Free 25$ app credit for Lumia 928

[coip]

No it was an automated email.

This is odd. I haven't received an email either. I contacted them directly yesterday, explained the discrepancy between the ePrize promotion webpage (which says unused promotional funds expire on the 29th) and my account page on commerce.microsoft.com where it shows they won't expire. The representative agreed that it was ambiguous and instructed me to contact ePrize directly (the company that runs the promotion). I emailed them and got an automated response, so I called them as well. After waiting on hold for 59 minutes for them to answer (no joke), I explained the situation and the lady said that she didn't know the answer and that I should contact Verizon. I contacted Verizon and got bounced around to pretty much every department: not one person knew what I was talking about (i.e., not only did they not know the answer, none of them had even heard of the promotion). So, they bounced me back to Microsoft since the funds are tied to my Microsoft account. So, I contacted Microsoft again today and explained the entire thing again, how I contacted every party involved (Microsoft, ePrize, and Verizon) and how not one of them knew the answer to the question. They guy said sorry for the confusion, but to play it safe, it would be wiser to adhere to the fine print posted on the ePrize promotional website (i.e., Microsoft's advice is to spend the money before the 29th).

Now, in my opinion, unless the funds are set to expire automatically, they're not going to expire because literally no one at Microsoft, ePrize, or Verizon know anything about this promotion or, if they do, they certainly don't care about it anymore. So, there will be no person on the 29th manually flipping a switch and deleting our funds. That said, there is a chance that, when originally setting up this promotion back in May, that they included some code that automatically deletes the funds on the 29th. This seems quite possible given that user berty6294 said he received an automated email from Microsoft stating so. What is odd, though, is that the rest of us didn't receive that email. If the funds do get deleted, my guess is that it will be a huge pain in the *** to lobby to get them back, which may not be possible at all because they could easily say the terms of service explicitly state that funds expire on the 29th.

Well, I sure am glad I spent 5 hours total on hold between 3 companies and didn't get this sorted out. I could've got a job for $5 per hour and worked those same 5 hours and gotten the same $25 total. Ugh.

 

[Symthic]

Wait, what's everyone talking about?

 

[coip]

Wait, what's everyone talking about?

When the Lumia 928 first launched on Verizon on May 16th, they offered a 6-week promotion where every new purchase of a 928 resulted in a free $25 virtual gift card that could be used to purchase Windows Phone apps. The fine print of the promotion says that the funds will expire on the 29th of this month, but on our Microsoft account pages it says they don't expire, so those of us with remaining balances are wondering if we should go on a shopping spree (spend it all before 9/29) or roll the dice (wait and see and hope the money doesn't disappear).

 

[hopmedic]

Just wow. It's as simple as this:
1. You spend the promo now and get your $25 worth of apps
or
2. You don't spend it before the 29th, and you either:
a. Still have $25 to spend
or
b. Lose your $25

Either way, it's not worth putting that much effort in at your theoretical, illegal, sub-minimum wage job. :wink:

Spend it now or roll the dice. That is what it boils down to.

 

[coip]

Just wow. It's as simple as this:
1. You spend the promo now and get your $25 worth of apps
or
2. You don't spend it before the 29th, and you either:
a. Still have $25 to spend
or
b. Lose your $25

Either way, it's not worth putting that much effort in at your theoretical, illegal, sub-minimum wage job. :wink:

Spend it now or roll the dice. That is what it boils down to.

UPDATE:
There is no more ambiguity as ePrize finally responded to my inquiries. The money needs to be spent before the end of the 28th or it will disappear.

"Hello. Thank you for your email. Per the official rules, your credit will expire on September 28i [sic], 2013. Unfortunately there is no way for us to extend the expiration date on this offer. Thank you for your understanding!

Sincerely,
ePrize Customer Service"

Here's to hoping next week's Red Stripes Deal is a good one.

 

[MobileVortex]

I think im still going to roll the dice. i like a good gamble.

has anyone who hasnt done the xbox MS points transfer process checked billing.microsoft.com?

 

[MobileVortex]

Breaking news!!!

More evidence to claim it wont expire. (it may if you haven't gone through the MS points transfer) I just purchased an app and it took it out of the funds that are set to expire first (which would be the points that transferred from MS points to my MS account.). Not my funds that i got for the Lumia promotion. So basically if my $30 is going to expire on the 29th. I have to spend the $67 that got transferred from my MS points before i will even start spending that $30, since MS uses the funds that are going to expire first.

