Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  12/20/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Upside app gives you money for gas purchased at certain places . When I went to redeem for a gift card I couldn’t get it

  Business response

  01/18/2024

  Hi, ****,

  I checked my systems and I see that you've been in touch with us via email to our support team, and that my colleague **** also wrote to you - i hope you received his message! If not, it might have gone to a spam folder. You were provided the link to your gift card via email in October, and **** also provided it in his 1/09/24 email to you. Here it is in my message, too, for your convenience:
  
  *********************************************************************

  Since we have now sent the gift card link to you on a few occasions, including here via the BBB, Upside considers this matter resolved. Please know that the fastest way to be helped, should you have more questions, is via email at support@upside.com.

  Best,
  ****
  Upside Support

• Initial Complaint

  12/08/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Theyve told me my account has been under review for over 2 months now and they are holding over $30 of mine with 0 updates. Email is ******************** Honestly do not think they care , why would a review take months? I just want my money.

  Business response

  12/28/2023

  This individual created 4 accounts on the Upside app. Our Terms of Service only allow one account per individual. 4 of the accounts used the same ****** to cash out, while a 5th account was identified as using the same credit card as the other 4. The user's following accounts are all Terminated for violating our Terms of Service:

  
  *******************
  *******************
  *******************
  **************************
  ********************
  
  Please note for future complaints: Any person providing a complaint that is unwilling or unable to provide their full address in their complaint to Upside should be considered fraudulent. 

  Business response

  12/28/2023

  Hello,
  
  Your account was terminated for violating our Terms of Service regarding the creation of multiple accounts, which is prohibited and considered fraudulent activity. 
  
  The section regarding your Member Account is provided for your convenience: "Each individual is permitted to create one account. Because our Services generate rewards offers that are personalized, as well as bonuses to incentivize referrals, creating multiple accounts is prohibited and considered fraudulent activity. Upside will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with this Section." 
  
  Further, our Terms of Service state "If we determine in our sole discretion that you have violated the Terms of Service, we may in our sole discretion and as permitted by law terminate your account and forfeit or cancel any pending, current, or future Cash Back rewards balance you may have." The cash back rewards on your account are forfeit with this decision. 
  
  You can read our Terms of Service here: **************************************************************

• Initial Complaint

  11/20/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  11/20 I ate at ****** on ****** ******** I paid using the tableside app at the restaurant. When I left I noticed that there was a offer for 5% cashback from ******. I hit claim... For $1.63 back thinking $1.63 will go back to my earned amount like I've been doing for gas. However upon checking my back account I have 2 charges one from the restaurant directly and one from upside. I immediately contacted upside and to let them know why was full amount charged I thought I was getting $1.63 cash back I didn't realize I had to pay on app the full amount since I've already paid the restaurant directly. It is very hard to email back and forth..they said something about I used a gift card...I don't even know about a gift card on get upside...I thought I was claiming just 1.63 back and I had to upload l My reciept like I've been doing for gas.... I also called ****** to get the charge removed but manager said they don't have a scanner to scan any codes and also once a check is closed they cannot access closed checks to do anything. He recommended filing a charge back. He also stated ****** is unaware of any third party apps that takes payment on behalf of them. You guys charged me thirty something dollars..I've already withdrew my earned amount on gas reciepts and waiting my gift card. I need to be refunded minus the $1.63 back...you all can keep that since I withdrew my earned cash already. I'd hope someone call me to resolve this rather than go back and forth with someone through email that is certainly not able to help... Please refund me appropriately since I've already paid the business and have another charge from you ..business in not accepting get upside scan... You can refund $32.72- $1.63

  Business response

  12/19/2023

  Hi, ******,

  I checked in my systems, and I found your email correspondence with the team. I agree with the agent's assessment of automatic cancellation since the card wasn't used. I see you received her email, but I just wanted to paste this part of her message for transparency:
  
  "As I took a look at your account once more, the $32.72 charge from ****** ***** * *** was automatically cancelled by the system since it was not used within 4hrs. The funds should return to your account within 5 to 7 banking days. "

  I hope this was helpful and please know that emails to support@upside.com are always the fastest way to be helped!

  Best,
   
  Upside Support

  Customer response

  12/19/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  *******************************
  

• Initial Complaint

  11/19/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I put the same debit card on my account as I used by paying gas and hit summit, 2 1/2 weeks later I get an email saying I didnt get my cash back so I emailed the company explaining the situation and they respond saying my card never match which it did! I used the same card. These people are scams! They need to be deleted immediately! They have deleted my credit a few times for no reason.

  Business response

  12/19/2023

  Hi, ****,

  I checked our systems and I see my colleague **** was in touch last Thursday with some insight on your failed offers - I hope you received his message! If not, it might have gone to a spam folder. I've copied the bulk of his message below for your convenience:

  "I'm really sorry for the failed offers. As explained to you by our support team last November 18th, using the same debit card isn't the only thing we consider to process your offer. I always suggest to keep at least a photo of your receipt this way, you won't have to keep the physical receipt and just in case your offer fails, our team at support can use it to help you earn the cash back you are due.
   
