Microsoft Rewards is a scam!

Hi kstev99,

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Yes I agree Microsoft's support is just terrible - for instance I believe they violated GDPR (I'll be contacting the UKs information commisioners office) as I asked for a copy of my data and Microsoft failed to reply. Simply horrendous support. Sidenote Window's privacy protections are awful - they were fined some time ago for improper data collection

Anyways, back to the point:

I'm so sorry this happened to you - I've been hearing about Microsoft accusing people of violating their terms of service for seemingly no reason. It seems very likely that they don't actually want to shell out the gift card/cash you deserve?

So sorry to hear you've had a bad experience. I really hope it gets sorted out...

Cheers

So it is not COMPLETELY a scam, but recently has left me wondering. I have redeemed point in the past for Amazon Gift Cards, probably $100 worth, and I have been a Rewards member for many years. I do the daily quizzes and always max out the search points by clicking on the "Related Searches" provided when doing a search.

Never a problem until today. I had 75,000 points and decided to redeem them

Attempting it produced an error that my Account was Temporarily Restricted because I may have violated the terms of service

I contacted support and they seemed to think that I was a bot or was using a macro or mechanical means of searching with their crappy Bing search engine. They explained that each search term must be manually entered into Bing to qualify. If that is the case, then why are points being awarded when I click on the "Related Searches" links at the bottom of the pages? So they closed the case and my account is still locked

I'm going to give it some time and see if I will EVER be able to redeem my points, but if not I will close my Rewards account and I may even cancel the Microsoft 365 subscription that a rarely use anyway since I retired. I AM NOT A BOT!!!

Some people open a folder, with preloaded pages, or some such thing to automatically do their searches. The redemption issue has been an ongoing problem; for about 6 weeks that I am aware of (and last year and 4, and 5 years ago.) Also read Reddit and elsewhere for some possible clues/remedies to your particular problem.

So it is not COMPLETELY a scam, but recently has left me wondering. I have redeemed point in the past for Amazon Gift Cards, probably $100 worth, and I have been a Rewards member for many years. I do the daily quizzes and always max out the search points by clicking on the "Related Searches" provided when doing a search.

Never a problem until today. I had 75,000 points and decided to redeem them

Attempting it produced an error that my Account was Temporarily Restricted because I may have violated the terms of service

I contacted support and they seemed to think that I was a bot or was using a macro or mechanical means of searching with their crappy Bing search engine. They explained that each search term must be manually entered into Bing to qualify. If that is the case, then why are points being awarded when I click on the "Related Searches" links at the bottom of the pages? So they closed the case and my account is still locked

I'm going to give it some time and see if I will EVER be able to redeem my points, but if not I will close my Rewards account and I may even cancel the Microsoft 365 subscription that a rarely use anyway since I retired. I AM NOT A BOT!!!

My honest experience with Microsoft Rewards: Scam or not?

Hi All,

I've seen a lot of comments on this thread and just wanted to give you guys my honest experience as an Apple User using Edge for Microsoft Rewards

(1) DO NOT ENTER SWEEPSTAKES - I entered 1 and the change of you actually getting something is super rare

(2) REDEEMING TAKES TIME - It took me about 48 hours (after contacting Microsoft) to redeem one of my rewards (Spotify Premium)

(3) REDEEMING CAN HAVE ISSUES - Sometimes redeeming is a huge pain - I feel for so many people here. It's terrible to work so hard for Microsoft rewards but not get them. I've contacted Microsoft myself once so far and it's worked out OK but if you're having issues try contact Microsoft

(4) LEGAL & COMPLIANCE - Please please please please read the terms of service - there are certain things you can do that may get you band. ULTIMATELY, IT'S AT MICROSOFT'S DISCRETION TO TERMINATE YOUR ACCOUNT SO PLEASE BE CAREFUL

(5) I HATE EDGE BUT I LOVE MONEY - Honestly as bad as edge can feel I think using it is OK in order to get Microsoft Rewards

(6) DO NOT GET YOUR HOPES UP TOO HIGH - FRANKLY MICROSOFT'S SUPPORT TEAM ISN'T AS GOOD AS OTHER COMPANIES (FROM MY EXPERIENCE WORSE THAN APPLE'S AT SOLVING ISSUES) - THEY CAN TERMINATE YOUR ACCOUNT

(7) MY TOP TIPS TO GET MORE POINTS: (a) Download Edge/Bing on your iPhone - you get daily log in points, points for reading the news (don't actually read it just click on it and scroll for like a second) and of course you get additional browsing points (b) GET TO 2ND TIER QUICKLY - you get soooo many more points (c) DO NOT ENTER SWEEPSTAKES - low change of rewards + takes like 200 points (d) READ THE LEGAL USER AGREEMENT - know what you can and can't do

(8) Final notes:

Thanks soo much for reading this! I hope this has helped you guys!

As an all-apple professional user I have to say I actually find Microsoft Rewards super cool! Enjoy them!

To those having issues with Microsoft Rewards I really hope they can be sorted out and hope you can redeem points you've worked so hard to get. I know how frustrating it can be to not be recognised by a company you've been quite loyal to (was originally dell user)

Please do reply to this post to share your own experience and ask any questions you may have about my own experience

Thanks for posting this. Hopefully some people will READ it prior to whining...

Update on honest experience

This is an update message.

Turns out that you can't use Microsoft Rewards Abroad. So if you were to make a search on edge abroad and collect points from it (done authomatically) you will be disqualified for using it abroad.

How the hell do Microsoft expect you to work if you for instance moved abroad for a holiday and wanted to gain rewards?

Frankly the fact that when I open chrome Edge has a pop saying to use it for a better experience is ridiculous.

I used edge every single day for a month and it pains me that this is the standard Microsoft is willing to go to for it's customers.

Very dissapointed.