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    Rakuten

Rakuten

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Overview

Rakuten has a rating of 2.7 stars from 2,124 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about Rakuten most frequently mention credit card, referral bonus, and family member problems. Rakuten ranks 5th among Cash Back sites.

  • Service
    187
  • Value
    151
  • Returns
    64
  • Quality
    121

This company does not typically respond to reviews

Positive reviews (last 12 months): 18.2%
Positive
2
Neutral
0
Negative
9
View ratings trends
61
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How would you rate Rakuten?
Top Positive Review

“Amazing Rakuten! Thanks so much Susan!”

Tetiana K.
5/7/24

Rakuten team are the best service I've come across in the US. We are refugees from Ukraine and we are very grateful to Rakuten for such joy as excellent service, impeccable work, patience, respect for the client and professionalism. I will be happy to buy everything only through the Rakuten service. This is a great savings and a great pleasure to know them! Thank you Susan!

Date of experience: 5/6/24
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Top Critical Review

“Thieves”

Cory C.
12/11/24

They never pay what you actually earned. I have yet to have a single transaction pay what was advertised. Even after purchases have been verified they just delete the payout for no reason. 100% scam!

Date of experience: 12/1/24
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Reviews (2,124)

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Reviews that mention popular keywords

customer service (796) customer care (55) shopping trip (51) customer support (36) response time (19) credit card (31) gift card (35)
Thumbnail of user sharonw100
New Jersey
1 review
2 helpful votes
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December 28th, 2016

No empty promises- if you have a question or problem you actually get a person and any issues resolved. Couldn't be any easier to get free money! I'm telling everyone even the sales person at Bloomingdales!

Date of experience: December 28, 2016

Thumbnail of user mindih5
Georgia
1 review
0 helpful votes
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June 9th, 2019
Verified purchase

Not sure if it is my settings or not, but when I used to click on the Ebates tab/button (if I was already on a store site)... it would create a tag/ticket and I would be logged in automatically. Now when I click the button it takes me to the main Ebates page, I have to login and find the store I was just at.
Not as convenient, but still works.

Date of experience: June 7, 2019

Thumbnail of user susanm1497
Pennsylvania
1 review
8 helpful votes
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February 20th, 2020

Do not order from Rakuten Japan. I have been waiting for a package sent from Japan and all customer service could tell me is that the package has been detained by the US Customs. US Customs says they cannot look for the package - go to the Post Office. Since Rakuten is the sender, they should do more than just send me to the Customs Website. It did not even have the port of entry. I have just lost all money paid for the product and no recourse.

Date of experience: February 20, 2020

Thumbnail of user sabrinak77
Alabama
1 review
2 helpful votes
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February 4th, 2021

I've been using Rakuten every since they were Ebates (Member since 9/15/2017) but recently when they started their referrals around the Holidays in December 2020 (you and the person that signs up, they spend $40 you get $40) I referred 4 people and I got my money but when I checked days later they took the $160 away from me, which isn't fair because those are real people with their own money that spent $40 and signed up. So I feel like Rakuten just used people to sign people up, a lot of reviews are having the same issue, no one received their referral money.

Not only are they not giving people their referral money, when you spend money, you barely get anything back, there's been times I spent $500+ and I'd just get $1 back. It's pathetic.

There's also been times where you spend your money and they don't give you your cashback and you have to email them to ask for your cashback and show them proof.

After 4 years I will be closing my account.

Service

Date of experience: February 4, 2021

Thumbnail of user saram80
California
1 review
1 helpful vote
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December 15th, 2015
Verified purchase

I've never had a company respond to my email inquiry request as fast as ebates. They have fantastic customer service and my request for my daughter to get her referral money for me joining ebates as she had not received it for whatever reason was resolved with a few answered questions. Thank you for your promptness and efficientness.

Date of experience: December 14, 2015

Thumbnail of user shirleyl106
Washington
1 review
0 helpful votes
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June 6th, 2019
Verified purchase

I have to remind myself to purchase through the Rakuten app, but even if I have items in the cart, I can exit, go back and enter website via Rakuten, and check out. I am actually receiving regular checks!

Date of experience: June 5, 2019

Thumbnail of user jessicat35
Wyoming
1 review
0 helpful votes
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April 14th, 2015
Verified purchase

EBates customer service reps are awesome! I had an issue with not getting my cash back from an online purchase. I contacted EBates and described my issue and the cash back was credited to my account immediately so I did not have to wait for the investigation to be completed. Wonderful customer service!

