O.T Cash your Amazon.com rebate check right away! maybe it's too late already!

[richardycc]

not sure if this belong here, but if the B drill recall is still up, I don't see why this one shouldn't, anyway, I took advantage of the rebate-o-rama from Amaon.com back in April and brought a copy of Windox XP upgrade home version, it had a rebate of $40, so after rebate and coupon it was only around $59.99, not a bad deal at all for a retail non-academic copy. I finally got the check last week, around 8/16/02 or so, don't really remember the exactly date, and I didn't have time to check it until this morning. To my horror, the check was dated back to june 25, and is VOID August 25, 2002, which is 2 days ago. And I've just checked rebatestatus.com, it's saying the check was sent out on july 31, 2002. I don't know why they would predate the check in june 25, and then mail it out on july 31, 2002, and then really mail it out so by the time the check get to your house, you only have less than a week to cash the check or else the check is VOID. I guess one can't really say that they never got their rebate check now. The rebate companies are getting more clever not to honor their rebates, and this is yet another example.

I hope my bank would clear the check for me, if not, I will raise a big hell and maybe check in with my state attorney to see if it is legal for them to do this to us. For those that still have the envelope that the rebate check came in, could you please save it for me, I might need it for evident for a class action lawsuit.

rich


I did deposit this check via the ATM machine, hope I don't get a call from my bank...

 

[anandfan]

Yeah, I noticed the same thing with my rebate check from them. I only had a couple of weeks to cash it from the date I received it. Usually, I just collect the checks and mail in a bunch every month or so. Not with Amazon checks!

 

[GundamF91]

Very bad practice from teh rebate companies....they're trying to screw us more and more. :/

 

[ghettobanana]

First they claim there are "disappearing rebate claims" and now this crap. Man, it's getting harder to cash in on rebates.

 

[tazmania99]

Don't panic. Just deposit your check thru the ATM machine and your check will be cashed regardless the so-called expiration date on the check.

Unless the check issuer calls their bank to void the check, you can always cash the check. I've done this many times. Just DO NOT deposit your check via teller windows, but thru the ATM machine.

I still remember one time I sent a check to make a payment for a credit card but I forgot to sign the check. That check was still damn cleared. I learned that for the amount below $2,500 per check, banks will not be strict in term of clearing.

 

[GetReal]

Originally posted by: tazmania99
Don't panic. Just deposit your check thru the ATM machine and your check will be cashed regardless the so-called expiration date on the check.

Unless the check issuer calls their bank to void the check, you can always cash the check. I've done this many times. Just DO NOT deposit your check via teller windows, but thru the ATM machine.

I still remember one time I sent a check to make a payment for a credit card but I forgot to sign the check. That check was still damn cleared. I learned that for the amount below $2,500 per check, banks will not be strict in term of clearing.

While this is true for most checks issued through "normal bank accounts" is it NOT the case for rebate checks. Most rebate checks are issued though special clearing escrow accounts such as those through First Lillian and the other rebate escrow banks. These type of checks are setup as preset banks drafts and DO expire on the date listed. Depostiing them a few days after the expiration date will result in a NSF charge back to your account. Most banks have a 72 hour race peiod to allow sufficent time for the check to be processed by the depositor's bank. In richardycc's case he should be OK since he is still within this window. The exception to this rule are those rebate checks issued directly from the offering party and not through a rebate processing house.

This type of activity is becomming more commonplace and is always the fault of the rebate processing company and not the offering manufacutrer/merchant. By printing checks and holding them, the rebate processing companies can in effect "float" themselves a no interest loan for up to 60 days. Anyone receiving a check that is dated more than 10 days prior to the date should report it to their Stat OAG's office since rebate procesing companies are required to mail check within 24 hours of the check printing. Continential Promotions (AKA CPG) was fined by the AZ OAGs office a couple of years ago for this type of activity and they in effect lost almost all their clients. At one time CPG was the king of rebate rpcoessing companies.

 

[vinnyracer]

That really suck!

Lets make a rally to protest against rebate.

 

[DaveSimmons]

This type of activity is becomming more commonplace and is always the fault of the rebate processing company and not the offering manufacutrer/merchant.

Very useful info GetReal. Anyone getting one of these bad/backdated checks should contact their State OAG and also complain to the company that hired the redemption company (Amazon in this case). If the sleazy rebate companies are getting heat from both sides they'll hopefully either clean up their behavior or go out of business when companies stop hiring them.

