PSA: Zotac Rebates limited to 1 in your lifetime per person/household (read thread)

[Karaktu]

Edit 3/18/10:

New forum user ZOTACg33kg1rl who works for Zotac USA states this is all a misunderstanding and will pursue with their CSR department. Please see posts closer to the end of this thread for updates.

Edit 4/15/10:

For me personally, all oustanding issues with Zotac have been resolved thanks to ZOTACg33kg1rl's direct involvement.

-----

I've never encountered such a thing before, so I think it's important to let everyone know about it.

Zotac USA (as I have been told by TWO of their reps) is of the opinion that their rebates are limited to one per person/household...EVER! Even though they run different promotions at different times, they will only pay the first rebate submitted (and you may very well have to call to get that one paid -- I had an outstanding rebate from March that I called about, and this is what I learned).

The only exception, I was told, is if you buy two video cards on one receipt for SLI/Crossfire, in which case you would be eligible for those two rebates.

To be clear, as I have been told by TWO Zotac USA CSRs, Zotac USA will not pay a rebate for one motherboard and one video card, purchased at different times under different promotions. If you're in the system for one rebate promotion, that is the only one that you will EVER be eligible for (although I imagine if enough people complain to Newegg and/or Zotac, this might be changed for previous promotions).

I'm not even sure, at this moment, if Newegg is aware of Zotac's policy, but the rebate form(s) don't really stated "ever," just the normal one rebate per person, per household, per invoice, per promotion, etc.

The exact text on their rebate forms is the following:

Limit to ONE rebate check per Purchase/Person/Household/Address, unless two physically bridged SLI-capable cards are purchased on the same invoice, in which case both submissions will be honored.​

There is no mention of "per promotion," which is generally the standard language used by other companies.

As always, the Buyer must Beware!



P.S.

Is there going to be a new Rebate Tracking thread?

 

[Cdubneeddeal]

Wow. Seriously? Thanks for the heads up Joe.

 

[cganesh75]

wow thats pathetic.

they should also accept people buying only 1 zotac product ever...

 

[Lucifer Lost]

Hmmm, not sure if I've ever bought anything from them and used a rebate. Guess I'll err on the safe side and just never buy any of their products from here on out.

Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[jjmIII]

I got two rebates out of them. Had to call for both though. Zotac has some decent cheap stuff, but I won't do anything "Rebate" with them.

 

[jlee]

Whoa, wtf! That's not cool at all.

 

[13Gigatons]

Zotac is horrible anyways, with so many brands on the market why buy the worst one.

 

[Ryland]

Well I know I have already received one rebate from Zotac so I guess I won't bother buying another of their products, ever.

 

[Fox5]

Zotac does fill some interesting product niches, and a minimum level of quality is pretty standardized by amd/intel/nvidia anyway.

Still, I've been avoiding rebates for years, they've almost always been scams from many different companies.

 

[davidrees]

This is so incredible my first thought was to look at the post count of the OP suspecting a single digit post count competitor shill. Clearly that is not the case.

Is there anything else you can offer to substantiate this? This seems like something the FTC should be aware of as without explicitly stating this limitation, not paying a second rebate without some other disqualifying attribute seems quite uncool.

 

[Miramonti]

What a fraud. One item should be 1 more than anyone should ever by from them again.

 

[WarhammerTX]

Envision did that to me a few years ago on a monitor lost 50.00 on the deal I dont even mess with rebates anymore because of it. I think the place you purchase the item from should be responsible for the rebate after all they are selling it to you let them deal with the manufacturer and try to get thier money

 

[goobee]

Nothing surprises me anymore. I've been stiffed on multiple occasions on rebates, even with big name companies such as Seagate that I simply don't do rebates any more. Sure I may miss out on some "deals" but I don't run any rebate risks either.

 

[Schmide]

A valid reason to enable Zotac on the forums, but they have enough to deal with.

 

[Zap]

Zotac is horrible anyways, with so many brands on the market why buy the worst one.

They do have some interesting and unique products. Want to build a Core 2 Duo/Quad mini ITX gaming rig? They're the only game in town for that.

Besides the usual rebate shenanigans, I've also heard that Zotac's warranty service wasn't that great. Anyone here ever need to warranty stuff through Zotac?

 

[Karaktu]

Of course.

Hello Joseph,

Thanks for your patience in my response, I was out of the office. The 2nd check was not qualified as it is limit one check per person or per household. I apologize for the misunderstanding and I hope you understand. Thanks very much Sir!

