"At it's worst it is a error ridden and prejudiced document that discriminates against the "lower classes""
HAHAHAHAHA! A dictionary discriminates against the lower classes?? That's hilarious! I suppose you'll also begin railing about dictionaries 'discriminating' against the so-called 1337-speak folk too, right?
That said, if the 'rich and powerful elements of society' speak a certain way (a way, for that matter, that changes only when the current method no longer makes sense) the I'd assume that most would want to speak that way too. The "lower classes" that you speak of tend to follow trends (foshizzle my nizzle, anyone?) and are thus addopted and abandoned so often as to make a standard dictionary obsolete quicker than it could be printed.
I wish that were the case in my area. I have two grocery stores near me, and Albertson's and a Stater Bros., with Albertson's being closer to me by a block. Stater Bros. has generally the same items/brands that I want to purchase, but at a lightly higher price than Albertson's.
Keep in mind, assuming your milage may vary: when I filled out my 'reward's card' at Albertson's, I do not recall many (if any) required fields. And even then, none of them were verified for accuracy.
In my experience, I've always had to send my rebate form to a third-party vendor.
Out of around 20 sent, I've actually received 2. The others, I was told, were either 'lost in the mail,' 'filled out incorrectly,' or my favorite, simply 'denied' with no reason given. Repeated follow-up was never successful, as by that point the deadline for filing said rebate had passed. It's kinda of funny how the rebate 'expires' just a week or so after the purchase. Given that it takes ~2 days to get there (assuming that you send it out the same day) and adding in several days for processing...that leaves no time for error.
Is it really worth sending a rebate form registered mail to get a $5 rebate check? Not to me, so I'd rather get an internet vendor to sell the item to me for $53, instead of going to Best Buy and purchasing it for $60 with a $15 rebate.
"Breakage - yes it occurs but it's getting easier for the consumer to file rebates and with lots of new laws protecting consumer rights it's not as big a deal as you think it is. In-store rebates are also common where the retailer "files" for you but you get the discount then and there."
I've never, ever had a retailer file a rebate on my behalf. Where have you had this experience, because I want to shop there! Assuming I can't find it elsewhere for the same after-rebate price, but without the rebate hassle, of course.
In the 20 or so times that I've sent in rebates, I've only ever gotten 2 back.
Nope. This means that they expect the rebate process to be EXTRA burdensome, and so over convoluted and complicated (compounded by conflicting information) that they will make even MORE money on the deal.
I would prefer to accept the lower price at the register, and in effect sign my 'rebate' over the the retail store. So I pay the lower price, while paying taxes on the original price, and now it's up to the store to collect their kickback.
Of course the key is HOW do I empower the store to collect on my behalf...
Aside from trying to cheat the customer (who may forget to send the rebate in, or simply not fill it out correctly) there is still no reason to not have the STORE file the rebate and collect the money back. Wouldn't reputable stores WANT to do that, in order to garner customer good will?
When sales are back up to par, and the items are considered 'moved' then end 'sale' on the item, returning it to full price.
I guess I just don't see how the store would lose by filing the rebate itself and giving the customer the discount at the register.
Hahaha! Now THAT's hot. Zero people have spelled it correctly.
Yep, the internet is an awesome place. Too bad I can't get a PC-condom to protect me from these ignorant pricks. (pun, though poorly implemented, intended)
My experience was just the opposite. I ordered a thingamajig, and the company said I should have received it already...but I hadn't, and they didn't have a tracking number, and wouldn't refund my money. I needed the money back so that I could order the thingamajig from another company, so I called Visa and they refunded the money to me within, I think, 5 business days.
Now with my bank credit/debit card, I had a very similar experience to what you described. Since the money was out of my account, *I* had to investigate myself and provide the evidence that there was a mistake/fraud. At first, they denied my claim because I had expected that they would investigate properly, but they hadn't. When I resubmited my claim and provided the information they SHOULD have gotten, I finally got what I needed. But even once I provided them the information, it STILL took Washington Mutual 21 business days to finally credit the money back into my account.
Since then I use a standard Visa or MasterCard to purchase anything over $25. I know, kinda anal, but I do NOT want to have my money tied up for two months again.
