They said if you called the # w/in the 7 day trial period cancelling would end any further obligation. I tried to go ahead and sign up but it only wanted a debt card, no credit cards. This is where I gave up. Did you experience the same hoops?"

I confess, I did jump through those hoops. My error? Not warning you that you would have to do the same. There are some items available out there for which I will 'hoop jump', and others I will not. In my excitement over the EasyBakeWare offer, I temporarily lost my mind and forgot that my idea of a great offer will not always jive with your idea of a great offer! I was willing to go through their maze of requirements in order to receive the EasyBakeWare cookie liner because I reeaallly wanted it! If it was any other item on their freebie list I probably would not have done it. I've had my eye on the cookie liner since before Christmas and all of a sudden here's this opportunity to get it for a dollar? I'm in!

From what I've read, though, I was very lucky! I 'googled' the EasyBakeWare offer and found that a lot of folks had problems with it. Most were unhappy with the 'hoop jumping' that wasn't revealed until they went to pay the $1 for the offer, others were unable to cancel out within the 7 days as the 3rd party company was making it impossible for them, and some didn't even receive their free item because they did cancel out.

Another thing I'm concerned about is the fact that when this particular reader attempted the offer, they only wanted her debit card. I did pay with a credit card (always for safety and recourse reasons) because that was the option offered to me. This reader was keen to the red flag in front of her that something didn't seem right and quit the offer right there and then.

Because I had a good experience, I mistakenly assumed that everyone else who wanted to benefit from this free offer would, too.

So, my thanks to you, dear reader -this is what I love most about feedback! I think it best to stick to offers that are straight forward and simple, and if there is any hoop-jumping involved, I will warn you in advance!

Image from 'mrpjam77'