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!
I had no problem with Rakuten, up until the point that I tried to refer my Mom to the service. We live in the same household, and the first time she signed up she didn't have her own Paypal account and asked to use mine, so we got flagged. No big deal, I talked to them to make sure you can have more than one account per household then helped her make a new account with her own brand new Paypal account. Then a few days ago, a couple weeks after she made her first purchase, both of our accounts were locked. Flagged again. After trying to get some information from customer service, they just keep saying that due to the "high level of abuse" they have deactivated our accounts. I've tried multiple times to explain the situation and get some clarification on what constitutes as abuse, with the same copy and paste reply. After reading through the terms and conditions, nowhere does it say that there can't be more than one account per household, although it does say something about being able to check addresses. I think we were flagged because we live in the same home, so we of course have the same address, although we have different bank accounts/income and everything. Long story short, all the cash back I had earned before I had referred my mom is now gone, although I'm sure they get to keep the money they earned off of my purchases. Very shady. Use a different cash back service if you can, or at least try to not refer anyone that lives in the same house as you.
Date of experience: November 10, 2019
Ordered Video Player, paid full in advance by only method they would accept... MY BANK CARD. Two weeks later item not arrived. Then seller says item unsatisfactory & will reimburse. PriceMinister then, instead of sending funds back by cheque, they send funds by International Direct Transfer to my Bank who charge me 6GBP for the transfer. PriceMinister knew this would happen! So if there is a chance of any disputes over the purchase, STEER CLEAR of PRICEMINISTER, coz YOU WILL LOSE MONEY.
Date of experience: January 28, 2011
Was introduced by a friend. This is so rewarding and so easy to use. Every shopping experience leads to cash back. Ebates have best customer service. I'm lovin' it...!
Date of experience: January 9, 2017
I've been a member for many years. However, recently I have started using it more. As a result, my savings and earnings are getting higher! I absolutely LOVE IT!
Date of experience: June 7, 2019
I always get a prompt response from Ebates Customer Service - even an email is answered quickly and efficiently! I am always pleasantly surprised by their friendly and helpful staff.
Date of experience: March 17, 2015
I have been a member for over 10 years now and have always been impressed with the breadth of e-tailer coverage on Ebates, add to that their world class service and you can't go wrong!
Date of experience: March 31, 2015
I always shop on Ebates, mostly during the holiday season. This year I made several purchases including buying a washer and dryer around the black Friday sales. So when it came time to get my check I was really excited because I had referred friends and shopped so I was going to get my biggest check so far. When I received the check it was for $11. I was disappointed and angry.
I quickly sent an email to Ebates customer care team. They began responding immediately, even so far as to copy my work email which I view more frequently than my gmail account. They found that I inadvertently had two Ebates accounts, two separate email addresses and that was the reason I did not get my full check.
Ebates worked with me to consolidate my accounts and even though the Feb 15 checks had already been issued, they did not make me wait until the next payment cycle of May 15 but issued my corrected check right away.
I truly appreciate the quick responses and the positive resolution of my issue. I will continue to refer people to Ebates. Ebates is an effortless way to get cash back while shopping online and now in some stores. I will always check Ebates before I shop.
Date of experience: March 2, 2017
They have a lengthy process to verify purchases, which makes it inconvenient and adds work for you to be able to claim a tiny cash back. Nowhere close to how good other cash back services are.
Tip for consumers:
Don't use this site. There are better alternatives.
Products used:
Old Navy order
Date of experience: November 21, 2022
I also have bad experience with this priceminister, after order accepted it was canceled. So that i can't give this gift in time. If you need a profs site please consider other than priceminister.
