Posted on 12/25/2006 9:45:09 PM PST by SmithL
Now that the gifts have been bought, given and torn open, it's time to take care of those rebates. Yes, now.
Fair or not, rebates draw out the Scrooge during the holidays: They attract consumers to make the purchase, but then it takes meticulous paperwork and weeks and months before the check arrives in the mail -- if ever.
"They don't make it easy," said Oakland's Linda Robertson, who paid $169 for a flat-screen computer monitor at CompUSA earlier this year and waited six months before she received her $100 rebate. "It was somewhat agonizing. When you do everything they've asked, you think four to six weeks is ample time for something that's not really involved."
Yet for all the gripes rebates generate, sometimes there's no one to blame but the consumer. Office Max, which discontinued rebates at its stores this summer, found that less than 1 in 4 of its customers went through the process of getting their rebate. Another survey sponsored by the Promotional Marketing Association saw average redemption rates of about 1 in 5.
More than half of those who don't succeed in redeeming their rebates never start the process, Timothy Silk, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business, found in a study. Most others begin the process, but for whatever reason -- the requirements were too taxing, they lost the receipt or other necessary documents, they were distracted -- they never finish.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I am so disgusted with rebate scams. When making purchasing decisions, the ONLY price I'm willing to consider is the out-the-door price.
I would never make a purchasing decision on the rebate. However ever rebate I have ever applied for, I have received, eventually. As far as I can remember.
They've always come within the time given and are well worth the trouble.
I just picked up a case of Bartles & Jaymes wine coolers for $20 with a $12 rebate. That means I paid $8 for the case. Great deal.
Rebates are far too much of a royal pain and every time I see one I think scam.
I remember reading here on FR that Best Buy was stopping them because their customers were TOO SUCCESSFUL in redeeming them.
I wonder how many of the 1 in 5 are rejected for not meeting the technical requirements.
Rebates are just as incidious as bait and switch tactics.
So am I. I'm still waiting for a couple of rebates from Best Buy. It's been a couple of months now, and I think it's not going to happen. Maybe they lost the paperwork or something. I think from now on, I'm going to avoid the "sales" that include rebates. I've had it. There is no reason why they cannot give the rebate at the register right away. I think they know that many people won't even bother with the rebates.
It's a major hassle.
I end up sending the stuff back certified mail since they often say they didn't recieve the documents. And I have to photocopy EVERYTHING ... and date it. And remember where I put it.
Then when the rebate check comes it looks like junk mail.
They should be ashamed.
I think Best Buy just did away with the mail-in rebates in favor of instant rebates at the cash register like you suggest. You might want to contact them to make sure they're going to honor the ones you already sent in.
Why can't rebates just be given at time of sale?
I just want to register my anti-rebate stance.
I was pretty meticulous (keeping copies of paperwork) and it still took 3 trips to the store and several phone calls before they eventually showed up months later.
From my retail advertising days, I believe that CT and LA make stores advertise out-the-door prices so our stores would give instant rebates (in '98, before they were a fashionable thing)
Rebates in theory are okay, but the current implementation is awful.
I once filed several rebates for D-Link products through a fulfillment company in Arizona; it took six months for them to arrive and much harrassment (from my end) before they finally issued the checks to me. (They lost my papers once, then they reappeared later, etc.)
On the other hand, I have dealt with some rebate fulfillment groups in which the checks arrived on time and did not look completely like junk mail...but these groups are few and far between.
Also, note to all: do not buy things with rebates from CompUSA. Their rebate system is AWFUL.
I turn around and go somewhere else to buy a product, I refuse to put up with rebates.
http://www.bestbuysux.org/
I've had nothing but problems with my last couple of rebates.
One was for computer monitors--supposed to get $20 + $50 for each of the two monitors. They only sent one $20 check. The other 3 envelopes, which included the same postage as the other that went through (light as a feather BTW), were returned because of insufficient postage--13 cents on each. It took a month to get the rebate requests returned and by then the rebate date had expired. It was a big hassle--lots of calling and explaining to too many people to get the remaining $120 . This was through MicroCenter.
Then we bought a dishwasher and stove through Home Depot. $50 rebate for delivery of the dishwasher went through no problem. Then a couple of weeks later they sent an e-mail notice that our oven was not more $299 so no rebate would be sent. Our stove was over $500. Had to fax paperwork (the same paperwork that was originally sent with the rebate request) and make lots of phone calls. I think they were going by the cost of the oven cord which was $12. It didn't help that the dishwasher rebate and the oven rebate were being processed by two different entities.
I think they do this stuff on purpose so you'll just get fed up and forget about it.
MicroCenter is the same way.
Oh, I know what you mean. It could be easily thrown out.
Why the heck does it take 8-12 weeks to process rebates?
My experience with CompUSA was just the opposite. My HP notebook had CompUSA and HP rebates. CompUSA let me apply online, took 3 minutes, gave confirmation and a link to check the status of the rebate, and the check came within the alotted time.
FWIW, their assortment of notebooks was huge.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.