I've never had issues with Ebates or Sunshine. I received all of my credits (maybe 1 or 2 missed over 5 years...) and payments from both. My ebates was actually 3 days earlier than the posted payout dates every quarter. And SR is always when they say it will be, right on time.
I mainly use ebates for my Dell purchases, the difference is just too great. 2% (often doubled to 4%) vs. 0.5% I do alot of purchases there for work...so over thousands of dollars that % difference can really add up.
Now, for Hot Topic...I think it could very well be that store. That is one merchant I never get credit for, anywhere. I opened a trouble ticket on SR, and they tried their best but just couldn't get it resolved. This was a few years ago though, I just started going directly to the site instead, so there may not be an issue anymore.
If nobody noticed...this orig thread is two years old, and someone resurfaced it about a specific credit issue with a specifc store...Hot Topic. It could be they were just having temporary issues when this was started in 2009.
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New OP about Hot Topic: Here is some contact info from google. It is tech, but maybe they can get you to customer service:
Admin, Ebates
hostmaster@EBATES.COM
333 Bryant St.
Suite 250
San Francisco, CA 94107-1443
US
Phone: 415-908-2200
Fax: 415-908-2200