This has been going around for a while and I don't see any proble with this except waiting (and searching) through the mail to get your card. A savvy consumer, depending on how much free time they have, can easily use this debit card to redeem cash.

problem*

Losing out on the balance of your card should be illegal. There is no f'ing way it costs them $5 a month to "maintain your card balance" or whatever it is they say. In Washington state they passed a law where stores can't deduct from your gift cards due to inactivity, but for whatever reason the law doesn't cover prepaid credit cards.

One other scammy thing about some of these prepaid debit cards (not the credit cards) is that they charge you a transaction fee just to use the card. So in this case your $26 gift card could be worth a lot less if it comes with a $1.95 fee per transaction like a lot of these do.

I don't see the problem w/ the prepaid VISA either.

1 - You don't have to go to the bank to deposit/cash it.
2 - You can use it just like your own debit card from your bank. Spends just like cash.

Rebates are worthless for me. Even with copies and certified mail and blah blah blah I've NEVER received one back. It's always "we didn't receive it" "You'll have to send it again, and no we can't accept copies" or some other lame excuse. I never purchase on the base of a rebate.

@JamieSueAustin: Wow, that could be a run of bad luck. I've done quite a number of rebates over the years, and have _always_ gotten them.

I recently got one from T-Mobile. Problem is that it now has a $2 balance and I'm not sure how to use that...can't really imagine any cashier being happy with me asking to put $2 of my transaction on a card, and using (cash or something else) for the rest. Minor annoyance.

@watchwhathappens: I do that all the time. It's quite simple, really.

Does that first picture from buy.com say "does not apply to products sold on our site?"

I think the answer is to forget about any purchase that has a rebate that is not instant. That is what I do after having been screwed out of more than a few over the years. If people just stop buying the crap they hawk with shady rebates companies will stop viewing them as a viable sales tool.

@undefined: Bingo. As the two prepaid Visa rebates I've personally received have come as "branded" cards bearing the logo of the company that issued the rebate (like the Norton one above), I suspect the company gets a return on a percentage of the fees and the balances that go unused.

People forget small balances, and don't want the hassle of using two payment types. I'm sure that in addition to "maintaining breakage," this is another strategy they employ to keep customers from taking full advantage of rebates.

I paid a couple of my bills online with them. Payment systems that let you select "another amount" are probably the best way to utilize these prepaid cards.

Don't worry about the cashier's happiness. Use it up.

When I've done this through ATT, I've always recieved my rebates in a timely fashion. With that said, I always use my rebate card at gas stations as my way of paying for either gas or snacks for the road.

My favorite is the home improvement chain *cough*Menards*cough* that does all their rebates as store credit.

@EricLecarde: Strangely enough, the card I got from ATT would not work to pay my ATT bill.

A simple change to the pricing rules would make this die out. If retailers had to display the cash-at-till price in print twice the size of the rebate price it'd fall flat in months.

Luckily we don't get this sort of nonsense in the UK, because our rules mean you pay the price on the shelf-edge.

@watchwhathappens: I wouldn't worry one bit about it. People use them allllllll the time at my work; as long as I get the amount of money owed, doesn't really matter what form it comes in.

@dragonflylotus: I think my wife said the same thing. You're not my wife are you???

Seriously though, I think thats probably why I actually got mine from her as opposed to her using it on the bill.

@watchwhathappens: What they said. I've done this a few times with nary a glance from the cashier. Micro-spend with impunity!

Those prepaid cards are usually good for grocery stores. All of us have to buy groceries and all the stores around me are good about using multiple cards per transaction.

I.e. Hypothetically I could charge $10 to every credit and debit card I have if I wanted to.

So, while I agreed with you all that I'd much rather have cash over a prepaid debit card, they can be used up fairly quickly. Also, I'd reccomend purchasing stuff you know you won't be taking back (like food) versus electronics that may break and what not because then it becomes a question of you're prepaid debit card is expired, how will they refund you on an expired card?

@Skipweasel: I'm pretty sure the shelf-edge price still has to be the register price in the US too. However most consumers don't notice the shelf price when there's a big huge sign on the shelf touting the rebate price.

I got one of these debit cards for opening a new checking account - the card didn't seem to work, but I found out that the cashiers were trying to enter it as a credit card instead of a debit card.

As someone mentioned, I just used it to at the grocery store so it was fast an easy (except for the cashier mistake, but I don't blame the card for that.)

I'll use rebates, but I consider the hassle factor vs. value in the purchase decision. (hassle and chance of rejection varies a lot with brands and merchants)

I don't really have a problem with the prepaid cards as long as they make it clear that you are getting that instead of a check. Then I can decide if it's worth the hassle.

