Free Computer that's almost Free

Back in July Nomad posted a story about one of those programs on the internet that promise a free computer if you fulfill a couple of offers. I was in need of a new iBook, since my 600 Mhz. G3 iBook was not running Photoshop all that well any more - never mind trying to watch a video off of iTunes. So, I went ahead - without my wife's knowledge (not a good idea) - and started working through the requirements to get me a new iBook. The company is called Internet Opinion Group (IOG).

You register for the program, then they bring you to the first page of "offers." These offers range from credit cards to CD programs, to insurance. On the first page you have to pick 3 offers, the next page 2 and the following page 1. To fulfill an offer there are a couple of things you need to keep in mind. First, make sure any pop-up blocker you have on your web browser is turned off. Second, after you click on the offer and the pop-up comes up, make sure you read the offer completely so that you understand what is required to fulfill the offer. Once you have fulfilled the required 6 offers the waiting game begins. You have to wait for the company with the offer to report back to IOG that you fulfilled the offer. Some of the offer companies register the emails and communication as spam, so often times the offer companies will not report back to IOG. You need to keep your eyes open for this, if you know that you have fulfilled an offer and it does not register as being fulfilled after 3 months be sure to contact IOG with any documentation you have stating that you fulfilled the offer.

I actually fulfilled 7 offers: MyDailyDose, yourMusic, Video Professor, BMG, Ink Blvd, Entertainment Book and another one that I can't remember the name of. Many of these are "free" offers, but they sign you up for a subscription that is by no means free - video professor and MyDailyDose come to mind. On these one's all you need to do is make sure you turn off the auto renew feature or cancel them before the first charged shipment. As long as you pay attention to these issues you'll be fine. When all was said and done I spent around $250.

I started the whole process in late July, around October I started to wonder why things weren't moving along. So, I contacted IOG to see what was happening. They informed me that two of my offers hadn't registered with them. Unfortunately I had deleted the emails that listed when I fulfilled the offer, so I had to contact the companies directly and get that information emailed to me. Once I had that information I sent it off to IOG, then they sent me the appropriate information for finishing off the program. 18 weeks after I sent in the final information my new iBook arrived.

I sold my old iBook on eBay for $350, so at the end of the whole program I ended up making $100 on my new iBook. Thus, this was a successful venture for me - which makes my wife happy since she was rather skeptical when I began. If you want to do this, then I would suggest you keep your eyes on all of your offers and make sure you don't have anything that is going to cost you money on a monthly basis. If you pay attention then you too could get an iBook or any number of other things for fairly cheap - though not free as they would like you to think.