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8/13/22
No Pearls (a Saturday Haiku)
referrals are great
but for "clutching pearls" moments
have no pearls to clutch
I even went the extra mile with today's haiku!
Have your own haiku, rhyme, poem, or story that describes what you do and don't do when it comes to Referral World? Send it here... it just might be included in a future edition of Referral World News!
8/12/22
Lesson 1
๐ฐ Money Saving Hints, Tips and Ideas ๐ก Lesson 1: Referral Marketing
Even if you're the world's most legitimate referral marketer, one of the things you have likely encountered is people - friends and family, for instance - who don't understand what referral marketing even is. Some of these people likely have told you things like (just to name a few):
- "Sounds like a pyramid scheme to me";
- "Sounds like a scam";
- "I don't know, something just doesn't feel right about it."
- "Sounds like too much work."
There seem to be various reasons for this way of thinking. Some of it comes from simply not understanding what referral marketing entails and how it's not a pyramid scheme, a scam, etc. At least, not when the apps/opportunities are legitimate.
I created a new blog post today that will hopefully reach some of the people who don't quite grasp how it works, yet, and/or the potential of simply sharing a referral link. For most of my readers, I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir with this blog post, but if you know anyone who might benefit from it, please send the link their way!
I also plan to start creating more of these posts to help people get started on their path through Referral World.
8/11/22
SocialMeh
Did you sign up for SocialGood's signup/referral promotion that went viral late last year? If so, maybe you can relate to this news from supporter Kellan Mitchell. Kellan signed up for SocialGood back in December, 2021. The promotion: get $200 worth of SG crypto when you spend $30+ through them. Kellan triggered the bonus right away, and got a notification that their bonus was pending. At the time, it was $1 value per SG coin. Not too long after, SG's value increased to $2 per coin, which would've earned Kellen $400.
While that would've been nice, Kellan's bonus remained pending for NEARLY EIGHT MONTHS before it was finally approved this week. SG is now valued at a much lower $0.09 per coin, awarding them approximately $21. Who knows... maybe the value will go back up, even skyrocket. Even so, waiting 7+ months for a signup bonus that ends up being a fraction of what was promised is "no bueno"... some might even say it's SocialBad.
For any of you legal eagles: might there be some recourse for Kellan and other SocialGood customers who were promised $200 worth of SG? I am unsure exactly how SocialGood promoted it... if they promoted it as "get 200 SG coins", perhaps that would be different than "get $200 worth of SG"? Send me an email and let me know your thoughts on this topic, along with your SocialGood experience if you signed up.
Screenshot courtesy of Kellan Mitchell
8/9/22
Happy Birthday, Jimmy!
If you share a birthday with Jimmy today, Happy Birthday to you, as well!
No More Cheese
Add Cheese to the growing list of apps shutting down. An email was sent to members today letting us know this, along with the following dates:
8/15/22 - No longer able to earn cash back on new purchases
9/1/22 - No more deposit bonuses.
9/10/22 - Accounts will be disabled. No longer able to redeem cash back earnings or use your card.
11/10/22 - Accounts will be closed.
I recommend spending/withdrawing your funds as soon as possible. If you don't do so by 9/10, your funds will be mailed to you by check once you close your account (or when the account is closed on 11/10; whichever happens sooner).
Additional information can be found in the email sent out to members today. If you have questions or need assistance, you can email Cheese.
8/8/22
Crash and Burn Me Once... Shame on You, StartEngine
For anyone not familiar with StartEngine, they were the fly-by-night, viral app in February that was offering $20 signup and referral bonuses. Instead of paying these bonuses, they screwed over nearly everybody who signed up for and referred the app in Referral World, citing that we weren't authorized to do so. This, despite us all getting our own, unique referral links, and multiple pages stating what we would be getting in BIG, BOLD print. As they stiffed everyone, they claimed that according to their fine print, they owed us nothing. No justifiable explanation, no payout.
Even before "BlownEngine" - a more suitable name IMHO - shut down their referral program and refused to honor bonuses, their site and promotion was riddled with bugs, some of which may have even violated privacy laws. For instance:
when referrers shared their referral links, it exposed their email addresses in the post's description info (even though it wasn't in the url);
when referrers went to the page that tracks their referrals, it nearly always showed them somebody else's referral counts, unique url and related info.