I would say if you are worried at all or curious. login to your live account via billing.microsoft.com and see if the funds have an expiration date, if they don't, (i would screenshot it just for good measure) I think you're good.

 

[coip]

Breaking news!!!

More evidence to claim it wont expire. (it may if you haven't gone through the MS points transfer) I just purchased an app and it took it out of the funds that are set to expire first (which would be the points that transferred from MS points to my MS account.). Not my funds that i got for the Lumia promotion. So basically if my $30 is going to expire on the 29th. I have to spend the $67 that got transferred from my MS points before i will even start spending that $30, since MS uses the funds that are going to expire first.

I would say if you are worried at all or curious. login to your live account via billing.microsoft.com and see if the funds have an expiration date, if they don't, (i would screenshot it just for good measure) I think you're good.

My guess is that taking a screenshot will offer good protection if the funds to expire and you want to lobby to get them back. Technically, though, if they want to be sticklers, when they investigate your claim that you had funds one day that didn't expire and now they're suddenly gone, they can trace it back to the promotion and cite the fine print and say "tough luck". I'm guessing they won't do this, though, and that you'll likely be able to recover your lost funds (if they even get deleted at all).

Hmm, now I'm torn on what to do. I don't want to go on a spending spree buying a bunch of things I only kind of want. I'd much rather space out my purchases over the coming months. But I'd rather not risk losing the funds and then fighting to get them back.

 

[Scorpio5x0]

If they do or don't expire on the 29th, I have only spent about $10 of the credit so far. And for the life of me, I can not think of anything else that is a paid app that I need. Any suggestions out there on good, useful apps. So far this is a list of what I have purchased.

1. Amazing weather HD
2. battery
3. Doodle God
4. ProShot
5.Tapatalk

 

[coip]

If they do or don't expire on the 29th, I have only spent about $10 of the credit so far. And for the life of me, I can not think of anything else that is a paid app that I need. Any suggestions out there on good, useful apps. So far this is a list of what I have purchased.

1. Amazing weather HD
2. battery
3. Doodle God
4. ProShot
5.Tapatalk

Games I bought that I like:
1. Halo: Spartan Assault
2. Carcassonne
3. Hexic Rush
4. Modern Combat 4
5. Rocket Riot
6. Skulls of the Shogun

Apps I bought that I find useful and didn't want to view ads on them:
1. Handyscan
2. PC Remote Pro
3. WP Central

 

[DavidinCT]

Hmmm.... I got $40 left, I can't find anything I want to buy right now (I have halo, Modern Combat, batman, Spiderman, etc). I even upgraded all my apps that were free versions with ads that I could (Weave came to mind, as I used that every day)if I use them.

It does show nothing will expire in my account at billing.microsoft.com and nothing is pending to expire. Microsoft would put there that they funds are to expire but, they don't.

To those saying SUPPORT THE DEVS, I did and always do, I had a $75 credit and I used the rest of it to buy a BUNCH of apps.

Unless something jumps out to me in the next week, OR they open a way to use these credits on Windows 8 to buy apps, I guess I will let it roll and take a risk... I could always use it on the xbox...(as I can see my total amount available when looking to buy a Xbox game).

I will take a screenshot of it, Just incase.

 

[coip]

Hmmm.... I got $40 left, I can't find anything I want to buy right now (I have halo, Modern Combat, batman, Spiderman, etc). I even upgraded all my apps that were free versions with ads that I could (Weave came to mind, as I used that every day)if I use them.

It does show nothing will expire in my account at billing.microsoft.com and nothing is pending to expire. Microsoft would put there that they funds are to expire but, they don't.

To those saying SUPPORT THE DEVS, I did and always do, I had a $75 credit and I used the rest of it to buy a BUNCH of apps.

Unless something jumps out to me in the next week, OR they open a way to use these credits on Windows 8 to buy apps, I guess I will let it roll and take a risk... I could always use it on the xbox...(as I can see my total amount available when looking to buy a Xbox game).

I will take a screenshot of it, Just incase.

People here keep insinuating that they have used this credit to buy Windows 8/RT apps or Xbox 360 games. I have yet to see how this is possible, though. If you've done it, how do you do it? Because when I check out from the Windows 8 store, the only payment option is my credit card.

 

[MobileVortex]

You can't use it on windows 8/rt, or on Xbox.com because they haven't updated the payment options yet. U can only use it on the phone, or via the xbox360 dashboard (if you have the newest update.)

