Rebate Tracking Thread...especially Viking CF: Amazon

[zemel]

In May Amazon had specials on Viking CF cards, which were "hot deals" at that time; so I thought I could post this here...if Mods say put it in "Off Topic" then I'll comply.

I mention this, because Amazon is currently offering another Viking special (also offering Kingston deal)....check "Ben's..." site (no linky provided)....

Anyway...seems a lot of people haven't gotten their rebates; some have been denied :Q (sound familiar ?)...noticed over at dpreview, there's a letter of apology from Viking, posted by "the Viking guy"; linky is at bottom of first page of CF "discussion"...you'll have to scroll down to post dated 8/16/01 by "the Viking guy" to read it...

dpreview forum


===================
EDIT: Decided to post "the apology letter" - see below

===================

[posted 8/16/01]

Dear Viking Customers,

I first off want to thank all of you for diligently sending me your contact information (as well as background information in many cases). I am currently compiling a two part list to send to our rebate fulfillment house and internal rebate team. One list will contain the names of those customers concerned about the status of their rebates and the other
list will contain the names of those customers that received a card in the mail stating their rebates were declined. I will take all names that are submitted by Friday (work on it over the weekend) and send off the list on Monday. If I do not receive the contact information by Friday at 5:00pm Pacific Time it will be put into the next round of names to be sent off the following week, and so on and so forth until this issue is completely resolved.

Now, the important part, when will you receive your money? I have a commitment that the requests will be researched and processed within one week of my submission of the names. The customers that we deem to have a valid rebate will have their check mailed within 3 days of completed processing. Bottom line--the people who sent in valid rebate submissions should have their checks within 2 - 3 weeks maximum (plus time for
delivery).

What if Viking deems your rebate to be invalid? I will be personally contacting all of the customers that we deem to have invalid rebates. I will take each situation on a case by case basis. However, there does seem to be certain trends with the invalid rebate submissions (i.e. invalid UPC code) and I will be flexible regarding these issues. This is all I can commit to in this forum regarding the previously denied rebate requests.

I would now like to clear up a few comments that I have read in this post. First off, the response you are receiving from Viking is due to a very loyal Viking customer that noticed these posts and made us aware of the issue. I would like to thank that customer (you know who you are) for having such great faith and loyalty in the Viking reputation. As I am sure you expected, we immediately responded to this situation.

That being said, I would like to lay to rest the notion that it is this posts strong arming of the Amazon-Viking relationship that has made Viking's response so swift and favorable. While Viking highly regards our fortunate relationship with Amazon, it is our high value to customer satisfaction and loyalty that has led us to respond so swiftly and
favorably to our concerned customers. If I had been contacted about these vast customer complaints earlier I would have responded to the forum at that time. Unfortunately though it did not happen until yesterday. I do however, enjoy the format of this forum because it allows the concerned customers to have a hub from which to post and receive information regarding the situation--an invaluable tool.

As for the posting of information that solely promotes my competitors and more or less ?kicks us while we are down? as some of you have eloquently put. . . it happens. I appreciate the numerous responses that I have received from customers making me aware of these tactics occurring. It is nice to know that our customers are looking out for us, however Viking has hundreds of competitors and it can be expected that these types of things will occur.

Viking will once again prove that we are an industry leader by providing a swift resolution to this matter. We look forward to regaining your trust, loyalty, and business for your future flash memory or computer memory needs.

Sincerely,

David Payne
eBusiness Channel Account Manager
Viking Components, Inc.

===================

EDIT: 8/22/01

Continental Promotion Group is using this website to track Viking rebates, but you'll probably get the same answer I get (didn't get denial cards)....."we have received your submission and it is being processed"...oh really !...refund to come, maybe, before H&^L freezes over !

Linky

Added it in, for those that didn't know it already....

 

[NeoMadHatter]

damn, i hope i don't get denied.

 

[DVDnut]

I was denied for an invalid UPC code.

I found the CF128 hot deal on Anandtech, and purchased it (in May). When I received the CF128, all I received was a black anti-static bag that had the CF128 inside (in a plastic carrying case). I did not receive any box or anything else.

That anti-static bag had a bar code on it that looked like a UPC code. So I sent in the rebate form with the sales receipt and this bar code. I received back a card from Viking in early July, stating that I was denied, but could send the card back with the correct UPC code. As I didn't have any other UPC code, and the card didn't even specify an address to send it back to, I called Amazon.

Amazon did some research, contacted Viking, and told me that they would end up honoring the rebate. However, it was going to take an additional 6 to 8 weeks before I would receive my check. Unbelievable or what?

