Scream If You Hate Mail in Rebates
When Does a $495 Computer Actually Cost You $948.70?
The small print following the asterisk lower in the advertisement says after all rebates. Further it may say $200 manufacture's mail in rebate, $50 mail in rebate on monitor, $50 printer mail in rebate and store $100 packaging mail in rebate. The cost before rebates is $895 plus tax and any extended warrantee if purchased.
In other words, in my State I would have to pay $948.70 at the cash register (provided I did not buy the extended warrantee) for the $495 PC package. That is very nearly double the price. It also means I have to start sending in requests for rebates to four different places. I would also have to start a spread sheet because I know from experience, that some of these rebates may not show up.
Each rebate requires the original cash register receipt and a proof of purchase indicator (usually the bar code or something similar from each carton). This is in addition to the fully filled out rebate form, which you better make sure hasn't expired. By the way, as soon as you cut the boxes for the proof of purchase requirement, the store has no obligation to take the product back. The cartons must be fully intact for you to get a refund as well as another copy of the original sales receipt (not a Xeroxed copy).
Are you ready to scream yet? I am. I would love to find the evil genius behind mail in rebates. I would love to turn have him thrown in Gitmo and water-boarded until he is as crazy as he has made us.
If you are as fed up with mail-in rebates as I am, let me know. Maybe we can start a website against this marketing nightmare.
Published by Stephen Joltin
I am a problem solver with 18+ years of Higher Education Credentials, last employed as the Information Systems Manager at Montgomery College in Maryland and a member of the Maryland Community College Data Pr... View profile
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18 Comments
Post a CommentGreat article! I usually get a notice back saying I did something wrong. The last rebate offer I tried to get told me that I didn't send in the right sales receipt from the store. It was the ONLY receipt I got from the store, so how could it be the wrong one?
I could just scream so for me the title is right on. My puter from circuit city came with over 300 bucks in rebates and they dwindled in 15, 25, and 50 bucks at a time. That is all except one that I never did get but at the end of the day I was just tired of messing with it.
I have actually lost out on rebates. Once a manufacturer said it was the wrong code cut from the box as proof and I know for a fact it was not. I understand the need for mail in rebates for the company or manufacturer because of theift, but I think it recoops the theif of some of the sales by getting innocent victims like myself declined for rebate for bogus reasons. Staples has online rebates and takes the hassle out of the process, especially if you order online. I don't even bother with them. If they can't offer me the deal at the register or checkout via online, then I will find it somewhere else. You could end up paying more if you get declined for a rebate. Thanks for sharing.
Great work, Stephen! Your article has been featured on The AC Daily: www.theacdaily.com
Scream if I hate mail in rebates. Youbetcha! Here you go - copy and paste this into your address bar: http://www.mobango.com/media_details/scream/b0AWC77xS7Y=
Can you hear me scream? :-)
I won't even go into the hell I went through getting rebates on my Sony computer, I ended up having to get the better business bureau involved. Great article.
*Ahhhhhhh* That was a very loud scream. I hate it when I'm expecting a rebate and I end up with a notice saying something was missing or not completed correctly - especially when I know it was! Great article!
"scream"
I used to send in for rebates, but someone in my household (I am not mentioning any names) would throw out the checks, thinking they were junk mail. Hmm..............