Date of experience: December 27, 2014
Since January 1,2016 I have used ebates to book all of my hotel stays, eBay purchases, enterprise rental car reservations, some airfare, and also some retail purchases. Out of my 184 nights I have spent in Hilton properties, I have received rebates on about 10% of them. They asked me to resend my confirmation, date of stay, order number, and receipt for them to track my purchase. Not to mention, they also say that it could take up to 60 days past your reservation date before you see this rebate. I travel for a living and there is no way I can keep all of this documentation for at least two months in order to straighten out ebates lacking business process! I forward them over my receipt of stay, my hotel confirmation when I receive the emails.
For the average consumer that will only buy a few dozen things online over a years time, you could babysit this website to get your rebate. I have had hundreds of purchases this year and have seen a fraction have them come back with a rebate awarded.
In closing, just because you purchased through the ebates website, don't assume that the rebate will automatically be applied to your account, you will have to track it down.
Date of experience: December 5, 2016
Malaysian Rakuten is just like Russian USBARGAINONLINE! The are both crooked retail internet sites that take your money and run! Since both of the sites are based off shore they know that once they run your credit card their is NO WAY to get your money back. None of the credit card companies will help either because left the USA to do business. That is why terrorist groups place fake police equipment orders in the thousands of dollars with stolen credit card numbers(Usually Unknowing and Honest Tourists) and steal the product while the vendor gets Zero! So read many different reviews from different sites before you do business with an off shore company! Stay Safe and Shop Smart and remember they think of you as the GREEDY STUPID AMERICAN INFIDEL MORON!
Date of experience: June 14, 2016
I live in Tampa and somehow I received the same number as Rakuten. I'm going to try to get this resolved with my carrier. I would try to contact online for customer service. Just a heads up.
Date of experience: September 21, 2017
I had an issue where I only received 2.5% back on a purchase and Alexis helped me out and ended up correcting it for me. She was great to work with and was fast in her responses.
Date of experience: January 19, 2015
Hi - I had a recent experience where I needed assistance from Ebates Customer Service. This was pertaining to a cashback transaction that didn't go through via the merchant. The Ebates Customer Service rep was SO helpful, courteous and got to the root of the issue and resolved it extremely fast! Thanks for all of the help; I LOVE Ebates!
Date of experience: January 14, 2015
Ebates has made saving money a safe and easy experience for years. They are always at the ready to resolve any question promptly and with the utmost of courtesy and professionalism. Thanks Ebates!
Date of experience: June 10, 2014
I have been using Ebates for several years now. I keep an Excel spreadsheet of my all purchases made through Ebates. A few weeks before the date of my "Big Fat Check" arriving, I check my spreadsheet against my "cash pending" account. There are always orders that did not post to my account. I did a lot of online Christmas shopping between Oct-Dec 2013 and as I checked my spreadsheet against my Ebates account, there are 12 of my orders that did not post. My largest order, which was for a $500.00 lawn mower from Home Depot, did not post in October. I filled out the "Where's My Cash Back" form, along with my order confirmation. An Ebates customer service rep emailed me and told me she posted the $24.95 "cash back" to my account. I checked and the money was there. However, when I checked a few weeks later, the "cash back" post for $24.95 had been removed. I never returned the lawn mower so it is a valid order. I agree with the others who say that it is a lot of work to use Ebates. Every three months I have to fill out numerous "Where's My Cash Back" forms along with my order confirmations. I have always had to do this ever since I started using Ebates and until the present time! If I did not keep track of my purchases, Ebates would be cheating me out of a lot of money! I highly recommend that anyone who uses Ebates, keep track of all their purchases too!
Date of experience: January 14, 2014
EBates is honest and does exactly what they say they are going to do. Customer service is beyond Great. I shop on line all the time and even more so because of EBates.
Date of experience: October 3, 2017
I was able to purchase a nice RFID blocking wallet using a credit I received from Rakuten. It really is a well-made, nice-looking wallet. As long as it does indeed block the RFID signals, I will be very happy.
Date of experience: April 23, 2019
This is the best thing to happen to online shopping. I did all my Christmas shopping via Ebates sites and my check was over $200. I rarely shop anywhere that doesn't use it!
