Office Depot rebates have been notoriously hard to get over these past few years. I avoid OD and TigerDirect like the plague for that very reason.

This is why I avoid all rebates like the plague.

Why no picture of the attached and redacted receipt also?

The OP may be right here, but his letter was horribly inappropriate for the situation. You don't get yourself anywhere claiming things are "illegal" without saying what law is being violated. This guy's tone and content will lose him any credibility he might have had. He should have addressed the problems stated in the letter specifically. 1) The UPC was attached, and 2) it was a UPC off of a qualifying product. Responding with a childish, unprofessional letter is not the way to solve your problems.

I never ever buy stuff with rebates, on principle alone. I refuse to reward douchebag companies that do this crap (technically their fulfillment house does it, but guess who is paying the bills?).

Why the hell aren't they illegal, again?

I always scan everyone of my rebates and make sure they have a delivery confirmation. Rebates is just another way for the company to steal from people - the expect a certain amount not to send it in, which is fine, but after people send it in, they still find ways to cheat them out.
P.S thats why i hate Black Fridays now, the past 2 or 3 years has been all rebate stuff- i make it a point not to go to those stores on blackfriday

I also agree that Dan's reply was out of line. I know a lot of rebate companies that deny your claim completely and do not give your the opportunity to resubmit.

Why jump straight to the legal threats? Surely he could have sent a copy of the photo and given them the chance to respond to that? The most likely explanation is that the barcode fell off and whoever opened the envelope didn't look inside for the barcode. In that case, most companies would accept the photo as proof.

If they still refused, that would be the time for threats.

I have had amazing luck getting my rebates over the years. Maybe I'm lucky but I make sure to read the rebate forms first before making any purchase. If there's anything sketchy or unclear then I just buy something else. I also keep copies, photographs and mark dates on my calendar if referenced in the rebate.

It really is a shame though that you have to feel like you're jumping through hoops and have to take extra precautions to make sure you won't get screwed. I completely understand why some people think it's not worth it.

I had a similar problem getting hhGregg to redeem a rebate for delivery of my new refrigerator. They claimed that the original receipt copy that I sent in was "too light to read" after THEY SCANNED IT.

A promise to send this to the state AG's office for investigation of possible fraud changed their tune in a hurry and I got my check within a couple weeks.

Why didn't the poster just re-submit it by fax? They may have actually lost it in the shuffle. I think it's a rash to immediately go off and make all sorts of accusations. I had something similar like this happen to me with a Verizon rebate, a quick phone call and they took my word for it and I got my rebate. If you read the exclusions that you scanned you can see that they can pull away this rebate at any time, thats why I never bank on them or count them towards the actual savings. Rebates are gravy at best and I avoid them any way I can.

I went through this exact same situation with Apple last year. I called the number on the email and told them I thought their denial was quite interesting since I was holding a photocopy of the UPC in my hand right that second. The very nice Apple lady immediately said she could see it too, that a scan of it was attached to my file, and that sometimes "the computer" just goes through the rebate files and recodes them as missing pieces for no reason. I found that rather mysterious (nefarious computers recoding things for...fun?) but none of the other nice Apple ladies I ended up speaking to over the next couple weeks had any other answer for why my rebate kept getting coded that way again and again.

I eventually got my rebate, but I have to say I was disappointed in Apple for denying it in the first place by keeping a sneaky, possibly evil computer under its employ.

If I don't like the point-of-sale price of an item, I will not buy it. I absolutely do not trust mail in rebates and I fundamentally disagree with them from an ethical standpoint, for precisely this reason.

A perfect example of how NOT to write a complaint letter. There are three simple rules to writing a complaint letter that gets results:
1. State facts concisely,
2. State your desired outcome clearly, and
3. Leave your emotions out of it.

I would also suggest getting a proof of mailing too; one time I was denied a $100 rebate on a laptop because supposedly my materials were postmarked too late, which just wasn't possible unless a postal employee dropped it behind the water cooler and then found it a month later and mailed it.

