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."
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."
Online rebates really do make the rebate process much much easier. Of all my black friday purchases this year, I only had one that required a mail-in rebate (some batteries from circuit city) and it was the only one I didn't get around to filling in. Just doesn't take nearly as long online. CompUSA had a really cool thing where you just enter in a couple numbers from your receipt and your address, and all three of the things I bought were automatically filled in and ready to go. Staples was really easy too (they had online rebates in 2004 as well), and they sent my rebate checks very quickly.
I *am* the slashdot type, so maybe there are other people who would much rather fill out forms and mail them in. For me, though, the online rebates were done in 5 minutes and completely painless.
P.
free music
I can't imagine that anyone about to spend over a thousand dollars on a TV or computer @ Best-buy would turn down a 10%, 15%, or 20% off coupon.
My mother regularly saves 30%~50% on groceries because she clips coupons and uses her frequent shopper card. She saves the reciepts to show me and everytime, I ask her when the supermarkets will just start giving her food for free.
Rebates and coupons have low redemption rates, which is why bargain hunters spend much less on the same things you and I buy every day. If rebates were rung up at the register, the savings offered would drop like a rock as the rate of redemption headed for 100%.
[Fuck Beta]
o0t!
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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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!
All stores lie to their customers to PRETEND they're getting a discount.
The other day I was in a store and saw a sign for Levi's 501s for $38, MSRP $42. Then I went to the store next door and saw a similar sign: Levi's 501s for $34, MSRP $38. There isn't any way to reconcile this, other than realizing that stores are lying through their teeth.
Back to the point, I also saw a documentary a few months ago about shopping clubs. They went to a city with two supermarkets with shopping clubs and bought a good list of various items with their club cards. Then they went to a neighboring city, bought the same items from a similar supermarket with no shopping club, and the non-discounted items without a card were a LOT cheaper.
The moral of this story... Stores are lying to you. Shopping clubs only pretend to save you money. You have to compare not to the non-discounted price at the same store, but to the normal price at a non-shopping club store. Club cards are only useful if you can't chose to shop elsewhere.
Besides, the customer tracking is completely unacceptable. It only serves to find out how to squeeze more money out of you. Just think about it, they can find out what products are selling in aggregate without tracking each buyer. They only need per-buyer info to figure out how to make their store less attractive to customers who aren't making them much money. Club cards don't magically make it cheaper for the supermarket to buy that head of lettuce, or can of soup.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
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?