  Please also note that it is stated on Upside's Terms of Service that if we are not able to validate your purchase, or if you return, modify, or cancel the purchase, we have no obligation to issue Cash Back rewards for that purchase, and we may revoke any Cash Back rewards that was previously issued to your account for that purchase.
   
  Please understand that when an offer fails, both you and Upside lose out on potential earnings since you can only earn on successfully validated offers and we can only bill merchants with a valid proof of purchase.
   
  This is discussed on our FAQ article here:
   
  **********************************************************************************************************************
   
  Once you provide the necessary proof of purchase to validate your transaction, we'll be able to further assist."

  With just a little bit more info from you, we'd be glad to look into this further for you.

  Best,
   
  Upside Support

• Initial Complaint

  11/01/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On October 26th I requested a $20 ****** Play Gift Card and it was supposed to go to my email. I have not received it to date (well past the "48 Hour Window") and I have sent multiple requests to their "support" and have not had a single response. I have made sure that any and all Upside emails are not spam and I have received other emails of an advertising type from them. Its not a big deal really and wont change my life in any way, but it would be nice if they actually responded to an email or you could talk to someone. It would be nice if this were a legit app that did what they say they do.

  Business response

  11/28/2023

  Hi, ******,

  I checked my systems and I see that our support team responded to your November 1st email the same day - this is my colleague's response!
  
  "Hi ******,
   
  Thank you for reaching out. I do apologize if you still waiting for your cash out gift card. No worries, I'm here to help.
   
  I checked your account and I found your ****** gift card. For me to help, I've pasted your most recent gift card cash-out below.
  *********************************************************************
   
  Should you require further information, please click on this link to our FAQ HERE.
   
  For any other concerns, you can also visit our FAQ page.
   
  I hope this helps and this removes worrying from your end. Let me know if you have further questions so that I can assist.
   
  Thank you again for being an Upside user! 
   
  Best,
  ******
  Upside Consumer Support"
  
  It's my guess that your email has high spam blockers on it, which explains why there was deliverability issues on the gift card, and I'm wondering if you maybe didn't receive ******** response, either. Our emails from support can sometimes land in a spam folder. That link I've included from him in this message should work for your gift card. Please let us know if you have other questions!

  Best,
   
  Upside Support

• Initial Complaint

  10/18/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have used Upside 18 times since June 2023 for cash back on gas. I go to the correct address, I get gas within the appropriate time frame and I upload my complete reciept. I have not received cash back on 14 of the 18 transaction and the only explanation is that Upside has been unable to verify a purchase that matches my reciept. How does this happen 80% of the time?

  Business response

  11/20/2023

  Hi ******,

  I checked our systems and I saw your correspondence with my colleague ****, and I agree with him: there are a number of reasons that your offers with us might have failed. Using a card outside of your Upside Wallet, the wrong location, an offer outside of a transaction window; these are all ways the offers can fail, and for old offers, it's hard for us to tell without supplemental information. It's also true that if you received another discount at the site itself, that might have negated an Upside one, like in the case of your CITGO rewards. We'd be glad to investigate further if you can provide more information about your failed purchases, like a receipt. You can either reply back to ****** message or send a new message to support@upside.com.

  Best,
   
  Upside Support

• Initial Complaint

  09/30/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  in august ans september i was using upside for cash back for gas, i am an **** driver and used it pretty often. they process cash back n 1-4 s=days according to their policy. if not contact them after 10 days. i had to contact them over 5 times for each separate cash back, providing receipts with info, last one was gas on holiday 9/22/23 for 10.02 gal. also when searching for best gas discount on the ir app i came accross .26cent off, however after purchase their processing system is saying its only .19 cents off. they are scaming people into going to certain gas stations and then you have to contact them and provide all this details and photo ti prove it was your purchase, for every SINGLE purchase. they are never on time and i dont need to be reminding them how their app works. nothing was paid to them, they just show you the amont off at that day on holiday gas station and you pick where to go make purchase fpr cash back from upside. also upon contacting them they say they have to wait till gas station confirms my purchase......everyone seeking cahs back need to attach receipt of purchase that shows where, when, how many and how much. After so many issues in august i started writing amounts off, on my receipts.

  Business response

  10/19/2023

  Hi, there,

  I checked my systems and found that my colleague **** emailed you about the issue you had with offers. I concur with his assessment that not having the cards you're using for your purchases in your Wallet in the app could cause offers to fail. I also see in his email that you were able to recently cash out to your bank account - as he mentioned, that will show in your account as "ACH DEP UPSIDE XXXXXXXXX." 

  Please know that ****** email may have gone to a spam folder if you haven't seen it yet, but his explanation of how cards in the wallet function, as well as his breakdown of base offers and bonuses in the app, is all correct and pertinent to your situation. I hope this clarifies things.
  
