Free Laptops!

I’ve always subscribed to the notion that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. This is one instance, however, where things actually are as they seem, and anyone willing to approach the process in an organized, disciplined way, can get what they want. My proof arrived last week…a brand new MacBook Pro…absolutely free…delivered to my doorstep.

Here’s how I did it:

I started last November by Googling “Free laptops” and perusing the results. I found an offer for a free MacBook Pro through a site called ontheweb-offer.com. I then Googled “ontheweb-offer.com” to find out what people were saying about this site. I found several posts from people who had received their free merchandise. Some of them said they had to wait for a really long time, but they did eventually receive it. Others reported some difficulties with the process, but no one seemed to think it was a scam.

I decided to give it a try and document the process for my readers. From the very start, I adopted the mindset that this would be an interesting experiment, whether or not I ever received my laptop. This was my way of protecting myself from any possible frustration or disappointment, which I think I might’ve experienced had I actually been expecting the offer to work.

The offer requires you to enter some personal information, and then proceed through a myriad of promotional offers for every product and service under the sun. I was required to fulfill 18 offers in order to qualify for my MacBook Pro. I tried to choose offers that I could conceivably be somewhat interested in. Some of the products/services I subscribed to were:

4 Seasons Wine Club (the wine is good)
Sun Rocket internet phone service
People PC
Columbia House DVD
Netflix
Blockbuster Online
Carlton Sheets Real Estate Course
Video Professor
Spanish Lessons
Discover Card

There were others.

After fulfilling the terms of all 18 offers, I waited for each vendor to report back that I had completed their offer. This is what took the longest time. Almost 4 months to be exact. As vendors reported back, I would re-evaluate their products and services. I cancelled services I did not want or need to continue. Once all of the vendors had reported back, I was sent a gift voucher and a W-9 to fill out and mail back to claim my laptop. The voucher had to notarized.

Approximately 2 weeks later, to my surprise and delight, I received my computer.

If you’re thinking about trying this yourself, there are some things you should consider:

The process requires a fair amount of time and energy. It also requires you to pay attention. Be sure to keep all records of the promotional offers you complete. If the vendor doesn’t report back, you may have to send documentation proving you completed an offer.

Keep track of every offer you subscribe to. I kept a notebook with each offer, the contact information for the vendor, and the terms of the product or service I subscribed to.

The process exposes your contact info to hundreds of vendors. You can expect to receive thousands of promotional emails. I’m receiving at least 50 per day. I’ve been receiving phone calls, too, but just a few. The promotional offers you subscrbe to will require you to submit credit card information and make purchases. There’s no way around it.

If you don’t carefully track all the offers you subscribe to, you could potentially end up spending alot of money that you didn’t intend to.

In the end, I spent about $250 to $300. In my experience, the products and services I purchased were well worth the money I paid. The laptop itself, as promised, was completely free.

For me, this was a really cool experience, and a great way to get a free laptop!

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