I worked at one of the larger rebate companies in the Dallas area last year. This might shed some insight as to why our rebates take so long or get lost. Basically you're looking at a little mailroom 10 feet by 20 feet long with boxes of incoming mail stacked wall to wall. From there a room with about 30 minimum wage workers, not all of whom speak English open and sort your envelopes. You would not want these people in your house, let alone handling your $45 rebate.
From there your rebate goes to another room for data entry. The error rate for typing mistakes was about 5%, but they have a new system for cutting down on errors. This is actually the best part of the process. However, there is a risk for data to become lost once it IS entered into the system. Maybe the rebate was set up wrong and an entire rebate is screwed up which may need to be fixed for the entire offer. This happens, but it would only delay your rebate.
If you need to call customer service you will get one of about 5 people who handle all of the rebates. One would come back reeking from marijuana numerous times during the day. They can correct any errors and put you back into the big database, sometimes with an "EXPEDITE" on your claim. This means your check will be sent out when the next batch of checks for that rebate is sent. These people have nice little cubicles and you really couldn't generate any heat or get them in trouble for not sending out a rebate. Some customers always yell and scream and whine, so it won't get you anywhere. You could threaten to sue them, but it most likely won't do you any good.
Long story short is that you are dealing with a business whose customers are really the manufacturers and stores. Rebate houses want to keep them happy, not you. What prompted me to write this was seeing some posts about lost rebates and long turnaround times on getting checks. All you can really do is call the rebate company after the 8 weeks are up and have them expedite it. Make sure you get the name and direct line to one specific person. Always call that same person back. They don't want their phone to ring and after a few calls they will just walk over to the office that cut the checks and send it to you manually. Hey - they deal with thousands of rebates and if they have to risk sending you 2 checks just to make you go away, then they will. Most people forget about their rebates. Keep your receipts, copies of UPCs...always call the same person back, write legibly. If they can't read your handwriting they will make something up and maybe you will get it, but the odds are that you won't and you'll forget about the rebate and they will get to keep your $45 when the check is lost in the mail. This will save them the hassle of sending you your forms back with a reject slip and you getting pissed off and calling them and you resubmitting the rebate.
From there your rebate goes to another room for data entry. The error rate for typing mistakes was about 5%, but they have a new system for cutting down on errors. This is actually the best part of the process. However, there is a risk for data to become lost once it IS entered into the system. Maybe the rebate was set up wrong and an entire rebate is screwed up which may need to be fixed for the entire offer. This happens, but it would only delay your rebate.
If you need to call customer service you will get one of about 5 people who handle all of the rebates. One would come back reeking from marijuana numerous times during the day. They can correct any errors and put you back into the big database, sometimes with an "EXPEDITE" on your claim. This means your check will be sent out when the next batch of checks for that rebate is sent. These people have nice little cubicles and you really couldn't generate any heat or get them in trouble for not sending out a rebate. Some customers always yell and scream and whine, so it won't get you anywhere. You could threaten to sue them, but it most likely won't do you any good.
Long story short is that you are dealing with a business whose customers are really the manufacturers and stores. Rebate houses want to keep them happy, not you. What prompted me to write this was seeing some posts about lost rebates and long turnaround times on getting checks. All you can really do is call the rebate company after the 8 weeks are up and have them expedite it. Make sure you get the name and direct line to one specific person. Always call that same person back. They don't want their phone to ring and after a few calls they will just walk over to the office that cut the checks and send it to you manually. Hey - they deal with thousands of rebates and if they have to risk sending you 2 checks just to make you go away, then they will. Most people forget about their rebates. Keep your receipts, copies of UPCs...always call the same person back, write legibly. If they can't read your handwriting they will make something up and maybe you will get it, but the odds are that you won't and you'll forget about the rebate and they will get to keep your $45 when the check is lost in the mail. This will save them the hassle of sending you your forms back with a reject slip and you getting pissed off and calling them and you resubmitting the rebate.
Facebook
Twitter