Correct, you are. I bank with a large bank (Washington Mutual) and had a small, bogus out-of-state charge on my VISA/debit card. Thinking that someone could have been 'fishing' my account to see if the number worked, I had to cancel my card. This meant that I had to wait 7-10 business days for a new card, then several more business days to receive my PIN so that I could use it as a debit card.
When I had a purchase problem happen with my VISA creadit (only) card, VISA simply froze the account and had it taken care of within 5 (if I remember correctly) business days.
Per the parent poster: "You missed an important line in your quote. Right before the paragraph the blurp you pasted, it says: "and yet another review I found on the company:""
So there was an experience like the grandparent described, but it was to ANOTHER person, NOT the subject of this article.
They all have strengths and weaknesses. With some, it's simply user-base: people signed up for yahoo email service, and then simply began using their IM client. With others it's a matter of features or even brand-recognition.
As more of a conformist, I don't force my friends/relatives etc to communicate with me using just one. I use Trillian to manage all these clients, both on the internet and my company's intranet.
Nah, what they need is to do away with the earphones, as they are the most offensive part of the glasses. Since the earpieces of the glasses are directly over the ears, one (or both) should use technology like this: http://www.phoneyworld.com/newspage.aspx?n=1419
Now if they could make THAT as small as an eraser head I'd be all over it.
Excellent point. In addition, I think subscriptions allow them to track how many people are reading the magazine and this would affect the prices of the ads. That, and maybe they make money from selling your name/address.:)
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"At it's worst it is a error ridden and prejudiced document that discriminates against the "lower classes""
HAHAHAHAHA! A dictionary discriminates against the lower classes?? That's hilarious! I suppose you'll also begin railing about dictionaries 'discriminating' against the so-called 1337-speak folk too, right?
That said, if the 'rich and powerful elements of society' speak a certain way (a way, for that matter, that changes only when the current method no longer makes sense) the I'd assume that most would want to speak that way too. The "lower classes" that you speak of tend to follow trends (foshizzle my nizzle, anyone?) and are thus addopted and abandoned so often as to make a standard dictionary obsolete quicker than it could be printed.
So how do you discriminate against a "trend"?
Awesome. Thanks for the info!
Awesome. Now it's time to get out there and educate the masses.
Is there money in being an 'address broker' for rebates? That'd be classic...
"Say its $100 with a $50 rebate. I'll pay $25 and promise to send you that extra $25 within 4 to 8 weeks."
That's awesome. Then you could say that they didn't give you all the information that you arbitrarilly require and you never pay them the other $25.
I wish that were the case in my area. I have two grocery stores near me, and Albertson's and a Stater Bros., with Albertson's being closer to me by a block. Stater Bros. has generally the same items/brands that I want to purchase, but at a lightly higher price than Albertson's.
Keep in mind, assuming your milage may vary: when I filled out my 'reward's card' at Albertson's, I do not recall many (if any) required fields. And even then, none of them were verified for accuracy.
In my experience, I've always had to send my rebate form to a third-party vendor.
Out of around 20 sent, I've actually received 2. The others, I was told, were either 'lost in the mail,' 'filled out incorrectly,' or my favorite, simply 'denied' with no reason given. Repeated follow-up was never successful, as by that point the deadline for filing said rebate had passed. It's kinda of funny how the rebate 'expires' just a week or so after the purchase. Given that it takes ~2 days to get there (assuming that you send it out the same day) and adding in several days for processing...that leaves no time for error.
Is it really worth sending a rebate form registered mail to get a $5 rebate check? Not to me, so I'd rather get an internet vendor to sell the item to me for $53, instead of going to Best Buy and purchasing it for $60 with a $15 rebate.
"Breakage - yes it occurs but it's getting easier for the consumer to file rebates and with lots of new laws protecting consumer rights it's not as big a deal as you think it is. In-store rebates are also common where the retailer "files" for you but you get the discount then and there."
I've never, ever had a retailer file a rebate on my behalf. Where have you had this experience, because I want to shop there! Assuming I can't find it elsewhere for the same after-rebate price, but without the rebate hassle, of course.
In the 20 or so times that I've sent in rebates, I've only ever gotten 2 back.
