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Best Buy to Eliminate Rebates
plover writes "According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune 'In response to customer complaints, Best Buy, the world's largest electronics retailer, promised today to eliminate mail-in rebates within two years.' Can it be that we're finally nearing the end of one of the most hated marketing ploys of all?" Further commentary available at BusinessWeek.
Honestly, as it's still April Fool's on the West Coast of the US, I'm having a hard time buying the story.
If it is indeed true and not a part of the crapflood that is 1 April, then damn, what will I do with the extra postage?
Haec merda tauri est. Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.
I think not. They have to have thought up something better.
Only my extreme tenaciousness allowed me to get my rebate for a router. I had a photocopy of the reciept they lost TWICE, claiming I never sent it in. On the third time they tried to pull the old "no facsimilies" routine, but I kept at them and they relented and gave up the 30 bucks.
A richer man would have just given up. That is part of thier plan.
SerialEx13 is right on the money. I put in for a $50 rebate on a HDD. Bought the thing September '04. The rebate form, reciept copy, and bottom panel of the box went into the mail the same day. It's now April '05 and three calls and 1 fax to Best Buy have given me nothing but one long distance fax charge and no rebate yet.
Blessed are the pessimists, for they have made backups. -- 0 1 My two bits
They make money because only half of rebates are redeemed. This means that they can advertise the price lower than without a rebate by counting on some people not getting their money back. The people that benefit are the ones who do send in their rebate because they're getting a better deal at the expense of the lazy people who can't cut out the UPC code.
blockquoth the poster:
A month a go I built a new system from components, which I got at Frys ( too impatient to wait for NewEgg ). 2/3 of the ~20 components had rebates. As i think back, it seems that ~ 1/2 of the things i ever bought at Frys had rebates. they even print the rebates on the cash register reciept for you.
so i have no idea what you're buying at Frys that don't have rebates, but it's probibaly not made of silicon. are you the guy i always see in the hentai animi section ?
Sitting Walrus Blog
If blockbuster can be made to refund people for something just because _they_ had the details in finer print (and it wasn't even that obscured, IMO), I don't see why Best Buy can't be made to stop this effective bullshitting they are doing by advertising the price after rebate as if it were the sticker price.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
recently I started shopping at Fry's in Renton WA. I live north of seattle so it is a bit of a drive. Often one of my buddies will go with me which usually results in a bunch of stupid purchases we weren't planning on, but makes for a fun (although expensive) afternoon.
We wander around the huge store eventually losing track of each other. We are now only slightly embarrassed by having to call each others cell phones to find each other (although this took some getting used to). They have some really good deals especially considering the rebates. I started wondering if something was up a few months ago however when I bought an item, and a few days later when I went to mail the rebate in I noticed some fine print that said I should have mailed it sooner and it was no longer good.
now I have grown to hate fry's. yes I still shop there, but I am so frustrated when I have to wait 5 minutes while the cashier has to collect the stack of rebate forms for all the items I bought. Often these rebates are not even marked on a sign in the store so I am usually unaware they are even available.
I did all my christmas shopping there and was horrified at the stack of paperwork it generated. A seperate set of photo copies, forms to fill out, file folders to label and store in a "safe place" and stamped/addressed envelopes to buy, lick and stick. Some of the rebates were impossible to collect as I realized that I had given the UPC codes on some items away with the gift. The giftee's had usually thrown them away (of course) by the time I figured out which reciept went with which gift.
After cooling off for a couple months I found myself at fry's making a purchase again. Again there was a nice rebate available. This time I was absolutely determined to get my money. As I read the fine print I found another disturbing detail. On this particular rebate (and probably most) sending the required stuff to get the rebate meant that you could no longer make a warranty claim. The warranty of the item required the original UPC, and so did the rebate. So you were given the choice of $x back -OR- the warranty for the product.
what a world. my fingers are tired of typing. if you skipped the rest of my message I will sum it up for you: rebates suck, frys sucks, best buy sucks, and so do you, and everything else around us.
goodnight
Obama is a twitter sock puppet
I work for Staples. The Staples online EasyRebate system has all but eliminated mail-in rebates. Rebates can be submitted at https://www.stapleseasyrebates.com/
Customers seem to love this option.
