Mary Jo inspired me to write today’s tip by asking me “Where’s my freebie?” I hope this will give you some insight into why you may not receive all the freebies you request. I try to only list freebies that you have a high likelihood of getting, but of course I never know for sure. As I learn new things I am becoming more selective about the types of freebie offers I list here.
Angelina Ballerina – I have a feeling that HIT Entertainment just got overwhelmed with requests and couldn’t keep up with them, so they ran out. HIT Entertainment is a major company, so this is surprising to me that they don’t know how to operate a good promotion. But a good promotion not only takes a good marketing team, it also takes an intelligent IT team as well. They’ve got to keep up with the requests coming in through their website, and make the request form unavailable when they reach the number of freebies they have to give away. Many companies just do not keep up with these things, and are therefore unable to fulfill all of the requests that they receive.
Spa Kit from Bayer Healthcare – I won’t be doing the call-in freebies anymore because they are just more unpredictable and more difficult to verify the availability of them then the freebies you request via the internet. It was a lesson learned for me, no more call-in freebies unless it is a very specific one that you found out about directly from the company.
Post-It – These freebies always surprise me by coming several months after requesting them. They will most likely come in the mail for you, so have faith in Post-It! They are traditionally very slow to ship their freebies, but they are great ones to get. I also have been a lucky recipient of one of their giveaways (a cool Timbuktu bag, I gave it to my sister for Xmas). I love Post-It!
I have never followed-up on a freebie request that I’ve made, but not received. My theory is that if a company is offering me something for free, they are not making a guarantee that they will send it (but I hope that they will). As you can see there are a few different reasons why you may not get all the freebies you request. Remember to ask me any questions you have!
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Hi Heather! usually it's the really good freebies that I never recieve! like one time it was a baking pan that never came, a bracelet, mascara,and some other ones,( of course it's been so long I kinda forgot) LOL but, what can you do? I forget about some but most I can recall, oh well, free is not so free sometimes, Thanks for your site though, Stacy
Thanks so much for the tip, Mandy! I’ll be posting some more privacy-related Freebies Tips throughout the month.
Great Article! I get a lot of freebies, but I also don’t get a lot of them, and I have decided it is because I NEVER give out my phone number. I have a real email address I use only for freebies, but the rules of the “Do Not Call List” stipulate that if you willingly give a company your phone number, then they can call you to sell you stuff. I won’t take that chance. Thanks again – keep up the good work!
You are so right, Thrills! Companies may require confirmation by email to ensure that you are the person making the request, and not giving them a fake email address.
Sometimes companies send an email that you have to respond to to confirm your request. I think I have missed some of those thinking it is SPAM or something I am not interested in.
I just got this comment from M. via email: “I love today’s tip! Every day at the mailbox, I thinkhmmm, wonder what’s happened to all those freebiesI’ve requested lately. I will continue to be patient,and if some of them never show up — oh well, it was afreebie!”