Everyone who has a website can relate to how frustrating it is to have other sites 'hotlinking' to images or other files on their website. I have tried various ways to stop this practice, but to no avail. I tried blocking the domains (culprits), but that also blocked some legitimate users as well. So had to unblock the offenders. Next I renamed the files and 'edited' (changed the files to something really ugly and put my website address on the files) the hotlinked files. That worked to a point, some of the offenders view their sites more often than others, but one persistant hotlinker just went back and linked to the new file name.
One remedy that worked, I removed the file altogether. Sort of drastic, but that worked. Sure got a lot of 404s after that, though.
Two of the worst offenders for hotlinking are MySpace.com and Xanga.com. Yesterday I had over 500 hits from MySpace, all from hotlinking.
Today I had a friend who is a member of MySpace.com, email four of the known hotlinkers and explain what hotlinking is and how to save images and upload them rather than hotlink. I doubt that will do much good as the people that use MySpace don't have a clue about websites. MySpace is rather notorious for this behavior. I did email them to let them know they have people hotlinking to my site, I got a very stupid reply from them.
Their reply:
Hi there!
We are currently experiencing errors with the I.M. (Instant Messenger), we apologize for the inconvenience. We are currently doing our best to make this service operate properly. Please bear with us, as we anticipate these changes to take place very soon.
Thanks!
MySpace.com
Notice I said I emailed them, I didn't IM them! Guess if they don't like the message they just send a 'dumb' response.
If anyone has a better answer, sure would like to know about it!
Martha
As a footnote here, if the offenders do not remove the hotlink from their pages by January 5, I am going to publish the links to their sites.
Martha's Web
Monday, December 26, 2005
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Rebates and Gift Cards, Same Old, Same Old
The newest hook to get consumers to buy merchandise, gift cards! Buy a new fridge, get a gift card by mail. Buy a new computer, get a gift card by mail. I think I have heard this con, I mean come on, before only they were calling it rebates.
At least if he or she did receive the rebate, it was in the form of a check which a consumer could cash and either save it or spend it wherever he/she wanted to shop. With the gift cards, the consumer is required to spend the card where the original merchandise was purchased. That is, if the gift cards are ever received!
The rant is on! You can probably guess where this is going!
In October I purchased a new refrigerator (stainless steal, double doors with ice water, crushed ice, cubed ice available through the door and not cheap!). I also purchased a new washer and dryer. Gift cards totaling $200.00 were to be mine as soon as I dutifully filled out all of the paperwork and sent it in along with the required proofs of purchase. This I did the next day after the purchase and I still have all of my suggested copies. November came and went, no gift cards. On December 15th I decided to call the 800 number on my copy of the gift card receipt.
Yes they received it, for all three gift cards. One card for $150.00 mailed November 28, the phone rep stated. Two other cards, for $25.00 each were mailed on December 7. So the phone rep said. So why didn't I receive them? I could see maybe one go missing, but three? Uh huh, I don't think so. So now I must wait 45 days from the date the cards were mailed before I can get new cards, unless the original cards have been used.
Wait a minute! If they can tell the cards were used, then they must have a way to invalidate them if they are lost! I think I have been scammed royally! Anyway, I will wait until the 45 days have passed and see what happens.
Stay tuned, there may be a real bang up for someone, in the corporate headquarters of this big and I do mean big, merchandiser, not to mention a newsworthy tidbit for the local news. Names to be mentioned later!
Martha
Martha's Web
Update!
After four months and numerous phone calls, the missing gift cards finally arrived. I do believe they were never sent originally and if I had not been persistant, I would never have received them. Sigh!
At least if he or she did receive the rebate, it was in the form of a check which a consumer could cash and either save it or spend it wherever he/she wanted to shop. With the gift cards, the consumer is required to spend the card where the original merchandise was purchased. That is, if the gift cards are ever received!
The rant is on! You can probably guess where this is going!
In October I purchased a new refrigerator (stainless steal, double doors with ice water, crushed ice, cubed ice available through the door and not cheap!). I also purchased a new washer and dryer. Gift cards totaling $200.00 were to be mine as soon as I dutifully filled out all of the paperwork and sent it in along with the required proofs of purchase. This I did the next day after the purchase and I still have all of my suggested copies. November came and went, no gift cards. On December 15th I decided to call the 800 number on my copy of the gift card receipt.
Yes they received it, for all three gift cards. One card for $150.00 mailed November 28, the phone rep stated. Two other cards, for $25.00 each were mailed on December 7. So the phone rep said. So why didn't I receive them? I could see maybe one go missing, but three? Uh huh, I don't think so. So now I must wait 45 days from the date the cards were mailed before I can get new cards, unless the original cards have been used.
Wait a minute! If they can tell the cards were used, then they must have a way to invalidate them if they are lost! I think I have been scammed royally! Anyway, I will wait until the 45 days have passed and see what happens.
Stay tuned, there may be a real bang up for someone, in the corporate headquarters of this big and I do mean big, merchandiser, not to mention a newsworthy tidbit for the local news. Names to be mentioned later!
Martha
Martha's Web
Update!
After four months and numerous phone calls, the missing gift cards finally arrived. I do believe they were never sent originally and if I had not been persistant, I would never have received them. Sigh!
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Rebate, Freebate, but Not For You!
It's time for American consumers to rebel against that insidious marketing ploy known as a 'rebate'. You see the ads all the time for a really low price on an item you really want, or maybe even need. On second look, in very small print, the ad states 'After rebate'. You still have to pay the regular, sometimes-inflated price and send for the promised refund known as a rebate. The manufacturers assume that consumers don't mind spending a lot of time, effort and some postage to send for the promised rebate.
Sigh! So many rebates offered, so many never received!
