NOW CLOSED: Try Incahoot Plus for free and you could win a £250 Amazon voucher

[KatieBMumsnet]

The folks at Incahoot.com are looking for 100 UK based Mumsnetters to try out their new Incahoot PLUS money saving scheme for one month and to give their feedback on MN. Here's what Incahoot say about the new service: "Here at Incahoot we have listened to what our members want and have launched Incahoot PLUS. This scheme gives you access to a fantastic range of offers which will save you money (up to £1000 a year!) on everyday shopping like Supermarkets, Clothes, Travel, Electricals and Entertainment".

Incahoot want 100 UK Mumsnetters to try the service for one month and leave feedback on their experiences twice during the course of the month. Each tester will be given a year's membership to Incahoot PLUS (worth £29.99) and will be able to keep this membership for the rest of the year once the month's trial is over. At the end of the year testers will be contacted by Incahoot to see if they wish to resubscribe - this will not happen automatically.

Once you are registered with Incahoot you will need to use your credit/debit card to top up the reloadable card and to receive the cashback in your account. These bank details are held on a third party's secure platform and Incahoot will not have access to them.

If you would like to take part please sign up here.
We will email those selected with the sign up details and a link to the feedback thread.

All those who are selected and add their feedback twice during the month's trial will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will receive a £250 Amazon voucher.

Please note, you may receive monthly newsletters from Incahoot as result of signing up, but you can unsubscribe from these emails at any time.

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw!

Hi all, we've been back to Incahoot and they've provided the response below. If you want to try the reloadable store cards or high street vouchers then there are some charges that you would need to pay - unfortunately there's no way around testers having to pay these. However if you would rather not pay any fees and just pay for the items that you buy, then you can: use the online cashback deals, online voucher codes, print and save vouchers and offline discounts in your local area. Here's their full response:

"Incahoot PLUS offers you a range of discounts not only through reloadable store cards and high street gift vouchers but also by using the online cashback deals, online voucher codes, print and save vouchers and offline discounts in your local area ? these will not cost you anything to trial and offer you some of the best discount on the market with over 1300 merchants all in one place ? therefore if you do not wish to spend any money in this product test you don't have to! Please click here to see a video explaining the scheme.

The reloadable store cards and high street vouchers do both require a minimal administration and postage and packaging fee ? please see www.incahoot.com/incahoot-plus/fees-explained/ for further information. Please be aware that a number of these fees such as the insurance are optional and only relate to the high street gift vouchers. Incahoot do not make any money on these minimal fees, for full terms and conditions on Incahoot PLUS please click here.

The Reloadable cards are a great way to budget, especially on your supermarket shopping, you can order up to 5 reloadable store cards for one P&P fee of £1.99, this is a one off cost as you keep your card forever, just topping up when you need to shop! Incahoot always save their members money and have been well established since 2010. Incahoot do not hold any of the money that you top up on your reloadable store cards as the funds are transferred directly onto that card. Once topped up, the funds will be available on that card for a minimum of one year, however this varies dependant on the merchants Ts and Cs.
Each reloadable store card or high street gift voucher is the same as the ones that you can purchase directly in store (gift cards/vouchers), however Incahoot have been able to negotiate exclusive cash back discounts to save you even more money. These cash back discounts are on top of any other in-store promotion or loyalty scheme!"

Thanks for that. I hope this has already provided them with valuable feedback.

So we dont have to pay anything if we dont want to then? Well if thats the case I will stay in, just for the vouchers online. However if there are any vouchers for product I wouldn't want to buy anyway I wont be using them.

I dont understand the store cards though. Why would I pay £1.99 to get a store card to be delivered when I can walk into the shop myself and not pay the £1.99, I can't imagine why anybody would

Fart I understand tgat by loading it through them you then get tge discount/cashback.

I love tge product test and apply for them all but I shan't bother with this one.

Thanks MNHQ.

I also apply for all most product tests but will be giving this one a miss.

Sorry

I think the free trial bit of voucher codes etc is ok but on the card side of things

I can see it turning into on of those is it park brochure things that went bust just before Christmas a few years back.

Everyone giving them money saving for Christmas and then the suddenly go bust and everyone looses thier money.

Why would you risk your food shop money and petrol money on a money grabbing company?

We all know gift cards are a risk with companies disappearing left, right and centre but to combine the risk of a number of companies into one seems stupid.

Guess thats me not picked for the free bit of the trial

okay, might as well stay in for the voucher codes etc and the chance for the amazon voucher!

if they want some feedback about the card idea, apart from all the other comments made - store cards are really annoying as you easily look track how much you have left on them, they are really not convenient. i told dh about this idea and he was like why would you not just use a credit card with cashback, considering loads of cards do give cashback im not really sure why people would want to go to the bother of loading up store cards in advance for individual stores and if you are trying to save money youre not likely to have so much cash in advance to stick on all these cards!

