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Are Rebates Scandalous?
theodp asks: "Motley Fool offers a dead-on take on the computer mail-in rebate fulfillment process--Once I receive your 'claim,' I will begin to 'process' it. Assuming that you filled out all the information correctly, and assuming nothing is missing, and assuming your claim doesn't get lost somehow, and if you call or write a few times to check on your claim's status, then I will mail your check within 10 to 12 weeks. Maybe. Or maybe it'll be four to six months. Or never." What are your thoughts on rebates, and have any of you noticed who, at least in the computing industry, is more trustworthy with rebates than others?
Update by J :
Here's the
short version
of the article.
Like most Americans, I like my free money right here, right now -- mostly because I won't remember the purchase when I finally get the rebate. Getting a check for $50 in the mail three months after I bought that hard drive is like winning the beauty contest in Monopoly. Wow, fifty bucks out of thin air, cool!
So for that reason I don't like rebates. I like my savings at the register, not in my personal cash-flow analysis at the end of the quarter.
levine
When you think about it, companies offering rebates could have as well simply lowered the price of the product and make more convinient for consumers.
However, they *know* that most people: (1) forget to send them, (2) lose them, (3) fill them incorrectly (even a misspell of a city name is "wrong" for them, (4) or simply cannot fill them because the box where the product came in (and that had the barcode scan number on it) has been long gone in the trash.
In other words, it's a way for them to screw you. I have to admit I only received *one* check in my entire life out of a rebate, and it arrived so long after the purchase that I had already forgotten about it.
My thought is that any self-respected company who *trully* cares about customers, should simply drop rebates and lower the price of the products (even if not by as much as the value of the actual rebates).
I have submitted over 6 Frys rebates and everyone has been rejected - something always seems to be missing. At least they send me a notice saying so. I have nothing against Frys (you can see I have kept buying stuff from there), but before I buy I always remember to translate their advertised price to the price without the rebate before deciding, because I don't even bother any more.
gosh, thanks for the tip -- I usually opt for the 20-rebate version to save 1%.
Actually, I'm pretty sure most people would pay a few dollars more to avoid dealing with rebates (depends on the total price of course, $2 more on a $5 item is significant; $2 more on $100 isn't). Do the math including the stamp, emvelope, your time, the time value of money (I use 6% these days, sigh for the good ol 20% days), and make an informed decision rather than boycotting anything (which, to me, smacks of blind rejection, which seems about as smart as blind acceptance). Anyway, that's really not a way to combat anything -- it's common sense (admittedly less common than the name would imply though, so I could be wrong). It's not really a boycott either.
I use rebates (and price matches, BVG from amex, and cashback systems from places like ebates) extensively. I get a lot of heavily discounted (occasionally free) goods (and yes, goods that I wanted anyway) by using the awesome info available on the web at places like hot-deals.org and fatwallet.com.
A quick quicken check tells me that I sent in more than $1700 in rebates last year, and I've received all but $90. The ones I didn't get were from companies that I've never heard of (and possibly no longer, or never did, exist).
Rather than assume all rebates have a value = $0, I calculate a modifed rebate price by multiplying the rebate value by a factor less than 1.0 that I assign to that company. Intel/AMD/Dell companies with something in their name they might want to lose get close to a 1.0. Imation/Buslink/UltraWiz companies I've never (or barely) heard of get close to a 0.0. Others usually get something in between.
BTW, that $90 will be recouped somewhat by claiming it as a 'bad debt' on my tax return (which I still haven't completed, unfortunately) -- if you have a business, you can do that too. Though of course IANAL, consult your tax professional, close cover before striking . . .
I guess my point in this long post is: assuming all rebates are worthless is as unwise as assuming all are worth face value.
everything in moderation
"Thank you for processing my rebate. I have marked my calendar to receive my rebate no later than (2 months to the day I mailed it.)" = Fill in () appropriately.
Just below this type your information from the receipt including SKU numbers, your mailing address and store of purchase plus how much you are expecting. Printing an actual two month calendar and highlighting the day of rebate is a nice touch.
I will gaurantee you will not have another "missing" rebate. They think, "looks like this guy would sue over a $5 rebate, we better get it right"
A buddy of mine goes a step further and puts:
"Consumer protection laws in my state require that rebates be processed in 8 weeks"
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
You're forgetting another key advantage to the seller - rebates generate float. Put simply, they hold your money in interest-bearing investments until the point, 6-8 weeks after the purchase, at which you receive and cash the rebate check. This is why, unlike mail/internet orders that also say to allow 6-8 weeks for delivery yet typically are delivered within 10 days, rebate checks invariably take the full 6-8 week period to actually arrive in your mailbox. Also notice how the checks are always drawn on obscure banks in places like Lake Lillian, MN; this gives them an extra day or two of interest while the check waits to be cleared after you deposit it. The Straight Dope goes into this in more detail.
I've let a few rebates go, and been mad at myself for it. However, my experience this Yule actually trying to claim them irritates me to no end.
..voice jail. $50 down the drain most likely.
PNY -- Denied both rebates. Reason? They paid a rebate for ram for me before. Even though it was a completely different rebate offer on a different kind of ram and it was ages ago. I expected them to pay at least one of them. A year ago (or more) they paid a rebate in about 7 weeks. Not a lot of money.
CyneDyne -- Sent in Dec 11, heard nothing, call
Jensen (speakers) -- Sent in in November. They claim they recieved nothing. I sent them the origional reciept as per their rq, and didn't make a photocopy of it because I didn't figure I would need it. Not much I can do about it. Ripped off for $40.
Going to have to send this stuff registered mail if I ever bother with it again. I prefer just to buy online with no rebates. Less hassle, more honest. I wish I had instead of visiting Best Buy, Office Depot..etc
I'm 0 for 4 with xmas/yule rebates. That's not good, and it wasn't this bad a couple years ago.
Freedom is merely privilege extended unless enjoyed by one and all.
I worked at a company that made scanners several years back, and like most high tech firms, they didn't handle their own rebates. They hired a special rebate company to do it. A good number of people just plain fail to mail in their rebate forms, and that's how the rebate folks make their money. The statistic that was quoted to me at the time was that for a 50 dollar rebate, only 50 percent of the people managed to mail their forms in. For a ten dollar rebate, only ten perent of customers mailed their stuff in. I have no idea how true that was, but it seemed to make sense, given the fact that I've never mailed a rebate coupon in at all, for any amount. Rebates are an entirely sleazy practice, but then again, what isn't in big business these days? It's just another example of how corporate america makes people jump through hoops to get basic service, in the hopes that most people will just give up. I just pretend the rebates don't exist, in the hopes that they'll go away. I look only at the price that I'm paying going out the door - if that doesn't work for me, I buy something else. Shawn