Date of experience: April 14, 2015

Thumbnail of user vanessas350
Utah
1 review
0 helpful votes
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February 11th, 2020

My member service agent was BEYOND AMAZING! She was very nice, very informative, and extremely helpful, not only that but she was very knowledgeable, she knew exactly what she was talking about.
I came to her with a confusing problem. She helped me understand my problem in and out. She was extremely thorough. And she helped me solved the situation I was having. She had shown and provided some of the BEST customer service I have ever received! I will continue to keep using this site just because of how awesome of a help she was to me. Thank you again

Date of experience: February 11, 2020

Thumbnail of user dingv
Illinois
2 reviews
16 helpful votes
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April 14th, 2017

I am an online shopper and very particular with prices - I noticed that Walmart and JCPenny's prices goes up when I activate Ebates. Example: I was looking at a jeans priced $10.00 but when I active Ebates the price in my Cart went to $12.00. Where is the deal in that! I am only getting a 1% back from Ebates but if I don't activate it the price was discounted by $2! There is really no deal with Ebates if you are buying clearance and roll back items!

Date of experience: April 14, 2017

Thumbnail of user thomasm144
Texas
14 reviews
41 helpful votes
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April 4th, 2016

My experience with Rakuten started when I was searching for a camera for my wife, this particular camera averaged $750.00 for the camera alone. I stumbled across Rakuten and searched reviews, which were all positive. Rakuten offered the same camera for $680 and a whole accessory kit with it!

Upon checking out I recieved a notice that they would take $80 off my order for opening a credit card with them. Of course I did it. All together a recieved an amazing deal, and on top of that the credit company called me and wanted to confirm that I made the order before they charged me, which I was happy to know that their security was so vigilant.

My wife loves her camera and accessories. So the very least I can do is highly recommend Rakuten. It's a basically unknown company, but from my experience, a great one.

Date of experience: April 4, 2016

Thumbnail of user marag7
New York
1 review
0 helpful votes
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December 20th, 2014
Verified purchase

I had misplaced my last few "Big Fat Checks"; I contacted the customer service team and Chelsea was quick to research the situation and issue replacement checks. She made the process stress free and quick... thanks for the great customer service!

Date of experience: December 20, 2014

Thumbnail of user elizabethc1061
California
4 reviews
0 helpful votes
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April 6th, 2021

You earn money by shopping my type of site. I try to look for stores that give me more cash for shopping at their store. Trust me there are more stores that need our business and money. Support our stores, please.

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality

Date of experience: April 5, 2021

Thumbnail of user nancym81
New Hampshire
1 review
0 helpful votes
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September 25th, 2015
Verified purchase

I had an issue receiving a rebate from a site I had placed an order with. Even though it was totally my fault, and not an ebates issue, they were great with helping me. Totally professional and willing to go above and beyond to try to solve the issue. This is why I have been an ebates user for almost 15 years!

Date of experience: September 25, 2015

Thumbnail of user sherylb17
Virginia
1 review
1 helpful vote
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September 28th, 2017

I LOVE Ebates. Recently I had a problem and did not receive my initial Ebate credit. They followed-up and kept me apprised of their progress every step of the way. Periodically I received an email letting them know they had not forgotten me, but my issue had not been resolved. I appreciate that correspondence because it take a bit of time to get my issue resolved.

Date of experience: September 28, 2017

Thumbnail of user kaylam8
Texas
3 reviews
11 helpful votes
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January 25th, 2016

Ebates is awesome! At first I thought it was too good to be true but I was wrong! You get to shop online and get a percentage back from what you buy! I shop online all the time mostly because it's not acceptable to be out in my pajamas with a glass of wine shopping. Try it out you won't be disappointed.

Date of experience: January 25, 2016

Thumbnail of user sheilas41
Washington
2 reviews
9 helpful votes
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February 9th, 2016

I made a first time purchase with this company and was very apprehensive since it was a fairly large purchase. I couldn't be more pleased. The item was delivered in less than a week, in good condition and no problems whatsoever. I would most certainly try them again in the future. Their price for the product was exceptional and shipping was free.

