We’ve got a huuuuuge giveaway for Quidco members from Alpharooms! These guys are experts in ski holidays and want to let Quidco members know what they can do for you this winter. They’ve doubled up their cashback to a big 8% until the 30th of November so that ski nuts can save a chunk when booking their next ski break. So if you’re booking a ski holiday get on it now as the cashback drops down at the end of November.

Not only are they sorting you out with double cashback they have also stumped up a massive prize for Quidco members to get their icy winter hands on…. a ski holiday for two in Chamonix. This includes accommodation, flights, ski hire, lift passes, ski school and sports insurance. It’s enough to leave you drooling until you’ve got an icicle beard forming on your chin.

So how do you win it? Well as ever it’s super easy to get a chance. What you have to do is (1) click through the Quidco link to Alpharooms, (2) take a look at their ski packages and then (3) come back to the blog and leave a comment letting us know what is your dream package. This is open until December 1st, 2008 and then we will pick an eligible comment using random.org

Alpharooms cashback on Quidco

Easy peasy lemon ice lollie!

The prize offered is a ski holiday for 2 in Chamonix, for 7 days comprising of:

* Return flight for 2x people from their local airport
* Accommodation 2 key or better in Chamonix for 7 nights
* Ski hire during their stay
* Ski school for 2 people while on the holiday (one afternoon)
* Lift passes for 5 days
* Winter sports insurance
* Airport transfers

The days are getting unreasonably short, the weather is getting unreasonably cold but the Christmas season is just getting warmed up!

After last years huge Christmas Cup we’ve tried to outdo ourselves to bring something bigger and better to Quidco. With that in mind we’re excited to announce the biggest ever Quidco promo: CrimboBingo!

To get your share of the bonus CrimboBingo cashback we’ll be handing out, you’ll need to log in and get your hands on a bingo card. Once you have a card, you can invite up to 3 other people to help you out with filling it in. You can’t leave a team once you’ve joined it so make sure you choose your team-mates carefully! If you don’t need the help and want to keep all the bonus cashback for a card to yourself you can also play solo.

Each Quidco-tracked purchase that a team member makes at a participating merchant will ’stamp’ one of your bingo squares. Once you have a row of 8 stamped (horizontally, vertically or diagonally), you and your team will be awarded £5 bonus cashback (per card). Then you can grab yourselves another bingo card and keep it going! We have a limited number of cards, so once they’re gone CrimboBingo is over.

The bonus cashback will be split evenly between team members, and will be calculated and added to member accounts by December 31st, 2008. Teams can fill unlimited cards until the total number of CrimboBingo bonus available (£64,000) runs out OR until December 20th, 2008 if the cards are not all filled by that date.

Read the rules of play

Have fun, good luck and Merry Christmas!

We’ve been advised that one of the affiliate networks is experiencing technical problems, so links through to some merchants will be affected. The network are working on the problem; in the meantime, please be patient, as they’ll have the problem fixed as soon as possible. We will update here when we have more information. (The affected merchants are listed in the comments section.)

**UPDATE** The issue appears to have been solved now (Saturday 15 Nov, 11.15 am) but we will leave this post up awhile in case the problem reappears. This problem would have only affected transactions with these merchants between yesterday evening and this morning, but again, it appears to have been sorted now.

We’re taking the wraps off a new feature so you can all help us test it out before we make it fully live.

Over the years we have had loads of requests for members asking for the ability to donate part of their earnings to a cause they are involved in. We wanted to do something more powerful than simply adding a “donate” option so we have taken a lot of member feedback and developed a new addition to the Quidclans.

The fundraising feature enables any Quidclan to start raising money to a cause they believe in. The Quidclan admin can set a fundraising target, beneficiary organisation, fundraising info and then any member of that Quidclan can pledge their earnings to the fundraiser.

This means that if you have a group that needs to raise some money you can start a Quidclan fundraiser and have them generate money for the fundraiser when shopping through Quidco. In these “credit crunch” days this opens up a whole new avenue of raising money for your cause that doesn’t hit people in the wallet.

So how can you help right now? We’ve done our testing on our end but there always seem to be bugs that pop up! If you have some time please wander over to Quidclans and check out a clan with a fundraiser (if someone has added a fundraiser to their clan it will have a special target symbol in the listings) or try starting your own! Please post any bugs, suggestions or problems in the comments below so we can get cracking on them!

