Slashdot Mirror
Best Buy Working Towards Ending Mail-in Rebates
chibbie writes "Best Buy is finally working towards ending mail-in rebates by 2007. Rebates will still be around, but you will be able to file them online, and receive your check much quicker.
I guess this means Best Buy doesn't hate their customers after all."
guess this means Best Buy doesn't hate their customers after all.
Sure they do.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Why not just deduct the rebate at the cash register? We all know that's doable. No, their dream is to extract from each customer the maximum personal price. Those willing to pay full price do, and those only willing to pay a lower price get it. Willingness to do senseless work determines who falls in what camp--it's just like coupon clipping.
Why assume that Best Buy is trying to help out the customer? Maybe they're trying to make it more efficient for themselves to eat your money.
Has anyone else had any experience with the online rebate firm onrebate.com? They ate my rebate claiming insufficient documentation (which I know is wrong...), but the worst part is they will not even allow me to resubmit anything to them. After waiting on hold for 30 minutes, the nice customer service representative explained how their decision was final, with no option for recourse whatsoever. Then she even transferred me to her manager, a filled-up voicemail box. Emails have gone unanswered for a month. Apparently they're affiliated with tigerdirect.com, which I understand has equally craptastic customer service. At this point, I'm gonna go to Fry's and try to get them to fulfill the rebate they promised me, as the rebate firm is effectively impossible to contact.
Personally, I think it's safe to assume that Best Buy is no different, and unless they prove otherwise, I'll assume that they "hate their customers after all."
Best Buy is finally working towards ending mail-in rebates by 2007. Rebates will still be around, but you will be able to file them online, and receive your check much quicker.
My guess is, the vast majority of Best Buy customers aren't really the net-savvy types (i.e., everyone I know buys computer equipment at Newegg, not best buy or the like). So this is merely an effort to combat the increasing amounts of people redeeming these rebates by mail.
This is the cynic in me talking, yes.
Push Button, Receive Bacon
They just want our email addresses now so they can sell to every spam company in existance, that is all. I mean, its a great plan. They know for a fact that everyone has access to mail, but not everyone has access to the web. I think the only real good thing about this now is that we will no longer need to send in the UPC code which may get "lost" and deny you the rebate.
We were all warned a long time ago that MS products sucked, remember the Magic 8 Ball said, "Outlook not so good"
The idea that Best Buy actually cares about their customers boggles the mind.
This has absolutely nothing to do with that. The fact is, Best Buy is running scared since the FTC recently made CompUSA responsible for the rebates they had offered. They were required to put out a good sum of money to make good on those rebates.
From http://www.twice.com/article/CA6301701.html:
"Best Buy announced in April 2005 that it intended to eliminate mail-in rebates from its portfolio within two years in an effort to improve customers' experience. The announcement also followed a warning from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in March 2005 that retailers will be held accountable for all rebates they advertise, including those sponsored by vendors. The edict came after the FTC ordered CompUSA to make good on hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid rebate claims."
I worked as a contractor to establish this system for Best Buy. The end goal is that eventually they'll be able to submit rebate information directly at checkout and skip the process of mail-in forms or going online.
The best part is that it's opt-in.
When you file a rebate, you opt-in!
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
Companies offering (presumably manufacturers') rebates are not looking to decrease their bottom line by offering them at the point of sale. They shouldn't even consider it!
We all know that rebates are a 'bait-and-wait' scam where the manufacturers lure customers to products with big dollar rebates, and then bet on the fact that only a small percentage will ever claim them.
As far as the ones that get their boxtops but never pay up, there should be a special level of hell for.
are the ones that they subtract right at the register. No fuss, no muss, no bother.
This happened several times to me at Costco. Is it a Costco thing or something else?
Of all the rebates I had to mail in, from experience, I figure I only have a 50/50 chance of actually getting the money (back).
For me, the biggest "risk" with rebates was that the company handling the rebate could claim that they never received the rebate forms -- there is no way to prove that they aren't lying.
So, web based filing would be great. Staples and their "EasyRebate" works online now. I've used it once. The way they prevent cheating is that they link their sales database to the rebates database, thereby making sure that a rebate on a single sale is never claimed more than once -- which really was the whole point of the UPC code clipping portion of a rebate.
They need a web application where a customer can type in the serial number from their receipt, it looks that up in a database to see what they bought, they supply name and address and in 6-8 weeks sends them a check.
That's going to take another year to implement... i wish i worked software development at that pace.
Better yet, instead of doing rebates they could just reduce their prices... that would show they didn't hate their customers.
Mail-in rebates supposedly help the customer by giving (or creating the impression of) lower prices. They help businesses because people tend to be too lazy/busy/forgetful to fill the things out, and end up paying far too much for a product (I'm guilty of this). Because I have, due to laziness/business/forgetting, not tended to fill rebates out in the past, I no longer bother with mail-in rebate products (I'd rather pay a slightly higher cost and not deal with the hassle). If more people are in the same boat as me, then this system really serves as a temporary solution on the part of the corporation (do it until the lazy consumers learn). I would, however, be willing to fill out the forms online (it's really the whole snail mail process that gets in the way), and have done so in the past (with Best Buy; it worked flawlessly and I had my check within a couple weeks). Because the online rebate forms take so much less time to fill out (they do in my exp.), failure rate due to laziness and being too busy will decrease, thus requiring Best Buy to hope people will just forget about the rebate. Therefore, we'll probably start to see slightly smaller rebates in the future.
Think about it. You buy a $1000 item for $800, but you are taxed on $1000. I hate rebates and will pay extra to avoid them. The only rebates are the ones on stuff thats being thrown out for next to nothing. Sometimes you can actually make money on those :0
My hard drive in my main computer failed last night and I just went there on the way home today to pick up a replacement. They were blasting rap music in there so loud that I had to leave the store. My ears were ringing for 10 minutes after that.
Now I'll have to wait until tomorrow to get a new drive but I'd rather burn my computer than give best buy a cent. I will never go there again.
instead of offering rebates, I really wish they'd just lower the price of the item to some percentage of what they offer rebate. Although doing in online is a whole lot better than mailing in. Why would you buy from there anyways, the selection usually sucks and stuff is usually cheaper at www.newegg.com and amazon anyways.
I hope they can influence FRYs to do the same thing.
Make those weekend sales really pay off.
There is a way to get your rebates from Best Buy even faster...shop somewhere else.
I have a simple policy. If I'm going to buy something from your store, you're going to give me your best price right there. If I have to deal with a rebate, that removes the incentive to shop locally, and I'll just go mail order. 99 times out of a hundred the mail order price, thanks to sites like pricewatch, is going to be less than the Best Buy price even less the rebate...and that takes in to account the shipping charges.
Best Buy and places like that use rebates for one simple reason...us stupid consumers put up with it and still buy their products. If everyone would simply quit doing that, rebate crap would disappear next week.
I want a new quote. One that won't spill. One that don't cost too much. Or come in a pill.
"Brrrrrr, It's kinda chilly today..."
chibbie writes "Best Buy is finally working towards ending mail-in rebates by 2007. Rebates will still be around, but you will be able to file them online, and receive your check much quicker. I guess this means Best Buy doesn't hate their customers after all."