Screenshot from February's bogus promotion
Screenshot from February's bogus promotion
I personally pleaded and fought with "BlownEngine"'s customer support for months. In my case, support told me that my sign up was valid, but have yet to even pay me the $20 signup bonus, let alone the 60-75+ referral bonuses I'm owed (the exact number I'm not certain of due to their tracking bugs).
With all that said, if you feel like you missed out on the fun, today's your lucky day, because StartEngine has apparently started a new referral program!!! Oh joy! It's starting to make the rounds in Referral World. Which reminds me, I have a few complaints - SEC, FTC, ABC, BVD - that I still need to file from the last promotion.
Closing Time
Today seems to be the day that several apps decided to throw in the towel with their referral promotions, their app/site, or both!
Earlier today, I reported on Moneymie and Bumped shutting down. You can now add LVL to that list. You can also add Stride Health to the list of viral, fly-by-night referral promotions ending within 12-24 hours of hitting Referral World. See screenshots below for more info, and thanks to Leticia Lopez and Michelle Renee for the heads up!
Screenshot credit: Leticia Lopez
Screenshot credit: Alexander L Additional credit: Michelle Renee
Bye Bye, Moneymie...
Or, depending on how YOU pronounce the app's name: "C'est la vie, Moneymie". Either way, you can add Moneymie to the ever-growing list of apps suddenly shutting down. According to the email they sent out, they're pausing retail services tomorrow, 8/9/22. They state that they will be focusing on cross-border payments and payouts for business users via their B2B and API platforms.
If you have funds in your Moneymie wallet and your account is still active, you will need to transfer those funds out by 8/31/22. Should you need to, you can contact Moneymie here.
Thanks to supporter, Ashlee Todd, for the tip and screenshot! 
screenshot credit: Ashlee Todd
Bumped Off
As of today, Bumped, the loyalty/stock-back app, is dead. Below is the reminder email I received from them. As stated in the email, the Bumped website is unaffected, but they've gotten rid of both the app and the loyalty program. This, after ending their referral program in mid-July.
I'm not sure what this means for the company long-term, but after dealing with a handful of sudden app/site closures this year, I will personally be selling and withdrawing my rewards so that I don't lose them.
You can access the bumped website here: https://bumped.com/app (they might want to change the "app" portion of the url to either "site", or "noapp").
It Was the Best of Times, it is the Worst of Times Club
When I signed up for Times Club a year ago, I was still relatively new to the daily hustle and bustle of Referral World, in terms of jumping on "new new new" (viral) apps, etc. Times Club might have even been the first new, viral app I'd signed up for in some time (if not the first time ever). At the time, Times Club was available on iPhone only. The timing couldn't have been better for me, because I'd just picked up a free iPhone off through my local "Buy Nothing" group to track Acorns referrals. For months, it seemed like I struck gold with Times Club! Besides the generous $30 in signup bonuses, I was earning $20 in referral bonuses, 2-4 times per week, if not more frequently. This trend continued up until - and even shortly after - Times Club became available on Android, in early February.
But, something changed. New signups started reporting being unable to connect their bank, along with other technical issues (mostly on Android). And the promotional terms also changed, many of the offers changing from a few days to 7, 14, even 31+ days before bonuses would be awarded. At first, I was seemingly unaffected, until I noticed in April that I hadn't received a single referral bonus since mid-March, despite attaining new signups at the same rate I was before. I reached out to the company through the app and also through emails. Opened tickets. Escalated tickets. When they weren't outright ignoring me for weeks, they would respond with, "may we please have the email of the person you're asking about?" to which I would reply, "every single one of them."
After nearly 3 months of this back-and-forth, after several signups with zero referral bonuses, Times Club finally did right by me, compensating me $320 of referral bonuses I should have received, but never tracked correctly.
During those months, I stopped referring Times Club altogether. Once they compensated me and told me they were doing everything they could to ensure all issues are resolved and won't happen again, I decided to give them another chance, and started referring them again.
