BigBob

The $60 off on 4 tires might be good if you need tires. The local tire market is intensely competitive and Costco, Sams, Tire Kingdom, etc are always beating each other up trying to stay with $.02 of each other, it seems. My truck needs some new treads ... maybe this will help.

Even more revolting developments ... I spread the word about the system to a friend in Chicago who was able to find it in stock at an OD in the suburbs. He sent his wife out to buy one right away and she got it. Now, when he went to the OD website a few minutes ago to find the rebate forms, there has been a BIG change. The $200 rebate form has been replaced by a notice that the rebate is NOT valid for any purchases after 1/5. They have RETROACTIVELY cancelled the $200 rebate ! ! ! The $200 form was there earlier today and now it's gone. The OD web page still shows the $200 valid until 1/30, but the notice says otherwise. Oh my, what tricks and traps will the rebate mechanics dream up to screw us next time ? Looks like OD is taking rebate chicanery lessons from Staples now, perhaps?

Update ... I stopped by Office Depot to see the system and chatted with the store manager. The system isn't too bad, but it's at least 3 generations old now. They couldn't find the books, disks, or keyboard for the "floor model" that was left. He also told me that the rebates were questionable and that he'd had a few people come back into the store very angry about them. It would appear that the $250 rebate is OK, but the $200 one is void/expired/bogus. Anyway, I didn't buy the "floor model" that was left as the rebates require stuff that was missing. If you can get the system for the bottom line price of $120, it looks like a very good deal. If the rebates turn into a hassle, or you don't get one of them --- even the seemingly new $50 one, the system becomes a very poor deal --- considering the age/technology of what's in the system. I was going to drive the 40 miles to the nearest store that has stock, but now I think I'll just pass on this one. Your situation may be totally different ... but I'm very nervous about laying out $570 with the hopes of getting $450 (or $300 or $500) back in shakey rebates that already appear to be causing others a lot of grief.

I just called 3 Office Depot stores close to me in Tampa and they all said "that was a special order item for grand openings about 6 weeks ago" and "they are all long gone". One store claims they will sell me their display unit if I want it. He thought it was still on the shelf. I may stop by and see what it is and if it's all there. I've had so-so luck with Office Depot rebates... let's see how this all shakes out. At net $250, it's just an OK deal. If both rebates are real, it's a steal of a deal. Stay tuned ...

For those of you trying to buy a new system from Dell -- and want to be able to say that you Gottadeal ... :) Here's my $.02. If you can be patient and do some comparison shopping over a period of several weeks you will find that Dell is very clever at their pricing and sales promotions. I have found that even the best "sounding" sales are little more than a shuffling of $'s from item-to-item and that the bottom line price of my "ideal" system seldom varied more than $50 to maybe $100 on a $1100 configuration -- no matter what. But, occasionally they wil screw up and have a REAL deal. That's the time to scorch your Mastercard. The REAL sales seem to be oriented around deep discounts on their LCD monitors or their limited time $500 non-stacking coupons that show up in e-mails. Almost always the Small Business division of Dell has the lowest bottom line prices -- but NOT always. And, don't home in on just one model either. I found that I could get a more powerful/flexible Dimension 8000 series system for almost the exact same price as a 4600 a few months back -- it was a strange situation but one of the quirks of their sales promo at that time. Watch their "outrageous deals" section too. Sometimes they really are good deals and sometimes they are the dregs of the old models that they are trying to clear out of inventory. Sometimes you can customize one of the outrageous deal configurations and do OK. Just be aware that you MAY be buying a "last generation" computer. Ya gotta shop before you drop (your cash) ! The Dell gang are masters at marketing which means they can separate you from your money and make you feel like you got kissed too. The last tip I have for now: On the day you order your system, print out the rebate paperwork. When your system arrives, and before you even plug it in, SEND IN THE REBATE. Two (maybe 3) of my friends have gotten all excited and involved with their new systems and FAILED to send in their rebate papers in time. When they woke up and realized it, they were not happy campers since they lost out on $100-$150 each. That's real money ! I hope you find this info useful ! Happy Hunting

Rossman, It'll probably be a Dell 4700 ... I am not a fan of the "entry level" Dells like the 3000 at all -- they are just too basic a system from the inside out. If Dell pops up with a really good deal on their 8000 series systems, that might be the way I go. I'm in no hurry and maybe the right combo will come along from Dell in the next few weeks. It's sort of like a treasure hunt ! Right now the 4700 with a 17" LCD (ultrasharp version with DVI) and an upgraded video card and a decent configuration of other goodies included can be had for about $800 from the Small Business division. LCD monitor prices are dropping like dead flys in the Wintertime. No problem finding the simpler 17" LCD's for right at $200 these days.