Well established since 2010? I wouldn't call that established

Hi all, thank you for your comments. Incahoot have asked us to post this:

"Incahoot PLUS is not a saving club (such as Park), it is a new shopping scheme.
The reloadable store cards are for major retailers including Sainsbury's, ASDA, B&Q, Homebase, Boots and Debenhams (to name a few). Incahoot do not hold any of the money as the funds are transferred directly onto the gift card for that specific retailer.

Most of these major retailers will give a receipt when you have completed your purchase which lets you know how much is left on the card! With certain retailers you can also check this online. The cashback and discounts through Incahoot PLUS, are far greater than those offered by credit card companies (with no maximum spend limits) and you will not have any interest charges!

We would like to stress that we are not making any money from this trial as we are giving away 100 Incahoot PLUS memberships for free. We're really looking forward to Mumsnetters trialling the scheme and getting their feedback on their favourite savings and discounts"

I think the incahoot website must be failing miserably if a bunch of tech savvy women (like most of us are) are unable to work out what is what, or even what the purpose really is.

They need to let their marketing department reevaluate this. I think this thread in itself must be extremely useful for Incahoot, an additional bonus to all those who will trial and give feedback on the scheme they offer.

Quint took the words out of my mouth.

I can't see what they can possibly add that a judicious mixture of using free cash back sites like Quidco and keeping an eye on the vouchers forums such as those on money supermarket can. Big retailers basically offer a standard rebate to these companies, a bit player like these guys isn't going to have the market power to negotiate anything else (despite what they claim about "bulk buying power") Really not worth the effort.

I've read the information several times now and I am still absolutely none the wiser.

I've had a good read of all the info on the website and Incahoot's responses here. I am also having difficulty grasping the overall concept and why a reloadable card is a good idea it's not

Before Incahoot write me off as a new mum with brain cell issues, I was actually a not insubstantial cheese in online finance before my career break and if I can't understand this then I think their communication is failing somewhat!

I was thinking about this in bed last night and I think the reason why I dont really understand it is because I can't understand why anybody would want to join the website. They dont make it easier to understand and I dont see whats so great about it. My gut instinct is that they are trying to sell themselves to be this great money saving scheme, but the reality is its a bit of a con. A bit like a cold caller telling you they are not a sales person, but they are on commission and they want you to take their product out (ie like a sales person) I wonder if these people (the cold callers) actually believe they are not in sales.

Im still a bit unsure as to what it actually is and if I want my name to remain in the list to be picked to trial it out. Im not going to pay any money upfront and will only look at any vouchers if I was going to spend money anyway. Otherwise Im a bit skeptical TBH.

My purse is pretty full up with cards. I would not want another one. Not one that I have to pay to fill up with cash, estimate how much my shopping is going to be, pay again to load more money on it if I go beyond, and pay to "download" money from the card if I dont want to keep it there. I cant see this as being anything but hassle. Hassle that is going to cost the consumer, and add a great deal of frustration too. Seems like hard work. I am perfectly happy paying with my debit card. I am too cautious to keep a lot of money stashed on a piece of plastic that is not connected to a bank that I would end up paying for each shop just to use the card, which defeats the purpose, I should think. It is like adding a couple of pound to the delivery charge, and who would want that`...

Maybe this is a scheme targeted people without bank accounts? Or people with a bad credit rating, or people who dont have cards to pay with? Maybe this is a "novel" and costly alternative to cash? Is there an outlet where people can bring their cash to charge their cards with? If there isnt, I really dont see the point of this.

TeamEdward
There are a few employers who do this sort of scheme.

I was responsible for the launch to 200 staff in my centre and could honestly say it was easier to understand, work and cheaper to action than this one.

Hi all, Incahoot have asked us to post this:

"Thank you all very much for your feedback, we will look into the issues that have been flagged within this thread. We really appreciate all of your comments and will be reviewing following the trial!"

Another thing about this is that the gift cards you load will not be protected.

I.e if you lost your purse with all of these loaded gift cards in, they could be spent by anybody and you can't get the money back. (correct me if I'm wrong)

Therefore it's safer to use a cashback credit or debit card anyway, at least if you lose them, you can stop them!

I thought I understood this, but reading all your comments it is clear that I completely missed the whole premise.

I am slightly hoping I'm not chosen now, as I don't think I have the time of brainpower to work it all out. I'm all for money-off vouchers, but not if I have to work this blooming hard!

Hi TequilaMockinBird, Incahoot saw your comment and asked us to post this:

"If a gift card is lost or stolen, you will need to contact Incahoot PLUS immediately. We will be able to stop the card and can transfer the funds off it onto another card."

Did anyone actually get selected in the end?
:)

queens knickers I assumed as it says closed then people have, but thinking about it usually they comment so maybe not.

I was selected! I've ordered some cards from retailers who I normally shop with anyway and I'm going to give it a go. I quite like the idea of getting 5% back from Sainsburys when I do my shopping there anyway, and they have online links to some places like BHS where you can shop online and get a discount through the Incahoot Plus link. (When I looked there were 449 fashion shop links alone).

With the cards and vouchers obviously you have to spend up front, but a lot of their special offers don't need cash up front, you just shop online.

(And no I don't work for them!)