Beware of rebates!

[xtreme]

If you're shopping for electronics at HH Gregg be warned that there is a
chance you won't get to see your rebate. Its been over three months now and
I am still waiting for my $30

Officemax is just as bad. They owe me a $40 I've been waiting 3 months now.

There is a class action lawsuit in progress in three states against Best Buy
and CompUSA concerning rebates from Newcom.

Whenever you buy from the above establishments always keep a copy of your
receipts

 

[Strontium]

Buying hardware with rebates as a basis for your decision is foolish, in the
first place.

-
xtreme stood up at show-n-tell, in
Z%[email protected], and said:

 

[GTD]

Buying hardware with rebates as a basis for your decision is foolish, in the
first place.

I don't even take the rebate into consideration when buying. I assume
I'll never get it, or more likely, will forget to mail it in. I bought
a printer a bunch of years ago, and had to send the origonal recipt.
As soon as I sent it, the printer stopped working, and I couldn't get
the store to take it back because I didn't have it. Nice trick, huh? I
figure they did that on purpose.

 

[Strontium]

IF I use rebates, I send a COPY of the receipt. They can kiss my ass, if
they want the original.

-
GTD stood up at show-n-tell, in (e-mail address removed),
and said:

 

[Jay \Boogieman\ Edwards]

Buying hardware with rebates as a basis for your decision is foolish,
in the first place.

-
xtreme stood up at show-n-tell, in
Z%[email protected], and said:

Wise words there... It's not just "those establishments" though, it'a ANY
establishment. The vast majority of rebates are simply scams to get ahold
of your marketing info, don't enev doubt it. Believe me, companies will
resort to ANYTHING to get your personal info, whether legal or not,
because most corporations know they're pretty much "above the law" in
this country. I mean, what's the gov't gonna do if they catch them, fine
them a million dollars? Hell that's only a small portion of what a CEO
makes monthly in bonuses and salary. I would bet that most corporations
have some kind of a "slush fund" just to cover fines for anything.

I don't even bother with a rebate anymore as I've *NEVER* received a
rebate check, EVER! What I HAVE gotten is a lot of useless junkmail and
catalogs from computer companies I've never even heard of.

 

[GTD]

IF I use rebates, I send a COPY of the receipt. They can kiss my ass, if
they want the original.

Yea, I shouldn't have sent it, and I didn't know I would have to send
it until I read the card (which, of course, was INSIDE the box". I was
only out about $25, so I shotgunned it (literally) and felt better
anyways.

 

[NoRemorse]

Wise words there... It's not just "those establishments" though, it'a ANY
establishment. The vast majority of rebates are simply scams to get ahold
of your marketing info, don't enev doubt it. Believe me, companies will
resort to ANYTHING to get your personal info, whether legal or not,
because most corporations know they're pretty much "above the law" in
this country. I mean, what's the gov't gonna do if they catch them, fine
them a million dollars? Hell that's only a small portion of what a CEO
makes monthly in bonuses and salary. I would bet that most corporations
have some kind of a "slush fund" just to cover fines for anything.

I don't even bother with a rebate anymore as I've *NEVER* received a
rebate check, EVER! What I HAVE gotten is a lot of useless junkmail and
catalogs from computer companies I've never even heard of.

Strange. I, on the other hand, have received every rebate I was ever
promised. The only ones I didn't get were the ones I didn't mail in. I don't
usually buy from "strange" places, however. The rebates were from Best Buy,
AT&T, Circuit City, Office Depot, and some memory manufacturer whose name I
can't recall right now. I must be rebate-lucky or something.

 

[McGrandpa]

Buying hardware with rebates as a basis for your decision is foolish,
in the first place.

-
xtreme stood up at show-n-tell, in
Z%[email protected], and said:

Well, mostly so for the mail in mfgrs rebates. NEC takes a bit of time,
but usually sends the checks
And Circuit City often has 'combined' rebates. Part of it is Instant In
Store, part store mail in, and some can be mfgr mail in. I'm usually
surprised at all the receipts they give me when there is a bunch of
rebates on an item. Sorry, I can't help laughing at them...the sales
peops are so serious about this stuff. If the rebates total like $150
or so, yeah I'll sit down and do the thing. I just got a new Motorola
mobile phone free this way
But, I spent about an hour getting 3 envelopes with appropriate
stuffings ready to go. Circuit City is very good about honoring their
advertised rebates around here. You do have to go to the trouble of
mailing in the stuff, but they're good for it.
They're also very very good about their price matching policy
McG.

