Damn Those @#$% Mail-In Rebates!!!

[arwalden]

They sucker me in almost every time... and I think that's what the manufacturers are counting on.

My memory can be about as focused as a gnat sometimes. I'll set aside the mail-in form and I'll carefully cut out the UPC from the box along with the circled price on the store receipt... BUT I FORGET TO MAIL IT IN.

Argh!

I'll usually discover my forgetfulness about 3 days after the "must-be-postmarked-by" date.

To The Clever Manufacturers: Enough gimmicks! Just give me your best competitive price and be done with it. Quit making me feel foolish!

-- Allen

[T Roosevelt]

1. I'm with you on that one!

Missed on on hundreds in rebates because I don't mail, don't clip the UPC symbol, whatever...

[izzie]

5. I am also with you. I never get them.

Last year I lost a $50 one on a new stove from Maytag beauce the store for got to send in the GD thing. I really was mad as I had bought a number of items for cash as I moved into a new apt. Ref, DVD, stove and fan and ref.

[cosmicdot]

15. agree

cut all the gimmicks - including fact collecting courtesy cards - stores asking for a zip code

mail-ins just help them gather more info to sell to Acxiom and other data factories

your address, e.g.

they prolly could save some much needed revenue if they cut all the crap out

[ScreamingMeemie]

2. And then when you send them in, maybe they send you a check

and maybe they don't. It took us two years to get a rebate from Compaq on a computer we bought for my Dad. It is really irksome.

[Occulus]

3. It's their way of

convincing you that you didn't get slapped in the face with a higher-than-necessary price. Auto dealers do the exact same thing.

[girl gone mad]

4. If it's any consolation..

they'll screw you over when you mail them in, too. I had one company mail the card back 5 different times saying they needed more information from me, until the last time when the said my time had expired. I've heard of businesses never replying to the cards, I guess hoping the customer would think it got lost in the mail.

They are a scam, IMO.

[felonious thunk]

6. They are hoping you forget

[11 Bravo]

7. Oh, good!

It's not just me.

[soothsayer]

8. you can do Costco rebates online!

you don't need the mfrs coupon. They print something at the bottom of your receipt (if you buy something with a rebate) and then you can mail it in or just go to the costco website and punch in some numbers and voila! sooooo easy

[TXlib]

9. Another reason to hate rebates

With the National Do Not Call list, some manufacturers have been (and many more will be) using rebates to bribe customers to give up their Do Not Call status; the rebates terms state you agree to receive telemarketing calls from the manufacturer and other "carefully screened" partners.

Now, it's easy to forego a $3 rebate, or free 6-pack of soda to avoid getting back on telemarketers' lists, but it's difficult to turn down a $100 rebate on electronics or computer equipment.

Congress needs to ban the use of rebates as a means to get on telemarketers' lists. Otherwise, you'll find them charging $20 more on many common household items, all with $20 rebates, all designed to get you back on the callers' lists.

I would go so far as to say that individuals must mail a personally hand-written letter requesting to be on a particular company's list; that lists of names may not be shared with any other company; and that the absense of a hand-written invitation explicitly bans a company from calling.

[Capn Sunshine]

10. I'm with YOU

I've only gotten ONE "mail in rebate" out of all the crap I bought. I think It's because I made a point of telling them that when negotiating.

The rest of them have terms so arcane that it's like trying to perform in the Cirque de Soleil because you bought a leotard.

BTW , we count on gifte certificates redmeption rate as a profit center at our restaurant; generally 20% never get redeemed, adding significant margin to the profit.:)

[ohiosmith]

11. I refuse to purchase any product that requires a mail in for the rebate.

If the retailer won't give me the item at the price it would be with the mail-in, I don't buy it.

[Ilsa]

12. You have to file within a certain number of days,

make all the freaking copies, and then wait almost three months to get your money back. A really sucky program.

[geniph]

13. I mail 'em in the second I get home

that being said, though, I prefer stores who will give you the rebate at the cash register and go get the money from the mfr. themselves. Circuit City and Best Buy do this sometimes, give you an "instant rebate" instead of making you do the mail-in thing. And a couple of times, I've managed to get a double rebate that way, if the manufacturer didn't pay attention to the fact that I'd already been rebated at the register. :evilgrin:

[OneTwentyoNine]

18. Same here....

Make em pay folks...that's why they give mail in rebates as opposed to instant ones,they know most will never mail them in.

Not this boy. I got them baby's filled out and in the mail box the next morning. We have a copier on our printer so all info on who to contact in case I never see the money is put in a file in our file cab. It also has the date the rebate was mailed in.

Gotta say I've never been stiffed,always got the rebate,some small and some like on a EMachines computer years ago were in the $50.00-75.00 range.

David

[Kolesar]

14. I have been boycotting Maxell tapes for 19 yrs because they screwed me

They sent my rebate envelope back stamped "mailbox closed". I had mailed the rebate and receipt on the first day the program started!

fuck them

[lpbk2713]

16. I'll never again buy another Western Digital hard drive.

I bought one from Best Buy. Sent the required paperwork in within two weeks after I bought it. Some time went by and then I received word from them that they weren't going to honor their rebate offer because I didn't get it in to them before the offer expired. Here's the kicker...... the postmark on the letter they sent me to inform me of the expired date was even ahead of the expiration date. This is a lesson that cost me $30 and I don't miss an opportunity to tell others about the way they do business. I hope they consider what they did worthwhile.

[shanti]

17. me too, but

t-mobile has made me change my tune. i got my $50 refund back in TWO WEEKS!! that has to be a record for me.

GOOD ON YA, T-MOBILE! and btw, they have wonderful customer service, what a huge difference from att!

[Deja Q]

19. I second that!

It's pointless tedium and a reminder that, in life as our society has made itself, we jump through corporate hoops. We belong to them, rather than they being there to serve us.

[Piperay]

20. Sharp had a real dirty deal

going in combination with Best Buy on a microwave oven I bought and was supposed to get $10 bucks back on. Turned out you had to cut the label off of the big ole box and send in your original receipt (of course that means if the thing is a lemon you can't return it to the store because you don't have the receipt and the box is wrecked. I still sent in the crap they wanted but much later they sent a letter saying I hadn't done something properly and if I wanted the rebate to resubmit. Real special (NOT) by that time the offer had run out, I was so mad I sent them a letter telling them I hope the lousy 10 bucks was worth it to them because they had lost a customer for good. Damn, it wasn't the money it was the principle of the thing! :argh: :mad: :grr: