Free $50 Credit at Sony Ebook Store

[CompLawyer]

I tried using the code and received a message that it is not valid and has a "limited number" of times it may be used.

[Verbinator]

EDIT: Insulting language removed.

This promotion was misrepresented to my wife at the retail counter at Borders (no mention of limits when the sale was made). So I'm going to give Sony customer service AND Borders the opportunity to do the right thing by me ... and by any legitimate purchaser.

They need to honor their promise made at retail .

[georgejoskin]

Originally Posted by Verbinator

This promotion was misrepresented to my wife at the retail counter at Borders (no mention of limits when the sale was made). So I'm going to give Sony customer service AND Borders the opportunity to do the right thing by me ... and by any legitimate purchaser.

They need to honor their promise made at retail .

thieves is a bit strong, if sony wanted to make the other only available to borders customers they could have b the simple way of a unique code on each receipt of purchase.
i think you should take up your complaint with borders as they have miss sold
you!
The code clearly calls it a holiday gift not a borders gift! so stop being bitter and move on.
the code was clearly in the public domain and in my view free to use by any one.

[Nn2Display]

Sheesh George ... This line of yours scares me ...

> the code was clearly in the public domain and in my view free to use by any one

By this reasoning, someone can take your car from a public lot because by the taker's view it is "free to use by any one".

Sorry, I could not help yanking your chain a bit. I actually agree with you. Sony/Borders should have taken better preventative steps to ensure that the correct people (assuming intent) only received the opportunity of the rebate. Since I am one of those people that bought the E-reader right after Christmas and I got the "we are out message". I was sorely dissappointed and unless someone does a class action suit, there are not many options available for me. I consider this a bad lesson learned about using the Border's/Sony online store.

As I see it the facts are as follows:
1) The Border's receipt from the Brick and Mortar store promises the $50 credit, not Sony.
2) The Border's receipt only limitation is redemption dates and not on the number of redemptions.
3) For this arm chair lawyer, this seems like a binding agreement. I wonder what Judge Judy would make of it?

I was going to buy the E-reader anyhow, the $50 Book Credit just convinced me to pull the sale ahead and buy it at Border's Bookstore. BUT due to this mishap, I am going to exercise my consumer right and boycott the Sony/Border's Online Store. My take is that if they are this bad in handling a promotion, just how bad will they be in handling my credit card information?

I would suggest that those others who got taken in by this fiasco also boycott the on-line store.

[GatorDeb]

NN2, have you contacted Borders and let them know?

Also, when will people who didn't buy the reader at Border's have access to their online ebook store? Thanks!

[DrMoze]

Honestly, I would call either Sony or Borders CS and explain the situation before boycotting or insulting any businesses. There's a good chance they'll do the right thing once the situation is explained.

[RCR]

We've spent numerous posts debating the rightness/wrongness of all this based on why we think Sony or Borders were offering the "HOLIDAYGIFT". Has anyone got a definitive answer on just what the free gift certificate was all about?

Does anyone here actually work for Sony or Borders, or have real inside information? Or are we all just guessing?

(I haven't asked Sony or Borders myself because I know from bitter experience how hard it can be to get information from big companies).

[difs]

Hi all,
I have been fuming about the HOLIDAYGIFT promotion, too, as I made a lengthy trip to a Borders store that still had some stock available of the PRS-505 (several near me were sold out).

As many others experienced, I too received an error message that the limit had been reached. Furious, I emailed Sony and received a note back 5 days later essentially referring me to the terms of the promotion: in short, SOLD OUT, too bad!

My response to them was similar to those posted here; as a technology company, and Borders being an online retailer for many years now, they both certainly should have known how to keep this promotion out of the hands of those who didn't qualify for the credit. The fact that the code spread virally, and people took advantage of it (unscrupulously, IMHO) doesn't make that my problem. I followed the rules, and I lost out. What's wrong with this picture?

Anyway, long story long, Sony sent me a one-time use code today for the $50 credit. Precisely what they should have done with their point of sale system at Borders to reduce fraud, which is what moochers were committing.

Thought I'd fill you in.
Difs

[mlbspike]

A variation on the theme. I got the 505 from Sonystyle while it was advertising $50 free coupon code. When it arrived, there was no code. I contacted them, and after faxing a copy of the offer, they made good on it.
- Mike

[Elteto]

Originally Posted by mlbspike

A variation on the theme. I got the 505 from Sonystyle while it was advertising $50 free coupon code. When it arrived, there was no code. I contacted them, and after faxing a copy of the offer, they made good on it.
- Mike

If you purchase the 505 at a SonyStyle store, they give you a gift certificate with a code on it, and that is certainly NOT a simple phrase.

To me the HOLIDAYGIFT code sounds like a somewhat deliberate promotion, it is too bad the number of uses expiring prevented some legitimate customers from redeeming their $50. A lesson one can learn reading the last six pages of posts is: do not get it from Borders, get it from SonyStyle.

While the morality of using the code can be certainly debated, the "stealing the car from the parking lot" analogy is ill-fitting. If someone went to the parking lot and could literally clone my car without any loss to me, then it is more along intellectual property and piracy lines, not physical theft; as in, digital piracy does not mean stealing CD's, just copying them.

However, I must say I am impressed! People actually "steal" and redeem BOOK coupons! The only thing they can do with them is buy BOOKS! Rejoice, there is a READING craze! Perhaps that was bound to happen with less and less quality shows on TV due to the writers' strike, with more box office bombs, and with less quality music as artists run out of original ideas. I do symphatize with those who were robbed of the chance to redeem their codes, but it is exciting to see people are so eager to read.

As far as reading books on a screen is concerned: with the amount of web pages, word and PDF documents and e-mails we read every day on monitors, reading a book cannot be THAT far-fetched...

[Minda]

This thread inspired me stop lurking and register with mobileread-

A couple days ago I was checking out the FAQ on the Reader page at Sony Style, and they mentioned "HOLIDAYGIFT" specifically, and said that like many viral marketing codes, it had a time/number limit. The promotion would have ended on 15 Jan, but the number of codes they were willing to honor expired quickly.
Today I checked the same FAQ, and I can't find specific reference to HOLIDAY GIFT but I did see this:

How to replace an E-Coupon promotion code that either been lost or you receive a message that the code has expired or has already been used.

If a Sony® product has a promotion requiring an E-Coupon promotion code, and the code has been lost, has expired, or you receive a message that the code has already been used, contact the Sony Style® store customer support department via phone at 888-900-9872 or e-mail at sonystyle@custhelp.com.


Makes me think they've had enough calls about this

[Elteto]

Originally Posted by Minda

This thread inspired me stop lurking and register with mobileread-

In that case, welcome! I hope you get your coupon from Sony...

[jyakubik]

I have gone around in circles with Sony Customer Service on this unfortunate topic. They have yet to relent. It looked like someone earlier got them to provide the credit. Where did you call and how did you do it. I am beyond angry with this topic with them. I love my new reader, but am a bit exhausted with them on this issue.

Thank you for the help.

[JSWolf]

Blame all the crooks who illegally used the code.

[Kasracer]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Blame all the crooks who illegally used the code.

You do realize using the code isn't illegal, right?