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The Demise of Mail-In Rebates
Major retailers like Dell are halting their programs. Is it time to cheer or cry?
User Comments
Posted 9:22 PM EST December 10, 2006
Posted by: Susansusan60
Vonage is awful.They give you the run around.I was entitled to $100. after 8 weeks.I threatened them with consumer affairs.I was told my paper work was incorrect. They said they sent the rebate to the wrong address. They said they couldn't find the paper work.I copied everything and FAXed it to them.I sent a claim to consumer affairs that had all emails they sent me and I sent them.I got my rebate. Just take the rebate price off the purchase and let the store send in the forms for reimbursement.
Posted 1:25 AM EST December 10, 2006
Posted by: Khollandk
The Rite Aid SingleCheck Rebate System works great. As far as other mail-in rebate offers, they are usually worth the wait. Khollandk
Posted 10:25 AM EST September 23, 2006
Posted by: johndqjr
OK ladies and guys..I hope all of you are wrong..I just bought a 'bare bones' computer system from Tiger Direct, and am about to submit information to receive 6 rebates to get the price down to the advertised price. It seemed to me at the time I bought it that I would sure have to do a lot of paperwork, but am willing in order to the rebates.Has anyone out there had any experience with Tiger Direct rebates? I would appreciate your comments...positive OR negative. Thanks.
Posted 11:15 PM EST August 29, 2006
Posted by: lynde273
Consider the rebates given by Cingular...They only issue a Visa 'gift card' If you don't use the full amount and have a small amount remaining on the card, I wonder how many people will leave that money there rather than figure out what they can buy for $2.14...If everyone did that someone is making a profit. (and we don't get our full rebate due to inconvenience)
Posted 11:04 PM EST August 23, 2006
Posted by: marion1928
Rite-Aid on-line rebate program is the only way to go. I save a lot of money monthly by using this program. It is the greatest ever and so easy .
Posted 5:51 PM EST August 21, 2006
Posted by: LATXGAL
Rebates are not why many consumers purchase items. I send in all the rebates and have been persistent and followed up with the manufacturers, however, this spring I had a new experience. The rebate processor took $5 of my $90 rebate as a processing fee. This was not even mentioned on the rebate form nor included in the article from SmartMoney.com
Posted 12:17 PM EST August 21, 2006
Posted by: sgcecil
The Staples on line rebate system is a joke. I tried that this year and got no rebates and was told I did not qualify. In previous years the rebates were handled by mail and I received evry one.
Posted 5:59 PM EST August 19, 2006
Posted by: djudge2
WIREFLY RAZOR PHONE let me tell you about WIREFLY.FROM CINGULAR. FIRST THEY TELL YOU PHONE IS FREE SEND IN REBATE HOWEVER YOU MUST WAIT 6MONTHS, THEN YOU ONLY HAVE 30DAYS TO GET IT IN.AND REBATE ,..SURE HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE PUT THAT REBATE AWAY AND FORGOT ABOUT IT/WAY TO MANY AND LOOK FOR WEEKS.REPORT THEM TO FDIC.CINGULAR SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE AND I WISH THEY HAD CALLED ME AS MANY TIME I CALLED THEM AND FUNNY CINGULAR WAS NOT AWARE OF THE NAME WIREFLY
Posted 5:47 PM EST August 19, 2006
Posted by: djudge2
Posted 7:27 PM EST August 18, 2006
Posted by: dmgears
Please understand that Wal-mart does not require rebates on anything it sells as they negotiate with the vendor the lowest price . Best buy absoulutly is the worst offendor making the customer jump through hoops to recieve their rebate .....I complained all the time about this rebate policy and they blame it on the manufacuture
Posted 1:53 AM EST August 18, 2006
Posted by: fszabo
When looking over ads, I dismiss those with mail-in rebates. The times I fell for the tactic the 'rebate' didn't get approved or it never arrived. When contacted, the company says it's too late.When shopping, I have walked away from the counter when told the advertised price included a mail-in rebate.
The devils can give me a rebate at the store or cut pricing to a fair level.
Posted 1:01 AM EST August 18, 2006
Posted by: fantroll
Sounds like my Best Buys rebates -- a lap top and pc with all the trimmings, and I couldn't complete any of the out of store rebates... I shop DStaoles from now on.Fred A.
Posted 9:19 PM EST August 17, 2006
Posted by: "Meesus"
The Rite-Aid on-line rebate program is easy-to use, efficient, and is the reason our family uses that store as our drug store of choice. We have never had the problems associated with so many other rebate programs. This is the way to go if you are a coupon clipper/rebater!
Posted 4:12 PM EST August 17, 2006
Posted by: HeyItsManny
Rebate = Scam. Not just the tech industry either. I've never saw my $100 rebate from Monroe for some struts. Have you ever seen a box top for a strut? It cost 2.50 to send that huge envelope. I now avoid rebates entirely. Whenever I shop I always look for the little * next to the price. You know what that * means? ?SUCKER?.
Posted 2:02 PM EST August 17, 2006
Posted by: Pyrrhic
Samsung via BestBuy burned me. Despite filing everything I got nothing and after 4-5 more person hours of fruitlessly chasing Samsung (for forms that were mysteriously no longer available, hold-times, go somewhere elses etc...) I ended up with nothin despite doing everything. I am considering suing them in small claims court. I no longer buy rebated items and I avoid BestBuy and won't buy Samsung at all.
Posted 12:34 PM EST August 17, 2006
Posted by: sjngrady
In addition to companies factoring in 40% of all rebates going unclaimed, they need to consider how many people ignore the rebate and buy from a competitor who offers a low price w/o the hassle of a rebate. The price may not be as low as the rebated item, but you are guaranteed the savings w/o the hassles.
Posted 12:30 PM EST August 17, 2006
Posted by: sjngrady
I have had rebates denied after sending in the paperwork I was given by the store. It is so frustrating that I don't even consider the rebate when making a desicion to buy. If an item is advertised at $500 with $50 rebate, I consider the purchase price to be $500. If another store has a simliar product for say, $480, I buy the $480 product.
Posted 11:51 AM EST August 17, 2006
Posted by: xtc283
I found your article somewhat misleading because you neglected to mention that one of the biggest reasons for eliminating these programs is that manufacturers like Dell have deliberately failed to make the rebates, even when everything was filed appropriately. This was my experience. And I'm sure this is one of the biggest sources of consumer complaints. Because of my experience with Dell in what I think of as an obvious rebate ripoff/scam, I will never EVER buy another Dell computer.
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