~DF
I know an (unethical) IT guy who had a nice suplimental income by buying stuff for his company and sending himself the rebate checks. I think a lot of the rebate driven sales are from scum like that.
Note: I don't even dabble in Perl, I script PHP or HTML and code in C++ and Java(not proficient enough to sell services or even read discussions of advanced topics).
I don't keep a lid on my coffee so when I walk around I look busy -me
Actually, Best Buy has gone a large way to eliminate rebates already. I used to get a lot of good rebate deals at Best Buy, now I hardly get any. In elimination of the rebates they don't seem to have done much to reduce prices, they have just eliminated many of the deals. I for one miss getting free optical mice or free 50 or 100 packs of CDRs after rebate, even if I did have to send in the rebate materials and wait months. The remaining rebates seem to be on higher priced items, but before you get too thrilled that they are eliminating rebates, what in the world makes you think that they will lower prices to reflect these lost rebates? They sure didn't do it on the cheaper items that frequently had rebate deals on them, I doubt that they will do it often on any item after they completely get rid of rebates. No one forced you to send in those rebates, but it was a way to get money back if you did. If the rebates vanish completely but the prices still don't reflect it, then we all lose.
I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
Rebates do make it seem like you are getting a deal, but you can go to one of Best Buy's competitors and buy the same item for Best Buy's price minus the rebate.
Even better, order the item online - you might wait a few days for the item but it will be cheaper, even with shipping. No matter it's a scam because the reason they, or the manufacturer, offer a rebate is because there was a price break.
There once was a time, you might just remember, when rebates were offered after you bought your item. Like the original "Zip" drive. I paid $200 for it when it came out, the same week it came out. Then after a few months they started offering rebates but they made it retroactive. That is what a rebate should be like.
Using rebates to sucker in customers isn't always going to work. It's not that they are bad always, my current computer was a huge deal because of the rebate. Then again, it dropped in price the same amount two weeks later.
Waiting two weeks would have kept the money in my pocket and I wouldn't have had to loan the computer company $250 for 2 months.
Get your Unix fortune now!
what took me over the limit was when i bought a hardrive. They assured me the rebate would only take a couple of weeks so i put the extra money out with hopes that the $30 would be back in time to pay my car insuance.
It sure was refunded in time. only problem is that they sent it in the form of a $30 gift card and was only good at best buy. I took a copy of the add along with a copy of the reciet and warenty info that they gave me when i bought the hardrive. They said nothign could be done, either sppend the credit on the giftcard or let it expire. I guess if i had enough money, i should have taken them to small claims court or somethign.
The article is probably a joke, but nevermind.
My brother bought a stack of recordable CDs from a retailer in Vancouver close to five years ago. Of course, the advertised price at the time was a phenomenal deal and against my protestations and the angst inducing mail in rebate requirement for the "sale" price he bit and purchased the CDs, filled out the form and mailed in all the required bullshit.
Needless to say months later still no check. Down to the store he goes only to find out from the retailer that this is common problem and that most companies contract out their rebates to "fulfilment centres" where "fulfilment" is anything but.
We get into the "I told you so" conversation and I jokingly mention that he should sue. Note that by this point he'd called, mailed a letter or two and been generally frustrated. He looked into the matter and decided that he would file a small claims suit. According to him, they are incredibly easy to file in BC with only a few sticking points such as the legal name of the entity you wish to make a claim against and the type of business presence the company maintains in BC.
A few days after (and $100 later for filing costs) he sent a copy of the statement of claim to the company offices in Vancouver he received a nice phone call from the company offering to send him a check for the rebate and the cost of his filing fee (which was claimed in his statement of claim). He never got to stand before a judge, but he did get his satisfaction.