Date of experience: February 20, 2018
I have been using eBates.com since 2008 and I received cash back over $1000 so far from just only clicked the link through their website when shopping or using service, booking flight and hotel or car rental, etc.
EBates is not website who gives the highest % cash back compare to other leading sites, always 1% less but I still enjoy using it. I'm a fan of many cashback websites and learned that the highest % cash back doesn't guarantee you get the best deal. It means nothing if it's never been rebate.
EBates customer service will always be there when I needed or requested to investigate my lost cash back. Sometime they took several days to resolve my problem but at last every questions got answers and I've never missed my cash back any cent!
Recently, I shopped at Macy's. I already forgot that I supposed to get some cash back. EBates sent me email to ask if I received cash back yet? Macy's trackable link broken that day then they worked out to get cash back for me. Thank you very much. Appreciated!
Date of experience: June 16, 2011
I've tried this several times and I can't tell if I am ordering through Raritan. I have ordered and never received any discount, credit or anything. There is no one to speak with.
Date of experience: April 23, 2019
Ive been a member of Ebates for over 7 years now. I use the app (rather than their website) for most of my interactions with Ebates and its incredibly easy to use. I really love the fact that retailer promo codes are listed for me, so I dont have to go searching the web for the best discounts. Just a couple of clicks and Im on my way to shopping at all of my favorite eCommerce retailers. Within hours of making my purchase, I see the pending rebate transaction listed in my Ebates account. Granted it may take a while for the transaction to finally post and to receive my cash back to my Paypal account, but Im OK with that. I save my rebates all year and then use that money to pay for most, if not all of my Christmas shopping. Ive had to email customer support a few times about rebate discrepancies or other general questions and I always receive a timely and detailed response. I highly recommend Ebates. In my book, its a no brainer to use them and earn what is essentially free money for purchases I was going to make anyways.
Date of experience: June 4, 2018
I get emails constantly from ebates requesting that I purchase through their site. So I did use the site on Sunday morning to spend almost $500. For that I managed to "save" about $11.00. Not great but something. Then a few hours later I get not 1 but 2 emails touting a 15% rebate at the same store that I went to thanks to the "ebates Birthday celebration" It said starts today- but no time which the rebate started- of course they couldn't email before it started so in the end I lost out on about $55 in rebates. Even better is the customer service person saying oh well nothing I can do about it. But since then I have gotten 4 more emails to promote this special. It would have been useful to mention it before the big special.
In my opinion, ebates really doesn't care about the customers because they are counting on volume and don't really need to worry about satisfaction. Use another site- ebates doesn't deserve your business! They told me to cancel my order and then reorder if I was that worried about it!
Tip for consumers:
DON'T
Date of experience: May 8, 2017
HEY PEOPLE! IF YOU SHOP ONLINE & DON'T USE EBATES.COM SHAME ON YA! ANY & EVERY TIME YOU SHOP ONLINE YOU CAN RECEIVE MONEY FROM EBATES, REALLY, IT'S GREAT! I HAVE A FRIEND THAT REC'D A CK FOR $150.00 FROM EBATES, THAT'S HOW I FOUND OUT ABOUT THEM & OF COURSE I USE THEM FOR EVERY ONLINE PURCHASE I MAKE. EBATES HAS A VERY COMPETENT & CARING STAFF THAT WILL ALWAYS HELP YOU, SO NO WORRIES IF YOU NEED HELP. JUST GO FOR EBATES & SEE HOW MUCH MONEY YOU'LL MAKE SHOPPING ON LINE. DID I MENTION THEY COVER NEARLY EVERY STORE, ACTUALLY I THINK ALL SHOPPING STORES ONLINE FROM HSN TO WALMART, SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!
Date of experience: October 23, 2017
My rewards weren't going through and I was about to give up on ever using ebates again, but then amazing worker took time to pursue things until she finally made it happen. I will use ebates again.
Date of experience: November 22, 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.