NOT HOT ... HELP! am i screwed?

[joecool]

I was just sitting down to mail in a crapUSA $150 rebate for the pocketpc phone i bought two weeks ago ... waited 'cause i wanted to test out the t-mobile coverage before i decided i really did want to keep the phone. anyway, looking at the form i see it's supposed to be postmarked 5/24!!! so, what should i do? send it in anyway, and if they deny it try to con them into taking it (like, i put it in the mail friday/saturday, the po must have f***ed up), or just sit on it, then call them in a few weeks, ask if they got it, & when they say no say i mailed it and fax them all the stuff? yeah, i know, it's my own fault, but jeez they only give you one day after the 14-day trial to send it in. and anyway, given all the shinanigans they play with rebates i don't feel to bad trying to get them on this one!

thanks in advance,

joe

---

You are the one who f***ed up. If you want to brag or moan about it, post it in the ~~~ Brag & Moan ~~~ thread. If you want help defrauding the company, find another forum. If you cannot do that, we can assist you with the second option.

AnandTech Moderator

 

[dlaw]

This shouldn't be in HD.

Either ways you are trying to cheat them.

 

[joecool]

Originally posted by: dlaw
This shouldn't be in HD.

yeah, sorry, i know ... it's just that the folks here are the ones most likely to know what to do.

Either ways you are trying to cheat them.

i don't know ... it's hard to feel like it's cheating when the main reason they make rebates such a pain is so they will have some lame excuse to deny it ... by which time it's too late to return the item if you don't actually want it at full price. so i miss the freaking date by one day ... what ever happened to the concept of customer service?

 

[SgtZulu]

For your info, this forum is to post HOT deals

 

[Pothead]

thats why you always send the rebate in immediately. Test the thing and do the rebate.

Your only option is to return it. Rebate companies count on people like you, no offense, to miss the postmark deadline so they can reject it.

 

[kantonburg]

Sorry dude. They make deadlines for a reason. I'd either suck it up or return the phone if you can't live without the $150.00

Besides the govt. is cracking down on rebate companies so as long as you do your part you shouldn't have a problem with rebates. Not to say you won't ever but it's less likely these days. Just do the honest thing.

 

[hamburglar]

First off, you know this shouldn't be here so don't put it here. Second, don't try to con them.

 

[joecool]

ok, so i learned my lesson - no posting cold deals in the hot deal forum!

prob. w/returning the phone is i'm past the 14-day limit. since the limit on cancelling the service is 14 days & since t-mobile has a bad rep where i live i wanted to wait the full two weeks before deciding wether or not to stick with it. my 14 days ended friday & the postmark date is/was saturday. oh, well. think i'll send it in anyway and plead my case and hope they're nice about it ... yeah, right!

 

[ChefJoe]

What rebate company ? If it's one of the shady ones that always "misplaces" the submissions, call them up a month from now, ask why it's not appeared in their system, then resubmit via fax. Use their own incompetence against them.

Somewhat shady, yeah... a direct violation of their rules, well, not so much if they allow resubmissions, but I've been bitten by the "10 days to submit" simpletech rebate and had them reject my original submission for postmark reasons. The delay being because the UPC was in the mail from amazon along with the memory (free super slow shipping).

 

[dahunan]

fvck that..

return the piece of sh!t and take the 10% restocking fee..

Or.. call your State Attorney General and the BBB and let them know you need help.

Some states do not allow rebate companies to pull this two week bullsh!t. Some states never allow rebates to expire or something like that.

Two weeks is a scam

They take 2 months to return your money and sometimes they never do it until you call them and get on their ass..

 

[joecool]

Originally posted by: ChefJoe
What rebate company ? If it's one of the shady ones that always "misplaces" the submissions, call them up a month from now, ask why it's not appeared in their system, then resubmit via fax. Use their own incompetence against them. Somewhat shady, yeah, but I've been bitten by the "10 days to submit" simpletech rebate and had them reject my original submission for postmark reasons. The delay being because the UPC was in the mail from amazon along with the memory (free super slow shipping).

that's where i'm really doomed - it's those bozo's in new rochelle who ALWAYS take 4 months to honor rebates ... ! :disgust:

and, yeah, i'm thinking the wait and call in a month is the best way to go.

 

[joecool]

Originally posted by: dahunan
fvck that..

return the piece of sh!t and take the 10% restocking fee..

Or.. call your State Attorney General and the BBB and let them know you need help.

Some states do not allow rebate companies to pull this two week bullsh!t. Some states never allow rebates to expire or something like that.

Two weeks is a scam

They take 2 months to return your money and sometimes they never do it until you call them and get on their ass..

ain't that the truth ... i just got a rebate i submitted in december. i called and bitched after 12 weeks and they said, tough. what i don't get is, isn't the statement that you'll get it in 6-8 weeks kind of like a contract or guarantee?! i honestly don't feel even slightly bad trying to squeeze this deal out of 'em!

 

[weepul]

Originally posted by: dahunan
fvck that..

Some states do not allow rebate companies to pull this two week bullsh!t. Some states never allow rebates to expire or something like that.

um, i believe you're thinking about GCs. in CA, GCs aren't allowed to expire, but i've never heard about of rebates requiring to do that in any state.

as for joe, ur a senior member and should know better than to do this in the HD forums. this really needs to be moved in to the "Brag and Moan" thread. i feel sorry for u, but u should know better than to do something like this.