Thanks to all the members who have been sending in suggestions and comments to us over the years on this idea! We’re happy we’ve finally been able to get it live

For a few answers to common questions check out the fundraising help topic: All about donations and Quidclan fundraisers

UPDATE *** Some members have noted that their transactions changed to £50, but validated transactions made through 23.59pm Thursday, 13th November, will be honoured at £150.00. ***

Mega cashback is back at Orange with £150 Quidco available on *any* Orange pay monthly mobile phone contracts. This deal is only on until midnight Thursday (13th November) so get in quick if you want to get this huge amount. The cashback does apply across all the Orange mobile phone contracts including new handsets like the SE C905 with 8 megapixel camera, the Tocco F480 and LG KC910. If you spot a particularly good deal at Orange let us know in the comments!

If you have an Orange mobile contract you also get 2-4-1 cinema tickets every Wednesday through the Orange Wednesdays promo.

With that in mind Orange have given us ten £10 Odeon gift vouchers to giveaway! This giveaway will be open to any Quidco member and we’re keeping it simple. There’s two steps to getting a chance to win: (1) visit Orange through the Quidco link to check out their current offers and then (2) come back to Quidco and post a comment in the blog below letting us know what your first mobile was. A few of us here had those old Motorola bag phones that plugged in to the cigarette lighter but we bet some of you have owned even more archaic pieces of mobile history

Orange £150 Quidco cashback

Enjoy!

(Please note this applies to new mobile phone contracts only, and does not include sim-only contracts or mobile broadband. Upgrades or purchases made in the business store are not included in this cashback offer.)

It’s time for another Quidco staff profile. Our subject this time around is Nat:

Nat, who is Quidco’s Admin Co-ordinator, is Sheffield born & bred. She likes traveling, films (Kill Bill, Leon, and anything scary), TV (she loves Heroes!), and eating out. Her favourite foods are Chinese, Italian, Sunday Roast, Galaxy chocolate and creme eggs - mmmmm! How do you eat yours?

Nat isn’t going to narrow down her idea of a dream holiday - she wants to see the world! She’s off to a good start, having already been to Paradise (The Maldives), and her next stop is Mexico, early next year.

Nat’s favourite band is Kings of Leon, whom she’ll be seeing at Sheffield Arena later this year. She’s got two cats, Misty & Padina, a 9 week old Jack Russell pup called Jack, and a few fish in a murky pond. She is bi-lingual, speaking both English and Sheffieldish.

Her quote to live by is ‘’Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we`re here we should dance.'’ Given a choice of Blades or Owls, Nat’s answer was “The Red and White Wizards!” Finally, when asked if there was anything else she’d like to share, Nat responded with “I never share!”

Nat’s 30-Second Quidco Bio:

What do you do at Quidco? Admin Co-ordinator. I liaise with all of the Networks on a daily basis, issuing them enquiry reports, answering queries, problems and dealing with escalated enquiries…. and many more! My main aim at the moment is to ensure Sureshop enquiries are being resolved. They are improving, you’ll see!

How long have you been with Quidco? just over a year, since July 07

What’s your typical workday like? manic and stressful-but I love it!

Quidco superpowers: The power of persuasion

Secret weapon: My little blue 4gb stick

Nemesis: hmm…keep my friends close and my enemies even closer?

Greatest weakness: Gadgets and I’m a shopaholic, I love a bargain!

Sidekick: Cake or rather ‘SideCake’ (grumble) :-p (Office Birthday’s are the best for Cake!)

We’ve got a straight up easy promo for Tesco Direct running until the 10th of November. There is a bonus £10 Quidco cashback for 100 members who spend £100+ at Tesco Direct through Quidco.

As we run up to Christmas it’s worth jumping on some of these early offers to make sure you are sorted on time! Tesco Direct already have their Christmas page live on the site with Christmas specials and deals. Until the 30th of October you can get £5 e-voucher when spending over £50 and a £10 e-voucher when spending over £100.