Bullshit. Filing rebates online eliminates a paper trail, which will allow them to sit back and say, "whoops, you entered a number wrong, you don't get your rebate" or "whoops, you didn't submit on time, sorry, no rebate", or even "whoops, we never got your submission, sorry."
The rebate companies hate the fact that customers keep copies of their rebate submissions - especially if they have delivery confirmation numbers that prove that they are lying.
A copy with a delivery confirmation number is damn near irrefutable evidence in small claims court, even though collecting from some of the clearing houses is nearly impossible because they move around, change their names, etc so much.
This might be a slightly cynical response, but really, how many of the people here haven't had to put up with bullshit (defined as the rebate company lying) when trying to get a rebate in the past?
Of course, the only punishment companies get is a small fine and a "warning" from the FTC. Fraud on such a scale should be punished by jail time of executives, but, of course, that won't happen.
And yes, boys and girls, sending out thousands of postcards stating "sorry, you didn't send your submission by the postmark date" when they know that you did, is fraud. Not paying out the rebate even when you send in proof / give them the tracking number that clearly states that it was mailed and delivered on x dates, is something else.
(I'm looking at you logitech, you fuckers still owe me $20)
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"I guess this means Best Buy doesn't hate their customers after all."
No, it means they can harvest (and sell) your address and contact info without having to pay for the envelope opener and data-entry team. That, and the cookies (oh, the cookies).
I had an idea once for charities. Here it is:
You know at Christmas time there are people standing around outside of various places with a pot where you can put your change in, get a smile, maybe a wave, and you feel good. Well, why not put a large box outside where people can drop their rebate offers. The person standing there can have a box cutter to get the barcode off of the box and the charity can then send in the rebate coupon.
Unfortunately, in our world today the box cutter guy would be taken for a terrorist and hauled off in handcuffs probably.
Still, it could mean millions for charities and no one would have to shell out a dime since these are rebates.
Someone put a black hole in my pocket and now I'm broke.
Staples has been doing the online rebate thing for a really long time. They call it 'Easy Rebate', and it really is easy. And it is going to take BestBuy 2 years to implement it? Give me a break. They are just trying to appease the FTC.
Somehow, I suspect that getting a rebate online will be made as difficult as possible. And then you'll get it as a store credit.
Didn't think so. As much as I can recall, all their rebates are applied when you check out. Why do it any other way? Costco has to be one of the most stress free places to shop: they pay and treat their employees well, they sell high quality products at low prices and they have sane, consumer friendly policies.
I used to work in electronics retail, home of the never-to-be-seen-again-mail-in-rebate. I know from my experience there that the only ones really pushing for rebates are the retailers since the cost of rebate is born by the manufacturer and the retailer can advertise the rebated price and still sell the product at full price. Yes, there are some retailer initiated rebates but they're pretty rare. The pressure from retailers pushing for rebates seems to have lead to manufacturers farming out their rebates to fulfilment centres with the intent on honoring as few as possible.
I wish the Competition Bureau in Canada had the balls that the FTC has and made retailers responsible for rebates who would then pursue the rebate from the manufacturer in case of unfulfilment. Score one for the USA!
"Didn't think so. As much as I can recall, all their rebates are applied when you check out. Why do it any other way? Costco has to be one of the most stress free places to shop: they pay and treat their employees well, they sell high quality products at low prices and they have sane, consumer friendly policies."
:D
Stress-free? I dunno about that. Those long lines are heck to wait in. But yeah, I am a member, and I have a relative who LOVES working there. Their prices rock, and their stuff is better quality.
BTW Costco also donates to the Democratic Party... I bet that's a surprise to some...
--- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
As soon as I read this I realized I forgot to send in the form for the $100 rebate for the last computer I bought at Best Buy. When I bought it, I asked them if there was any mail-in rebates. I was just hoping they'd say no.
Staples already has online "easy rebates." However, they still about 4-6 weeks to come.
BBY has already eliminated the rebates on notebooks / laptops. Instead of having mail in rebates for the sale, the notebooks price is instantly reduced at the register. You only pay tax on the reduced price. That means no mail in or online submission rebates at all to deal with. Just the discounted price.
I guess this means Best Buy doesn't hate their customers after all.
It means that after scamming customers for years Best Buy finally started to run out of suckers.
I wish the FTC would have the balls to investigate the legality of store-limited manufacturer rebates.
It's extremely common for Linksys to offer manufacturor rebates but *only from Best Buy*. That sucks.
I can get a Linksys Wireless-G cheaper from Best Buy that I can from my Tier-1 hardware distributor. That sucks.
Why do people say that so often? It's obvious that nobody understands what it means.
It doesn't mean the customer can do no wrong, or that they should get whatever they want. It means you don't make an issue out of something that really doesn't matter. When they say they want a better pair of speakers for their Panasony stereo surround-sound system, you don't tell them the speakers that came with it are as good at it gets, you don't tell them that they've confused the brand name, and you don't tell them that stereo isn't surround-sound. You just let them go right along being right, and sell them the fancy looking expensive speakers. THAT is what "the customer is always right" really means.
It really pisses me off that he groups those together, like people who bought a discounted computer are just as bad as those who are getting rebate checks from items they've already returned to the store. It also pisses me off that they are angry that some customers are forcing them to really honor the terms THEY MADE UP about price matching... if you don't like it, change your policy. Either way, accept the consequences of your own terms and shut up. Hell, the customers are forced to accept the terms even if they don't want to, why shouldn't Best Buy?
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Doesn't staples already do this?
Still waiting for a $300 cellphone rebate, nearly a year ago (11 months and counting...). I submitted proper docs, in time, and everything. Called them up and never could get ahold of someone accountable. Oh well, there went that $300.
> Besides, the customer tracking is completely unacceptable.
Actually, I wouldn't be so against it if they made my information available to me too. I would very much value the record of what I buy when, and to have it categorized nicely and in a format I can use in some financial s/w would be awesome for making future budgets.
If one store did this, it would pretty much guarantee I bought as much from that store as possible. It's in their interest too as far as I can tell.
Max.
Bought some dvd-r's that had a $5 mail in rebate. Logged into BJ's website, entered the code off the receipt and received the check about 4 weeks later. Not sure when they started this, but it is a really nice service.
I didn't see anyone mention the need to keep records. When these companies try to tell you they didn't get the upc or crap like that. Mention the fact that you have copies and you can fax them if necessary. After that the check always magically arrives in a couple days. Somebody said they could reach the company who made the rebate. This has never happened to me. If it did I'd just check Fatwallet's site which has extensive info on the actual centers that fill the rebates. Also find exploits..err 'hot deals.' Nothing like getting over on Circuit City who sponsors the site.
Send a certified letter with threatening language. Give them about 10 days to respond.
Then take them to small claims with your documentation (you made copies of everything rite?). You'll win by default.
I work at a company that processes mail-in rebates for various companies. I can tell you that at least from my POV that if you follow all the instructions on the form and meet all the terms exactly you will get your rebate: i.e. they're not being deliberately disqualified, thrown in the trash, etc. However the companies we work for can ratchet up or down how forgiving we can be about mistakes and resubmissions: e.g. some vendors don't want to give their consumers any trouble, while others are clearly looking to disqualify people on technicalities. If you use common sense you can probably guess which are which.
