Does freeipods.com actually work?

August 31, 2004 1:09 PM

Does anyone have any personal experience with freeipods.com? My brother wants in. I'm more than sceptical.

I read this and a bunch of comments on other sites. I understand the concept, but how long can this type of system sustain itself? For what it's worth, some people have definetely received free ipods.

posted by anathema to shopping (13 comments total)

It seems legit, but I need two more referalls to get mine. :(
If anyone is feeling nice, my referal link is in my profile.
posted by keswick at 1:31 PM on August 31, 2004

It's semi-bogus. I've heard degree-2 reports of success. My guess is that its possible to do it all right and get a free ipod, but they make it as difficult and opaque as possible.

I spent about 6 weeks arguing with their customer service about their failure to credit me for offers (it took so long because their offical policy is not to respond to any completes for at least 4 weeks.). In the end, their response to me was basically "Hmm...you may or may not have fulfilled your end of the deal. We are not going to check. In any case, we changed the rules of your end of the deal 3 weeks into things, and didn't document the rules any where anyway. Whatever really happened, we don't care and will not be crediting your account."

It was strangely infuriating to have them admit that I very well may have complied completely with the secret rules of the offer, but they just didn't care and wouldn't be crediting me.
posted by jeb at 1:47 PM on August 31, 2004

earlier ask.me about ipod discounts which has some discussion about freeipods.com
posted by crush-onastick at 1:49 PM on August 31, 2004

it's a freakin' pyramid scheme! C'mon guys, if it sounds too good, it is too good. It permits sites (like AOL) to have a rush of new signups, and then they die off quickly. A short new revenue stream for those who forget to kill it.
posted by filmgeek at 2:28 PM on August 31, 2004

My wife's natural mothering boards have been doing this for a month or two and several have received ipods already. I joined to get in on this before they burn through the capital.

Blatant plugging: Here is my referrer link if anyone wants to sign up. Maybe we should get a conga line of signups going.
posted by spartacusroosevelt at 3:26 PM on August 31, 2004

I did the math. Unfortunately I can't brew it up again here as I'm sick, but just do the math yourself.. start with 1 person who refers 5 people. Then those 5 refer 5 more each.. multiply up a few generations. Eventually you overcome the populace of the US in X generations (quite a low number too, as I recall).

I then worked out the cost of the iPods for the number of people who could practically get them.. then worked out the value of all of the people covered (it was mentioned in a Wired article about freeipods.com), and it seems they're making quite a cute profit. The most important term is 'one per household'.
posted by wackybrit at 3:29 PM on August 31, 2004

I signed up three or four weeks ago, when the last AskMe thread came up. I received credit for my offer, but none of my referrals have received credit for theirs yet, despite many, many e-mails to the site. At first I figured they were just overloaded, but now I've given up hope.

I also just started working out a week ago or so, and just bit the bullet and bought myself an iPod mini. (And it's spectacular!)
posted by Khalad at 3:31 PM on August 31, 2004

Please stop posting your referrer links. Not to be an ass, but c'mon, it's a frickin' pyramid scheme. They send out just enough ipods to make it look legit, while the rest of you, like jeb, are just going to get crapped on.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 4:40 PM on August 31, 2004

It's somewhat legit. I have completed everything and my order is processing - there's been a huge volume of people doing it, so I'm expecting it to take a month for my iPod to actually arrive. One of my friends just received his iPod a couple of days ago... Took about 3 weeks after he completed all the referrals.

I had the same problem as jeb - something screwed up and I didn't get credit for an offer. Ultimately, I just did another offer (Infone) and it worked the next day.
posted by swank6 at 5:45 PM on August 31, 2004

wackybrit: Twelve generations.
posted by abcde at 6:47 PM on August 31, 2004

I'm having the same experience as jeb. FWIW.
posted by blueshammer at 7:25 PM on August 31, 2004

This came up on another forum I read recently. Not only are they pyramid-o-riffic, but they have the most bogus terms of service I've seen in a long while. They get to change the conditions at any time, of course. They get to substitute some other reward for the ipod (e.g., a free pez dispenser), regerdless of relative value. Even if you jump through all the hoops and are "owed" an ipod according to their rules, the terms of service say they don't actually have to give you one.

My guess is that, like a Ponzi scheme, they'll pay out in ipods just often enough to keep a buzz going, and no more. Once they've hooked all the suckers they're going to, they'll just quietly disappear.
posted by hattifattener at 12:11 AM on September 1, 2004

So, for those whose orders were being "processed", did you get it?
posted by drezdn at 12:41 PM on September 24, 2004