Rebates are a scam

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RobCur

Banned
Oct 4, 2002
3,076
0
0
Originally posted by: Lars
Staples is always very good with rebates; other companies are so-so.
If they really want to promote their sales, why don't they just sell it for less say 1-2 day, instead of luring people into rebate? Average folk can't figure out what's behind the scheme because it really is complicated, it would take a brilliant mind to see throught this, like Albert Einstein. There was no such thing as rebate 10 years ago, and today, the hottest deals around are always with rebates exclusively, often price matching, and haggling with prices in order to get the best possible lowest price never before seen. brags right? sales pitch? Then, their is the warranty scam where best buy, circuit city, maybe a few others that I don't know of, talk their customer into paying the outrageous extra fee to extend their warranty, so they can get fat with their wallets.
 

Lars

Diamond Member
Jan 10, 2001
3,379
0
0
Originally posted by: RobCur
Originally posted by: Lars
Staples is always very good with rebates; other companies are so-so.
If they really want to promote their sales, why don't they just sell it for less say 1-2 day, instead of luring people into rebate? Average folk can't figure out what's behind the scheme because it really is complicated, it would take a brilliant mind to see throught this, like Albert Einstein. There was no such thing as rebate 10 years ago, and today, the hottest deals around are always with rebates exclusively, often price matching, and haggling with prices in order to get the best possible lowest price never before seen. brags right? sales pitch? Then, their is the warranty scam where best buy, circuit city, maybe a few others that I don't know of, talk their customer into paying the outrageous extra fee to extend their warranty, so they can get fat with their wallets.


If they offer a product cheaper trough rebates the perceived value of the product is still high. This allows them to sell the product for the higher price after the rebate period. If you offer a product cheap for one or two days the product is perceived as well "cheap" and it would be more difficult to sell it after those one or two days for a then much higher price. At least that is my guess.
 

Conky

Lifer
May 9, 2001
10,709
0
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I hate rebates. I've had several not come. I had one come and the check they sent me bounced because the company was out of business.

I recently sent two to OfficeMax, they are the worst. Kept scanned copies of everything sent and they still said stuff was missing. :|

Also recently purchased a new CD-RW with 2 rebates and got the Best Buy part but the manufacturer is taking their sweet time and I don't expect to ever see it.

Rebates are a scam as far as I'm concerned.
 

vegetation

Diamond Member
Feb 21, 2001
4,270
2
0
I still can't get over how one rebate was rejected because my rebate form was incomplete with an email field empty. However, they notified me of the denial by emailing me.
 

Squisher

Lifer
Aug 17, 2000
21,204
66
91
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Originally posted by: RobCur
You may play by the rules but they will be the one that bends them, then what? Hire a lawyer? I rather pay a little less then retail price buying it online and not having to worry about rebates coming back or not. Greed can often fireback, and get those who never satisfy with what they have, empty handed, lmao. :D
These are some of the strangest posts I have ever seen. Massive conspiracy theorizing and an excessively alarmist tone. They remind me of the over-paranoid and slightly comic figures in bad Science Fiction films.

ZV

You should've spent some time in the War Forum in the last month.

 

Tom

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
13,293
1
76
I've applied for 277 rebates since 1998 and eventually got all of them one way or another, except one. A few of the rebates I only was able to get by going to the retail store and getting reimbursed by the store, rather than by the original process.

Having said that, I have cut back on purchases involving rebates, partly because of the economy, and partly because I've noticed a disturbing escalation in the difficulty of getting rebates. I don't know if it's because the rebate houses are becoming more incompetent at processing or if it's a deliberate strategy to reduce the number of rebates paid out.

The one rebate I did not get was for $100 from Dell. The disturbing thing about it, besides the large amount, is I did everything exactly as I was supposed too. I even confirmed several times with Dell customer service before the purchase that I would receive the rebate.

Bottom line, I would be very careful before buying anything from Dell involving a rebate. You can't rely on reading the rebate form, or even talking to Dell directly, to find out exactly what is required to qualify for the rebate. As far as I know there isn't any way to know for sure about a rebate and Dell until you have deposited the check and it has cleared.
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
Depends from who (which manufacturer / store). I get about 90% of my rebates back.
 

Hector13

Golden Member
Apr 4, 2000
1,694
0
0
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Originally posted by: ElFenix
Once they have enough people invested in their rebates, they will run away with it, leaving those waiting for it, disappointed/outraged. The stock market crash ring any bell to you?
What stock market crash, the 1920's crash? This recent "crash" is nothing more than a correction from the bubble economy of the past few years. Note the trend in this plotting of the DJIA values for the past 20 years. You can clearly see the bubble surge and correction.

ZV

What are you talking about? Every "crash" or "correction" looks like that (that is why they are called crashes...). Here is a stupid looking graph of '29 and '87 I found on google: http://members.tripod.com/~crashready/. Note the similarities?

 

falias

Golden Member
May 13, 2001
1,262
0
0
Comp USA has screwed me over the most, always something wrong with the rebate, I still haven't got my $200 from a laptop deal that was going on during the after thanksgiving sale.
 

Growltiger

Golden Member
Oct 11, 1999
1,924
0
0
Originally posted by: Lars
Staples is always very good with rebates; other companies are so-so.

I agree. I've always gotten my rabates from them. I've also had a lot of good luck through Amazon, too. If you stay around HD long enough, you can figure out which businesses and products to avoid (e.g. CompUsa as previously mentioned).
 

human2k

Diamond Member
Jun 21, 2001
3,563
0
0
It's a total scam for lazy people like me. I bought an epson printer which is $100 after $70 worth of rebates. I never sent them in, and now they all expired! Damn how dare they take advantage of the lazy!
 

bsobel

Moderator Emeritus<br>Elite Member
Dec 9, 2001
13,346
0
0
If they really want to promote their sales, why don't they just sell it for less say 1-2 day, instead of luring people into rebate? Average folk can't figure out what's behind the scheme because it really is complicated, it would take a brilliant mind to see throught this, like Albert Einstein. There was no such thing as rebate 10 years ago, and today, the hottest deals around are always with rebates exclusively, often price matching, and haggling with prices in order to get the best possible lowest price never before seen. brags right? sales pitch? Then, their is the warranty scam where best buy, circuit city, maybe a few others that I don't know of, talk their customer into paying the outrageous extra fee to extend their warranty, so they can get fat with their wallets.

First, you are an idiot. Your claiming that rebate programs are ruining the economy, and only people like 'Albert Einstein' (and therefore yourself) are smart enough to figure it out.

Second, it's really really simply. Rebates off the stores a way to a) lower the price on an item without lowering the perceived value of the item (e.g. when the raise the price back up, it continues to sell) and b) a very LARGE percentage of people never bother sending in the rebate forms PERIOD. So, a store offering a 10% discount on an item might well wind up paying out only 4-5% in actual rebate related costs. Purchasers that took advantage and followed the rules did ok, others only have theirselves to blame.

It's a total scam for lazy people like me. I bought an epson printer which is $100 after $70 worth of rebates. I never sent them in, and now they all expired! Damn how dare they take advantage of the lazy!

While I was typing this Lazy2k posted this ^, is reaffirms my above statement.

Like most people I've never had a problem getting a rebate honored, some have been slower than others. Suggesting that rebates companies are a pyramid scheme just waiting to run away with the 'loot' is stupid. Complaining that a rebate was denied because you sent in a copy of a UPC where the original UPC was required is also stupid.

Bill