Mail In Rebates
Nov 4th, 2006 by dank
How annoying are mail in rebates? Like the ones where you have to cut off half of the box the product came in, then make 4 copies of the receipt and the rebate form. Oh, and make sure you filled out the rebate form EXACTLY as instructed. Then mail all that stuff to the “rebate center” in Ohio.
When I’m looking for a good deal on some product and I see “only $49.95 after discount and mail in rebates,” I tend to move on and find a true deal. The time I have to spend following the rebate instructions, not to mention the 4 – 6 weeks I have to wait to get my $4 check just aren’t worth the hassle. If you really want my business, give me a good deal and don’t make me jump through 25 completely meaningless hoops to get it.
I laughed so hard reading this one. I used to be the rebate king during the “free after rebate” craze that lasted a couple of years. If it was free it was for me, no matter how many stupid rebates I had to process. I would keep a detailed record, scan copies of everything mailed in, etc. What a royal waste of time it was for the most part, but I got my free stuff!
A few times rebate centers would try to pull the shenanigans like claiming I didn’t include the UPC or original receipt, not submitted in time, etc. I took it as a personal challenge to not let them pull that junk because I was so detailed in my documentation. Not one got away with it. Call me the one man Rainmaker of rebate scams.
Now I am with you. Most mail in rebates these days are yawners. It has to be a pretty significant deal on something I really want, otherwise it just isn’t snagging me on the hook. Oh, and what ever happened to a decent deal on CDRs and DVD-Rs? Those used to be the loss-leader of choice for all of the tech/office stores. I go through those like crazy, but it has been forever since I have seen a decent special on them.
Very nice dank. I couldn’t agree more. Staples is infamous for this “mail in rebate” scheme.
Get this, I guess Circuit city is jumping in on the game too. My brother-in-law bought a desktop PC today and they actually offer, as an upgrade (for a fee), someone takes care of the rebate for you!!
Imagine that! The total deal was “…for $150 we will have an affiliated company come and install all your programs and take care of any mail in rebates for you.”
This totally blew my mind. OK installing all the programs on a new PC… totally different rant which I will focus on later. However, paying someone to take care of the rebate hassle paperwork… now that’s a classic.
Try getting mail in rebates when your not American. We bought a laptop while we were in California and we asked about the rebate. Oh sorry your not eligable we were told. Then they had the nerve to try to sell us an extended warrenty that was only good if you lived in the USA. They didn’t seem to understand that we were English. The warrenty would have been no good at all. Extended warrenties should warrent a rant in them selves.
Ann