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!
Ebates is such a great shopping place. No only do you get money for initiating your shopping trip with them but also their customer service is phenomenal.
To give you one of many examples of my interactions with Ebates Customer service, I have a misplaced check that happened to be expired when I found it. I contacted Ebates for any chance to get the check reissued. Within hours I got a reply from them with the great news that they will reissue the check, For services like this one is why I continue to tell people what they are missing if they have not signed yet to this wonderful website EBATES.
I called myself a proud Ebates member.
Date of experience: May 4, 2015
We made a purchase through Ebates that did not show up in our account. The customer service team at Ebates used the purchase information to follow up with the vendor. Even though it took a few weeks to resolve it, we did get credited for our purchase. The customer service team were courteous and professional at gathering the necessary information and getting our issue resolved.
Date of experience: August 7, 2014
Ebates customer service is exceptional! Whenever there is an issue with a caah back amount, they are on it! They always accomodate the customer. A few times a company that I ordered from reported the wrong amount so would send a copy of my orders, they immediately credit me and work it out with the company. They are always very friendly and responsive, which I appreciate! Been working with Stephanie lately - she is awesome!
Date of experience: December 12, 2014
I use Ebates all the time, and have the tool on my toolbar on my computer, so it prompts me to activate the app for most stores (the ones it doesn't... I try to remember to activate it). And that's all you do! So easy, and you get at least 1% cash back (generally 2-4% or much more) in the form of a rebate.
Date of experience: November 2, 2016
I have to be honest, I love shopping with EBATES! Yes it's nice to get back $$$ from your shopping, but my latest experience tells me EBATES is an AAA+++ site. Their members' service is fast, courteous and willing to work out whatever your problem might be. I had a glitch in the processing of cash back after putting an order through. I emailed them on a Saturday and by Sunday morning, the very next day it was resolved. I recommend shopping with EBATES every time! It's the fast and fun way to shop. Through EBATES, it's the perfect shopping experience. Not only is there always a sale somewhere, but you're getting paid to shop too. Happy shopping!
Date of experience: December 3, 2017
They've advertised a "Brand New" B235-M Plantronics Bluetooth and delivered just the Bluetooth in a TMobile box and a cell phone case!?!? No USB nor charging case and the two Bluetooth headsets I bought could not even be paired with an iPhone.
After more than 10 days complaining, they said they are a "mall" and cannot solve problems with the stores that advertised in it.
The "store", eShop, or YouShop LLC, refused to deliver advertised products and asked me to return both for a full refund instead.
Worse than that they keep sending me emails offering a $10 cash back if I change my feedback to a positive 5 star one. Do they really think they can pay me to tell lies to other consumers?
"Carla, if you could change the feedback to a positive 5 point and provide a paypal email, we will send you a $10. Could you let me know?"
Unbelievable!
Tip for consumers:
Get away from it!
Date of experience: October 24, 2014
I love using Ebates. I saw all the commercials, and as a natural skeptic, thought it was a scam. I was never so happy to be wrong! I have been using Ebates with all of my Christmas shopping and have already received my first amount back! This is such a great idea! I love to do my shopping online, and now I have even more of a reason to stay out of the madness of stores!
Date of experience: December 22, 2014
Most of Rakuten offers are great. Not all coupons are valid, you have to make sure you are using them during the allowed period.
I have an issue with one of the purchase trips and the customer support did all efforts to solve it successfully!
Thank you Rakuten!
Date of experience: January 27, 2022
I am new to Ebates and was still trying to figure out how everything worked. I received an email about a promotional $5 if you made a $25 purchase. I misread the instructions to mean that any $25 purchase at one of their sites they work with, not just the specified types of products. So, when nothing showed up in my account, I emailed Ebates. Tiffany was so great, not only did she answer my questions quickly without making me feel stupid, but she honored the credit, even though I didn't but the eligible items. I couldn't believe she went that far to make me happy, even though I was the one who misread the rules. It makes me feel like they really value me as a customer and want to make me happy. I will definitely be using them anytime I shop online and cannot thank them enough for taking such good care of their customers.
Date of experience: April 30, 2015
I just signed up to Ebates from a referral and I was unsure about some things, The live chat person Dominique was nice and informative. Unfortunately the chat did somehow disconnect but I ended up getting the same person, which was a big plus because she said she was going to follow up with me with a email answering my question. I was really impressed with the overall experience!
Date of experience: January 21, 2018
I loved every part of my experience with rakuten. From the time I saw a deal on my phone, I signed up online and completed my purchase in no time at all. I loved how seamless everything is integrated to complete my purchase and would definitely keep shopping at Rakuten.
Date of experience: April 25, 2019
This is the coolest site out! Just for signing up I got a $10 target card. I could not believe it when it came in the mail! I did some of my Christmas shopping using ebates and I actually was mailed a check this week! I did the shopping in NOV, so it did take a bit of time before I got the check... but I was going to buy it anyways so why not get the check? Its free money! Try it out... it seems too good to be true!
Date of experience: January 12, 2013
I was having issues with a purchase and not receiving my cash back. Ebates' s representative contacted me back and followed up with my issue. Even though we didn't get it resolved with the store, the rep went ahead and gave me a credit. The rep was Very polite, understanding, and helpful.