I doubt online submission will get you your rebate any more often: you'll just know whether you've been qualified or disqualified faster. If they want to hold you to some technicality they will either way.
And that is what the current system does. It is a scam the way it is right now, I have often not been giving a rebate at all, and the ones I do get I have to fight for them, threatening to return the merchandise unless I get the rebate.
If you promise a certain price it is stealing to not give your customer that price. Preferably on the spot, but certainly not more than a week or two later.
Rebates are a waste of time because you still pay sales tax for the full amount at the register. i personally refuse to buy something just because it has a rebate. Of course it's better than nothing.
This may be cool and all, but shouldn't they use their resources for something infinetly better, like say... making sure their online store and their physical stores' inventories are in snyc? I recently tried to purcahse some RAM from them, only to get runaround because, while their online store listed it as instock at the store, the store didn't have one single stick (I purchased online). That to me is more important to fix than a different way to deal with rebates.
Napalm is nature's toothpaste
Staples Business Depot/Bureau en Gros have been doing this for months already....
Dude, Paying twice as much for RAM is a good deal. Paying more means it's good.
"Things are more moderner than before- bigger, and yet smaller- it's computers-- San Dimas High School football RULES!"
I have worked for staples for the past 6 months roughly, they have been already doing this for as long as I have been working. there Best Buy must have got the idea from them.
Why does it matter? Why would it be illegal? Why should it be?
The FTC is to protect your rights from fraud and deception, not to protect your "right" to convienience.
If you don't like it, don't buy Linksys.
Costco donates to Republicans as well. What is your point?
I worked for best buy for 5 and half years and this is totally correct. After the FTC statement that was a warning that no longer would they tolerate advertising a special then saying, it's not our fault we are just a intermidiary of the product to the customer is complete bullshit! There is a weekly company magazine and this spin was in there the week following the announcement, tracking money issues I immediately called Best Buy out to my manager where he refused to admit the connection but was quick to explain how the fine print on every ad says they aren't responsible and that is legal and that the government had no right to step in on the CompUSA issue. His quick defensiveness to me was a sure sign of corporate coaching. Most will never know this, but when it comes to any media blitz typically within 1-2 hours the entire company's management has passed around information thru our email system which is checked religiously on how to respond if asked. Best Buy never wants their staff caught off guard, but really they just don't want them to slip up and comment on something that isn't spun correctly for the company.
Like a damn papertrail matters...
I recently purchased an item from Fry's that had a rebate. Fry's prints you a custom rebate receipt that is part receipt, part rebate form. I fill it out and send it in. IU get a letter a few weeks later that says that although I provided my UPC code I failed to provide my receipt so they are rejecting my rebate. The receipt and the form were combined; if they got my address to write me back they got the damn receipt, and they proved it by writing me.
Screw rebates. I just order from NewEgg now.
-Chris
-- This sig is only a test. If this were a real sig it would say something witty. --
I just did a rebate from Staples for $30, online via http://staples.onlinerebates.ca/ (Canada). The person at the store claims it takes about half the time and you get a confirmation right away so you can be somewhat sure it actually went through. Still a great scam though, getting people to pony up money you sit on and earn money with until you give it away to someone else.
Oh do I wish I had some mod points for you... hopefully someone else does.
How many fulltime jobs can one man have?
At least at Best Buy or Fry's I can simply say "No!" and stride past the door nazis when they request to check my bag and receipt.
... i wish i had thought of that.
heres something worth $10, please buy it for $50 and ill give you $10 back.
nice.
report problems to the FTC.
make it a point to focus on the techniques used by the rebate middle party to avoid paying you.
Since the FTC and the likes seem to be so focused on the wrong information (which advertisers and manufactures are invilved) instead of the tactics being applied to increase the appearance of customer failure, the tactics are not being addressed of which the middle party is applying.
The crime is many, from mail fraud to bait and switch.
the middle party fullfillment companies are the ones applying these consmer deception.
I don't know what the fuck is wrong with the FTCs failuer to properly addressing this, rather then themselves looking for excuses. Maybe they need some help....who all might help? Your local congressmen??
Thieft by deception is criminally wrong.
For Example:
An item worth $299.99 with a mail-in rebate of $100.
They would advertise it for $199.99 after mail in rebate. However that's not really true because what really happens is that you get the $100 back after you pay taxes on $299.99.
Where I live, there's a 14% tax on top of purchases so the calculations actually are
299.99 x 1.14 = 342 - 100 = 242.
While their advertised price would lead me to believe that it's
199.99 x 1.14 = 228
242-228 = 14 dollar difference (basically the tax on the rebate amount).
Sure, $14 doesn't seem like much, but when you're shopping for deals, and you go in with an expected cost and during the point of sale, the real cost shows up, it can be a bad surprise. Also, on more expensive purchases, the "surprise" cost can be quite a shock.
I'm AMAZED I haven't seen anyone post a link to the great experiences of former (and current) Best Buy employees and customers.
That being said, I hated that job. I was in customer service and it was my job to try to explain draconian policies to customers (although our store was fairly liberal with return policies and so on). Apparently, the kid behind the counter getting paid $8.XX is the one who makes up the rules.
Every person I've talked to that used to work there and no longer does has hated it and were happy to get out. And sure, there's no commission, BUT they definitely keep track of PRP and PSP numbers as well as those MASSIVELY annoying EW/SI "free" magazine offers. If you don't sell enough of them, don't expect too many hours next week. But, since the managers get bonuses and trips and so on for having high numbers, who can blame them? *SARCASM*
Felt good to get that shit off my back. Best Buy is fairly good at screwing over their employees and their customers.
How many fulltime jobs can one man have?
Best Buy may start offering more store gift cards instead of a rebates. During last holiday season Best Buy offered a $50 gift card w/ the purchase of an MP3 palayer worth $299 or more. Target routinely offers gift cards w/ the purchase of media & electronics purchases. A small $5 or $10 gift card is great for their business, because it encourages you to spend more money. When a new DVD costs $20 dollars they can bet on you spending another $10 - $15 on another movie or game. At Best Buy, with rebates on big ticket items like HDTVs & large appliances, they could bet on you spending hundreds or even thousands more!
Retailer Best Buy said this week that it will electronically process rebates for notebook PCs and PC accessories, eliminating the mail-in rebate.
the electronic rebate program for laptops will apply just to rebates Best Buy itself offers, and not third-party suppliers.
By the end of the two years, the retailer hopes to eliminate all mail-in rebates within its store
In the first week of February, the online rebates will be extended to a range of computer accessories
Over time, Best Buy will ask third-party vendors to get on board with Best Buy's electronic rebate system. However, the ability of Best Buy to process rebates from third-party vendors will vary by vendor
Is it just me or is every one of these statements contradicted in part by another statement in the article?
Apparently, two states sued Best Buy on the grounds of false advertizing. I present a quote from the BBC:
Consider checking out the BBC before you consider purchases, and be sure the file a complaint if you get screwed.
I really don't want to be pointing this out, but Zonk posted an article on this back in April when Best Buy announced this. See:http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/02/06 17234
http://pag.csail.mit.edu/~adonovan/dilbert/show.ph p?day=7&month=11&year=2003
Do they get delivered by horse ? I hear in Yu-rope, they have those fancy electronick moeny transfers...
