Secure Gas Redemption review: A scam, can't get any response 157

I too have been a victim of the many others I see on this site. From a purchase with Big-O-Tires for my van that I no longer have (it died 2 months after my tire purchase-wasted money and time there) was promised a $500 rebate...you know the drill. I was fortunate, I suppose, to receive $100 in gas cards. There have since been 8 more months of my faithful $100 gas purchases go by with promise after promise to pay. HA! In the last two weeks of my attempting to contact the companyagain, I have been getting a constant busy signal at [protected]. The [protected] appears to be disconnected. Just yesterday I received in my mailbox the most recent $100 monthly purchase of receipts in gas as "return to sender refused unable to forward." Folks it looks like we are out of luck...or are we? Is there anything that we are entitled to as a consumer? If anyone knows anything please share it with me. What an exhausting time consuming mess this has been! Like I don't have other issues to deal with in my life!

For all of you that have made comment about a new company - "MDC" do you actually believe that they are legit? Just keep in mind that at one time FreeBeeGas.com (and all their other aliases) also SOUNDED very legit. There was a time when they too answered their phone, had what seemed to be an operating company, and even maybe pleased a few people with free gas cards. Oh, and lets not forget that hundreds of companies bought their sales pitch about how they would provide a great service and barely cost them any advertising. Heck, this MDC company is probably a relative of the drug dealer owner from FreeBeeGas! I don't believe it for a minute personally.
When an advertising opportunity comes along that is this cheap and sounds so promising any company in their right mind would just ask where to sign and stroke the pen without giving it a second thought. Its been mentioned numerous times... the retailers aren't accountable - THATS ALL THEY NEED TO HEAR!
You can add me to the list of people that have been scammed...I've been sending in receipts for 3 months, but started to get suspicious after the very first month when the phone would just ring and ring for over 30 minutes. Owell, one more pi$$ed of sucker. The owner of FreeBeeGas won't mind one bit when they pay their few thousand dollar fines and return to their home that we all paid to build. The judicial system will spank them and send them on their way.

You're probably right.

However...
Even though the voucher noted the retailer (buyer) could not be held responsible, Ashley Furniture did admit to the disaster this company (Tidewater) caused, and the store manager compensated me with a generous in-store credit (almost as much as the value of the gas card). Why not do that? They are only out 1/2 of the store credit (remember, most items have a 100% mark-up).

Here's a question for the readers of this blog: Has anybody recently submitted their gas receipts (probably for the month of February) and received a $25 card? Maybe it's still too early for this. I am waiting to register my coupon until I hear back from Peggy at Ashley Furniture in the States.

I've since used my in-store credit to purchase more furniture from Ashley Furniture (read my earlier posts about my troubles.) To be honest, I don't know if I will even bother to register the voucher, or collect my gas receipts monthly to submit. Why be suckered in to wasting more stamps, envelopes and my time? Just means I'll waste more time and energy at the mail box hoping my gas card arrives.

I was told (by Peggy at Ashley Furniture) that MDC would be honoring all previously submitted gas receipts. After talking to someone at MDC, I was told (they) would TRY to get Tidewater to honor all previously submitted receipts. If the State Attorney has seized ownership I hardly doubt the little guys will ever see their money. The creditors will be paid first, and so on down the line until there is little or no money left for us suckers.

Since I don't know American Law, I hope the owner of Tidewater gets jail time for her drug charge. Selling drugs to an undercover cop... how dumb can you be? Is this considered a felony in the States? What type of jail time could she be looking at for the charge?

I've said this many times in previous posting but, if it seems too good to be true it probably is. I am amazed that any retailer would be suckered into such a scam. Sears, Ashley Furniture, etc.
It's likely nothing more than a pyramid scheme where the top get paid first.

If anybody disagrees with this, let me know.

Having the same issue. I've been sending them in since Aug. 2008 and never received a single gas card. What a scam, and the dealership wants me to sign some document relieving them from any wrong doing...

NC here.Been sending in receipts since December 08.Have not heard anything and today got my last receipts sent with a sticker saying RETURN TO SENDER, REFUSED, UNABLE TO FOWARD.A scam if I ever saw one!