Last year, I had a bunch of rebates with compusa which gave you a choice of cash or card. I selected cash, they sent me cards anyway. But considering this is when they were going out of business, I was just thankful to get anything.

As far as using them, I've found the easiest ways to get rid of them are either:

1)use them at Target to buy a gift card of equal value. Target's system makes it easy to split transactions between their gift cards and other payment, and I am always shopping at Target anyway

2) use them to make a "one-time" payment on eBay for my seller fees.

@watchwhathappens: You mean they would be annoyed to take payment? If I go to a drive thru I have all my pennies in a container in my car. I pay the penny amount with those pennies and the rest with a card. It's easier than rolling pennies, and over time can add up. Not enough to make me rich, but I dont need the pennies anyway

My $50 rebate card from Verizon (which I have not received yet) says that they are not responsible for cards lost in the mail. Can anybody guess how many cards will start being lost in the mail?

Rebates are sooo lame. I never assume I'm going to get anything back.

Hello;

As with all Visa prepaid cards you have the following option. Go to a bank with a Visa logo and your state issued photo I.D. You have to sign a verification form and they give you the cash and can even destroy the card for you. It isn't required to have an account at the same bank but it makes it a little faster. I have been doing this for about 4 years and have never had any problem at any bank. I learned this when I worked at Cingular Wireless.

Thanks, and enjoy.

menards has been doing this for years. But atleast they give you 2% on CC's

@CMU_Bueller: It does not apply to products sold on their site, Buy.com Marketplace. That's the site where you sell things to each other.

@Blueskylaw: I hate when companies use "not responsible for..." as an excuse, especially when they are clearly responsible.

What's next, McDonald's and Burger King saying "Not responsible for the delivery of your food"? Your power company saying "Not responsible for providing power"? Corporations, just because you SAY you're not responsible doesn't mean you're actually not.

Thanks for the heads up Carey.

Many of us playing the rebate game are very well aware of the fact that many rebates are now issued as debit cards rather than as paper checks.

I personally dislike rebates as debit cards. However, I'm not one to pass it over if the net price I pay will amount to a great deal.

My reasons for the dislike include (all have been discussed before by others):

1) Almost all of them are not redeemable as cash (no PIN number is given; only signature transactions are allowed)

2) Almost all of them have fees attached for just about everything, but for signature-based purchases.

3) I dislike the fact that the rebate fulfillment company and the issuing bank will be earning interchange fees AFTER they intentionally (and legally through fine print clauses) hold onto what would be MY rebate money for a long time.

I just happen to hate double dippers with a passion.

---

I do not let those debit-card issuing companies them get away with residual balances. I usually try to use the entire balance of the card in one shot.

Supermarket shopping? I'm not afraid to do split tenders. I still would've bought what I bought in the supermarket anyway, with or without the rebate card.

Gas stations? I'll authorize the entire amount inside and fill up. I'd still have to fill up my car from time to time anyway.

If I do not use the entire amount in one go, I usually like to go to a Metrocard Vending Machines (in New York City) and purchase/refill a pay-per-ride card with the residual balance.

Not letting ANY of those companies triple dip, if I can help it ;-)

i rarely bother with rebates, only when it's REALLY going to be worth it and i can be sure i will be able to get the rebate or not be too upset if something goes wrong [in other words, buy an item i have a need for anyway]

at least when i used the one for leasing an apartment i found through rent.com, it says right up front on the website that you are going to get a prepaid visa card.

and if i have to use one that is going to give me store credit i look around the store first and pick out a couple of things to keep in mind to spend it on so i don't end up not using it when it arrives.

for example: linens n things offered a $20 rebate in store credit on a $19.99 black and decker coffee maker. it was only redeemable on another black and decker product at linens n things. fortunately, the $19.99 black and decker blender was still in stock when i got the rebate card.

although my favorite rebate redemption ever was a double. tiger direct offered a $9 rebate on a $28.99 flash drive. the manufacturer offered a $30 rebate if you signed up for a free trial month of their security program. the tricky part was calling to cancel the security program after i made sure my rebate form had been received and was in process but before my free month ran out. in the end, i made a profit of around $8 after the cost of the stamp and sales tax.

but you have to be really careful with programs you have to sign up for. it still would have been a good deal if i had screwed it up because a month of the security service was $13 so i would have only been out a few bucks before cancelling.

it helps to go with a company like tiger direct where you can check your rebate status online through their website.

Rebates are a sucker's game at this point. Why bother? Given Amazon, Newegg et al, you usually you can find just as good a good deal without a sleazy rebate company trying to scam you.

Is your time worthless- because that's what playing the rebate game requires.

Pass.