Date of experience: February 9, 2016

Thumbnail of user kellyw1
Ohio
3 reviews
13 helpful votes
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November 27th, 2009

I was pleased... got a great deal on a hard to find item, it shipped that day and was here two days later... bought more today... did have a shipping charge appear when it shouldn't but was so happy with my deal, I just went with it anyway...

Date of experience: November 27, 2009

Thumbnail of user sarahn56
Florida
1 review
0 helpful votes
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March 30th, 2016
Verified purchase

I don't use Ebates as much as I should and when I moved never updated my address. I happened to log in and see that I was sent a check months ago to my old address and it was never forwarded. I didn't known if contacting them would result in anything but to my surprise in was contacted the same day to let me know the check was being reissued at no penalty to me! I will be using my account a lot more now!

Date of experience: March 30, 2016

Thumbnail of user bonniel22
Pennsylvania
1 review
1 helpful vote
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January 22nd, 2015
Verified purchase

I love using Ebates and their customer service is more than 5 star--would give them a 10 star rating if I could! Nicole was quick to answere my questions and assist me with what I needed almost immediately-much quicker than most... Thank you Nicole and Thank you, Ebates!

Service
Value
Shipping
Quality

Date of experience: January 22, 2015

Thumbnail of user emilias4
California
1 review
1 helpful vote
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October 25th, 2015

I bought things through ebates a couple years ago and just now are they notifying me that I have credits. Well, I closed my account because obviously it doesn't work and now that the credit is not over a certain amount they won't send it to me! Ripoff!

Date of experience: October 25, 2015

Thumbnail of user maries120
Pennsylvania
22 reviews
57 helpful votes
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July 27th, 2018

Have been a member of Ebates for a couple years now. All you do is got to Ebates.com. Fill out the form with your personal information, download the app and you are off to getting paid to shop. Whenever you go to any online shopping site, you will get a little popup to activate the particular percentage of savings. Every couple of months, you get a check. And you can use it wherever venue or store you shop that is linked to Ebates. Tyy it, you'll love it!

Date of experience: July 27, 2018

Thumbnail of user markh14
California
2 reviews
6 helpful votes
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July 20th, 2010

My experience with buy.com is very good, I purchased a new router for my computer for almost half price and it was delivered within a week. The service is very good but the price is why I bought it, just shop around, sometimes you can find a better deal in a local store.

Date of experience: July 20, 2010

Thumbnail of user staceyb25
Texas
1 review
0 helpful votes
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February 25th, 2015
Verified purchase

The Ebates customer service team absolutely ROCKS. Every person I have communicated with there has been friendly, they always respond with blazing fast speed, and they always give me the benefit of the doubt. I heart them.

Date of experience: February 24, 2015

Thumbnail of user margl2
Canada
1 review
0 helpful votes
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November 30th, 2017

I just want to thank Ebates and the incredible helpful staff. I make such easy money just going through Ebates before I go to the on line stores I want to shop at! It is the best and most productive way to shop today... if you are not a member of Ebates, what are you waiting for! It really is so good and true!

Date of experience: November 30, 2017

Thumbnail of user andreac57
Minnesota
1 review
0 helpful votes
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March 12th, 2015
Verified purchase

I have had a few customer service inquiries with Ebates over the last few months and each time they have been prompt to answer and to resolve. I truly appreciate their approach to customer service and will pass on a good word regarding their business!

Date of experience: March 12, 2015

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From the business

Rakuten is the new Ebates! Rakuten is the premier Cash Back shopping site that pays you. Join today and start earning Cash Back at your favorite stores. How does it work? We pay members Cash Back when they shop at over 2,500 stores, plus find them the best deals and coupons. With over 12 million members and $1 billion in Cash Back paid out, Rakuten is the easiest and most rewarding way to shop. Become a member today and start shopping smarter. Follow us for the latest sales, member-exclusive offers and more.

Business History

Ebates is the pioneer and leader of online Cash Back Shopping. The company was founded in 1998 by two Deputy District Attorneys in Silicon Valley who used to prosecute online fraud & identity theft before starting Ebates (so you can be sure we are very into secure online transactions!). So go ahead, sign up and start shopping now. Joining Ebates is always free - you'll never pay us anything. And four times a year or more, we'll mail you a Big Fat Check, or transfer the money to your PayPal account if you'd prefer. We can even send the money to your favorite charity. All 100% free.

Company Representative

Thumbnail of user ebatess
Ebates S.
Typically does not respond to reviews

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