but has anyone actually recieved an ipod through the deal?

I think I’ll start a new thread.

peace,
matt

i was just wondering if anyone has actually completed the pyrmaid at http://www.freeipods.com and gotten their iPod yet? Plz let us all know whether it really works or not!

It’s possible that some people received an ipod but in the end this is all one big marketing scam.  The only ones on top are the people behind freeipods.com The businesses set up through their affiliate programs are losing major bucks here and the occasional consumer is losing a few bucks here and there.  But in the end it’s all going to freeipods.com.  If you read their terms you’ll see that they don’t even have to ship out any ipods. 

====
1. Receipt of Product

(a) FreeiPods.com is a free service and does not guarantee receipt of any product regardless of offers completed or points accumulated.

(b) FreeiPods.com will take measures to ensure that the user receives orders within a reasonable amount of time. However, FreeiPods.com does not make any guarantee on delivery time or availability of product.

4. Availability of Product

(a) Occasionally products may be back ordered from the supplier or manufacturer. FreeiPods.com does not guarantee the availability of any product on our website. In a case where a product is backordered, FreeiPods.com does not guarantee that it will ship within any period of time
====

When the businesses like aol, ancestory, audible…etc all realize their losing tons of cash on this they’ll drop them immediately or change their programs to avoid immediate cancellations through referrals.  Either way this is catching the eye of the FTC and will probably be dealt with soon.

How does this scam stay alive?  They may actually send out an ipod to keep the scam alive.  A more likely possibility is that they pose as customers that received an ipod.  The beauty of the thing is that everyone else is doing the marketing for them.  They can just laugh all the way to the bank as words of free ipods spread like a virus.  The fact that they picked THE hottest gadget in the market right now is actually brilliant.

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1771223899144212/

So Gratis Networks has set up a site called FreeiPods.com that is giving away your choice of an iPod mini, a 15GB iPod, or a $250 gift certificate to the iTunes Music Store. All you have to do is sign up, click on one of their offers, and then convince five other people to do the same. We smelled a scam in there somewhere, or possibly scamola, and since our whiny emails to the company asking them to explain how exactly this worked went unanswered, we decided to just call them up to try and sort things out.

The company rep we spoke to insisted that this thing was for real and that they had already given away about 400 iPods to people. To get it to work you actually have to sign up for one of their sponsors? offers (like the Columbia House DVD club, the GM credit card, AOL for Broadband, etc.) and also get five other people to also take them up on one of their offers. Gratis Networks picks up a decent referral fee for every one that?s completed, and since it?s a lot harder than it sounds to also get five of your friends to sign up for AOL (for example), they only have to ship out free iPods to a relatively small percentage of people, while simply pocketing the cash for anyone who is able to only get four people or fewer to sign up (the company rep admitted that they lose money whenever someone gets five people to complete orders, since it means they have to ship out an iPod). Anyway, if you?ve got five friends you can convince to do this who also think they each have five friends they can convince to do this, you might just find yourself just maybe getting a free iPod.

A pyramid scheme would be “Join the Free iPod Club for only $50! Sign up five friends who also pay $50 and then you get a free iPod!”
(It would be a pyramid scheme because there would be no way to continue giving participants an iPod unless they continued to sign up more people underneath them in the pyramid.) (It could also be made legal if the $50 wasn’t a “club joining fee” per se, but instead was used to purchase something of value. If each person who paid $50 actually received a product (even if it was a bumper sticker or t-shirt) that might be enough. The iPod then would simply be a bonus for those who sold enough t-shirts at $50 each.)
FreeiPods.com doesn’t appear to be a pyramid scheme, because the participants don’t have to send in any money, merely complete advertiser offers. And if they’re willing to complete offers (as one of the 5 friends) fully well knowing they are not going to get an iPod, but they are instead simply helping out a friend to get one, then that is their decision. Really I don’t think the site mentioned in this entry is unethical, unless people who do follow the rules are being denied an iPod. All they are offering, is a highly modified “points program” similar to, say, frequent flier miles. You have to earn, in essence, 6 points, by having yourself and each of 5 people complete an offer. And although some people may not like doing that, obviously some people thought it was an okay deal. Personally I don’t think it’s that great of a deal, because I doubt I could find enough people to complete offers on my behalf.

I notice no one here has actually replied yet, with an actual unit.

For us that started when GearLive opened the FreeiPods thread, it’s way too soon. Though you can watch my signature, it will update as the progress changes. If something good/bad happens, I’ll mention it in my signature image. If/when I get a tracking number, I’ll be sure and post it so everyone can monitor the package.

3 = First step
2 = second
No number = last

As you see, I’m on In Progress 3.

[quote author=“bigflavor”]but has anyone actually recieved an ipod through the deal?

I think I’ll start a new thread.

peace,
matt

According to one Geocities site, yes.

I think that’s all we know, though.

well it looks pretty good…
http://gearlive.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=127

i started that thread, i also check the BBB for DC and the report said everything was cool; as far as gratis internet goes.

It’s looking pretty good.  I’m gonna be safe to say that the wait for an ipod is probably months by now; since not only have they ran out of ipods everywhere, but i’m sure gratis unleashed a monster.

peace,
matt

Well just like other pyramid schemes this one will collapse.  The guys at the top will get the ipods and the much larger group at the bottom will just be wasting their time and/or money.  It’s simple mathematics.