On top of all that you are getting 3% Quidco cashback… so free e-vouchers from Tesco Direct, 3% Quidco cashback and a chance of getting a bonus tenner from Quidco

Start here! Tesco Direct cashback at Quidco

Terms & Conditions

* Users must place an order of over £100 (exc. VAT & delivery) on product(s) within the Tesco Direct range to enter the competition.
* One transaction qualifies for one entry into the competition.
* Competition is valid for tracked orders placed online through Quidco.com links only.
* Free Prize Draw is open to all UK residents excluding employees of Quidco.
* Last time for entry will be midnight November 10th 2008.
* All entries received by this time will be entered into the free prize draw and the first 100 entries randomly selected will win £10 cashback.
* The winners will be announced on the Quidco site on December 8th 2008.
* Orders returned within the 28 day return period are not valid for £10 cashback.
* Bonuses will be credited after the 28 day return period.
* By entering the competition entrants agree to be bound by these rules.
* By entering the competition you agree for your name to be featured on the Quidco website if you win.
* Quidco and Tesco will not enter into any correspondence regarding the competition and all decisions are final.

As promised, here’s an update on the status of the play.com vouchers that were awarded in the Quidclan giveaways:

The original codes that were not previously redeemed are now valid again. They will expire on 12th November at 00:00 (ie, they need to be redeemed before 23:59 on the 11th November.)

Thanks to our voucher winners for bearing with us while this was sorted, and thanks to play.com for their assistance!

Again, please remember to redeem your voucher before the clock strikes 12 on the 12th!

***WINNERS***

While we wait for the Play.com vouchers to get sorted we’re going to do a different kind of giveaway. In weeks past we had prizes for members and those who comment in clans but we really think we should give a bit pat on the back to the founders also! These are the guys who had the idea for the clan, who work to keep the clans running smoothly and who you’ve probably chatted with often

So here’s the contest. Write a comment on why your Quidclan is the best one and a thanks to your Quidclan founder (you can see who founded a clan by clicking the Members tab). We’ll leave this open a week and then go through and pick out 5 comments using random.org. As they deserve a big pat on the back we are giving away something a bit more substantial… a Nintendo Wii. Trust us they deserve it!

We’ll also keep a list up here of Quidclans nominated as they come up in comments. And even if your clan founder doesn’t end up winning hopefully they will appreciate the big thanks we have for them

Clarification: The 5 winning Quidclans, rather than the 5 winning comments, will be chosen at random from the nominations in the comments to this blog. Sorry for any confusion!

*** 22nd October - Latest ***

Good news! We’ve just been advised by play.com that the unredeemed original voucher codes will now be valid again beginning tomorrow, 23rd October. They will remain valid until 00:00 on 12th November, so be sure to use them by then. (Please note this only applies to those codes that were not previously redeemed.)

We’ll be doing a new blog announcement tomorrow after we’ve had a chance to test a code to ensure that everything’s working okay.

Thanks again to all for your patience!

_____________________________________

This update is for those members who won a Play.com voucher in the Quidclan give-aways which was expired when they went to use it! We have been working with Play.com for the last 10 days or so (after loads of you contacted us about this) to get a fix. We haven’t blogged on it yet because we were waiting on word about how exactly Play.com would correct the problem. So finally we have an update which is they will go through their records, give us a list of codes that have been redeemed and a second list of new codes. We will take this redeemed list and compare against the original emailed codes to find which members haven’t redeemed yet. We will then email you a new code with a new expiry date.

Sorry for this big snafu and the length of time it is taking to sort out. It seems once the IT department gets involved things drag on a long time! Thanks for all your patience

*** WINNERS! ***

****************
Alright we’ve got a hummer of a Quidco deal here from Vodafone. First off they’ve gone and boosted Quidco to £150 on any Tocco contract. If you don’t yet know what the Tocco is head over to Vodafone where it’s the best-selling handset currently. It is Samsungs new touch screen hotness with a 5mp camera. Plans start at £15/month for a basic text package but there’s a good range of plans such as £35/month for 600 minutes, unlimited texts and unlimited internet/email.

Don’t forget that £150 Quidco will take a big chunk out of any plan netting some hot offers.

Now the great cherry on this deal is that we’ve also got 3x pairs of ManU v. Celtic (21/10/2008) and 3x pairs of Chelsea v. Roma (2/10/2008) tickets to give away to Quidco members! Ideally you can be watching the game, taking 5mp snaps with your Tocco camera and uploading them live to Facebook with the mobile internet

Anyone can get in to win on this giveaway. All you have to do is visit Vodafone through the Quidco link, go to the Tocco page and post a comment back here on the blog letting us know what your favoured plan would be before midnight October 6th We’ll pick an eligible comment using random.org.

