Free MacBook Air!? Do those really work?

[pbkiller]

Hi all, i just had a question, do you know when youre surfing the net and you get an ad saying that you are just elegible for a free MacBook Air? I know that after the fact, people must subscribe to all kinds of stuff to get it, but after that, has anyone actually received a Free MacBook Air, a free prize, something?

Somebody went thru all the work and received a prize?

Just to know....

 

[Blue Velvet]

Any replies, no links or referrals please.

 

[Consultant]

It will be a free item for the scammers, because you will lose your money to the scammers.

Nothing in the world is free. You want it to be free doesn't mean it is.
(No, they don't pay you thousands of dollars to browse some links or be a secret shopper, etc.)

If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

 

[umgolfer]

If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

It always seems to come down to that doesn't it...

 

[macworkerbee]

No, I don't know of anyone who has received on of these "free" products. If anyone tells you they did they probably also make $22,000 a month working a pyramid scheme

 

[pbkiller]

I dont believe in that stuff either, and yes, nothing in the world is free....
It's just that i've heard people saying that they actually have won something from those companies. I mean, its not "technically" free, because you need to subscribe in magazines, order some stuff, etc; but I was curious if there's someone (in these forums) that are typing in their MacBook Air or any other kind of laptop that they won in these kind of "contests"...

 

[RCGMac]

The most I ever received was an iPod Shuffle. It did not cost me a dime, by using the free offers and made sure to cancel any trials before they expired. It was neat to get it, but in the grand scheme of things it was a pain in the butt. I looked at how many offers it would take to get a laptop, it was rediculous and many of the 'required' offers cost money.

If you do try it make sure you use a pre-paid credit card, that way you protect your entire bank account from fraud.

 

[notjustjay]

You have to think about it with some common sense.

You get these "free" items because somebody bought them on your behalf. Who? Your personal details are worth something to someone. You provide your name and address to be added to all kinds of mailing lists. Someone out there is willing to pay a few bucks for that kind of information. Signing up for trial offers, they're hoping you'll start subscribing, or forget to cancel, and some of that money comes out of there. These companies probably are willing to gamble a couple of bucks up front on the hope that you'll start paying.

Repeat this enough times and, sure, you could win just about anything for "free". But what was the real cost? How much junk mail are you going to get now that your name is all over the place? How many of these people might try to do something with those details, like commit fraud or identity theft or attempt a scam? How many people are you going to annoy because you have to pass things on and sign up your buddies in order to qualify?

Based on this, is it really worth it?

 

[maestro55]

I have thought before about doing one just to see, but as mentioned it is a lot of trouble and could end up costing some money in the end and so I have never actually done it. But I knew a guy that actually did get a Dell Laptop from one of those things a while ago.

 

[TimJim]

Some websites, one in particular (not posting link) do send you things after you do things like sign up to websites through the sites link (giving them money). After you do one, you have to recruit other people to do those. It sounds fairly easy, but costs money, and is hard to recruit people to do the offers on the site.

 

[timimbo85]

I have seen a special on the news about this. Its not "free" you have to sign up to these different sites and purchase one of the times they offer, and you do it so many times you actually get the computer, you save on the computer but its not free. I don't care, I will never try it.

 

[mBurns]

I've never know anyone who has won anything free through an offer. It's more of a pain (and risk) then it's worth in my opinion.

 

[cgingrich]

No, I don't know of anyone who has received on of these "free" products. If anyone tells you they did they probably also make $22,000 a month working a pyramid scheme

About a year and a half ago I received a 52" DLP HDTV through one of these (ended up spending about $200 in offers), and a 5-disc Home Theater system from another site (spent about $50 in offers).

You have to research which sites are legit and which sites are scams, it takes time to do the offers, some you have to cancel or end up paying more. Some you can get refunds on. All in all, it is a lot of work but they do work...$200 for an otherwise $2500 TV ain't bad. The site I did the TV on actually shut down right after I completed it, so obviously the sites that truly work, don't stay around too long if they're losing money.

If you commit to it, it works, but it does take work.

 

[fireballer55]

What websites did you use that got you the home theatre system or tv? Thanks!

 

[showtime]

It does actually work for some sites but it's not actually free. You give up your time and effort to sign up for trials and refer friends. The websites are happy to reward you for you time and effort because they probably made more through advertising and your trials and referrals than the cost of the item.

 

[cgingrich]

What websites did you use that got you the home theatre system or tv? Thanks!

Both sites are now offline. The TV one was actually shut down as I was still completing offers but since I was already a member I could finish. Neither required any referrals which is why I did them, I would suggest trying to find ones like that unless you have a lot of willing friends.

 

[alphaod]

I've had friends do some and gotten iPods and stuff, but it takes a lot of work and for something like a Macbook Air, you need to complete like a few hundred trials, a few hundred surveys; not worth it IMO.

 

[muldul]

I have never heard of someone entering one of those scams and ever getting anything worth it for it.

 

[kingcrowing]

There was an article on http://www.lowendmac.com a few years ago and someone did one for a feww mac mini when they first came out and they did get it for "free" I think is total cost was like $50 doing the offers and what not and it took a few months.

I think if you really want it and can find a non-pyramid-scheme one where you need to get a bunch of friends to also do it, then its possible.

 

[drewsof07]

I started something like that for a 360 and completed the first set of free offers then I saw that the next step involved signing up for 5 trials at $19.99 each, so that turned me off real quick. It took about a week to stop the spam mail and remove my name from the mailing lists. I haven't had any spam mail since, so It's not too hard to wipe your name off their lists.

 

[cgingrich]

I started something like that for a 360 and completed the first set of free offers then I saw that the next step involved signing up for 5 trials at $19.99 each, so that turned me off real quick. It took about a week to stop the spam mail and remove my name from the mailing lists. I haven't had any spam mail since, so It's not too hard to wipe your name off their lists.

Definitely need to make an alt email account for these things, the spam mail is ridiculous. I made a separate gmail account just for the free sites when I used to do them.

 

[drewsof07]

Definitely need to make an alt email account for these things, the spam mail is ridiculous. I made a separate gmail account just for the free sites when I used to do them.

Yes!! Agree 100% but I was just in such a hurry to get my FREE 360 haha

 

[andiwm2003]

i tried once out of curiosity to click through an entire "you won a free powerbook" session. with a spam email account of course.

after 20 min i ended up in some sort of endless loop.

i don't think that you can ever complete one of those things. they make you sign up forever or at some point some ad page doesn't forward you correctly and you lose.

anyway, i guess the german chancellor G. Schroeder still gets magazines from that time because i signed up with his name

 

[spork183]

anyway, i guess the german chancellor G. Schroeder still gets magazines from that time because i signed up with his name

That's funny. Spreading the love around the world. Course you realize he also got your free powerbook which he uses to govern with...

 

[elppa]

Did you know they took gullible out of the Oxford Dictionary, last Tuesday I believe it was?