Now, why would someone go through all this for the $10 rebate on a stack of $25 CD-Rs? Well, he's the guy that decided half way through university that instead of engineering he wanted to become a dentist, so he did. He's one of those anal retentive types that keeps, files and remembers everything. Which is a good thing if you're a dentist, I suppose.
and claim to never receive it when delivery confirmation and a signature of one of their employees says otherwise.
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
I actually work for company who processes rebates (#2 in this business). We all work incredibly hard to get people their rebates and process (many) millions of them every year.
If you have to mail your forms and the forms are received and they are valid, you will get your rebate, there is nobody intentionally holding on to your money. If there is a problem, you will be notified and you can always contact our customer support to get it resolved. I can guarantee you that we have VERY dedicated people trying to resolve such issues, and I know it since I work side by side with them every day.
If you are tired of sending mail, you can just go to shop to (for examples) Staples. You don't have to send anything by mail anymore if you shop there. Just come to their easy rebates website, submit your name and address and you will get the check and soon even direct deposit as Staples announced this week.
The reason why the rebate process takes so long is actually not technical, one of the mai reasons is policy of manufacturer and retailers. Often the retailers need to protect themself from people who try to commit fraud, buy products, apply for rebates and return them. Mostly due to this reason you have to wait to get it.
I wonder how much the USPS (and the rebate fulfillment companies) are going to lose from this.
I dont buy consumer electronics at retail all that often - but anytime I've considered doing so I've prety much figured the same way - However much cash I have to bring to the store is the price of the item.
In fact, I've always thought it would be entertaining, if a store advertised (eg) "39.95 (in huge print) - after $30 and $50 rebates (in tiny print)" to go to the store, bringing exactly 39.95 (plus enough for tax, etc) and take the item to the register, and hand them that amount at the check out, and when they wanted more, pointed out (very vocally and very angrily) that the price displayed was 39.95, not the higher amount, and then after they (presumably) refused to let me out the door paying only the "advertised" price, walked out the door leaving the item there, and making lots of noise about it as I did so - the whold point being to A. force them to deal with an unhappy (lost) customer, B. have to carry the item back and put it on the shelf again, and C. call as much attention to I could (both to the store, as well as any other customers at the registers, etc) that they had lost a sale over the stupidity.
Best Buy's Price: $99.99 - $50 MIR = $49.99
The Best Froogle could do wiht that same model number? $70 for a refurbished white box.
Best Pricewatch could do for that drive? $62 (This was a diffrent model number, but to be fair, as far as I could tell, same specs. The same model number was $74)
Let's go with the $74 figure. That's $25.99 less than $99.99. The mail-in-rebate is $50. Which means you should go for the mail-in-rebate if you seriously expect there's a higher than 52% probability that it will actually pay out. (Disregarding the expense of time and effort to fill in and follow-up on the rebate, as well as any loss in value of the product because the warrantee is invalid if you send away the original UPC or purchase slip or whatever to get the rebate).
Or, to put it like this; a probability of less than 48% than the rebate people will fuck you in the ass.
If you like those odds, you might as well steal the product and take your chances with your cellmate.
SCO employee? Check out the bounty
In fact, I've always thought it would be entertaining, if a store advertised (eg) "39.95 (in huge print) - after $30 and $50 rebates (in tiny print)" to go to the store, bringing exactly [......]
... he is 20. i tried to reason with them, but ended up just saying 'if i can't buy the beer then i don't want any of this, i'll go to another store' so someone at that store ended up putting back all my frozen goods and meats and everything.
walked out the door leaving the item there, and making lots of noise about it as I did so - the whold point being to A. force them to deal with an unhappy (lost) customer, B. have to carry the item back and put it on the shelf again, and C. call as much attention to I could (both to the store, as well as any other customers at the registers, etc) that they had lost a sale over the stupidity.
a little off topic, but i think that is a reasonable action for any poor customer service. I did it in the food store once. I [almost] bought $140us worth of food, and one single six pack of newcastle. I ran into a friend in line buying some chips or something, he was behind me, and because we were 'talking to one another' they needed to see his ID for me to purchase my beer
you can't have everything, where would you put it?