They always used rebates knowing that a good percentage would never go through the hassle of the mailing process, I guess this shows good faith that they are now making it easier and I wouldn't be suprised if they saw more sales because of it. Good work Best Buy.
Business Voyeur
Someone from a board I frequent just put up a "rebate reliability" website. It's not fleshed out yet, as he's still working some things out, but he is still looking for reviews.
Use the "F" word: Fraud. Every time an employee quits, it costs the rebate company a lot to hire and train someone new. Minimum wage people don't like to think they are helping break the law. Ask the employee how she or he can justify working for a dishonest company. Tell the employee he or she has the worst job in the world.
Call the manager of the store where you bought the rebate item. Use the "F" word again. Managers have a special number. The rebate company will listen to them. Store managers don't like the word fraud applied to their store; that could cost them hundreds of thousands, if the word gets around. If you don't get satisfaction from the store manager, get his or her name and call the store's main office. The people who work in main offices don't want fraud calls; and they definitely don't like fraud calls in which the name of a store manager is mentioned.
Never let them steal from you. If you ever accept that once, they will know they can do it again. Remember, there are a limited number of rebate companies, and they keep databases on those who apply for rebates.
Apparently almost all rebate companies are involved in fraud. They try to concentrate on the customers that will accept excuses. The stores will tell you they know nothing about the fraud, but that is not true; they know very well.
Be sure to tell the rebate company that you will file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and with your state's consumer fraud department, and do it. Tell the store that sold the rebate item the same thing, and do it.
Stay away from stores that hate their customers. My experience with Best Buy has been very negative.
Stay away from stores that offer big rebates on items that have defects that aren't obvious.
It has been my experience that Netgear is by far the worst in failing to send rebates. We have had bad experiences with Netgear equipment being buggy, too. Maybe there are companies who can only stay in business because they fail to sent rebates.
Always be kind and gentle with rebate company employees, but very firm. Remember, the employee is not getting any of the stolen money.
Always keep copies of everything you sent when you apply for a rebate. The rebate companies will exploit any weakness they find.
Remember, if you let them steal from you once, you will be in the database as someone who accepts abuse.
I got a Sony rebate 1 1/2 years after it was denied. I would never buy anything from Sony again, of course, even though I eventually got the rebate. Generally, companies that are abusive in one way are abusive in others. Generally, abuse is part of the corporate culture.
The United States is a country that thinks nothing of killing Iraqis to prevent a fall in value of the dollar and make money for weapons and oil company investors; routinely stealing from customers seems mild by comparison.
One of my friend is working at Costco. It's not as bad as Walmart, but it still far from being employees friendly. What he loves the most is when he can sleep only 3 or 4 hours because he has to close the store at 11:00 pm and then open it at 5:00 am the next day.
As for high quality products at low price... You're on crack, right ? The only things that are worth buying at Costco are end of line products. You know, the ones with the small "*" near the price. For anything else, you can find the same product cheaper elsewhere (without having to pay for membership).
As for the consumer experience, Costco is the worst store ever. People who shop there are SLOW ! It's like they have nothing better to do so they just walk around, looking at everything that the store has this week even if they'll never buy it. They obviously have no life at all.
The only moment when you have to go fast is when you just paid for your crap. After waiting in line for half an hour because there is not enough cashier, you pay and you get your change, your card, the receipt all together, at the same time that the "helper" gives you the box containing the crap you just bought so yo can get out faster. You don't even have time to put the change back in your pocket (and since you have to show your stupid receipt when you get out, you can't just put everything in your pocket).
and by the way... When people return the crap they bought, it goes back on the shelves (which means that a lot of stuff yo buy at Costco is in fact used crap).
Seriously, I prefer shopping at Walmart than at Costco. And I hate Walmart.
I used to work at Best Buy and I know we used to ask for every customer's phone number. When asked why I was told to inform the customer it was for tracking purposes. My boss tells me later on that it is so we can call customers after thier purchase, check in on it, and offer supplimental offers. "Hey, hows that TV ya bought, want DirecTV with that? How bout the service plan you chose not to go with?" Now they are going to be recording all your information at the register. Wonder what they will do with your home address and email address. I smell junk mail and harrassment at home!
This is a little offtopic, but why does everyone get so excited about BB? It's just a store, and not even a very good one at that.
I was in one to buy an mp3 player/ipod, and all their displays were gone. I asked the sales clerk about it, he said it was due to theft. I asked to see one particular ipod model, and he hemmed and hawed and said his manager would have to okay it, and he would only do that if we were going to buy it. WTF??
The only reason I'd go into a big-box store in the first place (versus just buying online) is to get a hands-on look at what I'm buying.
This, combined with their wonderful attitude about customer service, means I won't go back.
and got my money in 2 weeks. Very nice!
I'm glad they are finally getting their act together and getting the rebate industry "wired". Better late than never, but boy they sure are late.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
I thought that mail-in rebates were a major source of keeping cash for stores that offer them. The rate of cashing-in the rebates is below 50%. And the uncashed ones are pure profit.
Help end the use of Sigs. Tomorrow
"I guess this means Best Buy doesn't hate their customers after all." No, they do hate them and that's why they are moving to online process, they hate their customers who buy stuff, send rebate and retrun them; "eveil customers" By moving everything online like Staples Easy Rebate they can track if the person hasn't returned the item.
Their rebate policy was flawed, but so are their other "policies". I will no longer shop at Bust Buy because "policy" always trumps the customer.
Take for instance their refund policy. If you buy a computer, and pay cash, and that computer doesn't work when you get home - you must wait for a check if you want to return it for a full refund. I advised my mother on going there because of the good prices. She paid cash and got a good deal. The PC was fried and they didn't have another to exchange.
Apparently another policy is that Bust Buy doesn't ship items from store to store or order replacement items if they are out of stock. Her options were: Wait 1 month for them to fix the computer, for free; wait 6 to 8 weeks for a refund; or pay the manufacturer to ship a replacement (and pay to take the broken machine).
After their sales staff insulted her in the store (only for wanting what was due), she decided to get the refund and buy a machine elsewhere.
Still, if I pay cash - why should I wait for a check in the mail? Cashing a check isn't cheap for people who don't have checking accounts, not everyone does have one too. Hell, they discourage the use of checks as it is.
Someone should also look into the fact that they never honor their rewards program. In one visit we bought $300 in DVD's and was supposed to get a $25 store credit in the mail (after paying another $10 to join the "club"). The credit never came and they don't even have us on file. Worst part is that we bought more, expensive, items there hoping we'd get a reward!
Scam!
Does anyone still shop there considering the regular ( policy based ) treatment they give their customers?
---- Booth was a patriot ----
This rebate nonsense continues because businesses know a lot of customers won't redeem them and the unclaimed cash is money in the seller's pockets. I think the real solution is for states to require all unreclaimed rebate funds by default go to the state (a concept called 'escheat'). I predict rebates would become either nonexistent or rare.
Can someone actually tell me for sure if rebates on physical goods are illegal in the UK? I've heard rumours that they are but we can still get 'cash back' on subscription services like mobile phone contracts or credit cards/loans...
Do you know why people get rebates? Its because your allowing your home address, phone number, and/or email address to be sold to mass marketing mailing lists which increases the amoung of telemarketing, jumk mail, and spam you will receive.
