Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna is reminding consumers to read the fine print on rebate offers before giddily pouncing on a seemingly hot deal. We are rebate skeptics; they are nice when they work, but should never be a deciding factor when weighing a purchase. The Attorney General has a few tips to help improve your chances of successfully redeeming a rebate:
rebates
Class-Action Suit Filed Against Systemax (aka TigerDirect) Over Unfulfilled Rebates
By 10.25.07
Last Thursday, a Texan filed a class-action suit against Systemax Inc. in federal court, alleging the company and its subsidiaries TigerDirect and OnRebate conspire to delay or reject rebates in order to sweeten profits. Systemax says no way, we pay our rebates on time; according to its chief financial officer, “All consumers who properly complete the rebate application and submit the required paperwork have their rebates paid, period.” But that’s not what the Texan says happened to him.
Apple Ships Computer Late, Denies "Expired" Rebate
By 9.26.07
My girlfriend is a college student. She purchased a brand new iMac on Apple’s website on August 7, the day the new iMacs came out, and got the free iPod Nano (after rebate) along with the deal. The rebate required both the UPC codes — which you would need to have received the products, right?
1,300 Unopened Rebate Applications Found In Dumpster
By 9.6.07
This is a picture of the 1,300 unopened rebate forms a Mercury News reporter found in a dumpster near Vastech, a rebate processor for Fry’s Electronics.
"Public" Intern Pickets Sprint Store For Reader
By 8.23.07
An intern over at The Stranger (we love The Stranger) has been picketing a Sprint store for a reader who wrote in complaining that he had not received his $30 rebate.
Reader Tries In Vain For 16 Months To Get Stainsafe To Honor Couch's Warranty
By 7.10.07
Adam’s mother has been trying for 16 months to get Stainsafe to honor its warranty for her ripped couch. SIXTEEN MONTHS. She’s documented the series in a time-line of ineptitude. She definitely deserves the warranty repair, but then some part of us is like, ductape?
Let's Make Rebates Worse: Put 'Em On A Gift Card And Have 'Em Lose Money Over Time!
By 6.26.07
The rebate has mated with the gift card to produce a super-strain of super-sucky rebates. By adopting the gift card’s”dormancy fee,” your rebate’s value now shrinks over time. In many cases it’s only a few months before it starts to lose value, reports The Red Tape Chronicles. Some cards will even ding you for an activation fee, or charge you for checking your balance.
For Nearly Free, Man Eats Almost Only "Satisfied Or Your Money Back" Food For 8 Years
By 5.23.07
Have you heard of Matthieu Laurette? From 1993 to 2001, he fed and cleaned himself by buying almost only products with “Satisfied or your money back” or “Money back on first purchase” items, then filing the rebates or writing to the companies and saying he wasn’t satisfied.
Are You Still Stuck In Vista Upgrade Hell?
By 5.11.07
If you bought a laptop at the end of last year, you probably qualified for a free Vista upgrade. We did and although it took 6 weeks to get the disc in the mail from our laptop manufacturer, we didn’t run into too many hassles. No so for a lot of people, according to PC World:
“I was told it would be an easy process,” says William Bond, of Tampa, Florida. But, he says, the process has been anything but simple. Bond purchased a Hewlett-Packard Pavilion desktop in November at Circuit City and is still waiting for his Vista upgrade disc from ModusLink, the company handling the program for HP.
Rebates Mystify Even The Wall Street Journal
By 5.10.07
In a recent experiment the Wall Street Journal conducted, only 1 in 5 of the rebate checks arrived without difficulty. They couldn’t find followup contact info, missed dates, and misplaced forms.
Shrewd Rebater Roundup
By 4.6.07
“Matt shares his tips for how he “leverages his Ninja-Geek skills” to make sure he gets his rebate bucks.”
Canadian Best Buy Says Goodbye To Mail-In Rebates
By 4.4.07
Best Buy said consumers can expect to see prices remain low because the consumer electronics industry is so highly competitive. Instead of seeing fewer discounts, it could mean both retailers and suppliers take a hit on their bottom line. “I think you’re going to see us eat a little bit of it and the vendors eat a little bit of it,” Lotman said.
Reader Kicks T-Mobile's Butt Over Denied Rebate
By 4.3.07
Kathlene used her mad consumer skills to force T-Mobile into honoring the rebate they were supposed to give her. She slayed their bogus reasons for denying her rebate. She escalated, and escalated. Finally, she emailed an extremely well-crafted letter to CEO Robert Dotson (pictured, looking like a pile of badass).
Update: Micro Center Funds Spurned Gigafast Rebate
By 3.25.07
Micro Center has funded a rebate offer abandoned by consumer electronics manufacturer Gigafast. Reader Mitch received the good news from rebate-processor OnRebate.com.
Although Gigafast Inc.’s unresponsiveness to OnRebate’s repeated funding requests has delayed your rebate we are pleased to inform you that the above rebate claim has been funded by Micro Center. Micro Center wants to be sure that their valued customers receive their promised rebates and has arranged to fund the Gigafast rebates. This extraordinary gesture will allow OnRebate.com Inc. to issue payment to you in a prompt manner.
This incident only ends well because of Micro Center’s exceptional and unexpected intervention. We implore you, do not purchase products because of a rebate. All together now: rebates are scams. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER
Yet Another Reason Not To Count On Rebates
By 3.18.07
Brook has waited since November for a $100 rebate from Buy.com. Each time she asks for the status of the rebate, she is told by rebate-processor Parago that the rebate is in the “final stages of processing” and will be ready, let’s say, next month.
I know the warnings about rebates, but I couldn’t pass this one up. Remember back in November when the Hanns-g 19″ monitors had that $100 rebate? I ended up getting it from buy.com, a reputable merchant whom I thought would deal with a reputable agency to pay their rebates. WRONG.
As a rule of thumb, purchase items expecting not to get the rebate. If the rebate comes through, great – treat it as a bonus. Always remember, rebate companies work very hard to deny your rebate. Parago has even admitted that most rebates are a scam.
CompUSA Won't Honor Rebates For Items Purchased At Closing Stores
By 3.13.07
Effective immediately, customers in closing stores are not eligible for CompUSA rebates, and manufacturer rebates will not be available. If an item was purchased prior to 2/27/07, and qualifies for a rebate, please follow the normal submission instructions located on your rebate form. The closing store will not participate in CompUSA’s national ads. However, the closing stores will have their own sales; pretty much every item in the store will be on sale, and the closing stores may have their own ads too.
Well, at least “pretty much every item in the store will be on sale.” You just don’t see enough use of the phrase “pretty much every” in store policies these days.—MEGHANN MARCO
Rebates Leave, But Prices Remain
By 3.1.07
Rebates are falling out of fashion, but, as Edgar Dworsky notes,
Gigafast Fails To Fund Rebate Offers
By 2.24.07
Gigafast, manufacturer of networking equipment and consumer electronics, has failed to fund their rebate offers, according to an email circulated yesterday by rebate-processor OnRebate.com.
- We regret to inform you that the above rebate claim has not been funded by the sponsoring manufacturer, Gigafast Inc., and therefore cannot be paid. Gigafast Inc. contracted with OnRebate.com Inc. to have OnRebate.com Inc. process Gigafast Inc. sponsored rebates but, in violation of the terms of this contract, Gigafast Inc. has not funded disbursements for several months and has not responded to our many funding requests or other attempts to reach them. As a result rebate disbursements to customers who purchased Gigafast Inc. products have not been made. At this point your rebate claim is being cancelled but your rebate details will be kept on file in the event that you are able to contact Gigafast, Inc. and get them to fund your claim.