As I said, quite unlike anything else out there.

This is so incredible my first thought was to look at the post count of the OP suspecting a single digit post count competitor shill. Clearly that is not the case.

Is there anything else you can offer to substantiate this? This seems like something the FTC should be aware of as without explicitly stating this limitation, not paying a second rebate without some other disqualifying attribute seems quite uncool.

 

[Stoneburner]

Tell those motherfuckers that you relied on the rebate in making the purchase and that if they will not honor it, they need to take back their POS and refund you fully.

 

[marvdmartian]

Don't know if this is something new, or if you just got a dumb CSR, Karaktu. I've purchased 2 of their motherboards from Newegg, both with rebates, and received a check for each one. That was for purchases in Feb and April of this year.

Their rebate form does have the line you speak of, but that's normally reserved for one check per rebate offer, not per lifetime. IMHO, it'd be worth a phone call to see if you can get another CSR, to double check this claim. If they won't pay, I'd get ahold of the retailer that sold you the product, and complain. If it was Newegg, chances are they'll credit you the amount of the rebate, then go after Zotac for bad rebate practices.

 

[Thump553]

Please post the rebate language in full. Unless that one rebate per lifetime is explicitly spelled out I think you could have a lot of fun with them with your state consumer protection agency and the FTC. I certainly wouldn't just walk away from a BS scam like that.

Great PSA by the way. You should post it in every thread you see a Zotac hot deal.

Personally I'm playing it safe by abstaining completely from buying their products in the future. Thanks for the warning.

 

[psihog]

Here are some of their rebate forms. I don't see anything that says one per lifetime. One rebate will even honor two vid card rebates if purchased on same invoice.
http://www.mirhelp.com/index.php?s=zotac

 

[Karaktu]

I just want to clear up any misconceptions here...

1) I did not speak with a stupid CSR. He was even somewhat apologetic that this is Zotac's policy regarding rebates (and yes, my rebate submissions were 4 months apart). I am intentionally getting these comments in writing so that I can pursue them further as it's completely ludicrous.

2) While I thank everyone for their efforts to help, I certainly know how to do a rebate and how to follow up on one. The point of this thread is to make anyone considering a purchase aware of Zotac USA's current stated rebate policy. I think this is important because, as was said, Zotac fills a niche market with some of their products, and often has rebates offered on those products.

3) If there is a Newegg rep that reads these forums, I'd certainly like to see them comment on this thread and have the Newegg higher-ups take this up with Zotac's higher-ups. The language on the rebate form certainly doesn't mention (or imply) EVER, particularly since industry standard practice is one rebate per promotion / valid dates. Newegg rocks and is always willing to help out with rebate issues.

Did I miss anything?

Joe

 

[CPA]

This is so incredible my first thought was to look at the post count of the OP suspecting a single digit post count competitor shill. Clearly that is not the case.

Is there anything else you can offer to substantiate this? This seems like something the FTC should be aware of as without explicitly stating this limitation, not paying a second rebate without some other disqualifying attribute seems quite uncool.

uh, no that would be the state's attorney general that should be notified.

 

[davidrees]

uh, no that would be the state's attorney general that should be notified.

If he bought it at a local store, then yes, but it sounds like he got it from Newegg and unless Newegg is in his state, then the interstate commerce probably puts it in the Federal area.

Just a guess, but it sure would not hurt to call the state authority first.

 

[Lanyap]

Here is the verbiage in one of their recent rebates on NE.

"Limit to ONE rebate check per Purchase/ Person/ Household/ Address, unless two cards are purchased on the same invoice, in which case both submissions will be honored."

Is your rebate verbiage the same? Did you buy the same product under different promotions? Either way, if the verbiage is the same then they are wrong because the "per Purchase" qualifies it to the promotion not for a lifetime. The rebate address is Zotec's address so it appears that they handle their own rebate processing which can explain the crap they're trying to pull. I would explain that to them and that you will pursue with the proper authorities (FTC, AG and BBB).

 

[DigitalCancer]

I checked the form and it states...

The Rebate check will only be paid to the order of an individual.
Limit to ONE rebate check per Purchase/ Person/ Household/ Address, unless two cards are purchased on the same invoice, in which case both submissions will be honored. No substitutions and/or re-submissions are allowed.

Wonder if it's meant to read as...ONE rebate per person, meaning...ever?? This is an interesting find, although i've never personally been very interested in purchasing anything from Zotac anyway. ^_^