04 April 2009

Free Xbox???

I was shopping around for an Xbox 360 Pro. I was dabbling on ebay when I stumbled across an add for a "free" Xbox. Of course I was 100% not interested and assumed the link would lead to a scam. Then, as I started googling/shopping around I kept seeing comments about the same "free" offer. So, I did a little additional research, and although I am far far from convinced, I am curious...
After poking around on the internet I ended up signing up on this website.

The concept is as follows:
1. I register on said website...
2. Complete one "offer" from one of the advertising companies. I picked emusic.com I signed up for One Month, paying $11.99, and with my 50 bonus songs I will get a total of 80 songs.
3. I have to get 11 "referrals," people to do the same register and complete one offer (some are cheaper and others more expensive than emusic).
4. Then supposedly I will receive an Xbox 360 Elite.

I figure worse case scenario I pay $11.99 for 80 songs and end up getting nothing but a bunch of extra junk mail, and simply laugh at myself for falling prey to the scam. Best case scenario I get the songs and an Xbox.

My super professional and reliable "research" included the following:
Random College Kid Video
Trainn Tutorial Video
News Stations "confirming" freebie sites are legit

I did this a couple of days ago and my credit card has not been charged anything except for the 11.99, I am hoping it stays that way. The link to the website is also the link to be a referral, so if you are curious please don't hesitate to be a referral, or please feel free to pass it along. I will post if I get 11 referrals and will post if anything actually happens.

The part of me that thinks this has any bit of potential of being real, is because I could see how companies (like emusic) would pay a large sum (to companies like Trainn that are running the "free" site) to get the referrals. I wouldn't have signed up for emusic without the Xbox site and if I like it I may keep the subscription. There are other "offers," like netflix and book clubs and a lot of ongoing things that people tend to forget they signed up for, so companies make a ton off of people who are going after a "free" product.

Anyway, I will post any results.
Thanks :)

2 comments:

e said...

well, i did this once to get a $10 urban outfitters gift card by getting 10 people to sign up for this online shopping newsletter...to my surprise it worked. i also went through fandango to get a free movie ticket (worth $10) by signing up for a free trial at blockbuster.com which i then cancelled before they charged me.

so they're not all scams! of course neither of those was worth as much as an xbox.

:)

Me... said...

That sounds fabulous if it works! Were you shopping for Kelly's birthday present?
Can't wait to hear the result :)