I hate to be cynical about these deals, but I have been watching the Dell coupons, sales, etc for a long long time. They are masters at this game and it's not easy to find a TRULY good deal. Free this, free that, save 10%, $100-150 rebates, save $500, free shipping, free double whatevers, stackable, not stackable, ... they have more combos than Burger King. My approach with Dell is to price out a system and then keep track of what the total bottom line delivered price is. Over time you will learn what a REAL sale looks like. Personally, I jumped on a Dell deal a while back when "the planets aligned" just right and there was a $500 coupon to boot. The coupon wasn't stackable and the real net savings ended up to be about $250. Sometimes the Dell Home sales prices are lower than Dell Small Business but usually the Small Business bottom line is 10% (or more) cheaper than the Home prices -- don't ask me why, they just are. It ain't easy, and Dell isn't in the business to lose money. I've also learned over the years that, no matter what computer system (part or peripheral) you buy, there will be a better, faster, and much cheaper one announced within days or weeks of yours being delivered. Oh oh, my e-mail chime just announced the arrival of a new Dell Deal message. Let's see what they have up their sleeves today. My wife wants a new computer so it's time to start the cycle all over again.

Happy Holidays Yes, all sent in. Got the Ace Hardware rebate check back already! Less than 3 weeks total ! Yay, Ace ! ! ! Staples is still very badly screwed up -- it borders on FRAUD -- their new Easy Rebate system really is awful. Their customer service people are worthless. Waiting to hear from the Staples President on my complaint letter --- doubt I ever will hear from them nor see my rebates from the Black Friday sale. They now know they lost a very large business customer because of their poor service --- but what is $75K a year in sales? --- they don't care. From the looks of the replies here, the "rebate marketing theory" is holding very true. The retailers and mfr's count on a high percentage of people just never getting around to sending in the rebates and another segment not complying with the requirements of the offer. Thus, they sucked you into the store, made you think you got a good deal, and now get to keep all your money. Most of the "ooops group" either never remember that they were supposed to get a rebate or else blame themselves when they finally remember that they blew it. I know 3 people who forgot to send in $100-$150 Dell rebates. They got so excited and distracted with their new computer that they just simply forgot to send it it. Big ouch ! !

Well... the Staples saga continues. They responded to my Bizrate survey comments and told me that the "easy rebate" system was now fixed and that my rebates were showing valid status on the web site. NOT TRUE. They provided a telephone number to call their "store support" center if I had other problems. I called and got an incompetent rep "Iris" who just couldn't understand that I had 3 rebate items. After 10 minutes of trying to circle her brains back to reality, she was able to reset the status to valid and assured me that all was well. NOT TRUE. I re-checked the status and 2 of the 3 are now showing "checking for duplicate submission" --- whatever that means. The 3rd item was still in some state of confusion ...neither approved nor rejected. Called back and got "Iris" again. Another 10 minutes wasted trying to convince her that there was yet a 3rd item that needed help. She finally said that there was no valid rebate offer on that item ... the Sandisk 256MB SD card. I asked for a supervisor and finally got "Oscar". He tried to find the rebate for the Sandisk but could not locate it. His instructions to me were " go to a Staples store and that the manager had some way of getting the forms and faxing in the rebate for me. What a mess. Exceptionally poor customer service. Easy rebate system is still messed up badly. Staples goes on my "bad guys" list. I am composing a letter to the Staples President and will copy the board members if I can find names and addresses. They are one very screwed up organization right now and need to know how they are alienating business customers.

I really wonder about the WallyWorld story... the local stores had police there to control the crowds and there were several hundred people in line waiting for them to open up on BF. The deals that they had were pretty lame when compared to previous years, I agree. I wonder if they had reduced quantities of the items this year in hopes of suckering people into buying more expensive items when they couldn't get the loss leader items? I did note that later in the day on BF that WallyWorld didn't seem to have much more than a normal busy Saturday crowd. Also read an interesting story about how WallyWorld is now importing "most" of their merchandise from China -- like $15 Billion annually. Hmmm ... how much more low quality stuff do we need? Maybe the kingdom of Wally was "hoisted on their own petard" this year ???

Our Borders refuses to accept the 10% off coupons (or any other % coupons) on items that are in clearance, already discounted for whatever reason, or on sale. They say that is "corporate policy" and their cash registers won't allow it either. Can you tell us how you managed to get around that problem ???

I tried ordering the Staples BF items via phone after seeing the masses of humanity lined up in front of the store at 5:20 am on BF. No joy on the phone short cut -- couldn't get thru to a live person. Came home and got on-line and struggled for way-too-long with their grossly overloaded server and finally got 3 items ordered. Then ... tried to do the "easy rebate" process and got booted off of there. Long story short... finally received the shipment of the 3 items, they got the "easy rebate" system working and I was able to input the rebates. Got confirmation that rebates were accepted. Yesterday, and again this morning, I received duplicate e-mails saying that the rebates are ALL INVALID because the purchase date does not meet requirements. Packing list clearly shows requirements were met. Called Staples Customer Service and they advise they are getting buried with calls from angry customers about the "easy rebate" problems. They assure me that they will have it fixed by Dec 6th and that my rebates are really OK. We shall see ... otherwise the whole order gets returned and Staples goes on my BAD GUY list. Bottom line --- Staples is really screwed up.