Vodafone £150 Quidco cashback

Enjoy!

It’s time for Quidclan giveaway number three The first week we did the big clans, second week the smaller clans and now we are going to give some attention to those who make the clans tick… the commenters!

So the deal is we are going to give away 100 more £5 Play.com gift certificate codes to random Quidclan comments made in the next week. To keep things fair and not spammy we are going to cap comments at 3 eligible comments per day per user.

PLEASE NOTE: The contest is for comments in Quidclans, not as a response to this blog!

To browse through current Quidclans click the link in the page header or go here: Quidclans listing. When you’re viewing a Quidclan there is a button to “Join this Quidclan” if you want to become a member. There are over 200 clans already so don’t just stay on the first page - click through to check out which ones are going off. You can also click on the blue headers to sort by members/comments.

The Quidclans who won last weeks giveaway are:

Mummies or Mums-to-be?
Charity Quidclan
Gamers Unite
Veggies
Word association clan

We’ll be getting your codes off to you so check your email registered with us and make sure quidco.com is on your safe list!

Lastly, big congrats to the Money Saving Experts Quidclan who are the first clan to get over 1000 members! They have been battling it out with Current no-spend offers clan but managed to pull ahead handily in the last few days

There’s probably a lot of things we’ve learned while growing over the last few years but one of things about being (1) self-funded and (2) being a site all about saving money is that we try to be clever with the money we have.

When we were setting up the office we found that the cost of commercial workspaces is ludicrous to say the least. Most commercial office solutions quickly add up to thousands of pounds and the other end of the market is pretty much particle board home offices.

We weren’t too excited about paying that much for what is essentially a workspace so started digging around for other ideas. Jen found this great blog where they made a seriously robust desk from an Ikea countertop and Vika legs.

So there you go, a great workspace from solid 3.8cm thick beech that you can dance on Here’s a pic of some of the guys working away at their desks in Sheffield…

Vika Curry leg: £1.75 each (£7 per desk)
NUMERÄR worktop: £60
Total: £67 for a 3.8cm thick desk that is pretty much industrial.

If you want to get even cheaper you can pick up particle/composite tabletops for as little as £13 which would make a £20 work desk.

So there’s our cheapo tip of the day - now all we need to do is get Ikea on Quidco!

We’re happy to announce a clear up of all old enquiries from the first half of 2006. We have gone back to enquiries where we have never received a resolution and resolved them out of our pocket so that they are cleared up for you.

We know for members it is essential to know that if you make a genuine and eligible transaction through Quidco that you will have the assurance of receiving that cashback. When we started we were using commission that was never really meant to become “cashback” and this introduced a lot of problems for members when the tracking of that failed through networks which provided this tracking.

Over the past year we have been working really hard on introducing new technology and support to the tracking process to make sure that you are taken care of and that merchants as a partner don’t have the headaches of tracking going wrong.

This focus on the tracking support has been tough as we’ve had to drop some merchants who didn’t have the tracking and service support but it’s paying off in real benefits as we are able to get you guys resolutions quicker than ever. Our SureShop update in June with enquired transactions now immediately added to your account demonstrates this.

We’ve cleaned up 2005 at the beginning of this year and we’re really happy to have nailed the first half of 2006. Don’t worry we’re not stopping there though - we are going to keep working through anything outstanding as we can afford to.

Thanks for all your support through the growing pains over the years. It’s been a tough slog sometimes but the situation we are in now is incredibly better than it was just two short years ago!

Congratulations to our winners!

We’re pretty straight-laced here at Quidco and stick to C&A for our romance needs but we have a lot of “best friends” who seem to love Ann Summers. No names mentioned ….

With the kids off to school again you may want to put some spice into your empty afternoons and we’ve got a hefty 15% Quidco cashback at Ann Summers running until the end of September. We all love some sweet sweet Quidco cashback but there’s also a bit of cream on this deal. We have got two prizes to give away to Quidco members. The first is a romantic weekend away at Highcliffe House, a five star B&B in North Devon (subject to availability and must be taken within 6 months of the winner being notified). The second is an Ann Summers hamper full of treats.

To be in with a chance to win it’s super easy… particularly if you like browsing Ann Summers What you have to do is visit Ann Summers through the Quidco link and then come back to the blog and let us know what Ann Summers item you (or your best friend) would take on a weekend away.