That is true like you said with pyramid schemes but the different with this one and others, there is no risk to enter this one.  You cancel all the offers you enter in order to complete requirements and you are out no money.  You are out time but its the risk of whether you will get the ipod or not.  Its all about taking the risk, and i dont mind taking this one cause its a no money risk.  If it works out and we get ipods, than i gave up some time and it was worth it.  if it doesnt work out, then i gave up time and nothing happened cause of it but at least i am not out money.

I can sleep well at night.

Actually, i sleep restlessly thinking if someone used my referral link or not.

Well there is some risk.  Anytime you send your CC# out there that is a risk.  If you’re one of the people that are getting temp CC# or canceling them then you could be taking a hit on your credit report.  You also become a beacon for spam now that companies have your info.  Not to mention this marketing spam is all over the net, on boards, ebay,...etc I guess if you’re okay with it…

Like both blackice and Andru, I’ve earned my free iPod, but haven’t received it yet.  It takes time, so it’s way too early to call BS on it.

Yes, not everyone is going to get an iPod, mainly because quite frankly, people are LAZY and don’t put the effort needed into it.  I’ve been very candid about the fact that the system is set up to work against you, but just like a casino, you CAN win.

Anyway, I’ll update my blog as things progress, so I should hopefully have pictures of me with my new iPod soon.

As mentioned, temporary credit cards are the worst idea in the world.  Your credity will take a massive hit with it.

A company as reputable as ebay, ancestry, and AOL are companies I trust my credit card with.  Freeipods (in my mind) doesn’t see my credit card, all they know is that I signed up with there partner sites.

I have no worries.  To me this is an absolute no risk, only the amount of time i put into this is something i wont be able to get back, the money, i will.

as far as the spam concern goes, i just set up a throw-away email account for this.  i don’t care if it get’s 1212498302 junk email’s a day.  after i’ve received my iPod, i’ll likely never check that account again.

Yes and no.  If you just use a temporary credit card and cancel the number rather than bothering to cancel the offer, then yeah, it’s a really bad idea.  On the other hand, if you use one but do still go to the effort of cancelling the offer, it’s an extra level of safety.  Once you cancel the offer with the company, they have no business even trying to charge your credit card and can’t touch your credit report for it if they do.  I think using a temporary credit card is a good idea, just don’t be stupid and lazy about it—go to the effort of cancelling the offer with the company as well.

A company as reputable as ebay, ancestry, and AOL are companies I trust my credit card with.  Freeipods (in my mind) doesn’t see my credit card, all they know is that I signed up with there partner sites.

When I signed up, I noticed that the URL in my browser the whole time was freeipods.com, even when I was on the other site signing up for the offer.  So apparently they were operating as a proxy between me and the site.  Probably perfectly innocent (more than likely it was so they could keep track of whether I completed the offer), but I would have to assume that they did have access to any and all information sent through the transaction—a good reason why a temporary credit card number is a good idea.

  (0/5) - help please!

Bad credit is started by signing up for a credit card and cancelling it quickly.

[quote author=“DougKaplan”]Bad credit is started by signing up for a credit card and cancelling it quickly.

I assume that when people say “temporary credit card”, they don’t mean signing up for a card and cancelling it quickly, but rather using those temporary numbers that most credit card companies will generate for you now for online shopping.  Go to the credit card company’s site, tell them what limit you want to set and how long you want it to be valid, and they give you a number with those limits set which is tied into your main account.  It’s all internal to the card you already have.  No new credit account is opened, and therefore nothing appears on your credit report.

If anyone actually is opening and closing a new card quickly to do this, well yeah, that’s dumb.

  (0/5)

Here’s more proof!!  8)

I found a post dating from the 24th of June talking about finally having gotten to “in progress” after finishing the requirements

http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?p=2900164&postcount=3

And then JUST today the guy posts this:
http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?p=2961455#post2961455

And more!
http://www.bar-of-soap.com/ipod.php (scroll down)

WOOT!!!!

i know atleast 4-5 people that have recieved their ipods already.

and they all started the program less than a month ago.

how long does it take for freeipods to give you a activation email, i have been waiting for a day at least.

make sure it’s not getting sent to your spam folder… .that’s what was happening with me

[quote author=“ethansaelee”]how long does it take for freeipods to give you a activation email, i have been waiting for a day at least.

One of my friends has an adelphia.net email account, that would not let it through at all (she has no filters active, so it must be the ISP on the whole blocking mail from freeipods). Another one had a hotmail address, and could not get it. Both had to change their email address. Yet another had a yahoo account, and found it in the spam/bulk folder.

okay, i used my yahoo acountant, how long does until they give you credit for ebay, the ancestry one is gone.

has any one chosen the $250 itunes music coupon?
skeptial because the max you can buy is from apple is $200 worth.

Not sure why my post was deleted.  I signed up for AOL Broadband through arcane’s account.  If anyone is planning on participating my referral link is as follows.

[AGL - Because this is not a thread for posting referal links. We have an area for that. Check the Free Stuff board.] <—Just noticed that.  I thank you kindly.

im surprised this isnt lies!