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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.
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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!
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!
Another company did not put that I bought from them, so they made sure I could bring it to their attention IMMEDIATELY!
Date of experience: July 13, 2016
This company gave me a bogus Fed Ex Tracking # Basically, they stole my money and never shipped my purchase. DO NOT USE THESE GUYS - IT'S A SCAM
Date of experience: December 5, 2017
They promised a gift card when you sign up the very first time, but it never happened. I made my first order and I never received any cash back, I made my second order through their link and waited around a week but I received my 3% cash back instead of 9% only after I contacted with them four times and they said that the cash back is not for all Amazon departments even though I used the coupon " free shipping on order over $100 and up to 9 % cash back" right under the coupon and I spent $127. I even didn't mention that it took me 40 mins. To send my question the first time to them because their system ignores and deletes the name of store, or my order number many times.
I made 12 orders during February -March 2015 but I didn't receive any cash back until I sent them an issue about that and it doesn't matter how long I will wait 5,10 or even 30 days.
I sign in a few times per week and I never won any of their gift cards until, on February 2015 my account showed that I will receive a $5 gift card if I spend $ 20 during 90 days.
All the information on my account, my cash back, info about the gift card and everything else disappeared after I sent them letter that the site is a joke and torture and the only reason that I wrote that message was because I didn't receive cash back again for 3 of my orders, but instead of just answering me back they decided to erase all of my information on my account
I had been waiting for 3 days but there was no answer and I started to send them new issues for each order and I received my reply after more than 24 hours, and instead of info about my gift card I now see that I last singed in on October 2014 and the offer with gift card was not working at that time although I opened my account in January 2015.
The only thing that I am waiting for is my check in May and then I will close my account and I already told my friends who want to open an account on Ebates that this site is a SCAM.
Tip for consumers:
don't waste your time with this site
Date of experience: April 3, 2015
They steal money from their customers I had 100 and they took it all... dont do business with them
Date of experience: January 9, 2020
I have been a shopper of Rakuten in the past.
Liked the items, good quality and priced right.
LuLu
Date of experience: December 5, 2016
High prices just sends you to best buy and I won't pay for the name to get a gadget
Date of experience: January 22, 2015
Classic bait and switch operation. I ordered a stainless steel vernier caliper, and received a PLASTIC one.
Date of experience: January 8, 2014
Well actually I unsubscribed from e-bates, But for the extremely short time I was enrolled, I found them to be a very professional organization.
Date of experience: May 10, 2016
Whenever I have to contact Ebates, they get back to me so quickly and always resolve my problem.
Date of experience: April 17, 2016
I was having trouble changing my mailing address; Rachel was awesome and took care of the problem PROMPTLY!
Date of experience: January 18, 2015
Great site to shop, has ALL the essentials and more. Tends to beat other stores on many prices.
Date of experience: January 16, 2015
Ordered 1 item and never received, no one answers the phone or calls back. AVOID. Never ever again.
Date of experience: February 12, 2016
Honestly I've saved so much with Rakuten, I've been using it for several years already and I always recommend it to my friend and relatives!
Date of experience: August 6, 2021
I have been using Rakuten for a few years now and it has been great. I have gotten paid for cashback offers through their website with no issues. However this past Nov 2021 I found that Rakuten isn't as great as they claim and do not always honor their deals. I bought an iPad and an Apple watch through AT&T adding two new lines of service and two products. The cashback offer was you had to be a new customer to AT&t or add a new line of service. Well at the time I added 2 new lines of service and after the sell was given over $ 150 dollars of cashback, which is what was offered through the deal. I did not use a promo code, return the items or use a discount code. I followed the link through Rakuten's website and the cashback was put in my account a few hours after the sale. Fast-forward 1 month after the sale, Rakuten decides to remove the cashback offer from my account and simply stated AT&T decided the offer was not valid, say "We checked on your AT&T Wireless order and it looks like your Cash Back amount was adjusted because part of your order isn't eligible for Cash Back.
Here are some reasons why this happens:
Part of the order was returned, exchanged, canceled, or price matched. -
The order contained an excluded item. You can find exclusions for AT&T Wireless listed on their store page: https://www.rakuten.com/attwireless.com
A non-Rakuten coupon was used. To be safe, stick to codes provided by Rakuten.
We know it's frustrating when you don't earn the Cash Back you expected."