 

[McGrandpa]

I don't even take the rebate into consideration when buying. I assume
I'll never get it, or more likely, will forget to mail it in. I bought
a printer a bunch of years ago, and had to send the origonal recipt.
As soon as I sent it, the printer stopped working, and I couldn't get
the store to take it back because I didn't have it. Nice trick, huh? I
figure they did that on purpose.

Circuit City gives me extra receipts just for that purpose Those
folks are very serious about making sure you have enough receipts for
everything. I can't say it's silly now, like I used to think. In four
months, I've got back over $300 in various mail in rebates from them and
manufacturers. NEC is pretty good about honoring their CC rebate
offers. Takes about a month to get the check but hey, I got em
When I go shopping for something, I don't look for the rebates....I look
for the lowest 'regular' price.
McG.

 

[NightSky 421]

Buying hardware with rebates as a basis for your decision is foolish, in the
first place.

This is true, but rebates should be honored regardless. I've only had one
rebate never show up, and it was supposed to be for $10 from Mylex.
Generally speaking, if a rebate coming to me is in the amount of $30 or
more, I'll send by registered mail for it.

 

[[ ]]

Yea, I shouldn't have sent it, and I didn't know I would have to send
it until I read the card (which, of course, was INSIDE the box". I was
only out about $25, so I shotgunned it (literally) and felt better
anyways.

I had a problem with D-Link not paying me my rebate. They sent me a card
saying that the store I bought it from was not qualified for this rebate,
which was not true. I took it up with the store I bought the thew item from
and pointed out that it was *they* who advertised it at the lower price
after rebate so they should give me the money. And they did.

 

[[ ]]

Well, mostly so for the mail in mfgrs rebates. NEC takes a bit of time,
but usually sends the checks

And probably breaking the law at the same time. I looked into how long a
company has to furnish you with a rebate (there are consumer laws regarding
rebates, may vary on location) and where I live it is six weeks.

 

[Jay \Boogieman\ Edwards]

Strange. I, on the other hand, have received every rebate I was ever
promised. The only ones I didn't get were the ones I didn't mail in. I
don't usually buy from "strange" places, however. The rebates were
from Best Buy, AT&T, Circuit City, Office Depot, and some memory
manufacturer whose name I can't recall right now. I must be
rebate-lucky or something.

Damn, I guess... I think the majority are probably in my category
though... :-(

 

[Ken Maltby]

This is true, but rebates should be honored regardless. I've only had one
rebate never show up, and it was supposed to be for $10 from Mylex.
Generally speaking, if a rebate coming to me is in the amount of $30 or
more, I'll send by registered mail for it.

I usualy end up getting the check, but then miss depositing it
before it runs out. I very seldom ever visit a bank anymore,
what with direct deposit and EFT.

LOL;
Ken

 

[JimL]

If you're shopping for electronics at HH Gregg be warned that there is a
chance you won't get to see your rebate. Its been over three months now and
I am still waiting for my $30

Officemax is just as bad. They owe me a $40 I've been waiting 3 months now.

There is a class action lawsuit in progress in three states against Best Buy
and CompUSA concerning rebates from Newcom.

Whenever you buy from the above establishments always keep a copy of your
receipts

Did you do the online tracking?

I was pleasantly surprised to be able to sign up for the rebate
online and then mail in the stuff using a printed form from online.

I'm talking about a $20 rebate from officemax for 256mb kingston
memory at $39.

Here is the email after filling out the info:
----------------------------------snip
Track Your Rebate Status • Check Status of Rebate
Tracking Results: Status Details
Rebate: $20.00 Rebate Check You can choose
what's this?
Your Choice: You can choose any one of the items below as your rebate
reward. There is no extra cost to you.
Rebate Information For: 45157XXX
Promotion: Kingston PC2100 DDR 256MB $20.00 Mail in Rebate at Office
Max
Submission Type: ON-LINE
Date Received: Pending
Status: Rebate Entered On-line, Awaiting Paperwork
Status Detail: We have received your online rebate submission and are
waiting to receive the supporting paperwork. Upon receipt of your
documents, we will begin processing your rebate.

 

[John]

rebates are a way of legally misleading the customer, to a certain
extent. They say buy XXX for YYY dollars IF you send in the rebate, knowing
that only a certain % of people ever send em in. In the long run they win.
BUT, if you play the game, and buy from good companies you can come out
ahead ~

 

[NoRemorse]

Damn, I guess... I think the majority are probably in my category
though... :-(

Yeah, probably. I wish they would just get rid of the whole rebate idea and
just drop the prices. Best Buy started to this on some stuff. Their
marketing-speak for it is "instant rebate."