//krunk (^_^x)

 

[Cybordolphin]

I strongly second Dahunan.

They (c.USA), continually play games with rebates AND their price match policies.
(For instance when you look at their online site for "price matching policy", they try to confuse you with their "instore" price match policy.... when you would obviously not give a rats a$$ about the "instore" PM policy.... as you are obviously shopping "online". There is absolutely no need to even mention the "instore" PM policy online as they insist that neither their Online nor the Instore are related. However they go on to post the "instore" PM policy online, as a way of confusing the issues.) They refuse to price match their own website, at the same time their online refuses to price match their instore.

C.USA is owned by a bad news kinda guy anyway. I have heard him referred to as the sleazoid of all time, living somewhere's down in Mexico.

 

[lizardboy]

I've done this once or twice when I forgot to mail in a rebate. Just wait the amount of time it says in the fine print (If you haven't received your rebate in x-x weeks call 800-xxx-xxxx). Just keep all your paperwork & in x-x weeks call them and tell them that you haven't received your rebate yet. They'll have you either mail or fax them the info & you'll get your rebate 2-4 weeks after that.

Rebates are a game, all you got to know is how to play.

 

[babylon5]

That is a reason why not to buy anything based on rebate.

If companies are so eager to give you discount, they should do it by lowering the price,
not making people jump through hoops praying they will get pay later.

I got burned before once, I never buy anything based on rebate price again.

 

[ReiAyanami]

Don't worry, it was a CompUSSR rebate. It wouldn't have come anyway.

You just saved yourself a stamp AND envelope. Beware the CompUSSRebates

 

[Justus]

Lets not get OT here. The gentleman wants to know if he is screwed or not.

We get to vote on this, right?

I vote he's screwed.

But let's say he's got a 50% chance of getting the rebate. So, does he feel lucky?

In this case, even if he's not screwed, he's an idiot. Ok, a lucky idiot.

Harsh? Fer sure.

Oh yeah, this was OT all along. Again, he's an idiot. Just return the item, and next time at least read the rebate form.

 

[AnyMal]

Originally posted by: lizardboy
I've done this once or twice when I forgot to mail in a rebate. Just wait the amount of time it says in the fine print (If you haven't received your rebate in x-x weeks call 800-xxx-xxxx). Just keep all your paperwork & in x-x weeks call them and tell them that you haven't received your rebate yet. They'll have you either mail or fax them the info & you'll get your rebate 2-4 weeks after that.

Rebates are a game, all you got to know is how to play.

That's called fraud

Yes, rebates are a game, but just like in any game you wouldn't expect your opponent to play your part, wouldn't you?

 

[joecool]

Originally posted by: babylon5
That is a reason why not to buy anything based on rebate.

If companies are so eager to give you discount, they should do it by lowering the price,
not making people jump through hoops praying they will get pay later.

I got burned before once, I never buy anything based on rebate price again.

yeah, i completely agree, rebates suck major a**. right now i'm waiting for something like $500 total on various items!

that said, it you're willing to play the game you can get some major deals. it's helped me feed my electronic gadget habit! i wish they'd kill the practice and just include the rebate in the off-the-shelf price, but's it's clearly to their benefit to do it this way, so until 100% of consumers send in the forms and demand the rebate the retailers will just keep right on doing it.

 

[joecool]

Originally posted by: Justus
Lets not get OT here. The gentleman wants to know if he is screwed or not.

We get to vote on this, right?

I vote he's screwed.

But let's say he's got a 50% chance of getting the rebate. So, does he feel lucky?

In this case, even if he's not screwed, he's an idiot. Ok, a lucky idiot.

Harsh? Fer sure.

Oh yeah, this was OT all along. Again, he's an idiot. Just return the item, and next time at least read the rebate form.

harsh!

in this case i have to say you're right, i was careless. then again, with a full-time (plus!) job, two small children, my wife being sick this past week, and all the other distractions of adult life, can you blame me for forgetting the postmark date? (i did actually read it!)

 

[Raj]

try to return the phone and cancel your plan at crapusa. wait for another rebate offer? just an idea.

 

[joecool]

Originally posted by: Raj
try to return the phone and cancel your plan at crapusa. wait for another rebate offer? just an idea.

think i'd have any luck? i'm outside the 14 day return period (by two days) AND the 14 day plan cancellation period (also by two days!). i think i've got less to stand on there than on the rebate!

 

[rzrshrp]

For the record, I once returned a rebate -can't remember if it was to whoever does the rebates for Philips or Best Buy- about three days late and pretty much wrote it off as a loss but it came anyway.

 

[Davem556]

OK, calm down. Take a deep breath, and then on Tuesday, go down to the post office with your rebate. Explain that due to the Holiday you missed the postmark deadline date for the rebate to the clerck at the window. Ask them if they could postmark the envelope right there at the counter for you and ask nicely if they could do it over the stamp so that the date can't be made out. I know it's not perfectly honest but it's not right that these companies only give 2 weeks to send the damn rebate in anyway. I did this same trick last week and it looked perfect. Now I will need to wait and see if my rebate gets rejected in another month or so. If it does I'll call up and complain and then will fax in the copies. Normally I'm right on top of my rebates but the rebate I missed only gave you 7 days to get a postmark...Totally B.S.