You may wonder why many people don't send in their rebates. It's because the fine print frequently reveals lots of hassle not disclosed in the rebate advertisement. Sometimes you go through all the hassle and still never get the rebate. The companies can always claim there was some small deviation from the rules even if the customer follows the directions perfectly. This is a fundamental part of their business plan.
A while back I was stiffed by Linksys on a router rebate. I wasted hours on the phone with them trying to find an explanation which they promised to find, but which they never provided. The operative word here is "waste". I never received the rebate. My time is not completely worthless, so it would have been a waste of my time even if Linksys had eventually coughed up the money they owed me. What am I going to do? Take them to court? Now we're talking real waste of time and money.
Companies also count on infinite delay of rebate checks to dampen enthusiasm for sending in the paperwork. I've been waiting since last year to get a rebate check from Epson. The outside company hired by Epson to delay rebate checks now acknowledges that they received the rebate materials from me, and plan to look more closely at my rebate application sometime soon. So far they've merely entered my name in a database. Who knows if I'll ever actually get the $100 the guy at the store so glibly promised me.
Meanwhile I'm supposed to maintain a database of outstanding rebate applications so I can keep track of who to nag.
Why do I bother with rebates at all? Good question. The companies are gradually training me to ignore rebates. In the last few months I've bought several products with advertised rebates, and have simply thrown away the rebate information.
Some of you will now wonder why I don't simply boycott products that offer rebates. In some instances the competitors also offer rebates! In other cases I genuinely want a particular product, but must ignore the rebate when considering the cost. I sincerely doubt anything short of villagers lighting torches and marching to the company gates at midnight will have any effect on rebate practices. Rebates are simply too good a deal for the companies that advertise rebates but don't actually pay them.
Slashdot Mirror
You may wonder why many people don't send in their rebates. It's because the fine print frequently reveals lots of hassle not disclosed in the rebate advertisement. Sometimes you go through all the hassle and still never get the rebate. The companies can always claim there was some small deviation from the rules even if the customer follows the directions perfectly. This is a fundamental part of their business plan. A while back I was stiffed by Linksys on a router rebate. I wasted hours on the phone with them trying to find an explanation which they promised to find, but which they never provided. The operative word here is "waste". I never received the rebate. My time is not completely worthless, so it would have been a waste of my time even if Linksys had eventually coughed up the money they owed me. What am I going to do? Take them to court? Now we're talking real waste of time and money. Companies also count on infinite delay of rebate checks to dampen enthusiasm for sending in the paperwork. I've been waiting since last year to get a rebate check from Epson. The outside company hired by Epson to delay rebate checks now acknowledges that they received the rebate materials from me, and plan to look more closely at my rebate application sometime soon. So far they've merely entered my name in a database. Who knows if I'll ever actually get the $100 the guy at the store so glibly promised me. Meanwhile I'm supposed to maintain a database of outstanding rebate applications so I can keep track of who to nag. Why do I bother with rebates at all? Good question. The companies are gradually training me to ignore rebates. In the last few months I've bought several products with advertised rebates, and have simply thrown away the rebate information. Some of you will now wonder why I don't simply boycott products that offer rebates. In some instances the competitors also offer rebates! In other cases I genuinely want a particular product, but must ignore the rebate when considering the cost. I sincerely doubt anything short of villagers lighting torches and marching to the company gates at midnight will have any effect on rebate practices. Rebates are simply too good a deal for the companies that advertise rebates but don't actually pay them.