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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."
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.
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.
Note: I worked there previously and I left because I got a better job full time.
I noticed while there that it wasn't so much the best buy rebates that people had problems with. I worked customer service and we regularly offered to fix a problem with a rebate right there in front of you if you had a problem and recieved a rejection letter from best buy.
However the big problem was the 3rd party rebates. (AKA when you have more then one rebate for a product). The rebates that went through individual companies usually seemed to come back unfullfilled. So while everyone gets upset at the company the problem exists all over. These third party rebates are often given at all retailers and aren't exclusive. Best Buy won't honor them because they are not theirs.
I don't see how they will fix the third party rebates. As long as the companies offering them don't care then it's going to be a problem.
I know the store I worked in went out of it's way to make the customer happy as long as oyu didn't jump down a rep's throat (because it's obviously their fault *sarcasm*) the moment you step up to the counter. The reason was we wanted return customers. Often there were times that people walked out screaming they would never shop here again to cause a scene. Next week I'd see them back and have to help them again and they were quiet as could be (kinda amusing to me). So while people say they will stop shopping at a store I find not many hold themselves to that.
There exists some positive integer N that you are the Nth person to read this signature.
Tigerdirect has had problems with rebates in the past has a unsatisfactory BBB record due to a pattern of customer complaints.
Their new "rebate guarantee" is bullshit. It has you shell out $5 for certified mail for a $8 rebate (on a lot of items, the "rebate price" is broken up into several rebates, each going to a different address).
Don't believe me? Click here for the BBB report.
They have also settled (we know what that means) with the FTC for doing shady stuff with "warranties" on the products they sell.
They are fucking scumbags, they don't even answer most of their complaints, pure and simple.
As for your situation, try filing a complaint with the BBB, the FTC and possibly with the Attorney General for your state. When the mouthbreathers in the call center "cannot do anything more for you", that is your next step. Except in cases like the shitbags above, you will generally get a reasonable person calling you within a few days and your problem will be taken care of.
Good luck
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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.
Rebates must be an American thing... In NZ, I've never heard of this sort of craziness. If the vendor is offering a discount on their product, they do it through the retailer, like you suggest. It seems that for some reason, Americans accept the idea that they should pay full price to a retailer, and then snail mail in a piece of paper to get a cheque back in the mail that they can then cash ? I can only imagine how much paperwork and paper handling has to occur to complete that process. I never use cheques in this country, and I don't know many people who do, because everyone here accepts eftpos or direct deposits into their bank account. I guess I'm just used to avoiding paperwork.
> 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.
Tactics like this are used to entice foot traffic; they bring in customers into the store. Of course, once they are in, customers tend to purchase other goods along with the 'discounted goods,' and hopefully profit will ensue to the business. It also employs another important strategy: It prevents the customer from going to the competitor's establishment to spend their money. Most of the time loss leader goods are cooperative strategies employed by both the retail establishment and the goods manufacturer/supplier. The manufacturer receives brand visibility and the the local Best Buy gets 20% more people wanting to shop there in hopes of getting the goods at the discounted price as advertised.
The downside to tactics like this (from the retail side) is that diligent customers that purchase only loss leader goods results in the net loss of profit. In order to curb that loss of profit, Best Buy will do whatever it takes (in a legal sense) to prevent you from receiving that rebate check; make it a hassle with all the paperwork in order to submit that rebate form by mail, or void any rebate submissions (and future submission opportunities) they see legally fit when you fail to follow their 'guidelines.'
Well, that's my theory and I'm sticking to it. :-P
My last purchase at Worst Buy was about two years ago. I bought a HD that should have been $60 after rebate. My local store had the same HD for sale at $70 ... no rebate, no gimmicks, just $70. Long story short, I decided to "save" the $10 and go to Worst Buy. Well, I never got the $40 rebate and I paid $100 for the HD. So I lost $30 and Worst Buy lost a customer for life. Mind you, that wasn't the only rebate I got screwed out of -- just the last one.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
You got in a single file line,Told them what you wanted at the first desk,Had it ready for you at the second desk which pointed you straight to the checkout.Ours is across the street from Wal Mart and we all laughed at they way the crowds fought like animals.Plus you can't beat 200 gig hard drives for $30 and 16 speed +/- dual layer burners for $20!
