The question needs an urgent answer. Only a week or so ago, CoolNewMobile (CNM), a high-profile mobile retailer - one that, incidentally, moneysupermarket.com has worked with - went into administration.
Hundreds, possibly thousands of CNM customers who took out expensive mobile phone contracts in the expectation of regular cashback payments have been left in the lurch.
Nor is CNM the only mobiles cashback retailer to go bust. PhoneboxDirect and Mobile Connections/Dial a Mobile have also left thousands of their customers without the money they were entitled to.
So what is the situation with these deals? The reality of any cashback deal is that it is based on a balancing act.
The retailer is using part of the sales commission it receives from the telephone network to fund the cashback payment. But if too many people claim the cashback, the retailer actually loses money. So it must necessarily make life difficult for as many potential cashback claimants as it legitimately can in order to turn a profit.
Many, though not all, customers taking out a cashback deal understand this. They know they need to be determined to get money they may be owed by the mobile phone retailer.
For example, if the retailer asks for details of phone bills to be sent in at regular intervals, a savvy customer will make sure it is posted by recorded delivery - and not just proof of postage - so that the arrival of the documents in question cannot be denied.
Single-minded customers will also keep on chasing the retailer, by phone and email, until they get their money.
The problems start when too many people are jumping successfully through all the hoops lined up by the mobile retailers. At which point, to put it bluntly, the retailers go bust and leave punters up the creek without a paddle.
Given this potential (some might say likely) cycle of events, it is worth asking: should any sane individual choose a cashback deal?
For many people cashbacks do actually work. Yes, there's some, sometimes a lot of hassle involved but customers eventually get their money. At the same time, let's be honest, many don't.
Therefore, any decision must be based on two criteria: the first is that of how much stress you are prepared to accept to claim the dosh; the second is that of whether you are happy to risk not getting any money back at all if the retailer goes belly-up.
There's one final question that also needs an honest answer: if cashback deals are so dubious, why does moneysupermarket.com promote them?
The reality is that despite their potential for disappointment, some deals are better than others and those with reputable companies do pay out, mostly. My colleague Rob Barnes, head of mobiles here at moneysupermarket.com, rejects dozens of potential cashback retailers he thinks are dodgy.
He also tries to identify those companies that are worthwhile and above-board. Occasionally, one or two will cause punters too much grief - at which point Rob will try to step in to protect customers. If they go bust, he will provide advice on what to do next.
But to refuse to have ANY cashback deals in the mobile section of the website would be to ignore the fact that they can be useful for some customers.
Personally, I wouldn't touch one with a bargepole, but I'm old-fashioned and the thought of all that hassle doesn't do it for me. My preference is for a straightforward deal where I pay £X and receive Y minutes, end of story. If I want aggravation in my life, I take on my local council over unfair parking fines to my car.
But if you are able to combine metronomic efficiency with boundless patience and terrier-like determination, maybe cashback deals are perfect for you.
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