Don't be deluded into believing mail-in rebates are beneficial. Even if you get 50% or 80% of the original item cost back in a rebate, this just means that the company your buying from is able to sell your information and make 10 times more profit with that information as opposed to selling the merchandise alone. The manufacturer is BUYING your contact information from you, but choosing to receive the money, you are authorizing your contact information to be sold.
Think of it. If a manfuacturer was truely benign and wanted to sell you a product at a reduced cost, then why not simply drop the MSRP by whatever the rebate amount is. This doesn't benefit the manufacturer. By collecting VALID contact information (i.e. you need to offer your correct mailing address to receive the rebate cheque), they are ensuring they get top dollar for their compiled mailing lists.
ALL REBATE OFFERS are a scam. Sometimes you will notice they say they can use the collected information and pass it to 3rd parties. Even if there is a check box saying you don't want to receive information from the manufacturer or 3rd parties, this isn't the case. Your just saying you don't want information about the product your buying, not in general.
If a manufacturer is offering a substantial rebate on a product, either wait a few months when they actually reduce the MSRP, or go to another store that is offering it for cheaper, but don't buy into mail in rebates unless you love junk mail and telemarketing calls at suppertime.
I actually thought Best Buy WAS thinking in the best interests of their customers by stopping the rebate process altogether, but was dissapointed when they only intend to facilitate quicker and easier collection of contact data using the internet. They will probably require you to provide a valid email address, thus increasing your incoming spam.
Look, at one time I was getting publishers clearing house junk mail every week, along with credit card applications and all kinds of junk mail. The ratio of real mail to junk mail was about 20 to 1. I stopped participating in rebate offers and was more careful about where my contact information is used, and I don't receive even ONE addressed junk mail item in a week.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
I have always gotten my rebate cheques also. I will have to assume that people that don't get them are just not following the instructions on the rebate carefully enough, meaning they don't include all the required bits or then they waited too long after purchasing and missed the rebate deadline.
Meh.
But the feeling is mutual. Right after I graduated from college and landed my first real engineering job I went to Best Buy to shop for a widescreen HDTV. The punk saleskid treated me like I was a fool for even thinking that I could afford one. You see, I was a very young-looking 22 at the time. I walked right out of the store and drove 500 yards to Circuit City where my business was appreciated.
Five years later (this Christmas) I was in Best Buy shopping for a Pioneer iPod adapter for my sister's car stereo. I stood in line at the register in the mobile audio section for 10 minutes and again watched the saleskid serve 2 people who walked up after I did. I finally got pissed and started following him around. As soon as he finished with the customer I still practically had to tackle him to get him to address my question. What is it with the little punk bitches that Best Buy hires for their sales staff? Don't they know that not everybody who has money is 45?
The stores and manufacturers are betting that you don't take the time to fill in the forms.
Over time, Best Buy will ask third-party vendors to get on board with Best Buy's electronic rebate system. However, the ability of Best Buy to process rebates from third-party vendors will vary by vendor, as the retailer works to establish the program with each manufacturer over time
Follow the money...These guys are betting on the fact that a good percentage of consumers don't go to the trouble of mailing in the information.For those who complain that their information is lost by the processing company, make a copy of the documents to prove it was all together when you sent it.
I've never had a problem with the mail-ins but I'm sure that time will come.
That's part of the whole rebate process:
1. offer a $30 discount post-purchase
2. sell the product
3. make it a real ordeal to get the discount (thus scraping off a bunch of the people who'd take the money)
4. profit! (by investing the effective $30 loan the customer has floated you for 8 weeks).
That $30 doesn't sound like much, but multiply by even 100,000 purchasers and you've got $3 million to play with. If you run a rebate service for multiple retailers, you can aggregate many of the rebates out there at the same time for a big pool of money to invest.
IANA Rebate Service employee, but I can imagine you could also make money by cutting a deal with a retailer to fund, say 50% of the potential rebates, then make money if only 30% actually complete the rebate process. The Rebate Service is in a good position to collect the actuarial data on how often rebates are actually completed.
If rebates are so cool, let BB go through the process of getting them. Something tells me they will have no problem getting a rebate.
I've used rebates many times - and whenever I've done the work, I've gotten the check. Sure, I'd prefer they did it at the register or just LOWERED THE PRICE, but I suspect that accounting rules and who is selling what tend to make that complicated more than it should be.
In any case, I know the game. The manufacturer counts on you NOT redeeming all the rebates. Fair enough. It lets them offer deeper discounts. I assume the possibility of failing to get the rebate when I buy the product. These electronic rebates reduce that liklihood, and as a result I'm more likely to get the product.
The problem with quotes on the internet, is that nobody bothers to check their veracity. -- Abraham Lincoln
Make you "shoot the monkey" on the webpage in order to actually get the rebate vs. hiring real monkeys to process these things? I'm sorry, but I hate rebates in general--they are worse than insurance carriers on you actually qualifying for the rebate "I'm sorry but you sent in the wrong proof of purchase", "I'm sorry, but the proper documentation fell on the floor when we opened your envelope and since we arn't allowed to pick it up, this rebeate is denied", etc. Yea, whatever.
It's a question of keeping up with the Joneses. Staples in Canada has been doing the online rebate thing for more than a year. People love it, because in their minds it doesn't cost them anything and they don't have to go to the post office to mail in the receipt or to buy a stamp.
I look for rebates when shopping for the office. Look, if I buy a $1000 item, then I pay the $1000 + sales tax, my employer reimburses me for the whole amount, and then I send for the $400 rebate which I get to pocket in toto. The fact that sales tax is charged on the whole $1000 is not a problem for me, and not for my employer either, since it is wholly deductible against tax collected for the products/services she sells.
Many of the rebates I've seen even have written on them that the company can refuse to send you a rebate if too many people send in rebates, they keep the money! There are many other conditions too.
If you're buying a product and the clerk said too many people are in the line, I'm not giving you the 10% discount because there are too many people asking for it. I know what I'd do. RIP clerk.
Also you have to consider taxes, the rebate you think you are getting is after taxes. You pay $100 for a product with a $50 rebate, the rebate you send in is *after* you purchase the item at $100. The item at $100 + 5% tax = $5 in tax, but if the rebate (like the ads imply, "$50 rebate!") took off $50 first it would be $50 + 5% = $2.50. Your $50 "rebate" is not only $47.50, minus the cost of the envelope and stamp to mail it and also your time and effort.
And other annoyances, and expenses, etc.
- once you cut that UPC thing off the box, you can forget about bring it back for a refund.
- you paid sales tax on the $40 you never got, that's another $3, or so.
- Figure 30 minutes of your time filling out forms, cutting out UPCs, making photo copies, etc. If you earn $25 an hour, that $12.50 right there.
- postage, envelopes, photo-copies.
- even if you got your refund, that 10 weeks without your money.
Best Buy hates their customers...a lot. I tried to use a gift card online, and they cancelled the order, cancelled the gift card, and won't issue me a new card or send me a check! I encourage all of you to visit their competitors.
to tell salesppl that I wont buy any crap that comes with a mail-in rebate... "gimme the rebate NOW, or keep your shit and try to sell it to someone else."
