04-06-2006, 09:30 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Dealing With Rebates: Ever Get Burned?
"When I knew what I wanted, I went straight to Amazon.com. I knew the shopping giant offered super-duper rebates for buying a cell phone with new wireless service (that's how I bought my last phone). Plus, I didn't have to deal with salespeople. The phone cost about $150. But Amazon offered a full rebate with the purchase of a new, one-year wireless contract for $39.99 or more. Choosing a carrier plan was fairly simple, given that only Cingular carried the Razr at the time, apart from my then-carrier TMobile. Staying with TMobile would have precluded the rebate. I bought the package on Nov. 28, 2005, and immediately applied for the rebate on Amazon's site. Then all I had to do was wait for that surprise check in my mailbox. I'm still waiting."
Does that story sound familiar to you? It's probably happened to all of us at one point or another: being trapped in rebate hell. The reason why rebates are so common in North America is that the vast majority of rebates never get submitted - people buy the $99 with a $30 rebate and they forget to submit it, and the company with the $99 product laughs all the way to the bank. Sometimes though, as this article points out, even when you follow all the rules and jump through all the hoops, you're still stuck waiting for a long time.
I've just recently had my first bad rebate experience: I'm meticulous about filing rebates, and have always gotten my money, until this incident: I purchased a Fujitsu N6620 (17" wide screen laptop) and there was a $100 USD rebate on it. I filled out the paperwork, cut out the UPC code from the box, and sent everything in a few days after getting the laptop. Some three months later, I received an email from the rebate center telling me that rebate could not be honoured because the UPC code was not submitted! I know for a fact it was - I went up and checked the original box, and there's a bit gaping hole where it used to be. I phoned the rebate center to tell them they had made an error, but it was to no avail: they informed me that it was a different company that received the physical rebate from me, and that my only solution was to go back to Fujitsu and get another UPC code from them and re-submit the rebate. I explained that I had ordered this laptop online, and that Fujitsu had discontinued this version of the notebook some 90 days after releasing it, replacing it with a Dual Core version. The rebate center could offer me no solution, so for the first time ever, I'm giving up on a rebate and admitting defeat. :? Have any rebate hell stories to share?
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04-06-2006, 09:37 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 349
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I will tell you that I will never buy any products that require mail-in rebates, unless it is a wireless carrier company like Verizon or Cingular (I never seemed to have any problem with them when buying phones, knock on wood), and now CompUSA, since they have the new eRebate system. Apparently, they have everything in their system stating that I bought it outright, so all I have to do is go online to complete the transaction, or just mail in the printed receipt. No UPC cutouts, no jumping through any hoops, no waiting until the moon is full and the planets are aligned. 
I hope one day mail-in rebate companies would be obliterated and just give us the discount at the time of purchase.
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04-06-2006, 09:45 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 94
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Mail-in rebates are a scam
Hi -
I rarely receive mail-in rebates. Many of the rebate processing companies seem to use processing centers that are located outside of the U.S. and you have no recourse against their fraudulent tactics.
The one completely reliable rebate provider that I know of is Costco. When I purchase something at Costco that has a rebate, I almost always can go online to costco.com and submit the rebate that way. I have NEVER been cheated by them.
- Tim
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04-06-2006, 09:48 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 53
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Raphael Salgado
(snip)
I hope one day mail-in rebate companies would be obliterated and just give us the discount at the time of purchase.
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I like eRebates (staples ahs them as well) but I doubt companies will ever get rid of them because that would cause a drop in revenue for them, theri distributors and stores. A $30 rebate on a $100 item would yield a 30% drop in revenue, something comapnies don't want to have happen. A rebate, even if everyone redeems it, results in 100% of the revene at each point in the process with a charge only on the manufacturers income statement.
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04-06-2006, 09:57 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 287
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Right. And even if 100% of the peopl acsh in their rebates, do the math on a million dollars sitting earning interest for 30-90 days. The revenue also looks good on their books, even if earnings are flat.
They use rebates because attrition between purchase and filing the papaerwork is more than high enough to pay the service center and carry a nice profit. They don't need to rip off those of us that fill out the excessive paperwork.
-Edgar
I've left my rant on Smartphone thought, I won't repeat it here. Jump to that thread if interested.
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04-06-2006, 10:03 PM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 5,616
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I've never been burned. But the process takes so long that I usually wonder why I'm getting a cheque in the mail.
Instant online rebates, on the other hand, I will take advantage of. My sister needed a laptop, and I got her 30% off of a sub-$1000 unit. Not too shabby.
__________________
iPhone 4! ☠☠☠ Mid-2010 15" MacBook Pro! ☠☠☠ Gateway LT2102h! ☠☠☠ Dell XPS M1210!
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04-06-2006, 10:06 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 797
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I just flat out don't bother. When looking for prices, I take into consideration the price without rebates. If it's a good deal, I bite. If not, I bail. I know I'll never get around to sending in the stupid thing anyway, so no point in figuring out prices and stuff with rebates included.
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04-06-2006, 10:09 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 630
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Currently fighting with Lexar
I am currently fighting with Lexar over the amount of a rebate on a 1gb flash drive. Evidently they had two separate rebates going at the same time. I filled out the form for a $40 rebate, I met ALL the requirements including specified store (buy.com). They sent me a check for $18.
Seems that they owe me $22, but trying to get anyone to listen and understand is nigh unto impossible. They agree that the $40 rebate form was filled out properly and I met the requirements, but they show the rebate as $18.
AAAARRRRGGGGGGG!
That may have been the last Lexar product I buy.
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04-06-2006, 10:12 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 13
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Another reason for rebates ...
Besides the obvious profit to be made from rebates, I believe companies favor rebates because you cannot return an item once you have cut the UPC from the original packaging.
One way I try to fight the "you didn't submit the original UPC" argument is to scan the UPC along with the rest of my submission and actually include the scanned copy (I keep one as well) with the Original UPC taped over it and then write next to it "Original UPC included". Then if I'm really feeling paranoid about the company that will be processing the rebate, I take a picture of the whole thing.
Needless to say, when I get burned with a rebate it is usually because the postmark was a day off-- or I forget to cash the check when it finally comes.
I have also gotten burned with rebate products. One company, I think it was Office Max, had a CD drive that was $40 (this was qute a while ago) with a $40 rebate. Well, needless to say I bought one for a friend's computer and it ended up shorting out and trashing the computer.
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04-06-2006, 10:21 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 444
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I've gotten pimped a couple times, but I went to the state AG's office and that seemed to grease the wheels. Isn't there some kind of provincial thing like that for you guys?
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