Screw rebates!

[Demon-Xanth]

So I get in on a deal for a wireless router at Newegg, free after rebate. The router ended up sucking so badly that it's in a drawer now. I figure, hey, free router, you get what you pay for. I send in the rebate forms on 1/26. The form says 6-8 weeks for the checks to be sent. After 4 weeks I send emails to the rebate company because I can't track it. No reply. After six I send one to Newegg's customer service. I get a reply saying "We're not responsible for manufactuer's rebates" (even though Newegg's name was all over the thing). It's 12 weeks out now, I sent the rebate company a message saying basically "WTF?" Thier response:

Thank you for your recent rebate inquiry. Your rebate is in process. Your submission date was 03/18/06 and the processing time for your rebate is 8-10 weeks. Your submission ID is ########. Please allow more time for it to finish processing.

Funny, none of my bills take two months to be delivered.

This is the same f'ing rebate company (rebatestatus.com) that told the BBB that they sent out a check on a certain date that was BEFORE they had rejected my Seagate rebate twice (and that check miraculously had the same number as the one issued 3 months after that date)

F' rebates. F' newegg. I'm not buying anything from there until I get my money.

 

[kranky]

At least they are saying you'll get it.

I have been burned twice by McAfee, both times they rejected my rebate because they said the prior version's CD wasn't submitted with the forms as required. I most certainly DID include it both times.

Never again.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

They haven't said I'd get it yet. It's still "processing".

 

[PingSpike]

I only buy things with rebates if its a good price without the rebate. In other words, I assume the rebate will never come. If it does its like "Woah! Free money!" This keeps me from buying a hard drive thats worth $50 for $80 with a $40 MIR, then never getting the rebate and ending up $30 in the hole.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

...oh yeah, the f'ing boxes that they had were set up for you to put one character per space, and my email and home addresses were both too long to fit. The only email that would fit would be joebob@aol.com. God forbid someone has something longer. Only street address that would fit would be 1234 Fake St. (and that's it, no more characters)

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: kranky
At least they are saying you'll get it.

I have been burned twice by McAfee, both times they rejected my rebate because they said the prior version's CD wasn't submitted with the forms as required. I most certainly DID include it both times.

Never again.

Norton burned me on this when I submitted for an upgrade rebate for Ghost. I now use AVG and Acronis TrueImage...way to save $20 Norton :roll:.

 

[nakedfrog]

I haven't ever had a problem with one, lucky for me.

 

[newmachineoverlord]

Seagate ripped off my brother for fifty dollars. I guess that means I'll have to only buy hitachi drives from now on.

 

[aircooled]

I never buy anything based on rebates. If the price isn't good before rebate I skip it.

 

[jlee]

I had a $75 Dell/VisionTek rebate take months to come in...the $50 Seagate/Outpost one was much faster. Received them both just fine..haven't tried any Newegg products' rebates, though.

 

[Amplifier]

Even if you do get the rebate it's usually a hassle to get. Think about it, there is a reason the company doesn't just give you the discount at checkout, it's because they don't want you to claim the rebate.

When they have someone in the claws of the rebate machine, they start putting up road blocks. Little things like waiting 5 minutes on hold, delays, etc to make the customer throw up their hands and say fudge it. They are never mean of course, because they don't want you to get angry. They just want to gently make it not worth their while to claim it. That way the customer blames themself.

For a person earning $20/hr, is it worth the time and headaches to get a $30 rebate? Probably not.

 

[narcotic]

Rebate company's business is making most effort you DO NOT get your money back, since this is how they make their money.
You should only buy something if its a good deal even before rebate, since you should consider yourself lucky if you ever see that money again.

 

[olds]

I have never, ever not gotten a rebate. Of course I keep copies of everything and send them certified/signature required.

 

[Maximus96]

Originally posted by: Amplifier
For a person earning $20/hr, is it worth the time and headaches to get a $30 rebate? Probably not.

not worth it if you take time off work to do it. but unless your company pays you to sit at home after work or on the weekends, i'd say its worth it.

 

[BigToque]

I think the government should step in and say no more of this rebate crap. If they want to offer rebates, fine, but they should force the rebate companies to deal with the retail outlets, and customers get the rebate right at the register.

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: BigToque
I think the government should step in and say no more of this rebate crap. If they want to offer rebates, fine, but they should force the rebate companies to deal with the retail outlets, and customers get the rebate right at the register.

More laws? Bleh.

I've heard good things about the Staples 'easy rebates' -- if everyone would start doing them like that, (almost) everyone would probably be happy.

 

[BigToque]

Originally posted by: CadetLee

Originally posted by: BigToque
I think the government should step in and say no more of this rebate crap. If they want to offer rebates, fine, but they should force the rebate companies to deal with the retail outlets, and customers get the rebate right at the register.

More laws? Bleh.

I've heard good things about the Staples 'easy rebates' -- if everyone would start doing them like that, (almost) everyone would probably be happy.

We have laws to protect people from scams. Rebates are scams and the companies running them are criminals. It's not a case of buyer beware. These companies simply do not give you your money, even when you do things "correctly". It's fraud.

 

[Maximus96]

staples and costco has been very good with my rebates.

 

[FrozenCanadian]

Originally posted by: BigToque

Originally posted by: CadetLee

Originally posted by: BigToque
I think the government should step in and say no more of this rebate crap. If they want to offer rebates, fine, but they should force the rebate companies to deal with the retail outlets, and customers get the rebate right at the register.

More laws? Bleh.

I've heard good things about the Staples 'easy rebates' -- if everyone would start doing them like that, (almost) everyone would probably be happy.

We have laws to protect people from scams. Rebates are scams and the companies running them are criminals. It's not a case of buyer beware. These companies simply do not give you your money, even when you do things "correctly". It's fraud.

Rebates are definatly a fraud. They only offer them becuase they think 3/4 of the people wont bother. When more than 75% of the people do then they "fudge" people around until they give up hope. Out of about 8 rebates I've sent in (following the rules to the letter) I've only got 1. As others have said only buy a product if the price is right before the rebate that way its free money if it comes.

EDIT: spelling

 

[Lalakai]

i can't verify it yet, but another reason the companies like using rebates, versus straight price discounts, is that rebates are classified as a business expense, and they also get a tax break on them. Considering that most companies only pay a small portion of their true tax, using rebates as a business expense, only adds injury to insult...........especially if the consumer never gets the rebate. Aahhhh America.

 

[Amplifier]

Originally posted by: Lalakai
i can't verify it yet, but another reason the companies like using rebates, versus straight price discounts, is that rebates are classified as a business expense, and they also get a tax break on them. Considering that most companies only pay a small portion of their true tax, using rebates as a business expense, only adds injury to insult...........especially if the consumer never gets the rebate. Aahhhh America.

That's very interesting.