Did any one else receive their CF128 in the same condition I did?

 

[tazmania99]

I called the rebate center last Fri about this overdue rebate. The CSR found the record of this rebate and admitted it is overdue. However, he has no idea when Viking will honor the rebate. He said he has not received instruction from Viking Yet. Now I am a little worried.

 

[jmanisa]

I've submitted the rebate on May25...Still haven't received the $25....even though the status is valid.
I think whoever is going to buy Viking CF with rebate should be aware....I'm pretty sure nobody wants to wait 3-4 months like me

Try this "Continental promotional Group, 1-800-554-9838 x6100" . That's the real name of the company who is processing our rebates....Everyone call them up...see if it would expedite them up!! So you can talk to the real persons, not automatic voice system.

I read a thread by ZenMan regarding the VIEWSONIC rebate....He encouraged people to file complaint with FTC (Federal Trade Commission). The result came out pretty cool....It ended up Viewsonic has to honor all the rebates.

 

[TheWolf]

I was in on a rebate they were doing near the end of 2000 on 64mb flash cards. I ordered by the rules, submitted everything, and got a card back that it was denied because I did not submit my UPC panel (which was total BS) and if I submitted it in 7 days they would honor it. I wrote them a nice letter, explaining that I did, in fact, submit it, and that I expected the rebate to be honored. I also enclosed a photocopy of the viking flash card along with my drivers license, as verification (all I had left, since they had my original UPC).

I received my rebate a few weeks ago, after approximately 8 months of waiting. Better late than never I guess, at least they made it right. I was a bit surprised actually, I expected to be shafted and never see a dime of the rebate.

 

[jmanisa]

<< I was denied for an invalid UPC code.

I found the CF128 hot deal on Anandtech, and purchased it (in May). When I received the CF128, all I received was a black anti-static bag that had the CF128 inside (in a plastic carrying case). I did not receive any box or anything else.

That anti-static bag had a bar code on it that looked like a UPC code. So I sent in the rebate form with the sales receipt and this bar code. I received back a card from Viking in early July, stating that I was denied, but could send the card back with the correct UPC code. As I didn't have any other UPC code, and the card didn't even specify an address to send it back to, I called Amazon.

Amazon did some research, contacted Viking, and told me that they would end up honoring the rebate. However, it was going to take an additional 6 to 8 weeks before I would receive my check. Unbelievable or what?

Did any one else receive their CF128 in the same condition I did? >>




To DVDnut

I believe we all received the VIKING CF128MB in the little dark anti-static bag, nothing more than that!....That was probably the worst packaging I've ever had from regular online stores....Believe it or not, most of my items got from Ebay had better packaging that that!!....

I

Good to know that at least I'm not the only one here....

 

[dakata24]

thanks for that link zemel!

was looking at some earlier posts by theviking guy with some important information i think:

Dear Viking Customers,


I am very concerned about each of your individual concerns. I will personally research and reply regarding the status of each of your rebates if you will please email me at amazoninfo@vikingsupport.com. In order to expedite the situation please set the title of the email as &quot;Viking Rebate Status&quot;, and provide me with your name, address, phone number, and email address (please have it match the information you put on the rebate form).

We have sent out thousands of checks and we still have thousands more to send. We did not anticipate, and perhaps were not properly prepared, for the flood of customers that were so excited about the great offer we started providing a few months ago. We made the proper adjustments to allow for a smoother customer experience. One of the many changes we made was making the rebate itself more user friendly.

For those of you that truly know Viking and have had the opportunity to deal with us over the past 13 years are aware that our company reputation is one of the best in the industry. Be rest assured that we will do whatever is possible to handle your concerns as quickly as possible.

Please take a few moments to send the requested information to the email stated above and I will make sure that a response (or check) is sent to you as soon as possible.

Thank you for your business and continued support of the Viking flash product line.

Sincerely,

David Payne
eBusiness Channel Account Manager
Viking Components, Inc.



DVDNut: I also got the cf in an anti-static bag. I just mailed the whole darn thing (after of course photocopying it) since i had no use for it anyways.. my rebate is valid, they just wont set a freaking mail date. i emailed david payne at the email address above. hope he gets back to me soon with a resolution.

 

[cmv]

My CF card came in a little white box. I'm pretty sure I cut the UPC/label off of it for the rebate. I'll go check my scans (on another computer) to see...

 

[doorknob]

I believe that mine came in a clear plastic clam-shell retail enclosure. I have not had any response to the rebate submission yet, but at least for me there was no difficulty in obtaining a proper UPC code to submit.