 

[coip]

So how many of you are rolling the dice and holding onto the funds? I'm still torn. I think I'll buy a few more games I'm kind of interested in, and then let the remaining balance ride.

 

[MobileVortex]

Im going to let it ride, since the funds when i buy apps are not even coming out of the money i got from the promotion, and are coming out of the funds that are set to expire next year. I'm not the worried about it at all.

 

[DavidinCT]

So how many of you are rolling the dice and holding onto the funds? I'm still torn. I think I'll buy a few more games I'm kind of interested in, and then let the remaining balance ride.

Yea, I would love to be able to use it to buy an app or 2 from the Windows 8 store. The only place you can use them is Xbox or Windows phone. I tried to see if I could change the account on Widows 8 and Windows 8.1, and it only gives options for credit cards.

I might just grab some easy achievement options, for the heck of it but, otherwise, just waiting to see if they do expire or not.

 

[jleebiker]

Here's what I got back today:

Hello,

Thank you for reaching out to us. Unfortunately our records do not indicate you qualified for and claimed the $25 Windows Phone apps credit offer within the timeframe allotted in the Official Rules.

In addition, per the Official Rules you are no longer eligible for this offer, as this promotion ended on July, 7 2013. Please refer to sections 2 and 3 of the Official Rules below for further questions. Thank you for your understanding!

2. Timing: Giveaway begins on May 16, 2013 at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time ("ET") and ends on July 7, 2013 at 11:59 p.m. ET (the "Giveaway Period"). Sponsor’s computer is the official time-keeping device for the Giveaway.

3. How to Receive Offer: From May 16, 2013 through June 23, 2013, purchase a Nokia Lumia 928 phone and visit Window Phone App Redemption. Then log-in to your Microsoft account that you set up after purchasing your phone (any time between May 16, 2013 and July 7, 2013).

Sincerely,
ePrize Customer Service

 

[wolf1891]

I got an email from Microsoft that says it expires on the 28th not 29th. I just spent all but $0.04. I purchased EVERY angry birds lol. I wish there were more like geoDefense and geoDefense swarm those games are awesome.

yep, I got that same automated email telling me that the funds will expire on the 28th. I still had around $12 left of the original $25 credit so, last night I went on a shopping spree looking for any games and/or other apps that I had the trial versions of but wanted to upgrade to the full/paid version or any other apps/games out there that I had thought about buying before but, had never got around to it. In the end I got my balance down to 19 cents and, I'm pretty satisfied with my purchases (the kids are going to be pretty thrilled too the next time they are allowed to play with my 928 and they see what has been added to the Kids Corner).

my interpretation is that the $25 credit is definitely going away in a few days so, I wanted to use as much up as I could before that happened. If it doesn't go away then I'll still be fine with my purchases since, in the end, they didn't actually cost ME anything. So, make your own choice about what you want to believe is going to happen on the 28th/29th and just be prepared to live with the results, whatever they may be.

 

[MobileVortex]

Well ive bought a few more apps, and the funds again were not taken out of the money i got from the promotion. each and every time they were taken out of the funds that were converted from MS points that expire on 6/1/2015. If my credit expires im going to be very upset, because if that's true i will have to spend $70 before i even hit my Lumia funds.

I believe that the funds will expire if you havent gone through the process via the xbox 360 to transfer your MS points into M$ cash. I think they will NOT expire if you have gone through the transfer. I guess we will find out in a few days.

 

[DavidinCT]

Well ive bought a few more apps, and the funds again were not taken out of the money i got from the promotion. each and every time they were taken out of the funds that were converted from MS points that expire on 6/1/2015. If my credit expires im going to be very upset, because if that's true i will have to spend $70 before i even hit my Lumia funds.

I believe that the funds will expire if you havent gone through the process via the xbox 360 to transfer your MS points into M$ cash. I think they will NOT expire if you have gone through the transfer. I guess we will find out in a few days.

Yea, I saw your post last night and this morning I tried this. I have the 928 credit and my Xbox points credit listing in billing.microsoft.com, I checked it this morning to see the amouts, I ordered UNO (cheap easy achievements) from the marketplace. This took it from my Xbox points credit..Not from my 928 credit..

I took a screen shot, these points better not expire or I will be on the phone yelling at Microsoft to give me the funds back, as they didn't take the it from where it should.

I guess in 2 more days we should know for sure...