Date of experience: May 6, 2015
Loved using eBates. Clever name for the site. Changing the name to Rakuten was pointless and stupid. Has nothing to do with what the site is used for. Just done to glorify some idiot's ego. You do realize it's possible to purchase an existing company and still KEEP the existing company name, right? Morons.
Date of experience: June 6, 2019
Ebates is great... I often have to remind myself to make sure I make all of my online purchases through ebates to get my cash back, but it is totally worth it. I've never been a believer in these types of websites until I tried ebates after a friend highly recommended it.
Date of experience: July 30, 2018
I'm new to Ebates and love it so far. I had a problem accessing my cart and checking out with a purchase. I emailed customer service at Ebates and was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I received a response. I tried their suggestion and was able to access my cart and check out just fine. Thank you Ebates!
Date of experience: January 20, 2017
I have earned 3 "Cash Back" offers from Ebates, one of which was from Dell for a laptop. Dell delayed reporting to them for over a month. The Ebates customer service rep kept me posted weekly on the status (showing me they hadn't forgotten me) and notified me immediately when Dell finally did report it to them.
Date of experience: April 9, 2017
It works great for some sites, but if you are the unlucky few that shop at the more expensive sites, ebates will not record your cash-back. If you bring this up with customer service, they will say that they are communicating with the company for you but it could take 45 days. Of course, they tell you that in hopes you will forget about the cash back or even give you back a lower percentage of cash back. For example, Ebates has these "special offers" where they will offer you a higher percentage of cash back for a limited time on a specific store. Of course, by the time they received "confirmation of your purchase" from the store after 45 days, the percentage of cash back has changed and they pocket the difference. I'm owed about $40 in cash back from this one purchase and I will not let it go.
Date of experience: March 7, 2018
Rakuten offered $40 for the referrer and the new member. I found out about this because I was referred by a friend. So I took advantage of this and started referring family and friends. I made two purchases through Rakuten during this time as well and accumulated a total of $122.88. I was supposed to be paid out in Feb. However, for some reason Rakuten has decided to close my account with no reason. I have reached out to them with no response. I don't think they understood how many people they would entice with this offer because halfway through they dropped the amount to $20. Rakuten saw how much they would have to pay me out and rather than being an upstanding company and pay what they agreed. Instead they just shutdown my account with no reason.
Tip for consumers:
Rakuten offered $40 for the referrer and the new member. I found out about this because I was referred by a friend. So I took advantage of this and started referring family and friends. I made two purchases through Rakuten during this time as well and accumulated a total of $122.88. I was supposed to be paid out in Feb. However, for some reason rakuten has decided to close my account with no reason. I have reached out to them with no response. I don't think they understood how many people
Products used:
Rakuten offered $40 for the referrer and the new member. I found out about this because I was referred by a friend. So I took advantage of this and started referring family and friends. I made two purchases through Rakuten during this time as well and accumulated a total of $122.88. I was supposed to be paid out in Feb. However, for some reason rakuten has decided to close my account with no reason. I have reached out to them with no response. I don't think they understood how many people they would entice with this offer because halfway through they dropped the amount to $20. Rakuten saw how much they would have to pay me out and rather than being an upstanding company and pay what they agreed. Instead they just shutdown my account with no reason.
Date of experience: January 20, 2021
Stephanie swiftly responded to an issue with a missing purchase credit, making the process of proving the shopping trip a fuss-free set of emails. The confusion was sorted out in less than a day thanks to Stephanie! :)
Date of experience: March 21, 2015
Do not like how you now can't leave Rakuten without loosing everything you input. Ebates used to open a new page that stayed open if you wanted to go to another page to check something out before ordering.
Date of experience: June 9, 2019
I use Ebates all the time and I get 30 cents here, $5 there... it all adds up. Just the other day I made a large purchase and a medium purchase on the same day. I received an email on my medium purchase (You just earned...) but not for my larger purchase. I went directly to ebates and asked "Where's my cash" on their help page. Well... I got an immediate response, an immediate credit for my purchase on my account and a kindly worded explanation the the web site I purchased from often takes a bit longer to tell them about a completed sale.
I always get a timely, friendly response and over and over I am pleased with my shopping experience. Cash back is AWESOME! They really do send you a check! DO IT! Sign up! They are fabulous!
Date of experience: July 17, 2015
I love Ebates and since I do most of my shopping on line, I use it all the time. On the 2 occasions I had a problem with my cash back, the customer service was excellent and they resolved the issues right away.
Date of experience: July 28, 2014
First of all the entire concept is brilliant, I get paid for shopping at my favorite stores. I invite my friends and family and I get paid and they get paid... again amazing! Customer Service is exceptional, not only do they get back to you on a timely basis, they are also interested in your concerns and treat you like a VALUED customer. I absolutely Love Ebates!
Date of experience: August 5, 2015
Ebates is easy to use and so beneficial. Whenever I have an issue I can email them and immediately I am given a response. When they can't help me, they find a way to work with me. I cannot give them enough stars.
Date of experience: April 23, 2015
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.