Why does everyone rag on companies trying to make money. Best Buy is a publicly trade company. By law, they have to keep the best interests of their investors in mind. This is, in almost all cases, to make as much profit as they can.
If you can get past that, Best Buy isn't all that bad. Personally, I shope there all the time. They started reducing the number of mail-in-rebates a while ago. I check every couple of weeks for their blank DVD prices. Every once in a while, they have sales and the blank DVDs are more than 50% off the regular price. 50 packs for $16 or $17.
Their customer service has, in my experience, been exceptional. Yeah, their sales people push the useless service agreements but, and again, in my experience, they don't push too hard. I've walked out of CompUSA without buying a computer because their salespeople kept on with the service contract and wouldn't shut up about it. Best Buy has never come close to annoying me that bad about them.
I'm glad they're continuing the push to get rid of the mail-in-rebates. They're a pain. But I certainly don't think there's anything particularly evil about them trying to capitalize on customers habits. That's just efficient business management. It's exactly what their stockholders expect.
How many customers does a company have to lose that way before they change behavior? That's one of the big reasons I do most of my shopping online now. It's not always cheaper than at the store and there's always shipping and handling, sometimes S&H and sales tax. But I can still comparison shop a lot faster than driving store to store. Even for clothes. It's so easy to send stuff back to Nordstroms if it doesn't fit. Takes less time than driving to the store and only costs $5 in postage. It's worth it.
Best Buy can kiss my ass.
That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
"When people return the crap they bought, it goes back on the shelves"
Ever been to Frys ??
(I always thought that would be covered by a green friendly environmental policy, Recycling, you know the kind where the store owners pockets are lined with green cash and the merchandise is recycled to the least whiny \ most ignorant customer)
I have also always received my rebate... eventually, but I have never taken advantage of a rebate without feeling taken advantage of.
Let me get this strait. You want me to buy something at a marked up price, then spend the time and energy (time is money) to send in proof that i bought your product. Then, months later, after you have earned interest off of my money, i get some of it back, only to have saved a few dollars anyway?
Oh yes... lets not forget about all those poor souls who didnt follow your directions properly, or forgot to send it in on time, or god forbid decided not to bother!
Somehow this whole process disturbs me. It is a backassward coupon scheme, and i refuse to ever buy a product with a rebate (unless the pre-rebate cost is low already). I am almost always able to find the same product for only a few dollars more somewhere else without a rebate, and to me that is worth it.
Anyone care to enlighten me on how rebates benefit me?
Don't like the price of something, or it's too much for you to afford? Make an offer, if they don't like it, take your cash elsewhere and haggle there. If you can't get what you want for the price you want then it's not the end of the world, unless of course it's major life saving surgery, then you're kinda doomed.
Mail in rebates just look like a handy way to "administratively error" extra cash out of people.
Staples will have the online mail in rebate thing in place before Best Buy. It's already available in Canada for some stores. They are also working on a guaranteed rebate system so if you are declined on your mail in version, you can take your proof of denial in to the store and they will settle it right there.
I have shopped at Best Buy once. I avoided buying anything with a "rebate" and the experience was clouded by some guy, probably paid, pumping up their prices to customers all over the store. I moved from section to section and heard his same spiel three times. No thank you.
Now I go to my local computer parts vendor and say hey, BB has this thing on sale for $210 after savings and a $40 mail in rebate (reg. $275). I ask my local merchant what he'll sell it to me for? He says he'll sell it to me for $220 (regular $285). I say sold. Why? I'm willing to pay the $10 so I don't have to go to Best Buy ever again and my local merchant has never offered me a mail in ripoff or rebate or whatver you want to call it. He also greets me by my first name and let's me know if anything exciting has come in recently. There are no lineups, I never have a problem returning something, and there are no mystery shoppers paid to pump up his prices. Yeah, I pay 3%-10% more than at BB. I think it's worth it and it must be working. He just opened a third store.
The funny thing is that Staples, Future Shop, etc... usually have the same price or at the least a price matching guarantee. I agree with the owner of Best Buy, if the comments here are any indication, his customers are idiots. Shop local.
You should be able to see this at most of the Best Buy stores. I know this as I work for Best Buy, and I understand a lot of your grief with the company, Lord knows I have my own. But if you look at a lot of mid to high range laptops, and mid to high range desktops(mainly Gateway) you'll see the savings are passed along instantly at the register. There is a reason for this. When we sell that $300 emachines with monitor and printer, the people buying it aren't going to be buying anything that is going to make us any money(services, accessories, service plans etc). So from my perspective, they use mail in rebates on those so that we don't lose the tiny margin we get on those products, as we aren't going to recoup it with other item sales.
Rebate lovers are few and far between here. In 2002-2003 the sunday circulars were chock full of free-after-rebate stuff from electronics and office supply stores. I turned in over 30 back then and got every single one. The offers have tapered off over the last two years. My shelves are loaded with free modems, free extension cords and powerstrips, free CD-Rs, free network cards, free CD cleaners, free DUST-OFF, a free sound card, a free cordless phone, free jewel cases, free postit notes, a free smartmedia card reader. The only thing I EVER got burned on was a 4 port usb hub from I-ROCKS just this winter. Those SOBs admit to getting the correct documentation and are 8 weeks late cutting a check.
I've seen previous slashdot posters talk about companies never sending the rebate checks. I don't know if we buy from different companies or if they can't, or won't, follow directions exactly.
Some guy was slamming grocery coupons, too. I've combined coupons with sales to get free BAGS of groceries. The cashier was nonchalant about it... he's seen it before.
If they really wanted to make this easier for the customer they would just ask for your address right at the cash register and automate the entire rebate process.... or just discount the rebate right there on the spot. But we all know the lazy ass people in this country won't even bother to go on a website and fill out their info for a check in the mail. The entire rebate system depends on the laziness of people.
Same in Germany and in Japan. Never seen this rebate thing in these two countries. When I came to USA, I was shocked to see the inefficiency of rebate system. I don't have any statistics, but I guess this is indeed US thing.
People seem to forget the Mail-in rebates are not done by the stores themself, but by the manufacturer through a 3rd party. Though Mail-in rebates still suck the big one. The should just get rid of them. J.
Staples already has online rebates (for most manufacturers). You type in your receipt number and a few seconds later you get a list of fields where UPC numbers can be entered. They automatically figure out how many of each product you bought and calculate the rebates appropriately. You can check back at their web site at any time to follow the progress of the rebate. I typically get my check within 2 weeks. They call it their "EasyRebate" system. I do buy items with rebates, but I definitely prefer Staples (and this includes Staples.com, where I always get free shipping).
...is doing it now. I bought a disk drive there on Dec. 26, and just had to log onto their site and type in the receipt number. It confirmed what I bought and said the check would be mailed "after" (but not how long after) the 21-day free-return period expired, which would be Jan. 16. I just checked the status on the site and it said the check would go out "on or about" Feb. 4. We'll see what happens.
rj
When a rebate agency is reluctant to give me my rebate, I've gotten good results by saying that I'm going to report the problem to Consumer Fraud division of the state Attorney General's Office.
Once, I was supposed to get a free scanner as a rebate. The form said that the scanner would be shipped within 6 weeks. For months, the rebate agency gave me the run-around, saying that my rebate was on "extended processing" and refusing to give me a date when I would receive it. I finally said that I was going to file a complaint with the Attorney General. The scanner showed up on my doorstep two days later.
