Virgin’s delay on £402 cashback

L.F. writes: Virgin Holidays were offering cashback for bookings made via the Top Cashback website. I booked for myself, my wife and two friends, and should have received £402 in cashback. I paid the balance due and we took the holiday months ago, but Virgin has still failed to pay the cashback.

THIS is not a straightforward scheme. In fact, it has been confusing from the start. Top Cashback said it could not pay you because Virgin had not paid it. However, Virgin told me it was fully committed to honouring the deal, but added: ‘We have only very recently received an invoice from Conversant.’

Neither you nor I had heard of Conversant, but Virgin described it as a ‘supplier which works with Top Cashback’. So far, so good. But then Top Cashback told you it no longer works with Virgin Holidays, and suggested you should not contact Virgin as its staff might not understand how the scheme operates.

I found this easy to believe as I was getting confused myself, particularly when Top Cashback told me ‘the network’s tracking registered wrong’.

What does this mean? Well, Top Cashback told me: ‘Conversant owns CJ who are the affiliate network involved.’ It is also ‘the tracking platform’!

By then, many weeks had passed since Virgin told me it had paid the invoice. Finally, Top Cashback promised payment within five days, and at last the £ 402 arrived. You worked hard for months for this money, so you truly earned it.