AVOID STAPLES! REBATES ARE A TRIP TO H...!

I pass this along just to warn you out there that buying hardware from
Staples that has a rebate may look like a worthwhile endeavor, but be
prepared for a fight to get that rebate.

I bought a Minolta 1350W Laser Printer three weeks ago, and am still
fighting with the Staples Rebate Center, who keeps saying via their
web site and by snail mail that my submission is 'incomplete' and
still being 'validated'.

The reason for this post is that when I call the rebate center to talk
with them, I get a computer of course which says I must wait 6 weeks
before complaining. When I called the store where I bought the
printer, the manager told me the store does not get involved, and that
rebates are between customer and the rebate center. When I reminded
the manager that the submission-rejection card I received in the mail
clearly had STAPLES on it, he said 'So?'. He even said 'I am a
customer just like you are, and can do no better!'.

Anyway, I plan to return the printer, but I really wanted it and still
do - at what I thought was a good price after rebate. But you know, I
got better things to do.

For what it's worth, I feel better now, after this venting.

Geezer

On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 18:36:39 GMT, geezer <wee@willy.com>
wrote:

>I pass this along just to warn you out there that buying hardware from
>Staples that has a rebate may look like a worthwhile endeavor, but be
>prepared for a fight to get that rebate.
>
>I bought a Minolta 1350W Laser Printer three weeks ago, and am still
>fighting with the Staples Rebate Center, who keeps saying via their
>web site and by snail mail that my submission is 'incomplete' and
>still being 'validated'.

First, you are being premature at the 3 week point to go
complain to the store. The rebate itself should have a
phone number on it, and if as you wrote you can't get a
human at that number with any automated menu choices, search
online for alternate phone numbers for the rebate house.

I do hope you made copies of things like the rebate form,
UPC, receipt, and anything else the rebate may have
required. In cases where a rebate is rejected these bits of
evidence can be crucial.


>
>The reason for this post is that when I call the rebate center to talk
>with them, I get a computer of course which says I must wait 6 weeks
>before complaining.

Oddly enough, sometimes calling back and talking to a
different person can help. Perhaps you only used the word
"complain" but were polite, but either way, try calling back
and innocently asking why your rebate was denied (if the
card you were mailed didn't specify) and that you need
information on how to submit this proof (the copies of the
items I'd mentioned previously, the UPC or receipt, form,
whatever).


>When I called the store where I bought the
>printer, the manager told me the store does not get involved, and that
>rebates are between customer and the rebate center.

It is easier to be brushed off on the phone than in
person... not a guarantee that going to the store will help,
but something to think about. As with talking to a rebate
center employee, you might have better luck talking to
another manager at Staples, and the best time to do that is
on another work shift, not the shift during which you made
your last call.

>When I reminded
>the manager that the submission-rejection card I received in the mail
>clearly had STAPLES on it, he said 'So?'. He even said 'I am a
>customer just like you are, and can do no better!'.

Some stores will make good on a rejected rebate, but not
yet... generally it's after the specified period on the
rebate form (like 6-8 or 10-12 weeks) has elapsed.

>
>Anyway, I plan to return the printer,

I doubt you can, without all the UPCs on it.
Actually, it could be considered fraud, because you're still
not sure you won't get the rebate.

>but I really wanted it and still
>do - at what I thought was a good price after rebate. But you know, I
>got better things to do.
>
>For what it's worth, I feel better now, after this venting.

I've had fairly good luck with rebates on products Staples
sells... but which rebate center did this go to, Staples' or
the manufacturer's ?

If you can find a fax number for the rebate center, just
start faxing them your rebate ID # (on the card they sent),
along with copies of the UPC, receipt, all details. Just
fax it to them... without them even telling you to. Wait a
week, if the website hasn't been changed to reflect success,
fax it again... and again, and again. Once you have the fax
readied, it's rather easy to just keep resending it... just
give them time to check and update the website, there's no
point in resending it without a little time inbetween each.

I'd still try to find another phone # and call the rebate
center, it's your best course of action.

On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 19:10:34 GMT, kony <spam@spam.com> wrote:

>
>I do hope you made copies of things like the rebate form,
>UPC, receipt, and anything else the rebate may have
>required. In cases where a rebate is rejected these bits of
>evidence can be crucial.

I have everything. In fact the printer is still in the box, on the
floor, unopened. I applied on-line for the rebate.
>
>
>I've had fairly good luck with rebates on products Staples
>sells... but which rebate center did this go to, Staples' or
>the manufacturer's ?

The snail-mail rebate rejection has STAPLES right on the front.

>
Thanks for response. This has been a frustrating experience at best.

G

On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 18:36:39 GMT, geezer <wee@willy.com> wrote:

>I pass this along just to warn you out there that buying hardware from
>Staples that has a rebate may look like a worthwhile endeavor, but be
>prepared for a fight to get that rebate.
>
=========== SNIP ============

I'm glad to hear that I'm not alone in disliking Staples rebate
system.

I accidently sent the wrong UPC code with my rebate submission and
it's been impossible to contact them to discuss correcting the
problem.

I had a similar experience with the manager (or somebody similar).
He seemed to be very unknowledgeable about contacting their own
rebate system. I never did contact them. I finally got a postcard
about the problem but if anything else occurs (or if they decide to
ignore the re-submission), then it will get worse.

I also will not be buying anything from them if it has a rebate.