I also bought tires from Tire Kingdom and received a gas rebate card last August. I have sent in receipts etc since September and have received nothing. I did have correspondence via email and phone initially. I think the people working there thought this was legit. I think Tire Kingdom should honor this promotion. After contacting Tire Kingdom, they have said they will either : give you a $100 Visa card or the option to participate in another gas rebate that they say is legit. Now after 6 months of sending in receipts they want you to start all over. I think they should be held accountable and give more than a $100 gift card. The gas rebate program was a deciding factor in buying tires from Tire Kingdom

I agree this is a scam. I have been sending in receipts since September. To date I have not received a gift card in return. The 800 phone number is no longer valid. When it was valid, I
was told I would start receiving my cards in January. Did not happen. I have sent an email and a letter asking if this was just a scam to get everyone to send them $5.00 or what. I have not received an answer to that either.

Is this happening to anyone that has used the company that USE to have a site at www.freegasredemption.com? We recieved this promotion from our Ford dealership when my husband bought his Mustang last year. We have sent in receipts since September of last year and have not received one single gas card in the mail. When I first called back in November I was told that they would be mailed out with the next batch of mailings in December. Then in Jan I called to find out why I still hadn't received them and was told that they had a huge system failure and lost all their information that was stored on their computers. According to the operator they had to go back in and enter everything manually and that was what was causing the delay. I was also told that they would begin mailing cards out again in Feb. Of course here it is the middle of March and I still haven't received a single card. Now when I try and call their [protected] I get a busy signal or a recording saying all circuits are busy. Also, their website www.freegasredemption.com is gone. Go figure. I called the dealership and was told they have someone there working on trying to get this resolved. I left a message for that person and hopefully I get a call back tomorrow.

Has anyone started any kind of lawsuit over this yet?

Here ya go, guys. After doing some searching around it looks like Clearwater Marketing (the people behind all these different free gas vouchers) was a huge scam (surprise surprise) and have been taken over by the state of Florida. It doesn't sound like good news as far as any of us getting any of the money/gas cards we are owed. Your best bet would be to try and get it back from the company that gave you the voucher to begin with.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/article981976.ece

Sorry, that's TIDEwater Marketing not Clearwater.

****UPDATE****

I FINALLY RECEIVED 3 VISA GIFT CARDS in the mail yesterday from MDC Group. This is the company that hired Tidewater to handle the gas redemption. I thought my $75 in gas cards was lost forever, but the proof is in the pudding! I received VISA cards because of the gas station (Petro-Canada) I selected.
For anyone that has been stiffed by Tidewater (gasolineredemption.com; freebeegas.com; etc.(?)), call MDC Group! I have posted a contact name and number in my previous posts to this blog.
Squeaky wheel gets the grease
As for the "HUGE SYSTEM FAILURE" Tidewater kept referring to: They say they had a SQL Server (SEQUEL SERVER) failure. For those that don't know computers, SQL Server is the database that "houses" the personal information of everyone that registered in the gasoline program. For them to say they had a complete system crash is utterly foolish. SQL isn't hardware; it's software, which means it can't crash. I'm suspecting their server (the hard-drive(s)) crashed. But shame on them for not backing up their data. It sounds like they had thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of customers in the database. Any GOOD system administrator would have been backing up the server AND performing maintenance on a regular basis. I was told their system crashed in October - November (can't remember which now) and they were still mentioning it to me whenever I called, which was already in December '08 and January '09. I outright told them they should quit using that failure as an excuse, and that too much time has passed to keep mentioning it! I think I caught them off guard. I also told the CSR (each time I called the CSR was a different person) that SQL Server CAN'T CRASH! They didn't know what to say or think.
BTW: For those that are wondering I am a Systems Analyst.
Remember to contact MDC (or the place you received the redemption coupon) to see about getting paid out for your outstanding receipts. I would think that anybody that is in the system and is owed money would be paid in a timely manner (I say that only because I received my 3 x $25 cards yesterday!)
GOOD LUCK!
From Canada.

One more thing:
The letter that accompanied my 3 gas cards included a web link to visit should I wish to lodge a complaint (to the US Floriday State Attorney) against Tidewater.

