Honey (coupon browser extension) scam

lovelyhead · 2024-12-23T11:02:37+0000

dlockers said:
Hmm not sure I fully buy that one. Cashback has always been fragile and not guaranteed - sites have always been clear offer stacking would result in rejected claims.

Yes but Honey are deceiving the end user. The end user is being presented with an opportunity to check for any discount codes. Honey are stealing the "last click" from TopCashBack without making it clear to the end user, therefore depriving the end user from the cash back they were expecting. Cashback is not always guaranteed but it goes from you may get cashback to you 100% will not be getting the cashback because Honey have basically stolen the possibility of you getting it.

dlockers · 2024-12-23T11:03:58+0000

Efour said:
I think is theft tbh.
If i choose to support an influencer by buying through their code, then another popup hijacks that last click, then wtf?

He describes it well in a shop scenario where the salesman doesn't get the commission, but the cashier just yoinks it from the payment.

I genuinely am not too bothered but if I was involved in the chain, I'd be livid.

Them also false advertising the best deal or no deals found, very very shady.

You have to actively engage the app for that to be the case. And you may get a better price than what the other affiliate link made available to you.

Raymond Lin · 2024-12-23T11:06:24+0000

dlockers said:
You have to actively engage the app for that to be the case. And you may get a better price than what the other affiliate link made available to you.

This is where the video says...."when Honey can't find the code, a windows pops up just to say "there are no codes available, click OKAY to close the window"

By clicking okay, it changes the affiliate links and Honey pockets the money.

Kenai · 2024-12-23T11:06:40+0000

dlockers said:
If availability was that ubiquitous you wouldn't need honey at all. There's a common sense middle ground that says if you weren't issued the code you aren't automatically entitled. Special codes for blue light card etc...

It's not talking about "special codes for blue light cards" though, just general freely available discount codes.

That's the point - it actively hides codes from you that you could find yourself, despite telling you that's it's entire reason for existence is to find you those codes.

They then use this as a positive to market themselves to 'partner' businesses - we tell (lie to) the consumer we find the best discounts out there, so they won't look for anything better, so use us to manage the discount levels people will use.

Chuk_Chuk · 2024-12-23T11:06:48+0000

Honey round 2. This time with an adblocker that pays you to watch ads. Most of the employees are ex honey devs.

Mysterae_ · 2024-12-23T11:10:08+0000

Mesai said:
LTT are a good example. They found out about it, didn't report it or let their viewers know, then partnered with another coupon scam system.

Linus lives in his own little world and doesn't care about anyone else, he's just miffed because he lost $2 on a $35 crap screwdriver that he bought from China for $1

.

All this talk about influencers getting what they deserve - take your focus away from the big guys for a sec. It may also have hit smaller non-youtubers that use AWS affiliate links on their website because of the "last click" system used.

The second part of the video hasn't been shown but looks like Honey has made up their own discount codes and applied them to companies, so instead of a 10% the customer gets 50% which the company is unaware of.

It hasn't been proven yet, but if it turns out that Honey found a discount code for 20% but only gave the customer a 2% discount and pocketed the difference which the customer paid for, would be a huge deception.

Efour · 2024-12-23T11:10:59+0000

Raymond Lin said:
This is where the video says...."when Honey can't find the code, a windows pops up just to say "there are no codes available, click OKAY to close the window"

By clicking okay, it changes the affiliate links and Honey pockets the money.

Exactly. I don't think people have watched the video lol.

dlockers · 2024-12-23T11:13:14+0000

Kenai said:
It's not talking about "special codes for blue light cards" though, just general freely available discount codes.

That's the point - it actively hides codes from you that you could find yourself, despite telling you that's it's entire reason for existence is to find you those codes.

They then use this as a positive to market themselves to 'partner' businesses - we tell (lie to) the consumer we find the best discounts out there, so they won't look for anything better, so use us to manage the discount levels people will use.

Yeah fair that's a bit of a breach of trust

dlockers · 2024-12-23T11:14:10+0000

Raymond Lin said:
This is where the video says...."when Honey can't find the code, a windows pops up just to say "there are no codes available, click OKAY to close the window"

By clicking okay, it changes the affiliate links and Honey pockets the money.