@Pylon83: Yeah, his letter wasn't the most polite, yet I wonder why it's against the rules to point out the obvious when somebody is trying to commit fraud.

i think in the future, i'm going to scan and make a copy of my rebate form with the UPC code, and then include a copy of the rebate form with the UPC code in the envelope, so when they open it, they can at least see what i mailed them and i have a copy of.

come to think of it, i'm also going to hand cuff the letter to someone who will deliver it personally and ensure that it doesn't get "mishandled." yea... that'll work...

@Mayor McRib: Brother sez he didn't include a UPC code. They want the original UPC code off the box. He already sent it and therefore doesn't have it. They don't want a faxed copy. The cleverness of the rebate center's ruse is in that they request something he cannot possibly produce.

His letter was fine IMO. I'd also file a complaint with the FTC, BBB and states attory generals office.

[www.ftc.gov]

About 10 years ago I used to date someone that owned one of these rebate processing companies.
The stories I heard !

- Employees regularly throwing out rebates for items as simple as misspellings.

- Some companies that contracted for their rebate processing actually had terms in their contract that only 40% of all rebates were to be processed !

It is a known fact that most companies EXPECT less than half of all rebates to be processed.

I make it a point to tell merchants that I will only purchase the product if I am given the rebate immediately. Some smaller merchants and indepedent businesses will actully do this and send the rebate paperwork in themselves.

The OP is right. Come out firing, who needs a prolonged argument. Fire the first shot to kill. In rebates and war you don't load the gun with blanks.

I always read the rebate form carefully... twice. Then I mark the required items on the form with a pink highlighter. When I send in the form I believe that seeing the highlighted spots will give them a clue that I am very careful about this. And, of course I make copies of everything, write the mailing date on the copy and file it. My success rate is about 98%.

I've never had a problem with rebates, but I always assume that I'll never see the money when I buy the product.

@Pylon83:
Oh shut up you didactic ass. It is one thing to tell someone how to improve their communication, it is another thing to call your ally "childish." Shut up.

I bought a motherboard, memory and a new video card last fall from Microcenter, got all of the duplicate receipts, cut out all of the barcodes, filled out the forms with Adobe so they'd be legible, printed the envelopes on the printer, with barcodes for delivery, then forgot to include the receipts.

They sent me a couple of emails, which I responded to apologetically, and offered to send in the receipts. They never responded, but a few weeks later I got all of my rebates (total of about $120).

However, like the Consumerist, I treat all rebates as 'found money' and don't count them in my evaluation of prices.

Did I miss the part where Office Depot's e-mail denies anything?

I am always careful when I complete rebate forms. I rarely get them honored. The last rebate I complete - and it will be THE LAST - was for a Sirius radio purchased through Radio Shack. Though three adults reviewed each piece of material closely before mailing, it was denied because certain things were missing. It was bullshit, and we all know it. I canceled my Sirius subscription, and surprisingly, they keep begging me to come back.

F them

@Pylon83:

His letter was spot on & to the point.
Bet he gets a satisfactory resolution too.

Of the last half dozen rebates I sent out for, only ONE was actually accepted the first time. Each time I kept copies of the forms and UPCs I'd sent and every time they rejected them. Companies that rejected my rebate - Best Buy, Listerine Mouth Wash, Trend Micro, Sears, and Proctor and Gamble (for one of the shampoos). Oddly enough it was a beer company, Molson, that didn't reject it first time around.

@ChuckECheese:

Would you please forward the copy of the UPC barcode to the special handling address below? Please be sure to keep a copy for your records.

Office Depot Mail-In Savings Center
Attention: Resubmit Department
PO Box 317006
El Paso, TX 88531-7006

Or by fax to:

Office Depot Mail-In Savings Center
Attention: Resubmit Department
#1-866-238-3145

How about you read that again. They asked for a COPY of the UPC barcode to the address below OR by fax. Doesn't sound all that impossible to me, although it's a pain in the ass. But usually rebates are. I am not saying that Brother is right in all of this, but at least give them a shot to make it right before you blow your chances.