Whoops - US Florida State Attorney (no disrespect intended!)

I did enter in July 2008 - based on a PROMOTION by WAYNE ACRES FORD (from which we had purchased cars previously) - into the FREEBEEGAS $ 25/month voucher program at an address:14100 Walsingham Road, Suite 36, # 12, LARGO, FL 33774; .
Inclusive January 2009 - the orderly receipts of my monthly transmission (all during the first half of each month, to meet the 'deadline 25th) had been confirmed by email from 'freebeegas.com' noting the LARGO address.
Today (March 18), I received my March submission -returned/unopened- with the USPS (yellow) sticker: RETURN TO SENDER - REFUSED - UNABLE TO FORWARD. I found the Customer Service # [protected] DISCONNECTED!
The usual website: www.freebeegas.com has been CHANGED to a differently formatted web-company & does NOT ALLOW anymore ANY further INPUT related to the 'usual' gas reimbursement problems - as used in the past.
One of their 'partner websites' (www.freegascentral.com) does still exist, alerts on the home page of a 'PROBLEM WITH THE CUSTOMER-SERVICE 1-800-numbers and all emails...(!). They list a NEW CUSTOMER SERVICE number [protected] for all queries under the name 'GasolineRedemption' (exactly the same LARGO-address in FL. When I called, a (seemingly tired) male voice said: *NOT INTERESTED* & hang up, when I mentioned *GASOLINE VOUCHERS*.
Upon lots of 'squeezing' I did receive (in Jan. 09) ONE SINGLE GAS CARD ($ 25.-VISA ) for AUGUST 2008 plus 'lots of reasons as of 'why the company was so far behind' (I guess, I am lucky that I received anything...).
Going back to the ORIGINAL PROMOTOR (WayneAkersFORD in Lake Worth, FL) will - most likely - NOT RESULT IN ANYTHING (in previous 'similar' cases the standard response was: WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE - AN EXTERNAL COMPANY IS HANDLING THIS PROMOTION!
Just to note: IN THIS CASE I MAY DECIDE TO PICK a bit on WAYNE AKERS FORD, as well as on other SIMILAR PROMOTERS (mostly car dealers) from which I/we RECEIVED SIMILAR promotional GAS COUPONS, with THE SAME LARGO-ADDRESS under DIFFERENT COMPANY NAMES (which I did not forward yet, due to the provision: ONLY ONE PROGRAM PARTICIPATION ALLOWED DURING THE SAME PERIOD).
Anyway, these companies seem to keep closing & - at the same time - opening up under a new name - ALL UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF THE local FLORIDA ADMINISTRATION, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, BBB, etc. - THE 'NEW' COMPANY IS DECLARED a "LEGAL' ENTITY ...& the OLD COMPANY simply 'DISAPPEARS' - presumingly leaving behind LOTS OF DEBTS (unpaid taxes, dues, ..customers..!)
EVEN THE USPS (Post Office) IS A PATIENT 'KNOWING PLAYER'!
Learning / Advise: DO NOT FALL FOR THESE PROMOTIONS - unless the dealership WARRANTS !
he 'partner
After lots of

Please call [protected] (MDC Group). Let them know you are a customer of freebeegas, etc. and are awaiting your gas cards.
MDC Group - in my case - is now using claimyourgas.com to fulfill their promotion from Ashley Furniture. MDC had contracted Tidewater to handle this but they failed miserably. MDC is now using the folks at claimyourgas.com (company name, I do not know).
Good luck.

As for the company - in your case, WAYNE AKERS FORD - this could seriously hinder their sales (I'm pretty sure you'll think twice about ever purchasing from this dealer again?)
The companies that offered the promotional card SHOULD stand behind the problem. I know that I'll never buy form Ashley Furniture (Canada) ever, ever again! Even though I did receive my 3 promised cards.

I'm a sucker for punishment, but I am going to activate the new redemption certificate (where the company is located in Arizona) just to see if I get my cards as promised. Unlike most others here, I did not have to pay the $5.00 registration fee (it was covered by Ashley Furniture). The only thing I was ever out was the cost of the envelopes and stamps (and my time, I guess).