 

[knightc2]

This is wonderful. Just another way for companies to screw you out of money. What is the corporate world coming to? Everything seems to be fueled by greed and deceptive business practices anymore. Anyway, thanks for the heads up. I will watch my rebates very carefully and suggest that others do the same. :disgust:

 

[tazmania99]

Originally posted by: GetReal

Originally posted by: tazmania99
Don't panic. Just deposit your check thru the ATM machine and your check will be cashed regardless the so-called expiration date on the check.

Unless the check issuer calls their bank to void the check, you can always cash the check. I've done this many times. Just DO NOT deposit your check via teller windows, but thru the ATM machine.

I still remember one time I sent a check to make a payment for a credit card but I forgot to sign the check. That check was still damn cleared. I learned that for the amount below $2,500 per check, banks will not be strict in term of clearing.

While this is true for most checks issued through "normal bank accounts" is it NOT the case for rebate checks. Most rebate checks are issued though special clearing escrow accounts such as those through First Lillian and the other rebate escrow banks. These type of checks are setup as preset banks drafts and DO expire on the date listed.

You have your point but it is probably not the fact, or am I always the lucky one? I deposited rebate checks after the expiration date many times and never got any problem. If you say the grace period for allowing to deposit an expired check is 72 hours from the expiration date, then my case totally violates your theory. As I recall, I once deposited a rebate check that was 45 days later than the expiration but I was still able to cash it.

High school part-timers or bank tellers with insufficient training are usually the ones who take care of the ATM deposits and payments. They concerns to book the accurate dollar amount of the check more than anything else.

Just my 0.02.

 

[nickdigger]

just call the rebate issuer, explain the exp date, and have them send a new one.

typically, YOUR bank teller is not the one to be concerned about. if they see the exp date and you tell them to "go ahead & try it anyways", they will gladly deposit it ... and charge you a $20 Bounced Chk Fee a week later when the issuing bank rejects it.

 

[GetReal]

Originally posted by: tazmania99

Originally posted by: GetReal

Originally posted by: tazmania99
Don't panic. Just deposit your check thru the ATM machine and your check will be cashed regardless the so-called expiration date on the check.

Unless the check issuer calls their bank to void the check, you can always cash the check. I've done this many times. Just DO NOT deposit your check via teller windows, but thru the ATM machine.

I still remember one time I sent a check to make a payment for a credit card but I forgot to sign the check. That check was still damn cleared. I learned that for the amount below $2,500 per check, banks will not be strict in term of clearing.

While this is true for most checks issued through "normal bank accounts" is it NOT the case for rebate checks. Most rebate checks are issued though special clearing escrow accounts such as those through First Lillian and the other rebate escrow banks. These type of checks are setup as preset banks drafts and DO expire on the date listed.

You have your point but it is probably not the fact, or am I always the lucky one? I deposited rebate checks after the expiration date many times and never got any problem. If you say the grace period for allowing to deposit an expired check is 72 hours from the expiration date, then my case totally violates your theory. As I recall, I once deposited a rebate check that was 45 days later than the expiration but I was still able to cash it.

High school part-timers or bank tellers with insufficient training are usually the ones who take care of the ATM deposits and payments. They concerns to book the accurate dollar amount of the check more than anything else.

Just my 0.02.

It is irrelevant how close YOUR bank checks or does not check the expiration date of your rebate checks if the issuing bank has already cancelled the check as most of the escrow banks do on the date posted on the check . Most local bank tellers and not trained to look for expiration dates on checks since most checks do not have expiration dates on the them. Heck, most bank tellers do not verify anything about your deposits other than the fact that a signature exists on the reverse of the deposited check. I know for a fact that this is the case with Bank of America as they have lost funds we have deposited. Even with a deposit slip from the teller, it is still you word against theirs unless you can provide copies of your checks. In your case, your check may have been issued directly from the manufacturer instead of a rebate processing company or perhaps if the amounts of the checks were low, your bank may have even absorbed the loss due tot the fact that they accepted your expired check although I doubt this was the case. In any event this is a YMMV situation and you need to be prepared to pay NSF charges if you deposit an expired rebate check that is returned due NSF. These fees can easily excees the original amount of your rebate check. There was an excellent article about TCA bouncing a bunch of rebate checks that weere a couple of days past the expiration date for this very reason earlier this year, The article was linked in the rebate tracking thread, but I don't know what happened to it.