None of their excuses applied to my order. I have tried numerous times to ask Rakuten to explain their reason for removing the cashback since one of their reasons applied to my order. They have stopped communicating with me? I think once they get the sale from you, they take back their offer.
LIES, BAD SERVICE, WILL STOP USING RAKUTEN! BEWARE!
Tip for consumers:
Beware they don't have to honor the cash back.
Products used:
I Bought Ipad & Apple Watch
Date of experience: January 11, 2022
I would have rate -5 if I have a choice lol Ebate is just like a vendor, not like regular store vendor, they don't sell goods, their product is their "credit" to the customer. I'm at a situation where they "REFUSED TO SELL THEIR PRODUCT" to three of their customers, how weird is that?
I referred 2 people from my household, same address and same last name since we are in same family. None of us got the referral credit because Ebate insist that the purchase and the account is is from same person. No matter how we explained to them, they insist. I guess this is their scam to get as more personal information as they can and not to pay a pennie for it. Since they already know we are in the same household, and possiblly using the same credit card to pay, they deside that we are not sourceful for them and refused to provide the referrel credit they should have provided. Well, they reserve the right to pay the credit, so as we have the right to stop being ripoff. We ask them to completely deleted our account information in the end because it is waste time to deal with unreasonable people. But it worth our time to help as many people as we can to aware if this Ebate Referral Spam. They have prepared enough of reason to pursuad you that you do not deserve their credit.
Date of experience: January 18, 2018
Like being notified if a site has a R rebate
Would like to know when rebate is coming
Liked the name "Ebates" better
Date of experience: July 31, 2019
They want to give me money back on my purchases. It's that easy... TOO EASY... Barney style!
Date of experience: March 5, 2016
Chelsea quickly helped me with my problem and was very polite. I very much appreciated her help.
Date of experience: December 13, 2014
I used this site once in my life and i will never ever think about it again
Date of experience: February 2, 2015
I emailed with 2 requests and both were answered within 24 hours, maybe less than 12 hours.
Date of experience: January 31, 2015
Alexis from customer services was very helpful. I am very delighted with the experience. Thumps up!
Date of experience: October 21, 2014
They were quick to respond to my inquiry and very courteous. Thank you. Danielle was wonderful.
Date of experience: May 6, 2015
I've contacted the customer service a few times and they've always been very helpful and fast!
Date of experience: May 23, 2016
If you guys want a TRUSTWORTHY and FAST/ACCURATE shopping portal with Costco/Nordstroms level customer service then you MUST USE EBATES. THEY ARE SUCH A BOSS! No joke here. They made a fanboy out of me for sure!
Located in startup arena San Francisco, they are CRAZY at tracking accuracy. My orders track in almost real-time SAME DAY! Complex orders show up very clearly and their website is very very easy to understand. Payout is also very easy!
NO other portal does that. I use a LOT of portals. Many are ghetto jank. You always pray that everything works OK and you always have to fight for your money, but NOT with Ebates. Therefore, customer service is SO key! They respond so quickly and they are so friendly! This is not even an annual membership site! This is all free! IMHO customer service is what makes/breaks a portal.
I mean look at Max over here on this site. Thats awesome! Thats like Yelp having a dedicated representative from the merchant always addressing issues and helping out! So critical!
The other portals just dont cut it. You always have to wait 3-5 days for tracking to show up and you never know whats up. Also, complaints are rarely addressed. I feel like random strangers are just hired to pretend there is customer service on other sites. Thats why so many people dont bother with portals. They think its too much work and its just stupid. I would agree. Just depends on who you use though.
Ebates has been awesome and I am totally impressed. But I just wish they MATCHED other portals! I want to ALWAYS use Ebates. But I cant if another site is offering 5% and Ebates is only offering 1%! Dude! Cmon guys! Step it up! Thats a huge road block!
Also, HatTip over to Patrick@ Ebates Customer Care. Hes awesome. I hope he knows how much I appreciate his help. Maybe Max here can even forward the message and let him know!
THANK YOU EBATES!
Tip for consumers:
1) Use Chrome. All other browsers suck for tracking.
2) Always clean your browser cache and start FRESH. Do this for EACH new purchase via Ebates. Tracks better.
Date of experience: May 16, 2016
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.
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.
I am terribly sorry for the experience you encountered. Any customer who is not satisfied by the service offered by a merchant on our site is covered under our worry free guarantee. Please feel free to reach out to our support team on 800-800-0800 or via the following form https://support.rakuten.com/hc/en-us/requests/new