It's easy enough to find the contact info for the Attorney General's office. Just search the web for the name of the state (from the mail-in address or the phone area code) and "Attorney General."
Over the years I've filed several rebates through Best Buy for fairly small amounts. I've never recieved a check or gift card from them (or communication that I didn't file for it correctly). Because of this, I don't buy much at Best Buy and will never allow a rebate to drive my decision to buy anything.
I honestly don't know if this is Best Buy's fault, the mails fault, my fault, or some crook stealing stuff from me (although that last possibility seems really remote).
Maybe this new process will improve things?
...occurred at Fry's on Black Friday. They were moving several items as "free," with rebates that added up to the purchase price -- but you still paid sales tax on the full amount.
rj
rj
Then you take your jumbo cart to the check out line of death (from starvation). Finally there's the legal body cavity search at the exit (legal because you agreed to it in your membership contract).
At least at Best Buy or Fry's I can simply say "No!" and stride past the door nazis when they request to check my bag and receipt.
Heh. I love when they try that stuff, I just keep right on walking and pray they physically try to stop me, I don't even respond to them unless they physically step in front of me. Unlawful restraint is a felony, and if I have my daughter with me it becomes unlawful restraint of a minor, which in my state is a sex crime with a very nasty mandatory minimum sentence as well as forced registry on the sex offenders list. My state is not alone in having this law, at least one of the bordering states has it as well. Depending on what they do it can easily escalate to a half dozen other charges as well. The kind of thing that tends to make the company itself liable, and I could always use my debts cleared.
You must be 12 years old today!
...they call them rebates? Get rid of the re- and they are just bates or baits. So really they should be called consumer-baits. Because, in fact, it's what manufactures use to bait consumers, the lure of $$$, money back. Since consumers keep falling for them, the manufactures keep rebaiting the consumer.
As for the End of Rebates. Hmmmm, sounds suspiciously similar to Blockbuster's End of Late Fees campaign. Notice Blockbuster doesn't advertise that anymore. Too many consumers got burned on that one. They'll probably simply redefine what a rebate is. I wonder what Best Buy's new master plan for rebates really is?
"You'll get nothing, and you'll like it!"
...I've done many of them, including Best Buy and AFAIK I got if not all, then a vast majority of them processed properly. The most important thing when applying for rebates is to make clear and legible copies of everything you send in (especially if they ask you to mail in the original UPC), even the mailing envelope if necessary, so that one can properly dispute any potential mishandling of their rebate application.
:-). So, in effect I got paid ~3$ (ok, a bit less after taxes) to get the game, lol.
That being said, the best rebate deal I ever got was on an old PC game called Cyberstorm 2. I played the 1st part and was very much hooked to it. Unfortunately, the second part was IMHO nowhere as good as the first one. But I digress...
At any rate, I bought the game for $9.99 (it became bargain bin relatively shortly after the game hit the shelves) and on the cover there was still a $13 rebate from the game publisher (I think Sierra). Just for giggles, I filled out the rebate and sent it in with the purchase receipt (this was part of the rebate requirement) and sure enough, a couple weeks later I got $13 back
Too bad there aren't more deals like this one...
Why does anyone shop at Best Buy anyway? Their prices are NOT the best, or even particularly good. The only rebate purchases I've made recently were at Fry's for a 200GB Seagate hard drive and a 36GB Western Digital Raptor. I got the Seagate for $50 and the WD for $100, after rebate (this was a year ago, when prices were higher than they are now for those things). Sure, it took a while, but I saved nearly $80 between the two. Basically, I only buy something with a rebate on it if it is something I really want, with a large rebate, and if I really intend on sending it. The few times I have done this have really paid off.
The 'Net is a waste of time, and that's exactly what's right about it. - William Gibson
I've recently spent time looking for hard drive upgrades on ebay. I notice all over there are brand new HDs out there, with the UPC clipped off the box. I figured they were using these store rebates to buy cheap and sell for a profit.
So I went to the Sunday paper a few times, looked at drives with their rebates, and I fail to see where the profit is. I bought one drive off ebay, 160gb or so, for $55 shipping included. In this past Sunday ad for Best Buy, they have a 120g for $59.99 after rebates. There is also a 250gb drive for $89.99 after rebates. Scanning ebay, there are a some for $75ish with shipping expiring in under 30 minutes.
Am I missing something, or are there once in a great while a rebate deal so good you can actually make a little something doing this?
I noticed this Christmas that they had raised the complexity of the whole rebate thing (bundled rebates where the cheaper item was not in stock for example) to the point where it was costing them vast amounts of wages to handle the returns, clarifications, missing documents etc. In my case, over $200 up front and 2 hours of staff time translated to a $28 sale (gross including the GST/PST that they pocketed!). That is not a winning formula no matter what the markup.
I had the pleasure of utilizing their online rebate for for the mad Black Friday sale when i bought a couple MAG 17" LCD's . Makes everything very quick, and I had my rebate checks just before christmas. Yay!
All of you who think any store screws you, don't buy the product. Even if it says 99% off retail...Nobody is making you buy it...Simple as that. As for rebates...I am sure that the problem is not Best Buy or some other vendor screwing you, I think it is due to the under paid and under appreciated person receiving your rebate, they probably made a mistake...Maybe it got lost in the mail...Anyway, it is fun to listen to all of your conspiracy theories!
Rebates are cons, pure and simple. They're counting on a (potentially large) percentage of them not being honoured, and for each one that isn't someone has paid more for the item than planned/budgeted. I'm surprised they get away with it - it's like expiring gift certificates (what's that all about anyway - if I cash it a year later it's worth less anyway!).
Staples has been doing this for some time now... Nothing new to see move on.
Fifty miles!? Holy shit, dude. You go right ahead and drive over an hour to get to the grocery store, and an hour back again. How much is your time worth?
I have an Aldi, PathMark, Stop & Shop, A&P, and ShopRite all within reasonable distance of me. Out of those, only the Aldi doesn't have a discount card, but they're a discount grocer. I get what I can there, but they close early, and don't carry everything. (Only last month did they start carrying non-frozen meat, for example.)
And if I really wanted to drive, the only other chains within reasonable distance are FoodTown (has a club card), Wegman's (has a club card, and is slightly more pricey than the others anyway), and Whole Foods, which is just more expensive regardless.
--
"I personal[ly] think Unix is "superior" because on LSD it tastes like Blue." -- jbarnett
First of all, as has been pointed out, the interest on $30 over 6 weeks is approximately nothing. If they raised the selling price of the item by $1, they'd make more than they do off the interest.
More importantly, though, this isn't the retailer's money anyway. Next time you're in a Best Buy, look at the rebates, and you'll find that pretty much all of the store rebates are instant -- they come off the price right at the register.
The manufacturer's rebates are paid for by the manufacturer, not the store. See, the idea here is that Best Buy already paid the manufacturer for the goods. Let's use a laptop computer as an example. If their normal selling price is $1149, Best Buy probably paid $1049 for it. So if the manufacturer wants them to go on sales for $899, they can't just nicely ask Best Buy to take a $150 loss on every unit, or deal with refunding Best Buy.