Sigh... someone at their fulfillment center decided they needed the money more than I did and entered my rebate information to get sent to them. Lovely.
Had to end up filing a complaint with the better business bureau to get it fixed. They finally are going to resend it to me - just last week in fact.
This couldnt happen sooner (rebates ending).
It's too expensive. Seriously.
Poor people have to pay bounced check fees, late fees, alarmingly high interest rates, frequent car repairs, etc., etc.
I remember a time in my life when, after I had paid out all of my bills, if I had $5 left in my pocket, I was doing well. And then to get slapped with a $30 bounced check fee, it was an outrageous amount of money that had a cascade effect on my finances. The following month, something else would go unpaid because the banking fees were taken off the top of my next deposit. And heaven help you if you wrote a lot of little checks that processed after the first one bounced; you can rack up a few hundred dollars in bounced check fees for less than $10 of actual spending.
The middle class, for the most part, doesn't pay bounced check fees. Well, ok, it still happens to me every now and then, but it is very rare. Think about it, though... One of the largest and most profitable revenue streams for these mega corporations comes from assaulting the poorest people in America. It seems criminal.
I cringe when I see these check cashing retail stores, because they're such a ripoff... but at least they're upfront about ripping poor people off, unlike the banks.
You might be the exception more than the rule. Lately I've had better luck with rebates, but I haven't done one through BestBuy in a while. About 2-3 years ago when I tried to do them, there were 2 that I didn't ever receive and I followed the rules of the rebate perfectly. But it was for $10 or something so it wasn't really worth my time to call about it. Unfortunately thats probably what they are counting on. Rebates are bad for consumers.
Hey - I dig the MIR. I get things for free or nearly free using it as a tax dodge:
1) Buy a wifi gateway for $80 and write it off.
2) Send in the MIR personally and get $50 back tax-free.
This makes the drive nearly free. The $80 cost me $56 in post-tax dollars because of the deduction (roughly 30%). The MIR gets me $50 of that back in post-tax dollars, so my effective cost for it was $6.
(Technically, I should have received the rebate as income and taken a hit to make up for it).
But I agree that they are still a big hassle.
Staples EASY rebates are much better than MIR's. That is what probly BEST BUY is planing on doing in 2 years worth of time. Cause I know myself and many other would rather do it online than to mail it in. And so far I have gotten all mine back and in record times. Seems many stores are just tring to play catchup to Staples now. I see something done at staples then lil while latter something real simular shows up at one of the other guys.
Sure, everyone (myself included) thinks the rebates are a pain, but without them all that means is that Best Buy will be effectively charging you MORE. Do you really think they will lower their prices to match the price-after-rebate that they currently offer? Our local supermarket pulled the same scam - they advertised "new lower prices everyday" ala Wal*Mart, but prices were really higher since they stopped offering shoppers-club discounts. (Example - Slim Fast used to be something like $7 but was discounted to $5 for cardholders every day for over 2 years, so effectively the price was $5. Now, with new "lower" prices, the cost is $6 which technically is lower than $7 but no one ever paid the $7 to begin with)
Surely you meant: Mail-in rebates are for stupid or illiterate consumers.
Let me enumerate the fetures of a mail-in rebate as compared to an actual, old-fashioned, "primitive", you know, cash discount:
Literate and wise consumers recognize this for what it is, i.e. a form of a "bait and switch" scam by the vendor and manufacturer and do complain to Better Business Bureau or law officials.
I've never had a single problem getting my rebates.
Congratulations, the vendor has trained you to be a circus monkey for them: "Plague, cut the barcode, fill the form with all your personal data for sale to direct mailers, pay for postage, run to the post office, go to the bank depositing the cheque! Good monkey!"