On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 19:19:51 GMT, geezer <wee@willy.com> wrote:

>On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 19:10:34 GMT, kony <spam@spam.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>I do hope you made copies of things like the rebate form,
>>UPC, receipt, and anything else the rebate may have
>>required. In cases where a rebate is rejected these bits of
>>evidence can be crucial.
>
>I have everything. In fact the printer is still in the box, on the
>floor, unopened. I applied on-line for the rebate.
>>
>>
>>I've had fairly good luck with rebates on products Staples
>>sells... but which rebate center did this go to, Staples' or
>>the manufacturer's ?
>
>The snail-mail rebate rejection has STAPLES right on the front.
>
>>
>Thanks for response. This has been a frustrating experience at best.
>
>G

If you have the docs to back you up , in my experience you can always
fix it. Rebate veterans no that many rebates seem to just get rejected
period as if its a game. When you call and resubmit then 80% of the
time its fixed. Once in a while you get a really pain in the ass
situation where you have to resubmit several times etc. But even then
I eventually got the rebate.

Right now Im in a streak of bad luck. Lots of pan in the ass stuff
happening and a Targus wireless mouse rebate I bought a few weeks ago
from Compusa was rejected by Targus. I mentioned it and another person
had the same thing go on. They claimed wrong UPC and of course its the
right one as COMPUSA prints out the rebate form with the item so
theres no way its wrong unless they screwed up on their system. The
funny thing is , its the only scanned backup I did recently of a
rebate that went bad, cant read the file only CDR I backed it up to.

Anyway ALL the places have human reponders that Ive called. Some are
hard to figure out how to reach though. Sometimes you have to stay
online after all the options are read and after a while a human comes
on. You should post the REBATE firm maybe someone can give you tips
on how to get through. Theres usually 5-6 common firms that handle
most of the rebates unless its handled inhouse by the manufacturer.
Those tend to be the worst to deal with.

About two years ago I bought a couple 250GB drives that had maybe $15
or more worth of rebates. The same "incomplete" notice came to me an
I remember having to make a number of phone calls. I recall at th
time I swore I'd never buy another Staples item depending on a larg
rebate to get the price I thought was fair. Nonetheless, the rebate
did eventually come through several months later

If you keep pressing for this, you'll get the rebate(s) sometime dow
the road, resulting in getting the printer for the price you firs
thought. I know it's a pain and that's why I shy away from Staple
rebates when I can

Success to you

On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 18:36:39 GMT, geezer <wee@willy.com> wrote:

>I pass this along just to warn you out there that buying hardware from
>Staples that has a rebate may look like a worthwhile endeavor, but be
>prepared for a fight to get that rebate.

It's not just Staples - it's every vendor. I had problems with HP and
with McAfee. In the case of HP I finally got a full rebate after
several months. But in the case of McAfee I only got 50% of the
rebate.

So I found a backdoor to the McAfee upgrade/update site and got 4
years worth free. What goes around comes around. Pricks.


--

If you build a man a fire and he will be warm for a day. If you
set a man on fire, he will be warm for the rest of his life.

On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 10:27:23 -1000, "John@Smith.com" <John@Smith.com>
wrote:

>If you have the docs to back you up , in my experience you can always
>fix it.

Not always true. In the case of a McAfee rebate, the company
processing the rebates disappeared. McAfee condescendingly gave 50%.
Pricks.


--

If you build a man a fire and he will be warm for a day. If you
set a man on fire, he will be warm for the rest of his life.

On Fri, 28 Oct 2005 20:30:30 GMT, no@spam.invalid (tluxon) wrote:

>If you keep pressing for this, you'll get the rebate(s) sometime down
>the road, resulting in getting the printer for the price you first
>thought.

Anyone consider contacting the printer manufacturer and letting them
know. Ask for the "Executive Complaint Dept.", which is at corporate
HQ. Tell them that the Atty. Gen. of your state vigorously prosecutes
consumer fraud.


--

If you build a man a fire and he will be warm for a day. If you
set a man on fire, he will be warm for the rest of his life.

geezer wrote:

> I bought a Minolta 1350W Laser Printer three weeks ago, and am still
> fighting with the Staples Rebate Center, who keeps saying via their
> web site and by snail mail that my submission is 'incomplete' and
> still being 'validated'.

How can a submission made online be incomplete when there's no way to
complete the online form without filling in all the information? If
you were given a tracking number, you had to provide a complete
submission.

> I get a computer of course which says I must wait 6 weeks
> before complaining.

I always ignore that and press the button for submissions made over 8
weeks ago, and Parago (the main rebate processor for Staples) usually
has the submission on record in 5-15 days. Also don't trust any
automated system, whether it's the one you phone or at the website,
because a live person will often provide different information.

One thing Staples' online rebate system does is hold off approval until
the refund period for the product has passed, usually two weeks for
electronics or computer equipment. IOW you may not be able to get a
rebate, and it wouldn't surprise me if that jerk manager won't let you
take back even an unopened product. Also when I recently made an
online submission, I got an e-mail telling me it was invalid (rebate
form and online system had a different expiration date than what was
listed on the shelf tag in the store), but my status was fixed after I
made a phone call, so don't give up.

> When I called the store where I bought the printer, the
> manager told me the store does not get involved, and that
> rebates are between customer and the rebate center.
> When I reminded the manager that the submission-rejection
> card I received in the mail clearly had STAPLES on it, he
> said 'So?'. He even said 'I am a customer just like you
> are, and can do no better!'.

He's an idiot because if the store ad mentioned the rebate, the store
IS involved and has some responsible, according to a person who sued
over a $10 rebate and was told by a court clerk to file against the
store. This is why I always keep the store ad.