@JamieSueAustin:

"It's always "we didn't receive it" "You'll have to send it again, and no we can't accept copies""

lol, I've never heard that one before. That's ridiculous (and I guess another reason to use certified mail, return receipt requested).

Anytime I get one of these prepaid cards, I just dump the balance on my cell phone bill. Done and done.

I got a similar card with my Sandisk rebate. I was trying to figure out a good way to use all of it (since it states you can't charge more than the card is worth on a transaction) without having to hassle a person to use two cards and spend over the rebate amount.

Solution?

Online gift card! I went on my Amazon account and bought myself an online gift card in the exact same amount that was on then card. Then I applied the gift card to a pre-order I had at Amazon! Voila!

I got one of these from Symantec. The problem I had with it was the number of places it would not work!. It should work as a VISA card, period. But instead, POS terminals would confusedly demand a PIN, or claim it was expired, invalid, or occasionally turn into a confused flowerpot.

I'm not kidding.

However, I will say that Symantec was pretty fair about the whole thing. When I let the card sit idle for a long time, they started debiting "fees" from it (assholes) and disabled it. When I contacted them, they instantly reversed the fees and reactivted it without any argument.

OTOH, I do have inside contacts at Symantec that I can personally pummel so I don't worry about it much...

@undefined: Actually, it does NOT spend "just like cash."

1) You can only use it where they accept VISA
2) Every purchase is reported to the rebate company
3) If used at a restaurant and other places, the establishment puts a "hold" on MORE than you spend, and it may take weeks to actually become available to you again.
4) It's harder to look at the card and know how much "money" you have.
5) Money doesn't "expire" or charge you a "fee" for not using it up within a certain (short) period of time.

On and on, it's a major pain in the ass to deal with these cards, they are nowhere near a cash equivalent. When I get them I dump them into my gas tank, hopefully they are less than my tank holds so that they're in the garbage with one purchase. Problem with buying gas is that you need to know exactly how much you will charge BEFORE you gas up...

@Corbin123: Another trick when rebate companies pull that crap is to call up the corporate HQ and tell them that you have all documentation and expect them cut you a check if their rebate proxy doesn't. If you have held up your end of the bargain, *refuse* to be victimized by these a-holes. They are taking your money under false pretenses of rebating back your money, and enough pressure properly placed will ALWAYS get your money back.

@watchwhathappens: $2 bucks in gas. Fun to just see how quick that goes anyhow.

@dragonflylotus: I think the cards only work at *reputable* businesses.

@humphrmi: That's why at least one state has laws that state the price they advertise is the price they must sell it for. With the level of fraud happening by the rebate fulfillment houses lately (I've watched them slip and slip over the years into outright attempted theft), I think the days of mail-in rebates has to come to a close soon.

@Blueskylaw: In the same breath they also are refusing to mail to Post Office Boxes which CUT DOWN on "lost in the mail" problems. Really, they speak with forked tongues - they want to send these postcard-checks to street addresses where they are easily removed, then claim to have no liability when they are "lost" in the mail. See you rebate-f'ers in court then..

@azntg: Vending machines take these cards? Thought that was one of the many restrictions. To buy gas I had to walk in and tell the clerk exactly how much to charge ahead of time - when the card was more than a tank of gas for my weeniemobile....

I've got an easy way to deal with this. I use them to by metrocards. Gets the full value (down to the penny) onto a metrocard, which is good for a while. Good as cash. Technically if I didn't need them I could sell for full value.

Works like a charm.

@catastrophegirl: Tiger Direct used to be one of the *worst* rebate scammers for years. One very common ploy of them was to delay shipping the "in stock" product until a day before the rebate form was due to be postmarked by you. Instant profit for them and/or their collaborators.

I think the law was on to them and they claim to have cleaned up their act, at least somewhat. But after seeing the busted machines and other garbage they shipped to people I just stick with New Egg and other ethical vendors.

I've gotten a couple of these and had just been annoyed. Then I started to use them as partial payments for things like my cellphone. So great to open the bill one day and have my bill be smaller than usual instead of larger.

What I hate the most are those "sale" signs that draw you to an item on the shelf, and that turn out to be a price after rebate. Usually the item is a bit more than a comparable one next to it.

In the end my buying decisions don't rest on the fact that there's a rebate. That said, Staples with their online rebates are the only ones I ever bother with. I've never had an issue with them.

@dweebster: Yes and No.

At a gas station, if the debit card is low denomination, it would not work at pay-at-the-pump. That's why I said "I'll authorize the entire amount inside and fill up."

On the other hand, at Metrocard vending machines (for New York City Subway and Buses), all you have to do is to select the proper amount and pay. Hasn't failed me yet.