So, rebates. Best Buy doesn't have to deal with the extra accounting hassle, you get your laptop for less money, and the manufacturer gets to sell more units. And probably more importantly, they get to count the rebate checks in their marketing and promotions budget, meaning it doesn't hit their revenue numbers. Creative accounting at work.
--
"I personal[ly] think Unix is "superior" because on LSD it tastes like Blue." -- jbarnett
I haven't gotten mad at anyone; I just look at the price before rebate, and that's the price. Which is why I shop at Newegg.com. Or Amazon.
DT
Is this thing on? Hello?
Jumping through hoops? Hardly. They ask you to cut out your UPC code and mail it out with the receipt. OHHHHH. Yep, I can see how that's a brutaly harsh request. They're like the goddamn gestapo.
Seriously, if you want a GOOD analogy, it would be more like me saying "you want a drink? great, kitchen's over there, go grab a beer".
Sure, it seems to you that it "serves no purpose" for me to send you to get your own damn beer, but chances are some of my guests will be fatasses too lazy to do it. Which means more beer for the rest of us! Now THERE's a worthwhile purpose.
When I worked for Best Buy, price matches were pretty much the bane of my existence. The rules were pretty clear, and we followed them. The customers never did, of course. Here's how it goes:
"Simply bring in proof of a local retail competitor's price on the same available brand and model, [excluding] competitors' free offers, limited quantity items, open-box, clearance or closeout products, mail-in incentives, financing or bundle offers."
So, what parts got ignored? Almost all of them.
Seems like a long list, I know, but it's not so draconican. We'd match a whole lot more offers than we'd turn away, and the rules were pretty flexible too. If the internet-only price you found is $20 less on that $300 camera, we'll probably match it anway, and especially if you're buying other stuff with it.
Personally, I always thought (and still do think) that the rules are pretty reasonable. Yeah, some other retailers will match a price on nothing but a promise, but some businesses like to protect themselves a little.
Official line is that coupons are not valid when combined with any other offer, which includes price matches. When coupons are used, the discount is taken off the price paid at the register. But again, it's up to management's discretion, and with every store having something like 10 managers, it's a toss-up.
--
"I personal[ly] think Unix is "superior" because on LSD it tastes like Blue." -- jbarnett
but you're partialy wrong.
:)
For one thing, if it's a manufacturers rebate, then under your model the store would have to front the rebate money because they still paid the regular price for the product. Which means that any time you have a manufacturers rebate on multiple items, the store is temporarily losing money. Might not be a huge impact, but it could be a problem for them.
Secondly, as others have pointed out, the fact that not everyone will claim the rebate allows companies to offer LARGER rebates. If all rebates were automaticaly claimed, you would never see a $120 HD with a $40 rebate, instead you'd get 5% off sales and the like. Small price decreases for everyone. Personaly, I'd much rather see big discounts for those willing to do the work, and no discount for those too lazy to do it. That's capitalism at it's best baby!
I've NEVER bought anything from Best Buy & actually been able to redeem a mail in rebate.
Thoose rebates have been expired before I bought the stuff every time, yet they still advertise the rebate.
The only thing I've paid attention to about their mail in rebates is how much more I'm going to have to pay on top of the big bold numbers.
Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
Looking through the top threads, the amount of animosity towards Best Buy is astounding. I know that there are a lot of people that don't like the place, but I'm surprised that there are a good number of people on Slashdot.
Maybe I'm an exception. I've never once had a problem with Best Buy. I rarely get the service plans (one of the things I've heard the most gripes about), and those that I have gotten I've never had to use. I've never had problems returning anything. Every single rebate I've sent in (and I've sent in many) has been fulfilled.
Maybe I'm biased. I did work there for three months. Yes, we were told to push the service plans like hell. Yes, they make Best Buy a lot of profit. Yes, they don't cover some things that you'd think they would (this is why you read things before you sign them, people.) Yes, the USB cables and the like are vastly pumped up in price.
You can get things cheaper, through places like Newegg, but NewEgg doesn't have any "sales associates". Yes, their "sales associates" generally aren't knowledgable, but if they were, they would be working at a better, higher paying job, wouldn't they? The fact of the matter is that Best Buy is a good nation-wide chain with employees that they train just enough to help John Q Public figure out what cheap-o computer to get for their elderly mother or 10-year-old daughter. Or just for finding a certain game or movie so they don't have to spend extra time browsing the isles.
Actually, now I can understand the animosity. But Best Buy really isn't that bad.
I could have sworn I read this same article last year and possibly the year before....in fact I know I have.
It is horrid from the moment you step in-- take that back-- before you even park in their huge treeless parking lot. (You park your bike around the corner out of view of all their surveillance cameras.)
At the door they grab your bags just in case you may be a shoplifter (they get a lot of those I suppose).
How do people work there without going deaf? 7 to 11 Jerry-Springer Beat. Of course they only get kids to work there (I suppose they think it is 'cool'-- or they are the only ones who will work at (most likely) min. wage.
The merchandise is mostly borderline bait and switch-- computers mostly 'Windows-friendly"--
Emphasis is on BIG and LOADED-- much like some typical customers I've seen-- blowing their min. wage paychecks on mostly *!@# they could probably live without.
Best Buy is resposible for more terror in the U.S. than al-Queda: every neighborhood is rattling from the boom speakers they sell to testosteronated gangsta wannabees.
Disappointed you won't get a rebate?
What planet are you on?
oh yeah-- the CUSTOMER-IS-KING planet.
God Save America-- when the money runs out.
You said you don't live in the United States.
Rebates are not about shopping carefully. Rebates are about crazy, crazy prices. On the day after Thanksgiving, the biggest rebate and sale day of the year in the U.S., I bought 12 Wireless devices (routers, USB wireless, PCMCIA cards and PCI wireless) for $2.99 each after rebate.
Rebates are about standing at a cash register, asking a sales clerk how much are the packages of 100 brand-name CDs, and being told "free after rebate".
The U.S. is a place of crazy extremes. The U.S. government has killed at least 4,000,000 people since the end of the 2nd world war, and yet most Americans consider the U.S. a benevolent country.
At best, only their customers who have computers and Internet access.
And who don't mind sending their personal info to bestbuy.com.
Terrorists can attack freedom, but only Congress can destroy it.
When you use safeway.com (or vons.com, etc. All the safeway-owned stores that do delivery) and add your clubcard to your account, you can view all your previous purchases. Whether in the store or online.
The first time I went to that part of the site, I was surprised to find white shoe polish that I'd bought in the store for my ex-girlfriend two years before...and quite a few similar "I remember when I bought that!!" things. It was fascinating.
It's not perfect, and it doesn't give you stats or details on how often you bought things, but it sure is neat.
Also, it shows an indicator on the product page that "you've bought this before." I think it's a thumbs-up sign. It's pretty handy for when you're not sure which variety of something you got before.
Try it if you have a Safeway-owned chain in your area. You don't have to buy anything online to sign up and add your card, so even if having your groceries delivered isn't your thing, you can test it out.
-Dan
I hate mail-in rebates so much that they actually deter me from buying things. The only price I compare when shopping is the amount I have to pay at the cash register.
I-ROCKS just sent me my check, albeit 12 weeks after the original 3 month deadline.