And I don't know about other places but here they go out of there way to help folks.When some of the older folks said they didn't have internet and could they get the rebates one of the sales people sat them down and help them fill it out on the stores connection! Now that's the way to treat folks.After that I buy all my blanks and little gadgets from them.
If these companies that try to rip folks off would just realize that a little kindness and consideration goes a long way when it comes to repeat business we'd all be better off.After all,Their friendly treatment of everybody got me to spend nearly $200 instead of the $60 or so that I'd originally planned to spend at staples.Treat folks right and they'll be happy to bring repeat business to your store.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
While to some extent what you say is true - you are paying extra taxes than if you simply got the money off - your remedy is cutting of your nose to spite your face.
Lets use your example at my local best buy. Our tax rate (Knoxville, Tennessee) is 9.25%. So on the 1000 dollar order we are paying 1092.5 dollars for the final product. A tax of 92.5 dollars. With the said 200 dollar rebate I will pay 892.5 dollars, which in my book is less than 1092.5 dollars. Now, you say you will pay more to avoid this so lets assume you are not paying 1001.00 dollars to avoid a 200 dollar rebate you are paying a final amount of 1093.5 dollars. In some form or fasion you equate the 1093.5 as being cheaper than the 892.5 dollars, however I suspect that more retail stores would like the general populace to use that math than the one usually used by consumers. Maybe if your time was worth more than the "200 dollars/time spent filling out the forms" would I agree. Otherwise you are simply paying more.
Yep, you stuck it to The Man. By paying 201 more dollars you have showed him! No longer will rebates be usable after your stand against tyrrany! You can sleep peacfully at night and be assured that those of us that sent the rabate in are endlessly regretting that check for X amount of money we recieved in the mail, or better yet the ones taken off at the register as some places now do.
------- Sorry about the spelling, I suffer from two problems. Dyslexia makes it difficult to spell well, lazy makes it
This is not new and is an old marketing trick. The store I know that does this the most is Macy's. My brother worked for them and their pricing works something like this: there are always 3 prices for each item: the retail price, which is an artificially high price that no items will ever be sold at, then there is the actual price of the item that it is selling now at, then there is the sale price. The discount for the sale price is calculated from the inflated retail price. So if you go their store and see a sofa that supposedly used to cost $2000 and not after the magic 50% sale, it costs only $1000, don't reach for the wallet just yet, because no one has ever sold that sofa for $2000 dollars. You can probably buy it at another store for $800. And the sale is there only to make you feel like you are getting a deal.
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.
In sane, civilized countries, like Finland for example, this practice is blatantly illegal.
Over here you cannot advertise a discount, unless it is based on an actual retail price that the product has actually been sold for prior to the discount in the same store. Failure to follow the law carries steep fines.
Yes, there are ways to 'milk' this as well - say, sell some product for a few weeks for an inflated price, then drop it to a 'big' discount, but in general scams like the one you describe do not happen over here. Mostly discounts are 'real' discounts - companies clearing out excess stock to make room for new stuff. Or just outright advertising stuff cheap *without* silly '50% off' stickers. You can sell cheap to pull in people, you just can't claim it's 50% off some imaginary 'retail' price that has no basis in reality.
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?
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
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.
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!
It's funny - I always hear these stories about people never getting their rebate, but I've probably done 50 of them over the last 8 years and have always received the rebate. Large or small amount, it doesn't matter who the vendor was, etc. I've always gotten them.
:)
The one time I had a problem was a free computer game offer, but even that arrived eventually (it might've been 6 months, but I did eventually receive it, and when I called to check on it after waiting 6-8 weeks, they explained the delay and gave me a new expected ship date).
Personally I don't have a major problem with Best Buy. I generally don't go to them for computer hardware, though; I've got a Microcenter nearby for that.
Isn't what you describing what they call price discrimination in economics and when doing so means an abuse of monopoly power?
You're half right. It's called price discrimination, but doing so is rarely an abuse of monopoly power. Where it becomes illegal is when a monopoly manufacturer engages in price discrimination between different distributors - this is a form of collusion.
The term "price discrimination" sounds like it might have a negative connotation, but it really doesn't have one among economists.
They are just trying to catch up with PriceCostco. They've been doing this for at least two years now. You buy a product with a rebate, go to the Costco web site, fill in your receipt number and mail to address and get your rebate in 7-10 days.
Painless, easy and fast.
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.
...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