Withdrawls blocked after spending hundreds of dollars with your company

[Mariamedina]

@LaraL hello Lara i am writing you because after a very large amount i spent with the entire incentive being based on ibottas rewards i am seeing my account now has been blocked from withdrawls with no further explanation, i had only linked my husbands paypal profile and attempted to withdraw all my rightful earnings i had accumulated through a very large purchase that morning and unfortunately my Withdrawls are blocked , please help me reach a resolution as now i am furious i spent so much for you guys on food items i dont use and i feel like i was tricked or robbed by your company of my own money, thank you in advance

[mmoore01]

Sorry to hear you are having trouble withdrawing your earnings.

If this is your first withdrawal, Ibotta recommends waiting 48 hours after reaching the $20 limit.  This is for security reasons.  It is possible your account was locked.

@LaraL is no longer with Ibotta.  The Ibotta Community is made up of users like you.  We can't make changes to your account.  I would suggest opening up a Request by going to Account in the app, then Help, then Visit the Help Center.  Submit a Request will be at the top of the screen.

@ShelbyS may be able to help you.

[ShelbyS]

Hello, We're so sorry to hear this! Please reach out directly through our Help Center or email us at accountsupport@ibotta.com so that we can look into this for you. Thank you! 

[Mariamedina]

I have already reached out directly via email and help center 3 days ago with 0 response and I am well past the 48 hour margin as well as my initial 20$ in earnings. Not sure what is going on but this is extremely disappointing as I and my family were relying on those earnings and now hundreds of dollars later as well as 4 days passing here I am with absolutely nothing to show for this but a headache and dissapointment

[123Save · Accepted solution]

@Mariamedina 

When did you join Ibotta?

Was your $900 purchase your first time redeeming an Ibotta offer or have you submitted receipts and redeemed offers before?

When did you first pass the minimum $20 threshold in your Ibotta earnings balance?

If you try to withdraw too early after your first offer redemption, your account can become locked. This is simply an automated fraud prevention tool. I do agree that the error message shown doesn’t describe the true nature of the situation and Ibotta should make an update.

Most likely your inquiry needs to be reviewed by a specialized group at Ibotta. They might not work on weekends and most likely need additional time to review.

Ibotta is not a scam. In a little over 2 years, I’ve earned over $4,000 and never had an issue withdrawing to PayPal. Just be patient as you wait for a response. 

[Mariamedina]

This is no mistake im not syre whats going on but ive been using the app now for quite sometime, this is just my initial withdrawl and the 3 day reply time to request more information and wait another 3 days is absolutely absurd, im happy for you being able to have things work out but why must i jump through these hoops dealing with a non existent customer service and bots to get money i gave to the company, seems like trickery to me and from the looks of the forum this has been ongoing for many aside from myself , its unfair to those in need

[mmoore01]

As was mentioned, Ibotta wants to keep your money safe.  They will sometimes lock your account when they see something different.  Most people take their earnings out right away.  Since this is your first withdrawal, they may have wanted to make sure you are you and not someone trying to steal your earnings.

Waiting a few days for a response is normal for most rebate apps.  I agree that in this day of instant everything, why can't Ibotta simply contact you.  The fact is, Ibotta is a marketing company.  They make money by generating sales of products, many of them new to the market.  Their primary customer is the manufacturers and grocery chains.

Unlocking an account can take longer while they try to verify who you are.  I thought I read that it can take 3-5 days.

[Mariamedina]

@ShelbyS 

[Dean]

@Mariamedina 

I'm curious what you mean by "money i gave to the company". Ibotta is a rebate provider and similar to coupons except the rebate comes after providing proof of purchase. The money spent is with the retailers for products bought. Nobody spends money with Ibotta. Also, your other comment "i spent so much for you guys on food items" seems odd. Again, it seems as you're saying that you spent money with Ibotta. Maybe you should have started with lower expectations and made smaller purchases until you were familiar with how Ibotta works. This is the advice I would give to all new savers.

[Moonnavigator]

Not defending Ibotta, but  buying stuff you don’t need  (“ i am furious i spent so much for you guys on food items i dont use” ) while also being “in need” is conflicting.  I can understand the frustration of not getting paid by Ibotta, but also have sympathy for the amount of scamming and gaming that they likely need to deal with so the rest of us can get back 50 cents on a can of olives.