I am so disgusted that the dealership I returned to in N. H. wher I got the voucher from had such a cavalier attitude about the situation and the reply I got was that they felt terrible and were lied to as well. This just does not cut it in my opinon...An establishment should be held accountable for the sales and the promotions that they endorse as a part of the deal and especially when handed out by a representative in the office, dealership, or place of business. My intent is to complain to the AG in Fla., MA where I live and NH where the vouchers were initially given to me. This is basicaaly a federal crime because the company took money from different states, over the internet, and we were compleltely ripped off. Five dollars from each person makes for a nice purse...in addition to the personal information that is now compromised because the company is not a trustworthy or reliable organization to have personal info about people.
I really want to prosecute.

A SCAM - As of Feb 20 2009 the Florida Attorney General has froze the assets of these "businesses". ADD YOUR NAME TO THE COMPLAINT SO THAT YOU MAY GET YOUR MONEY BACK!
BBB REPORT:
http://westflorida.bbb.org/WWWRoot/Report.aspx?site=47&bbb=0653&firm=90026293
If you're owed gas coupons from this company, you should file a complaint with the Florida attorney general's office online or by calling [protected]. Filing a complaint may entitle you to a cut of any settlement or fine the company pays.
GO HERETO FILE YOUR COMPLAINT:
http://myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/Main/60FD9BD8FA71A5B185256CD1005EE5C5

I was wondering if other people were as frustrated as I am. I bought tires at Tire Kingdom here in Davie Florida and was excited to have received a $500 gas certificate. I signed up for this back in October 2008 and haven't received anything from them! I'm surprised to read other people got something..even spoke with someone! Address changed, telephones were disconnected, emails not being delivered and now no website. I hope everybody files a complaint!

I am very upset with the promotion put out by gas redemption. I also purchased car tires in anticipation of getting a $25 rebate for $500 in rebates, but cannot speak with anybody in regards to getting a reimbursement. I am very upset as a senior citizen who has once again been taken by shark artists.

-George Kundrat

My husband and I bought a new Camry last March, and the dealership had a promotion with "Secure Gas Redemption", I have mailed in receipts and coupons, with no luck of getting a free gas card. Bogus company! BEWARE!

Do not deal with Secure Gas Redemption

I purchased tires from tire kingdom with this option to receive $500 in gas redemption over the next year and a half. I started back in December 08. I sent in my receipts for the first month and in January received an email stating that they had received my gas receipts in good order. I since then have sent each month as directed but these last two months have had them returned with NO FORWARDING ADDRESS AVAILABLE on the envelop. So far no Gas Redemption Coupon. I looked at the website given me and was redirected to another gas site and resent my receipts and have had them returned again also with the same info regarding their address. I have printed off the information to contact the Florida Attorney Generals office. File a complaint. This is a scam.

I, too, fell for the $500 free gas promotion when I purchased my van from Tom Clusiau's Sales & Rentals in Walker, Minnesota in September, 2008. I mailed my receipts and coupons for two months and have not received any response of any kind from Gasoline Redemption. I filed a complaint today with the Florida Attorney General's office. Even if nothing ever comes of filing, at least I feel a little better knowing that their office is investigating the worthless company.

bought a new car they gave me the 500.00 gas redemption, sent my 5.00 in been sending reciepts in since 8/08 now they do not exist!along with 4 family members

If you have participated in the gas redemption program, contact the Florida Attorney General's Office at [protected].

We bought a brand new Nissan Rogue a few months back when the gas prices were climbing high here. The dealer gave us the $500.00 gas rebates (freebee gas) as part as our negotiated price for the vehicle. I sent in 5 months worth of coupons which met my $100.00 monthly. Never did receive ANY $25.00 promised gas card. Recently I received my March coupon with receipts back in the mail with the USPS yellow sticker that read: "RETURN TO SENDER - REFUSED- UANABLE TO FORWARD". I phoned the 800 # listed on my paperwork and of course is disconnected. I am going to contact the dealership where we bought my vehicle, then the BBB if the dealership does not try to resolve this for me. I will be contacting the attorney General's office as well. Bummer.