Nope. This means that they expect the rebate process to be EXTRA burdensome, and so over convoluted and complicated (compounded by conflicting information) that they will make even MORE money on the deal.
Or am I just overly pessimistic?
I would prefer to accept the lower price at the register, and in effect sign my 'rebate' over the the retail store. So I pay the lower price, while paying taxes on the original price, and now it's up to the store to collect their kickback.
Of course the key is HOW do I empower the store to collect on my behalf...
Home address
Work address
Spouse's work address
(friendly) Neighbor's address
in-law's address
Get the picture?
If that were the case, one could assume that there would never be 'sales', and that there would only be 'rebates'.
Unless I'm missing something...
Aside from trying to cheat the customer (who may forget to send the rebate in, or simply not fill it out correctly) there is still no reason to not have the STORE file the rebate and collect the money back. Wouldn't reputable stores WANT to do that, in order to garner customer good will?
When sales are back up to par, and the items are considered 'moved' then end 'sale' on the item, returning it to full price.
I guess I just don't see how the store would lose by filing the rebate itself and giving the customer the discount at the register.
Hahaha! Now THAT's hot. Zero people have spelled it correctly.
Yep, the internet is an awesome place. Too bad I can't get a PC-condom to protect me from these ignorant pricks. (pun, though poorly implemented, intended)
My experience was just the opposite. I ordered a thingamajig, and the company said I should have received it already...but I hadn't, and they didn't have a tracking number, and wouldn't refund my money. I needed the money back so that I could order the thingamajig from another company, so I called Visa and they refunded the money to me within, I think, 5 business days.
Now with my bank credit/debit card, I had a very similar experience to what you described. Since the money was out of my account, *I* had to investigate myself and provide the evidence that there was a mistake/fraud. At first, they denied my claim because I had expected that they would investigate properly, but they hadn't. When I resubmited my claim and provided the information they SHOULD have gotten, I finally got what I needed. But even once I provided them the information, it STILL took Washington Mutual 21 business days to finally credit the money back into my account.
Since then I use a standard Visa or MasterCard to purchase anything over $25. I know, kinda anal, but I do NOT want to have my money tied up for two months again.
Correct, you are. I bank with a large bank (Washington Mutual) and had a small, bogus out-of-state charge on my VISA/debit card. Thinking that someone could have been 'fishing' my account to see if the number worked, I had to cancel my card. This meant that I had to wait 7-10 business days for a new card, then several more business days to receive my PIN so that I could use it as a debit card.
When I had a purchase problem happen with my VISA creadit (only) card, VISA simply froze the account and had it taken care of within 5 (if I remember correctly) business days.
Per the parent poster: "You missed an important line in your quote. Right before the paragraph the blurp you pasted, it says:
"and yet another review I found on the company:""
So there was an experience like the grandparent described, but it was to ANOTHER person, NOT the subject of this article.
If it comes to a boil slower than the 'AMD' model kettle, it's only because of old drivers.
...doesn't the car have to be worth more than $5k? Or is my information old?
They all have strengths and weaknesses. With some, it's simply user-base: people signed up for yahoo email service, and then simply began using their IM client. With others it's a matter of features or even brand-recognition.
As more of a conformist, I don't force my friends/relatives etc to communicate with me using just one. I use Trillian to manage all these clients, both on the internet and my company's intranet.
I went to geeks.com to confirm the price, and couldn't even find the product.
Mmmmmm, hummers. Are you an alley fan, or do you prefer a more formal whorehouse environment?
*pff pff Is this thing on?*
"Yeah, obviously we wear sunglasses when we're sitting in the basement staring at the computer...."
Only if they've got those uber-classy chick-magnet flip-up lenses.
Nah, what they need is to do away with the earphones, as they are the most offensive part of the glasses. Since the earpieces of the glasses are directly over the ears, one (or both) should use technology like this: http://www.phoneyworld.com/newspage.aspx?n=1419
Now if they could make THAT as small as an eraser head I'd be all over it.
You could be right! I checked on Geeks.com to get the price and couldn't locate the glasses.
Excellent point. In addition, I think subscriptions allow them to track how many people are reading the magazine and this would affect the prices of the ads. That, and maybe they make money from selling your name/address. :)