  Best,
  ****
  Upside Support

• Initial Complaint

  09/23/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was lured by Upside to shop at Schnucks with a promise of cash back rewards of 7 - 11% on June 3, 2023; June 22, 2023; July 2, 2023; and July 28, 2023. I spent more than I would have, relying on the promise of cash back. On June 28, 2023, and on August 2, 2023, I received emails from Upside informing me that my cash back was taken a little longer than expected. On September 4, 2023, I reviewed the earnings in my account and was surprised to see that the above mentioned offers were noted as expired and that no cash back was granted. Upon contacting Upside, I was told that after 21 days of a purchase, no credit could be given. Is it my responsibility to regularly check to make sure that my account is being properly credited? These purchases total over $200 and I would like the cash back that was promised to me. Can you help me with this?

  Business response

  10/04/2023

  Hi, *****,

  I checked our systems and I see that my colleague **** was in touch via email on September 29th - I hope you received his message! If not, it might have gone to a spam folder. I concur with his assessment of the situation, and we would absolutely be glad to help with any offers that are not yet 21 days old. Should you have further questions, the fastest way to be helped is to just reply to ****** message.
  
  Best,
  
  Upside Support

  Business response

  10/24/2023

  Hi, there,
  
  The documentation provided by the customer in this complaint is not relevant to the 21-day contact policy other than providing reference regarding the date of the offer claims for this complaint. The customer was provided with ample time to contact support regarding any issues with their claimed offers; their claim that they only checked their account on September 4th is incorrect, as the customer used the Upside app to claim additional offers on the following dates within the 21 day window of their purchases:

  08/08/23
  08/18/23

  Our records also indicate that the customer checked their account on the following days without contacting support, also within the 21 day window:

  08/03/23
  08/07/23
  08/08/23
  08/09/23
  08/10/23
  08/15/23
  08/17/23
  
  It can be seen in this FAQ article that we ask users to reach out to users within 21 days of their offer claim: ***************************************************************************************************

  Upside provides customer transaction history within the mobile app for viewing at any time, along with the option to contact support directly within the application if there are any issues. The customer did not make use of this option. We are unable to provide credit at this time. 

• Initial Complaint

  08/24/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  March 24 I cashed out my upside rewards to an $81 ****** gift card. The information provided by upside stated I should see the gift card in my email within 48 hours. After 48 hours I had not received the gift card, and had checked my junk and trash email folders; I contacted Upside support March 26. I spoke with ************** throughout this process. She asked for my credentials of how I set up Upside and I provided them. April 1 she sent me the link for my ****** gift card but when I clicked on it, it had already been redeemed. ***** responded two days later on April 3. In the meantime I contacted ****** to find out when the gift card was redeemed and any other information I could gather. I learned that my electronic gift card was "purchased" March 24, which is when I requested it, and they told me the remaining balance. That's all ****** could share with me. April 3 ***** said she could see my upside rewards were successfully cashed out from my device (correct) and sent to my email (that I never received). She suggested I update my email credentials and provided a link to check for data breaches, which would identify if my information had been compromised. I followed all the checks recommended by upside and there was no unusual activity. *** determined the gift card was not compromised from my email account. Upon further research, I found that I have not received an Email from upside since February 28, up to this date I was receiving emails each time I used the app. I take this lack of transparency as the compromise happened with upside and they're unwilling to admit to it, look into it, or fix the mistake. The support staff was unable to resolve my request and I elevated to arbitration. I sent a certified letter to their Washington DC address and it was received May 30th. To-date I have not had a response from upside. Their website listed arbitration as a six week process. Currently its been 12 weeks with no response.

  Business response

  09/08/2023

  Hi, *****,

  I checked our system and found the correspondence via email sent to you from my colleague **** - his explanation is a correct and thorough account of the situation at hand with your gift card and email account. Should you have any additional questions, you'll be answered the most promptly by replying to his email to you directly.

  Best,
  ****
  Upside Support

• Initial Complaint

  08/15/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I had a balance of over $45 on my UPSIDE account and the app stopped working so I followed the advice of their online support to update my app. When I did my rewards disappeared. They don't have a phone number or a valid email address to get support. Anybody have any suggestions as to how to reach them?

  Business response

  08/30/2023

  Regarding the claim "They don't have a phone number or a valid email address to get support.": Contacting the support team is easily found on our website ***************************************, under Customer Support, which directs customers to the FAQ and support portal: *************************************************** where they can contact our team 24/7. This support portal is also available via the Upside mobile app under the "Help" option in our menu. 

  Business response

  08/30/2023

  ******,
  
  One of our senior support agents reached out to you via email on Aug 18th to provide instructions on how to log in to your account with a balance of $33.51; we have not received a response to our email yet. Please let us know if you need any further assistance with logging in to your original account by replying to the email and our team will be happy to assist further!
  
  Best,
  ******
  Upside Senior Customer Support Lead

  Customer response

  08/30/2023

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ***********************
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