‘I didn’t get my Cashback!’
The number one complaint made by users of popular cashback sites like Topcashback and Quidco echoes across review sites across the internet. And it’s most likely the number one frustration for users that can, sometimes, be avoided. At this point you’ve probably already contacted the cashback site you use and filled out their missing cashback claim form. I know, we’ve all been there at one point or another. But it’s got you thinking, how could this have been avoided in the first place?
Well, as you’ll quickly find out in this post it’s because of those little things on your computer called cookies. Wondering what are cookies and how do cookies work? I’ll explain all, and if you find your questions still aren’t answered (or you’re just plain confused) after you’ve read this feel free to ask anything more you’re curious about and I’ll get back to you straight away!
Before we begin, trust me when I tell you the cashback site doesn’t want this happening just as much as you don’t. If a purchase doesn’t track, it means they’re not getting paid a penny by the retailer either and they’re not getting any money from sending you to them. It’s frustrating for you, and for them!
“I am sorry that you have had tracking issues. This can happen now and then, but if it is happening regularly it may suggest an issue with PC or browser settings. The claims process can take some time, but it should only have to be used rarely. If a transaction isn’t tracking within 7 days, it is best to lodge a claim then”
Yeah, because that tells you exactly what you can do to stop it happening again…
Of course, some of the time, missing cash back is completely down to the retailer you’re buying from not being able to see where you’ve come from. Why would they pay a cashback site for a purchase you’ve made, if they can’t even see that you came to them from that site? They might have just missed your cookies (I’ll explain further down), or maybe they’re just being slow to forward your money to the cashback sites you’re using. If this is true in your case, then you might just have to be patient. Cashback sites can only send you your cashback once the retailer you bought something from has processed your purchase and sent the money back to them.
And in some cases, especially with purchases like hotel visits, getting the cashback can take a really long time. I go into more detail about this in the ultimate guide to cashback post, but basically retailers will wait until the ‘return’ time on your purchase has run out. Otherwise they could end up paying the referral fee, only to have you return the product (or cancel a trip, in the case of a hotel) and pocket the extra cash, making a profit from them.
The worse case scenario is that your order hasn’t been ‘tracked’. This means your order hasn’t shown that you’ve purchased through a cashback website. Although this doesnt happen too often, here’s an explanation of why it does and a few tips on how you can avoid it happening to you.
Contents
Cookies are good for you: But What ARE Cookies?
So, what are cookies? Cookies are how websites track where you’ve been. Now, before you panic, cookies are not programs and don’t actually do anything to your computer. They are simply small text files that store the information used to work out your browsing preferences, login info or the contents of your shopping basket. Typically, they’ll hold 2 pieces of information: a site’s name and a unique user ID that anyone can read using the notebook program on their computers.
Cookies can also be used to save your preferences to certain sites, like a colour scheme you preferred, or in the case of shopping websites what you put in your basket but didn’t buy a couple of hours ago. Some clever sites even list what you’ve recently looked at by checking your cookies. There was a big paranoia about cookies a few years back for what exactly they could be storing about you, but trust me when I say they take no personal details (no one is finding out your bank details, breathe a sigh of relief). But if you want more information from some bigger sources, here’s the BBC’s guide to cookies, and here’s wikipedia’s guide to cookies.
How Do Cookies Work With Cashback Sites?
The task of the cashback cookie is to remember the link you used to go from the cashback website to your retailer’s website. This is vital. Once the retailer you shopped through processes your purchase, they look for where you discovered them by tracking your cookies. They do this so they can see which websites and links are sending them customers.
Price comparison websites make money this way by leaving cookies on your browser to show retailers that they were the ones that referred your sale. Here is where we, and other cashback websites, flip the script.
So, anytime you visit a cashback website;
- Accept it’s cookies – very important, or the cashback won’t work!
- Use the links it provides to shop at a retailer’s website – otherwise the retailer won’t know you’ve even used the cashback site.
Your browser receives cookies which are later used by the retailer you shopped on to identify that you used a cashback website, and to decide the amount of cash back you should be getting.
How Do Cookies Work: Missing Cookies
If you’ve used a cash back website before, you might have heard a well versed customer service rep say “Unfortunately, your purchase wasn’t tracked, please fill in a missing cash back claim form.” What they’re effectively saying is that they can’t find the cookies placed on your computer from the cashback site you used. This can mean one of two things for your commission: A) That the retailer won’t pay a referral because they can’t see where you’ve come from or B) Your commission has been sent to a different affiliate whose cookie has been found on your browser.
Contacting the cashback website you’re using about your issue can give them a chance to chase up the retailer for you, but if they can’t find that cookie then there’s nothing the cashback site can do.
My Advice:
The good news is, missing cashback and lost cookies are potentially avoidable. There are at least a few steps you can take to do your bit to ensure there aren’t any mix-ups, but sometimes not even these can help, so keep in mind that cashback is never guaranteed. But you can:
- Clear your Cookies before you use the cashback website, so that any previous visits to the retailer and how you got to them are taken off your computer, and will eventually be replaced with the cookies from the cashback site.
- Make sure Cookies are enabled when using any cashback website.
- Go from the cashback site straight to the retailer and make your purchase.
- DO NOT deviate from the retailer’s site once you’ve clicked through to it from the cashback site; if you do any other internet browsing the cookie from the cashback site could potentially be replaced.
