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Checking the Rebate Fine Print

By Ed Foster, Section Gripes
Posted on Sat Jun 19, 2004 at 12:07:04 PM PDT

As if we haven't already heard enough lame excuses from vendors and their fulfillment houses for not sending out rebate checks, it appears they may have another out. The fine print of their rebate form allows them to cancel the offer at any time.

A reader was attracted to a bargain he recently noticed on a Viking Compact Flash Card. "I bought the card at Buy.com for $29.99 less the $20 rebate for an effective price of $9.99," reports the reader. "I'm just about to send in a rebate form to Viking for my $20 and I noticed the following wording on the form:

"14. This offer is subject to change or cancellation at any time without notice."

"Amazing!" wrote the reader "They can entice everyone to buy a product based on a rebate and cancel the rebate program before issuing any checks."

Of course, we don't know if Viking will do that, but it will be a while before the reader finds out. According to the Viking rebate form, the reader must allow eight to ten weeks for the check to arrive before assuming something's gone wrong. We'll be waiting to hear if he gets his check, or what excuse they'll use if he doesn't.

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Checking the Rebate Fine Print | 12 comments (12 topical) | Post A Comment

Rebates are too much trouble...[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#1)
by timthechef on Sat Jun 19, 2004 at 09:41:34 PM PDT

I've only purchased one product for which I mailed in a rebate. It never came. And the bad thing was that the rebate conditions were that I had to send the original receipt (I know, sounds fishy in retrospect, but I was young). From that point, I never considered a purchase based upon the rebate. My first experience left me feeling as if sending the rebate in was a waste of time.

Several years ago, I bought Microsoft Frontpage. It came with a $40 rebate. I sold the rebate to my friend's girlfriend for $5. Money in hand (though, less of it) was worth more to me.

These days, I don't even consider rebates worthy of the time required to send them in. I bought an HP laptop about 18 months ago. It came with a $100 rebate. I threw it away (after trying to sell it for about $10). Tim

[ Reply to This ]

Rebates are crap[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#2)
by PhillyMJS on Sun Jun 20, 2004 at 07:17:22 AM PDT

The trick is simply to not get suckered by those low prices you see in the ads. Mail-in rebates are set up to sucker you in and then make you jump through hoop after hoop to maybe get a check for a few bucks a couple months down the line-- they're hoping you'll fixate on the low price and then give up when you see what a hassle it is to actually get the money back.

Personally, I don't have the time to bother with all the forms, receipts and DNA samples these jackals want from me before sending me a card in the mail two months later, saying that my rebate was rejected because I left some "i" undotted on the application. I'd rather spend ten minutes comparison shopping on the web to save a few bucks from the start, so I just act like those rebates aren't even there. Somewhere in the vicinity of that too-good-to-be-true, advertised-via-72-point-font price, usually in microscopic type, is the actual price you'll be forking over at the register. You just have to mentally condition yourself to ignore those post-rebate prices and focus on the true out-of-pocket amount.

~Philly
--
A junk faxer paid for my new Power Mac G5.
[ Reply to This ]

Wow, you guys must be...[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#3)
by wantobe on Mon Jun 21, 2004 at 03:36:09 AM PDT

incredibly unlucky. I've made purchases for years based on rebates, and have never had one not come in. The biggest problem I ever had was with a three-way rebate for Intuit's tax program (which I no longer buy) and Microsoft Money; I'd accidentally sent the wrong UPC for one of the rebates. Within a couple of weeks I'd received a letter from the company (I don't remember which of the two it was) explaining the problem and giving me a second chance. I received the rebate amount reasonably soon after sending the correct UPC.

It's still smart to make your purchase decision based on the price you pay at the register, but the rebates can make a good buy a great buy. It's best when you can stick with purchases from companies like Best Buy or Circuit City, which print out an extra rebate receipt for you. Usually the requirements for the receipt are no more difficult than providing the UPC, a copy of the receipt (again, especially easy when the store prints an extra one out for you) and sending the information to the correct address. If that's too much time to take for a $100 rebate, you must have a lot more money than I do.

I agree that it would be nice if manufacturers and resellers would just give the savings up front, but then they couldn't afford to give as much off. With the rebate system, they know so many of you won't even bother, so people like me can continue to receive the great savings. From the bottom of my heart, I say "Thanks, guys, and keep up the good work." The more rebates you can't be bothered with sending in, the longer I'll be able to keep receiving them.

Rob Miles
--
There are 10 kinds of people in the world; those who understand binary and those who don't.
[ Reply to This ]

Love the rebates[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#4)
by trashpicker on Mon Jun 21, 2004 at 10:47:28 AM PDT

As the poster above me attests, I've been buying with rebates for years from Cicuit City, BestBuy, Staples and OfficeMax and had very few problems. I've noticed recently that the turnaround time for postmarking is being shortened, however.

In fact, I sent 3 rebates in a couple of days late about 2 mo. ago. I got the rejection card (these were with OfficeMax, BTW), called the 800 number and got them to honor the rebate despite the fact that it had come in postmarked late. The CS rep told me that they could honor them "because I was a valued customer." I'm not sure if this is just the script or because I've been doing rebates for so long, but I've had very few problems getting my rebates paid from these retailers.