Ann Summers Quidco cashback

Enjoy!

If you want notice on the new giveaways posted on the blog subscribe to blog updates by RSS or Email

Ann Summers T&C’s:

1. Entry limited to one per person. The winner is responsible for ensuring they are able to accept the prize as set out and in accordance with these terms and conditions, in the event they are unable to do so then Ann Summers reserves the right to redraw the prize.
2. Competition open to UK residents aged 18 and over, except employees of Ann Summers, their families, agents or any other person connected with the competition. 3. Competition closes at midnight on September 30, 2008. The winners will be drawn at random from all entries received before the closing date. Winners will be notified by e-mail and telephone within one week of the closing date. All reasonable endeavours will be made to contact the winner for one month after the closing date. If a winner cannot be contacted or is not available, Ann Summers reserves the right to re-draw another winner from the entries received before the closing date. Prizes will be sent by default to the customer’s registered address. It is the winner’s responsibility to notify Quidco of any change in address.
4. The prizes include two nights for 2 in a double room in Highcliffe House, full English breakfast both mornings and a welcome cocktail. The first runner up will receive an Ann Summer hamper. It is the responsibility of the winner to provide their own transport to the venue. 5. There is no cash or other alternative to the prize stated and the prize is not transferable and no part or parts of the prize may be substituted for other benefits, items or additions.

We don’t usually blog normal cashback increases but this one is a record level and at a hot time of year. Apple Store have doubled their Quidco to 6% just in time for the back to school rush.

Don’t forget if you are a student or teacher you can access extra discounts by going through Quidco to the Apple Education and Higher Education online stores. Students and teachers save up to 8% on Macs and up to 80% on Apple Software products which adds up to some serious savings! There is also an offer running right now with up to £60 rebate if you buy a printer with your Mac.

This doubled Quidco is on until October 19th so take advantage of it while you can!

We also have two iPod Touch 8GB to give away to members who purchase from the Apple Store. The first one we will give away to one member who makes an Apple Store purchase between now and September 29th - the second one will be given away to a member who makes a purchase between September 29th and October 19th. To be eligible for this prize you need to make a validated purchase through Quidco on the Apple Store. We will chose an eligible member randomly using random.org

Lastly check out judin’s Apple fans Quidclan to connect with fellow Quidco macheads!

Apple Store 6% Quidco cashback

JUST ADDED: Apple have just launched an updated iPod range - check it out:

“Introducing the exciting new iPod nano and iPod touch. The new fourth generation iPod nano is the thinnest iPod ever and is available in nine vibrant colors. The all-new iPod touch - the funnest iPod ever, with millions of songs, thousands of videos and hundreds of games. Available now at the Apple Store.”

ALSO NEW IPOD REBATE Students, buy a Mac and an iPod nano can be yours. If you’re a student at a higher education institution, a teacher or a lecturer, and you buy a qualifying Mac before October 31st, 2008, you can get a £95/€125 rebate on an iPod nano.

*** WINNER (8-29 Sep) ***

Congratulations to drummingtim, who is our first winner in this contest!

We’ll be announcing the winner of the second iPod after 19 October. Good luck, everybody!

*** WINNER (29 Sep - 19 Oct) ***

Our second iPod winner’s username is 420282 - congratulations!

Last week we focused on the large Quidclans - this week we were going to turn some attention on the smaller clans who haven’t achieved the notoriety of some of the huge clans.

So for the second time we are giving away a whack of Play.com £5 gift vouchers to clan members We are going to pick five random clans and award all the members in that clan a voucher…. however the twist is that the clan must be smaller than 100 members yet more than 25. Of course you are welcome to join as many Quidclans as you wish but to keep the right spirit in the promo we will only consider you eligible in the first ten clans you join. If you are really lucky and end up in more than one winning Quidclan we will only be able to count you as eligible in one of them.

To browse through current Quidclans click the link in the page header or go here: Quidclans listing. When you’re viewing a Quidclan there is a button to “Join this Quidclan” if you want to become a member. There’s 6 pages of clans already so don’t just stay on the first page - click through to check out which ones are going off. You can also click on the blue headers to sort by members/comments.

To start a new Quidclan on a theme of your own interest click the “Start a Quidclan” blue button at the top of the Quidclan listing.

p.s. We’ll be emailing the £5 gift vouchers to winners from last week so make sure you check the email registered with us tomorrow!