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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."
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."
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!
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
"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).
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.
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.
Absolutely. The head of Best Buy has an "interesting viewpoint" on the people who support his stores.
I won't mince words, he goes on batshit insane rants about his customers pretty often, and seems to think that he is entitled to make profit (and as such, anyone who costs him profit by using a coupon, pricematching, etc is stealing directly from him), but that really isn't the issue.
I have no problem with them validating rebates and punishing people who submit rebates and then return a product. Shit, if it becomes a pattern, take them to court or even have the DA file charges, but as you said, there is a difference between someone who engages in fraud and someone who wants to get a good deal and uses a pricematch and a coupon on an item that also has a rebate.
Speaking of which - they already have a computerized validation system for rebates that apparently takes data from their POS system, if you return something, your rebate submission will be rejected. The 2 year timeline is completely unrealistic and is, quite frankly bullshit (many others have pointed this out)
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...
Oh. My. FSM.
Pricematching at Best Buy is like dealing with a schizophrenic. You never know what is allowed and what isn't. Sometimes you can use a coupon with a pricematch, sometimes you can't, sometimes the coupon price is subtracted from the pricematch, sometimes the after rebate price is used - it goes on and on and is really annoying.
Even the stuff on the "pricematching sign" can be completely ignored by the managers. Managers will just shrug their shoulders when you read the sign to them and say something like "Well, that's how it is" as if you are in an episode of the Sopranos.
To their credit, they have been cementing their position on several issues, although virtually every single policy change that they have set in stone has been hostile to their customers. Many of their rebates now specifically state that the rebate is not valid if a pricematch is performed on the item (terms like this were on the WD HDD rebate I filed about 6 months ago) and there are other examples.
I really don't care, their prices aren't competitive on the items that I purchase (techie stuff) and the hassle isn't worth it either. To say nothing of the fact that a lot of items that they have good prices on are on perpetual backorder or are cancelled with no explanation given (During the black friday weekend, they cancelled several of my orders - a laptop, a Radeon X700 and something else, but they charged my card as soon as I placed the order, and didn't refund it until several days later)
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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?