[ Reply to This ]

I admit...[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#5)
by timthechef on Mon Jun 21, 2004 at 08:13:10 PM PDT

... I haven't really given rebates that much of a chance. In fact, one of my best friends usually sends in the rebates for his and his wife's purchases (successfully, I gather, since they continue doing it).

My one bad experience was enough to sully the idea for me.

And it's usually not a financial concern. For example, I would have purchased that laptop (mentioned in my last post) anyway. The $100 rebate really wasn't an inducement for me. Nor was it a great loss to throw it away after my purchase. Frankly, rebates tend to be more hassle than I usually have the tolerance for. Tim

[ Reply to This ]

I'd pay you $10 for $100[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#9)
by Anonymous User on Thu Jun 24, 2004 at 12:22:50 PM PDT

Next time you have a $100 rebate you don't want, I'll be happy to pay you $10 for it! I've generally had good luck with rebates. There have been a few recently I've had to go track down, but usually that is not the case. I bought a USB memory key for a co-worker last year. She kept saying she wanted one but I knew her well enough to know that she was not going to the store to buy it when it was on sale. So I told her about the deal, and then I asked if she wanted me to just pick it up for her. She said yes, so I did so (and used it to pad my own order enough so I was able to use a coupon for the entire order). When I gave it to her along with the rebate, I could see that she was never going to submit it, so I agreed to split it with her, $10 for her, $10 for me. She was ok with that, so I took for the form and the UPC and submitted it. We both ended up ahead.

[ Parent | Reply to This ]

I've had very few rebate problems[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#6)
by auctionhugh on Tue Jun 22, 2004 at 12:53:46 PM PDT

I've done lots of rebates and had very few problems over the years. Nearly every problem could be resolved with a quick call to the toll free number listed on the rebate form. I do the basics though, carefully send in everything asked for, on time, keeping a copy. Rebates work for me!

-----
Get help with your website from AuctionHugh's wife Kathleen. Professional, artistic, and EASY for you! Kallen Web Design of Kalamazoo

[ Reply to This ]

Costco does it right[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#7)
by Anonymous User on Tue Jun 22, 2004 at 05:30:03 PM PDT

On products that have rebates, you can simply go to the Costco web site and enter in where to send the check (plus some id numbers off of the receipt). Very little hassle and I've always received the rebates.

[ Reply to This ]

Costco does it right[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#8)
by Anonymous User on Thu Jun 24, 2004 at 09:25:52 AM PDT

Costco and Fry's do it right, of course. And I wouldn't have bought my Dell laptop last year without the $250 rebate, which showed up within the eight weeks specified. Only loser was a $4 rebate on a $4 power strip. The check never arrived. Wasn't worth worrying about.

[ Parent | Reply to This ]

No Post Office Boxes[ Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#10)
by Anonymous User on Sun Jul 25, 2004 at 01:26:38 AM PDT

A Rebate from Circuit City never disclosed the fact that PO Boxes were not permitted. About 5 weeks later went to the rebate website to find out that is why no rebate check was issued. There is no street delivery in my small town. Everybody has a PO Box address here. This makes rebates unavailable to all of the residents of this small town.

[ Reply to This ]

Circuit City has troubles with PO Boxes[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#11)
by Howling on Mon Jul 26, 2004 at 05:32:59 AM PDT

If none of the pre-sale documents (ads, pre-printed rebate forms) did not state no PO Boxes you should tell them they are making contract changes that you do not agree to.

Since you mailed the rebate form and information go file a mail fraud complant with the US Postal Inspectors. http://usps.com/postalinspectors/

I have the same PO Box mail addresses problem. Last year I ordered from Circuit City. Their system rejected any shipping address that contains a PO Box (w/ street address). The free shipping offer went by USPS and package got returned to sender. So I had to re-order and pay for shipping to select UPS because I do not have a "physical mailing address"

[ Parent | Reply to This ]

Circuit City[ Parent | Reply to This ] (none / 0) (#12)
by Howling on Wed Aug 04, 2004 at 07:58:10 AM PDT

The solution is to complain to the folks up high.

Last week I went to Circiut City and bought a DVD player. Sign listed a rebate. The rebate form prints from register after puchase is done. It has the little No PO Boxes line. Sent it in anyway.

I sent an agressive letter to W.McCollough, CEO Circuit City (deceptive advertising, etc). Got a call back from Justin in his office today. Took rebate info. Then called back and said rebate will go thru.

He stated rebates handled by outside firm and they will accept PO Box addresses for check and coupon rebates. The no PO Box terms are only to apply when the rebate is actually a promotional item that is shipped by UPS,etc.

He called from (804) 342-6401. Contact them about your rebate. Maybe having to manually deal with enough calls and/or letters about this silly no PO Box policy will get it changed.

[ Parent | Reply to This ]

Checking the Rebate Fine Print | 12 comments (12 topical) | Post A Comment

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