icoke scam?

[Kaos Kitty]

A week ago I bought the 12-packs of coke, where I submitted the pin tabs and get a free plush bear. I came home, ripped off all the tabs - kind of like opening all the cereal boxes to get the prizes . I collect little teddy bears. So I excitedly went on line and submitted the 5 pin codes just like they said. All that happened was I got 10,000 points. No bear. I wrote an email.

To: icoke:

"I just submitted 5 coke codes from the specially marked 12pack cans of coke to receive a free stuffed polar bear. I used the submit points link from next to the bear on your website. It showed I now have 10,000 points (2000 per code) but how do I know it worked, and when will I receive my bear? Thank you."

They replied with this:

"The Buy Stuff catalog is constantly changing; new rewards are added to replace old ones and rewards that have sold out, making it difficult to speculate on future availability. We understand how frustrating it is to save your coins for a certain reward only to see that reward sell out.

We apologize if you missed an opportunity to purchase the plush bear. Our website is updated frequently, so check back often. We value your feedback as we continue to look for ways to improve the iCoke.ca program.Thank you for contacting iCoke.ca. We appreciate you taking the time to contact us regarding this issue.

If you have any other questions, feel free to contact us again."

I was so angry, I replied with this:


"You said: "We understand how frustrating it is to save your coins for a certain reward only to see that reward sell out".

It was not an opportunity to purchase the plush polar bear with coke coins that I missed out on. I bought the specially advertised 12 pack cans of coke (5 of them) that said: "Redeem icoke Pins from 5 specially marked coca-cola 12 packs at icoke.ca". This is a Christmas item that I bought and redeemed immediately. There is no "sold out" plush polar bear in the "Buy Stuff" cataloug and it is still being advertised on your website as a viable option - "buy 5 of the specially marked 12 pack - get the plush bear".

Now, I followed the link to the plush bear and put in my pin where it said and only received icoke points (10,000). There was no option to receive a bear. If the bear was ever on the "Buy stuff" catalog doesn't that mean anyone could buy it? Not just the people who bought the specially marked packages?

I bought the 5 specially marked packages, I submitted my pins, there is no "sold out" info on the bear and the special is still being advertised on the icoke website. Please explain what is going on, rather than sending me an "cut and paste" answer that is not relevant to my question.

I met the contest criteria. I would like my bear please. Otherwise this is a very serious case of false advertising that will have to be investigated. Thank you."

Whether I will even get a response, I will have to wait and see. I am just so mad!!

[frugal.lass]

I wish you luck getting this issue resolved but to be honest, don't think Coke is worried about your comment about false advertising. I have tons of friends practicing corporate law or working for large corporations and those companies are always right on that legal line with excuses and loopholes ready in their back pocket in case anyone complains.

My fingers are crossed for you.

[annertak]

I would like my bear please.

LOL! I love this. Great letter, and I hope you get your bear!

[FrugalMomof3]

I think it's totally unfair and while I do agree that things do sell out or become out of stock they still have to honor them.

[Debbie-cat]

You go girl! Don't back down til you get your bear!

[monkeywrangler71]

There are ICOKE pins on 12 packs??
I haven't seen a pin on cans in years, I thought they just put them on 2L now?

[itsahumanzoo]

I've noticed that when I send politely angry letters back to companies after getting a cut and paste response, I get a much more personal answer. Hopefully you get your bear!

[djbout]

We are in the same boat as you, we had 5 12pack cases we bought about 3 weeks ago when we started to see them on our store shelves, DH came home entered pins only to find out the "bears" are sold out, WTF??? It's pretty hard to swallow especially since the Christmas Bears cases just came out! Please keep us updated because we will follow your lead if you are successful.

Moneywrangler71:
The 12 packs of cans that have that small ICOKE symbol do have pins on the indside, BUT, whether they are valid or not seems to be another story. We had 8 cases where the pins came up as invalid. I wrote/emailed to ICOKE and included all the info from the 8 cases (pins ( 2 different #'s inside each, UPC codes and product codes) well within 3 weeks we had our account credited with 16,000 points!

[kittykatstrong]

I was having the same problem with mypoints and each time they sent out generic answer every time I responded. I gave up. DONT back down.

[Grayce]

Wow, I just bought 2 cases of those specially marked cases of coke too. I was saving the pins to get the bear. It says the offer is good to the end of 2009 and they are outta bears already!? That sucks.

[Kaos Kitty]

I just got an email back from icoke. They apologized (some computer glitch) and my bear will arrive in the next 21 days!

[Marie78]

I'm glad you sent a second email. I think mentioning that an investigation was in order added to their worry over these points not working out. Good Job! This proves you should never give up .