Also scummy - gotcha. End user still ok tho in this example

Raymond Lin · 2024-12-23T11:22:32+0000

dlockers said:
Also scummy - gotcha. End user still ok tho in this example

Not if there is a REAL code out in the wild, but it claims there isn't one.

lovelyhead · 2024-12-23T11:25:00+0000

Raymond Lin said:
Not if there is a REAL code out in the wild, but it claims there isn't one.

If only there was a video dlockers could watch to explain it all! I think they have spent more time asking questions about it than the length of the video.

dlockers · 2024-12-23T11:33:14+0000

Raymond Lin said:
Not if there is a REAL code out in the wild, but it claims there isn't one.

You'd be foolish to thing that can be true 100pc of the time though.

lovelyhead said:
If only there was a video dlockers could watch to explain it all! I think they have spent more time asking questions about it than the length of the video.

Id still have the same opinion shared above.

Raymond Lin · 2024-12-23T11:38:24+0000

dlockers said:
You'd be foolish to thing that can be true 100pc of the time though.

This is where they claim there isn't one and like I said, being foolish and they are lying can and do co-exist.

Being being foolish doesn't mean they didn't misrepresented and lied.

dlockers · 2024-12-23T11:39:51+0000

Raymond Lin said:
This is where they claim there isn't one and like I said, being foolish and they are lying can and do co-exist.

Being being foolish doesn't mean they didn't misrepresented and lied.

The edge case I'd put forward for where common sense should kick in - some codes you obviously have to register and get a code unique to you. So whether they claim it or not, it's obviousbit can't be true all of the time

Raymond Lin · 2024-12-23T11:41:39+0000

dlockers said:
The edge case I'd put forward for where common sense should kick in - some codes you obviously have to register and get a code unique to you. So whether they claim it or not, it's obviousbit can't be true all of the time

You still don't get it. Just because someone is foolish or naive, doesn't mean they deserved to be deceived. Someone who normally would go find codes for every transaction now stopped doing so because of this extension and now are losing out, just because they are naive.

Diddums · 2024-12-23T11:42:35+0000

Raymond Lin said:
You still don't get it. Just because someone is foolish or naive, doesn't mean they deserved to be deceived. Someone who normally would go find codes for every transaction now stopped doing so because of this extension and now are losing out, just because they are naive.

Why are you wasting your time? He's already said he's not interested in the vid so just ignore him and leave him to it.

dlockers · 2024-12-23T11:43:54+0000

Raymond Lin said:
You still don't get it. Just because someone is foolish or naive, doesn't mean they deserved to be deceived. Someone who normally would go find codes for every transaction now stopped doing so because of this extension and now are losing out, just because they are naive.

Me having a different opinion doesn't mean I don't get your point.

dlockers · 2024-12-23T11:44:37+0000

Diddums said:
Why are you wasting your time? He's already said he's not interested in the vid so just ignore him and leave him to it.

You're arguing a different point if you think folk must waste 20 mins of some rambling youtuber before they engage in a convo on the points lol.

lovelyhead · 2024-12-23T11:44:51+0000

dlockers said:
The edge case I'd put forward for where common sense should kick in - some codes you obviously have to register and get a code unique to you. So whether they claim it or not, it's obviousbit can't be true all of the time

Honey were telling people that there were no cheaper discount codes available than the codes they were presenting to you. That is a lie in of itself. Honey were also deliberately not presenting the cheapest codes available which is deception on top of a lie.

Sirrel Squirrel · 2024-12-23T11:45:38+0000

ttaskmaster said:
Stop putting them on the Internet for free... or just do something that actually earns money honestly. Making people buy something (which is what influencers are supposed to do) is basically whoring. Companies already have marketing and market researchers for this.

Even sponsorship promotion is walking the line IMO - Stick to paid slots in which advertisers can plug their wares themselves, rather than doing their donkey work for them and devaluing your own content.

No one would watch it if they had to pay for it, let's face it the only model that gets away with no advertising is the BBC and their licence fee, where no one has a choice. However once that's scrapped they'll have to shift to advertising too.