- Ensure your firewall / security settings don’t prevent cookies from being stored on your computer (most modern ones won’t, though if you do find you have tracking issues it’s worth looking at these).
- Make sure any adblockers you have are turned off while using cashback sites. Again, this shouldn’t make a difference but has been linked to bad tracking before.
- If you’re still having issues, trying using a different internet browser (eg, if you use Google Chrome, try using Internet Explorer or Safari).
None of these steps are guaranteed to prevent failed tracking in the future. But together, they could help. I’ve used cashback sites extensively in the past, and I’ve only ever clicked the ‘allow’ button on the Cookies popup, and shopped straight from the cashback site to the retailer. All of my purchases have tracked. I have a friend who uses cashback sites just as much as me, always does all of the above, and has had one purchase not track before. Sometimes we just can’t know what’s causing it!
HOW TO ENABLE COOKIES ON ANY WEB BROWSER
As of May 2011, websites from all countries across the EU have to ask their user’s permission before storing cookies on their browsers.
If a pop up appears, like the one shown above, or a question is included somewhere on the page saying something along the lines of: This website would like to use your cookies… Always select allow. If no pop up appears, double check that cookies are enabled by doing the following:
INTERNET EXPLORER 7 & 8
- Open Internet Explorer
- Click the Tools Menu
- Click Internet Options
- Click the Privacy tab
- Under Settings, move the slider to the ‘medium’ or click Default settings, and then click OK
- Close down open browser windows, re-open and sign in.
GOOGLE CHROME
- In the top Right-Hand corner of your page, just below the exit button, Click the icon with three parallel horizontal lines.
- A drop down menu will appear – click Settings
- Towards the end of the page click +Show advanced settings
- Click Content settings
- Under cookies click ‘Allow local data to be set (recommended)’
- Once the box has been checked, click Done in the bottom right hand corner.
- Make sure you close down, re-open and Sign In to any open browser windows once you are finished
FIREFOX
- Open a Firefox browser
- Go to the Tools menu and click Options
- Click on the Privacy tab
- In the History box, set the ‘firefox will’ option to ‘Use custom settings for history’
- Check boxes ‘Accept cookies from sites’ and ‘Accept third party cookies’
- Click OK
- Close you browser, re-open and Sign In to make sure all changes have been updated
SAFARI
- Open Safari
- Click the Safari Menu then click Preferences and then Privacy
- Next click the icon labelled Security and accept the option ‘Accept cookies’ to ‘Always’
- Click OK to save changes
- Close the browser, Re-open and Sign In to your cashback site.
OPERA
- Open an Opera browser and click F12
- Click on the ‘Accept Cookies’ option, if it’s not already marked
- Click OK to save changes and close dialog box
- Make sure you close and re-open the browser and then Sign In to ensure the changes have saved
Also check any Anti-virus, Spy software or Built-In security, which can also interfere with your cookies being tracked.
HOW TO CLEAR THE COOKIES ON YOUR COMPUTER
Most Cashback sites will also recommend clearing your cookies before you make any purchase. Shops pay a little bit of money to the place they find showed you their products, and they do this by looking at your cookies. This means that if you visited any other site that could have sent you to them, and they left a cookie, it could compete with the cashback site’s cookie. Clearing your cookies before using a cashback site will make sure it’s cookie is the only one showing on your browser at the time of your purchase.
Here’s how you clear your cookies for any browser:
INTERNET EXPLORER
- Open Internet Explorer and click the Tools icon in the shape of a cog in the top right-hand corner.
- From the drop down list, hover over Safety which will bring up another drop down list
- From here click on Delete browsing history
- If you don’t want to get rid of all of your browsing history, go to Tools > Internet Options and then the Privacy tab. To make sure cookies from other affiliate windows don’t have competing cookies on your browser make sure the Cookies and Website data is checked before pressing Delete.
- Close the window, reopen the web page and Sign In.
FIREFOX
- Open Firefox
- Click on the Firefox button in the left corner of the browser window.
- Go to ‘Tools‘ in the menu bar and Click on ‘Options‘
- Click on ‘Privacy Tab‘
- Click the Show cookies button.
- In the new dialogue pop up box click Remove all cookies
- Alternatively, after selecting Show cookies, select which cookies you would like to remove before closing the box.
- Close and re-open your browser and then Sign In to make sure changes have been made.
GOOGLE CHROME
- Open Chrome and select the Chrome menu (the icon with the 3 horizontal parallel lines) in the top right corner, just below the ‘X’.
- Go to Tools and scroll down to settings.
- A new tab will open. Scroll down towards the end of the page and then select +Show Advanced Settings.
- Scroll down to Privacy and then click Clear Browsing data
- To make sure changes are saved, close and re-open the browser and Sign In again.
SAFARI
- Open Safari.
- Click the Action menu (the cog shaped Icon in the top right corner) and then go to Preferences.
- Click on the Privacy icon and then click Remove All Website Data.
- Agree with the confirmation prompt and close the window before signing in again.
If you have any other questions related to what are cookies or how do cookies work which I haven’t answered here, shoot me a comment below or over on Facebook or Twitter and I’ll get back to you straight away. Otherwise, I hope you’ve found this useful!
SEE MORE: How Do Cashback Sites Work? – Your ULTIMATE Guide >>
Picture from: Cookie Crumbs, Cookies Piled Up
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