Looking at a Sunday Best Buy ad insert in the newspaper and looking at a comupter system I see listed the following mail-in rebates: $150 Best Buy Bundle $50 CPU $50 monitor $50 printer bundle $20 printer bundle
for a total of $320 for the computer system. ( I do not understand why the printer has two separate rebates).
So why not just take all this off at the cash register? When I go to the grocery store and buy a loaf of bread I do not get a mail-in rebate offer. I am of the opinion that all this rebate stuff is nonsense and vastly complicates things. And for what purpose?
They know that a large percentage of the people will not send in the rebates. They get a large ammount of sales due to the low price after rebates that many never send in.
Well it is about time for consumers to raise hell about this. Best Buy also has free delivery (limited to $50) after mail-in rebate for major appliances over $398. Crazy, absolutely crazy!.
Someday we will be offered mail-in rebates for a grocery store purchased pizza. One pizza will probably have several rebates: one for the cheese, one for the tomato sauce, one for the pepperoni, one for the crust, etc.
Maybe I've been extremely lucky, but I've sent in all rebates due me and have received the checks in a reasonable amount of time - ofteimes much quicker than they stated as a time frame to be allowed. I don't mind getting a $100 or $50 back! The items I bought - with those sorts of rebates, almost paid me to buy them.
Maybe rebates aren't the best thing since apple pie, but if a consumer is going to buy an item with a rebate - WHY NOT take advanatage of it? Many are able to be done online.
The "only" rebate I'd done which I had trouble with and DO watch for similar conditions to avoid - was - a rebate stated you had to have a "street" address - NOT P.O. Box - to receive the check. Problem was, my Post Office will NOT deliver mail without a Post Office Box number. Therefore, I never got that particular rebate. As I said, since then, I don't do those sorts of rebates. I even explained to the rebate issuers my problem, to which they pretty much said - too bad.
Ditto. When we go over to the USA we always call in a Fry's store and get the stuff that is expensive here in the UK :-))
A lot of rebates have turned up before we have left, in our friend's name of course!
Count yourselves lucky, a Linksys PCMCIA wireless card in Muncie, IN was $19.99 in August, last week in our local Staples store it was £39.99, equivalent to $US 72.00 !!!
Peter
-- Peter & Rita Forbes Email: snipped-for-privacy@easynet.co.uk Web:
Now that you mention it, I do believe it was "Best Buy" who was sued for that. MY shopping is usually at "Staples". And I've already given my record there. The one bad deal I had was from a "Auto" product sold "anywhere". In defense of the person hating the rebates... I can say - rather than offer them, it may be cheaper and more convenient to just do it at the register. BUT - some come not from the "retailer" e.g. Staples - but from the manufacturer. So, if the "retailer" was to offer them to entice business... then by all means, they "should" be able to delete at time of purchase.
Then they are not very brilliant shoppers, are they?
Some places make it very easy. They let you track it on line, and I have found that those I frequent, are quite good at telling me when the check will arrive, and sonofagun, it shows up right on schedule. CompUSA, Best Buy, Staples, and other major outlets seem to do a pretty godd job. If its because of a legal threat, or just good business practice, it doesn't matter to me, I will take advantage.
If you are wise with your credit cards and money, you can charge it, and get the rebates before the bill even arrives in many cases. Hey, if they are dangling cash in front of me hoping I am too stupid to take advantage, I am willing to take em on, and thank them for the great product at a fantastic price. Thanks a lot to those who ignorantly throw away the cash. Makes for better deals for me.
Whining usually means you cannot afford it in the first place, so find a different hobby. All the reasons given here about 'why' pretty much sum it up, so get used to it, we are not gonna see it end.
How can you legislate against it? Always we cry to the government to help us out. If you don't like rebates, don't use em. Life is too short to stress out about it.
Well, Mark, the point is that instead of having YOU cut out UPC codes from boxes and send them in by mail why not have the retailer give you the cash right at the register and then let them get the money from the manufacturer if it is the manufacturer's rebate. It many cases it is the retailer's rebate which makes it even more stupid not to do it at time of purchase. Also once you have cut the UPC code off of the box you cannot return the product (in 14 days with Best Buy) unless you pay a restocking fee.
It is a rare thing to see rebates on grocery items and clothing. However Coca Cola recently had a rebate offer which required one to peel the UPC label off individual bottles in a 6-pack and guess where the glue held the label most securely! But rebates are a way of life for electronics retailers such as Best Buy and Circuit City. I have not seen price controls around for a long time so I doubt that is now an issue. I would suggest that rebates actually increase prices because companies must operate and maintain rebate centers.
With all due respect to your points made - valid (I'm sure) - I will say - if I get a rebate and they sell my info, I don't really care. WHY? Well - if the rebate is going to net me any amount of cash back, that is money in my pocket. As for them selling my name, shit - many places have already done it anyway which I "didn't" get a rebate offer from. So, if I in essence am going to be paid for it, what the hell! My trash can takes all that I care to feed it - both real and computer......... I get spammed on here - from places I didn't buy from or check out - i.e. pain relievers, viagra and similar products, stocks, bonds, etc.. Phone numbers I could care less about - I'm on a do not call list and I have caller ID as well. I get tons of calls a day by many so I always check the ID before answering. I get NO calls at present from "retailers". I give out only what I feel they need to know - nothing more. Bottom line - whether we choose to take a rebate or not. these "sleeze ball" companies who love to spam - are going to do it regardless. Lets face it, it's been around for a long time. Circulars in the mail for you to shop stores - IS not asked for. They're just sent out - PERIOD! That practice has been going on for YEARS. It has just gotten worse since the computer age.
I would like it to work that way too, but as others noted, companies use the sales numbers for inflating their stock earnings, and fudging other statistics, and they count on people not cashing in the rebates. Those are crappy reasons to you and me, but they are valid, and understandable.
If a person can get $300 worth of rebates on a computer, they still have the choice of not bothering, or waiting two weeks before turning in the rebates. No one has to use them, and no one has to buy a product because of the rebates....
We cannot argue how dopey it is, because I agree with you :-) but in the end, its either put up with it, if its worth the while, or just throw the money in the trash. I sure don't want my government getting involved. Teddy Kennedy is too busy drinking and killing young women, to be babysitting businesses who offer rebates.....
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