I brought a cmary and received a certificate for $500 and I had to submit $100 in receipts each month and they would send me $25 gift card up to the $500. I submitted my receipts for September 2008 through December 2008 and have not received anything. I called the in of January and they said I would be receiving my cards shortly and to date I have not received anything. I tried to call today 4/16 and the number is no good.

same problem here. if you can contact them, please email me at darkswedishfish666@hotmail.co.uk

Jesus christ. Everyone stop whining. No one is "OUT" $500.00. You're out the possibility of RECEIVING $500.00. If you spend hundreds on gas. All most of you shelled out was $5.00.

The only people who really lost money here were the retailers. Go about your lives and stop wasting time trying to chase your '$500.00'

Take your $5 loss and see it as a lesson learned. God.

Contact the Attorney General in the state this company operates and file a complaint. Just google search- attorney general and state the company is in and there will be a complaint form on the website

In the last year, I purchased about $20 K from Ashley's for my new home in NJ. I too was promised a gas rebate from FreeBee Gas. After getting horsed around by them, they said it was a scam. Ashley promised me the same gataway with a $50 refundable deposit. (LOL) I told them that I had no intention of taking them up on their offer, and they owed my the balance of $475.00 in rebates. They sent me to MDC Group, but I once again told them that I will not participate. It's the old saying..."Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me."

My saving grace is that I as of this day still own them $9700.00. Gee...guess what I am going to do? They aren't getting the last $475.00. they can sue me for it !

I have submitted 4 vouchers for July-October so far and have yet to receive one $25 gas card from this company. I have tried unsuccessfully several times to reach someone and either get no answer, a full voicemail, or no response when I have been able to leave a voicemail. I have received email confirmations every time I've submitted my voucher/receipts telling me my voucher was received in good order and I didn't need to do anything further. I also sent in a letter with my last voucher asking for a status update and have still not received a response. I purchased a Pontiac G6 in May, was going back and forth between this and another car, and finally settled on the G6 when the dealership threw in the "$500 free gas". I can understand being backlogged to a degree, but they need to let people know what's going on, to have people continuously call and get no response just further upsets people. It is a matter of principal, individuals were promised a service, in writing I might add by the dealership giving out the literature/directions on how to obtain your free gas, in return for purchasing a particular vehicle. I personally think the dealerships have a responsibilty in the matter also. They should stop handing out vouchers if these companies are not going to honor their commitments.

I have had a similar problem, but have only sent in 2 months worth of gas coupons for Sept and Oct. I received an email on the one in Sept, but nothing for Oct yet. I mailed the one in Sept on 9/19 so it should have been received before the 25th. They are now saying that they didn't process it until the 27th so I have to wait the 54 business days so it would be Dec before I receive a card. I agree that is a big hassle and I am not sure if the businesses know what customers are having to put up with. I go to Tire Kingdom next week to get my tires rotated etc. and I plan to let them know about this company.

My complaint is exactly like cab1213. My first submission was the 1st week of Aug and to date I have received nothing. They did respond to an email inquiry a month ago stating my gift card should arrive is a few days. Nothing to date. I do feel the auto dealers share some responsibility for this as they use it as a promotion enticement.

I also agreed to purchase my vehicle because of the $500 in free gas. (Which at the dealership was not explained that it was in $25 increments and I had to jump through alot of hoops first). My first problem was getting the certificates once I paid the $5 through PayPal. I never did get anything in the mail, but they emailed me a page of certificates to print out. After taht delay, my August receipts weren't received by them until 9-9-08. So, ok, that would be the 54 business days. That would put the Aug. card at Nov.25th. Now, the Sept. receipts and certificate were, according to the 'in good order' email, received on 9-25-08. That SHOULD qualify for the 28 business days, putting the date I should receive the gas card at Nov. 4th. I'm just worried because I have NEVER received anything through the mail from them, even the original certificates, which their email said to 'disregard' when (?!) I received them since I now had the email version.

It's totally a scam! i'm waiting for nothing since 4 mos.so don't believe in this promotion.I buy a new volkswagen rabbit at a car dealer and they told me about this voucher from free gas company, but eversince i didnt recieve any gas card for 4 mos.