In order for a consumer to receive the promised rebate, many things need to happen. A form for the rebate must be completed properly and then all of the proofs of purchase must be gathered together. They suggest everything should be copied 'for your records' before sending it to an address for that particular rebate. Of course, what this really means is the consumer needs the copies to remind them of the rebate they never received, but I digress! (This address is usually written so small that a magnifying glass needs to used to read it.) I know why they offer these rebates. They hope the buyer will give up in disgust over all of the requirements, especially when they have to cut a proof of purchase from a cardboard box that is at least an inch thick!, Well, that is an exaggeration, but it seems like it sometimes. Then of course the request must be received before the deadline. In fact many people do not send for the rebate, either they forget, lose some of the necessary requirements or just don't want to bother. That's why we keep seeing those ads for rebates on products. They are good for the merchant, good for the manufacturer, bad for the consumer who never gets the rebate!
If the consumer only has a P O Box for his/her address, sorry, Out of Luck! Can't use a P O Box, even though it is the correct and only address! (I guess this is to prevent someone from getting two rebates, but two products would need to be purchased to get the rebates, so....another consumer ripoff!)
In order for merchants to make consumers themselves look good, they often will provide a receipt just for the rebate. There is a warning here, if the receipt has written on it what the rebate is for, make sure it is for the same product purchased! This is experience talking here! Never mind if the print on the receipt is faint or hard to read, trust me, the folks at the Rebate center can read it. (I lost $5.00 on that ploy.)
Excuses, excuses!
Not responsible for requests not postmarked by the deadline! Wrong item purchased! (It wasn't, but my receipt said otherwise.) Not responsible for items lost by the Postal Service. (They do get blamed for a lot of things!)
I have purchased many items and sent for rebates that were duly received. Microsoft has the fastest response time here, less than three weeks. I was impressed! I sent for one rebate and received notification that my submission was approved and being processed, but never received the rebate. That was Office Max. Most of the time I have received the rebate eventually, sometimes long after I had forgotten about it. (I now keep a record in Excel, for who, when sent, amount and if ever received.)
Most of the time the rebate check comes like a postcard. It's no wonder some are never received. Or if they are received, easily un-noticed amid all of the junk mail and probably tossed.
I am still waiting for my Gift cards (the latest marketing ploy) that I have been assured are 'in the mail'. If I never receive them, I have been told I can get them sent again, providing no one has used them. What a ripoff! An immediate discount would have impressed me a lot more! I must admit the cards are for items I would have bought anyway, but since they were offered, why not send for them?
This isn't the first time I have written about rebates. I had a rebate experience with Symantec that was totally infuriating, so much so that I will never buy another of their products. You can read about that in ' I Am Going to Say 'Goodbye' to Symantec', in a previous post.
So I am rebelling against rebates. If I see a product that I want on sale with a rebate, I will keep looking. The hassle and frustration is too much for an old lady like me!
Sigh! So many rebates offered, so many never received!
In order for a consumer to receive the promised rebate, many things need to happen. A form for the rebate must be completed properly and then all of the proofs of purchase must be gathered together. They suggest everything should be copied 'for your records' before sending it to an address for that particular rebate. Of course, what this really means is the consumer needs the copies to remind them of the rebate they never received, but I digress! (This address is usually written so small that a magnifying glass needs to used to read it.) I know why they offer these rebates. They hope the buyer will give up in disgust over all of the requirements, especially when they have to cut a proof of purchase from a cardboard box that is at least an inch thick!, Well, that is an exaggeration, but it seems like it sometimes. Then of course the request must be received before the deadline. In fact many people do not send for the rebate, either they forget, lose some of the necessary requirements or just don't want to bother. That's why we keep seeing those ads for rebates on products. They are good for the merchant, good for the manufacturer, bad for the consumer who never gets the rebate!
If the consumer only has a P O Box for his/her address, sorry, Out of Luck! Can't use a P O Box, even though it is the correct and only address! (I guess this is to prevent someone from getting two rebates, but two products would need to be purchased to get the rebates, so....another consumer ripoff!)
In order for merchants to make consumers themselves look good, they often will provide a receipt just for the rebate. There is a warning here, if the receipt has written on it what the rebate is for, make sure it is for the same product purchased! This is experience talking here! Never mind if the print on the receipt is faint or hard to read, trust me, the folks at the Rebate center can read it. (I lost $5.00 on that ploy.)
Excuses, excuses!
Not responsible for requests not postmarked by the deadline! Wrong item purchased! (It wasn't, but my receipt said otherwise.) Not responsible for items lost by the Postal Service. (They do get blamed for a lot of things!)
I have purchased many items and sent for rebates that were duly received. Microsoft has the fastest response time here, less than three weeks. I was impressed! I sent for one rebate and received notification that my submission was approved and being processed, but never received the rebate. That was Office Max. Most of the time I have received the rebate eventually, sometimes long after I had forgotten about it. (I now keep a record in Excel, for who, when sent, amount and if ever received.)
Most of the time the rebate check comes like a postcard. It's no wonder some are never received. Or if they are received, easily un-noticed amid all of the junk mail and probably tossed.
I am still waiting for my Gift cards (the latest marketing ploy) that I have been assured are 'in the mail'. If I never receive them, I have been told I can get them sent again, providing no one has used them. What a ripoff! An immediate discount would have impressed me a lot more! I must admit the cards are for items I would have bought anyway, but since they were offered, why not send for them?
This isn't the first time I have written about rebates. I had a rebate experience with Symantec that was totally infuriating, so much so that I will never buy another of their products. You can read about that in ' I Am Going to Say 'Goodbye' to Symantec', in a previous post.
So I am rebelling against rebates. If I see a product that I want on sale with a rebate, I will keep looking. The hassle and frustration is too much for an old lady like me!
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