I filled out a rebate from Kitchen Aid and didn't get it by the time I should. I called them and they had all my info but didn't have the rebate. How do you have info from someone who never purchased an item from you but don't have the rebate? Fortunately, I always make copies of all the stuff I send in for rebates, just in case. They were nice enough to give me another address to send the info to and I received my rebate after that. I don't know if some of the people who they have processing rebates are just that incompetent or if they really try to not pay people their rebates.

Is there a way to add specific commenters to an "ignore" list?

FALSELY...not FASLELY

I had a rebate rejected recently by Kitchenaid. Submitted everything exactly as stated, and on time. I received my envelope back, and it merely had a rejection stamped on it. No note or letter attached, it was like "return to sender". Umm...ok?

@mjane79: Hah I didnt even see your post...funny. I guess their scummy rebate department just decided to stop processing them.

D-Link does it too. I bought a router and was happy to discover a week later that it qualified for a rebate. Why turn down a free $25?

I submitted the form, UPC and receipt and a few days ago I get a letter that I didn't include the UPC.

I wish I had the forsight to photograph it before I sent it like this guy. Nothing meaner than dangling a little present only to steal it away. I'd rather have not been offerred the rebate then!

Why do people online scribble out the numbers on barcodes, but not the actual barcodes? Do they not realize the numbers are encoded, in their entirety, by the barcode?

@Mayor McRib: Mayor McRib, please don't eat me! I'm sorry!

@ChuckECheese:
You are forgiven, now give me your lunch money.

I'm 0 for 8 on mail-in rebates and I am meticulous when it comes to the procedure. Office Depot, Staples, and Circuit City all gave the same "UPC symbol not included" line when denying my rebates. Maybe gluing them on so they can't possibly fall off was a bad idea?

I never heard anything from the other 5 rebates I sent in.

Rebates are obviously no longer a factor in my purchasing decisions, unless they are instant.

@SuffolkHouse:

I had the same exact thing happen to me with a Sirius rebate. It took days of complaining to actually get the $50 sent out after they told me that I did not attach....what else?...the UPC code. The worst part of it all is that I actually run [siriusbuzz.com] and they told me that they didn't care.

[EDIT]
I meant the products I bought from Office Depot, Staples and Circuit City.

@gwong:

I've always had good luck with the Fry's Electronics rebates (which are typically just manufacturer rebates). They take much longer than stated on the documentation, but I've never failed to receive one. The 4-6 weeks, is usually about 10 weeks.

The people who are siding with the rebate company, obviously haven't dealt with that many. No, they can't use "the upc fell out" excuse, because so many rebates specifically tell you not to staple or tape the upc to the form.

The letter does not say "you were missing the upc," but that you didn't include it from a valid product. This could mean they rejected the UPC for some such b.s., as:

~your model had a special promo - hence a different code.
~your model was included, but the clearinghouse didn't have it listed.
~or the quota problem.

Rebates have become a scam, which is why I've basically avoided them. I used to make a lot of money doing them in the past, though.

Something seems fishy here... the scanned form and UPC are for a rebate to Brother (with Brother's mailing address), but he was denied directly by Office Depot? Seems to me like there's a second rebate he screwed up on.

I've had good luck with rebates when I started scanning the rebate form before sending it in. There has been about a 5% "missing item" bounce rate, but I've never had a problem "correcting" the issue by sending/faxing the image of the scan.

I also use Google Calendar to remind myself of when a rebate should have been sent; I remove the reminder when the rebate appears, and get an email if it hasn't.

~coughcough~ smalls claims court plus extra for your time and trouble.

Hmm... this makes me wonder... are rebate processing centers and medical insurance claim processing centers one and the same? They seem to operate under the same set of rules: deny all claims (rebates/medical) up front and make people jump through all sorts of hoops before paying out.

@Pylon83: Whining about someone's letter doesn't mean they aren't right and that they don't deserve to get what is owed to them. If you agree to do something, and someone writes you a nastygram saying you haven't done what you agreed to do, you don't get to throw out the letter and whine about the tone; you get to do what you agreed to or face a lawsuit.