This was in early July. Now, we're in the second week of August, and I feel like nothing's changed. I've received several new signups, but not a single referral bonus. And I came across more posts and comments the past few days from new members who are still having issues connecting their bank, cashing out, etc. The only thing that really HAS changed, is that Times Club lowered the bonuses from $20 to $10... and not just for new signups, but for any and all pending referral bonuses already acquired before the change last month.
At this point, it's looking like the good times are over for Times Club. Once again, and until further notice, I will be removing Times Club from my referral lists and refraining from promoting them.
Have thoughts/feedback on Times Club? Click here and let me know!
8/7/22
PSECU Signup Bonus = HARD Credit Pull
PSECU - Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union - is one of the credit unions going around referral groups, due to their $100 signup and referral bonuses. While it seems to be a great referral promotion, what HASN'T been getting included in referral posts - for the most part - is that PSECU does a HARD credit pull when applying for your account. This is not typically the case with banks/credit unions. As I mentioned in my "Featured Bank Bonuses and Tips on How to Trigger Them!" blog, most banks/credit union will use their a similar-but-separate internal system for determining whether to take you on as a customer. Some banks/credit Unions will use ChexSystems; some will do a soft pull on your credit. Again, most do NOT do hard credit pulls. PSECU does.
If you are referring PSECU, please be sure to include this HARD pull info in your posts as most people won't be expecting it and this could negatively impact them if they're doing things like buying a home, opening a line of credit, etc.
Thanks to Ashlee Todd for the tip! Also, a shoutout to the folks at DoctorOfCredit, one of my personal go-to sites to verify details like this.
Reminder for PointCard Neon Account Holders
This Tuesday, 8/9, PointCard begins the process of closing their Neon accounts. Here is the breakdown I shared the week before last, on 7/25:
August 9, 2022 - You will no longer be able to pull funds into your account.
August 24, 2022 - You will no longer be able to make purchases with your card.
September 8, 2022 - Your account will be disabled.
September 23, 2022 - Your account will be closed. Remaining funds will be returned via ACH to your linked bank account.
You can read more about the closure here, and if you're a current member, you likely were sent an email, as well.
Solo's $100 August Gas Gift Card Competition
https://worksolo.onelink.me/7Viq/443jcc90
Solo sent out an email letting us know that they've once again partnered with Ride Share Guy and are giving away $100 gas cards. For more information on Solo and their signup/referral bonuses, click here.
Four winners will be chosen, based on:
Most trips in a single day;
Most trips total in August;
Most deliveries in a single day;
Most deliveries total in August;
For more information on this contest, check your emails if you're already a Solo member, or click here.
Recap of Last Week's News:
Legit Referral Marketers (Saturday affirmation, haiku);
Voyager allowing limited access for withdrawals, starting 8/11;
Oxygen fee processing and other upcoming changes;
Hutsy is Canada-Only; non-Canadians wonโt be receiving bonuses;
Tickl adds new redemption option; raises cost, lowers referral bonuses;
My August referrals list was released;
Webull Aug. promo info, including changes for invitees and referrers to be aware of;
Upgrade is honoring and issuing out bonuses after initial 3-4 week delay;
Stashโs September $100 bonus promotion when you refer two ($140 total);
Fetchโs 5 mil point sweepstakes ($100 to 50 winners, now through 8/23);
RWN stays fresh with weekly blog posts and daily updates;
Solo now includes in-app referral tracking.
Have a Referral News Tip?
Please send me an email if there's any new app/referral news you think I should know about and/or would like to see featured in Referral World News!
And, As Always...
You can check out all my signup/referral bonus opportunities here... over 100 sites/apps, categorized with current bonuses and info! And if you have any questions, feel free to email me at [email protected]
Check out my profile, where you can follow me and find my latest posts! Check out my new blog/website, referralworldnews.com, updated daily. You can also find more of my referrals at https://invt.co/@johnmego . And if you haven't signed up for BuyMeACoffee and/or Invitation yet, please use my referral links below to sign up:
BuyMeACoffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/?via=johnmego
Invitation: https://invt.co/?invite=3dL2NnX9l
