Rebate Rant

[dannydkd]

I hate rebates too. They seem to take so long to get back. I try to avoid them unless it is a real good deal. I bought a laptop from circuit city last year and I had to mail out 3 different rebate forms to different places and then wait for several weeks to get the rebate checks back.

[AndreaInNC]

I'm still waiting on a rebate from PC Connection for a monitor I purchased back in MAY. I've called now 4 times and still no check.

[deelite]

I am still waiting on two Staples rebates from BF. I am also waiting on two rebates from Kingston for the 1gb and 2gb sd card I purchased through Buy.com. I tend to prefer online rebates over mail-in rebates. At least Staples says they have received mine. Kingston has no record of a rebate!!

[sbsahm]

Mine from Best Buy always come really quick. I am hoping the rebate for the polaroid printer from buy.com comes quick cause the printer isn't worth more than what it cost (NOTHING AFTER REBATES).

[mh1973]

I bought like 5 items from buy.com with rebates and I mailed the packing slip as the reciept, well this was not the right thing, I didn't know, I just checked on the rebates and they have been denied, so I am going to call tomorrow to find out what to do, has anyone had this experience and if so were you able to get your rebate?

[Elphaba]

I am so totally fed up with Circuit City.

 

Did Black Friday shopping online with Circuit City, everything had MIRs. I sent in the rebates the following Monday. Yesterday (January 12), I get 4 letters in the mail from Circuit City Rebates, telling me that my rebates were missing various information (3 said I was missing the purchase date and/or price, 1 said it was an ineligible product). I keep all paperwork, and had sent in every bit of information they needed.

 

There's a phone number at the bottom of the letters, so I called today (after some deep breathing). Thankfully got a very nice customer service rep, and in less than 10 minutes, he'd "fixed" whatever the problems were. All he did was pull up the record, make a click or two, and told me it was fixed. Rebates should be mailed in 7-10 days.

 

Now, why couldn't they have been processed correctly the first time? I included the rebate form, completely filled out, the UPC codes, and the receipts, with purchase price circled. What more do they need??

 

I'm guessing they hope that people are either too disorganized, or too tired to care, and just let the rebate go. That's disgusting.

[pammk123]

I have NEVER purchased an item that has a rebate. I have a hard time understanding the reasoning with the whole ordeal. You pay for an item and the company sends you back a portion of what you paid. Why not just sell it for the price you ultimately pay? I refuse to play the game. I am currently waiting for Sprint to end the mail in rebate on the new razor phone. When it's gone I will have a new phone.

[dragonballnutts]

I have NEVER purchased an item that has a rebate. I have a hard time understanding the reasoning with the whole ordeal. You pay for an item and the company sends you back a portion of what you paid. Why not just sell it for the price you ultimately pay? I refuse to play the game. I am currently waiting for Sprint to end the mail in rebate on the new razor phone. When it's gone I will have a new phone.

 

 

I think most companies hope you will forget to mail in the rebates!

[inogenius]

I hate MIR's. I'll gladly pay a little more not to have to mess with them. I am currently waiting on a $50 MIR from Alltel on a cellphone that I bought.

Yep me too. MIR are totally a scam.

[toebaby]

I agree.... I think MIRs are a scam. We are still waiting for $200 in mail-ins from BB on BF.... TWO YEARS AGO!!!!! They required all the originals and will take no copies so appeals are just out of luck

[klastar]

I had ordered 2 of the HP photo printer from Buy.com both with $30.00 rebates. I mailed the rebates the next day after getting them. I made copies of everything and checked the status about every 2 weeks. Yesterday exactly 7 weeks after mailing them in I got both checks.

 

I just ordered 2 LCD Monitors with $40.00 rebate from them so we will see how this one goes....

[ponycal]

I agree.... I think MIRs are a scam. We are still waiting for $200 in mail-ins from BB on BF.... TWO YEARS AGO!!!!! They required all the originals and will take no copies so appeals are just out of luck

Hopefully you made copies of the originals. You've probably already done so, but if not, I'd try to call or write them and whine! (the contact info should be on the form) Good luck!

[elite2058]

I received my $50 rebate from Meijers as promised. I try not to buy anything with a rebate, because I forget to check on them after they are sent in.

[klastar]

Tip for checking on rebates....If you have a calender on your computer set it up for the day you mailed them, then set up an automatic reminder for every 2 or 3 weeks. This way the reminder goes right to your mail box and you can check on that day... It has worked for me over the past 3 years and I have gotten everyone I ever sent for. I also make copies of everything I send including the UPC/ Bar codes Hope this helps someone

[llydting]

still waiting for jcpenny rebate from black friday.. ion pyrex dishes anyone got this one?

[zinnbball]

This was the WORST rebate year EVER for me!

 

I purchase a bunch of stuff with rebates on Black Friday. Saturday we completed and mailed (or did the on-line stuff) for ALL the rebates.

 

1. The jewel of the bunch was Ace Hardware, rebate was back within 3 weeks.

 

2. Circuit City, I am convinced is scamming people. ALL but ONE rebate was returned with a invalid purchase date. (The notification has all come different weeks). Each time I called, the first thing the ask, was did I have a copy, (if not SOL), if yes, then magically, they say, yes you are correct, a couple clicks and all is well. Come on.. I had 5 rebates from them and they ALL said the same thing on the rejection. So far when called, a couple clicks and they are all magically fixed, though I STILL don't have the money.

 

3. Kohls... rebate claims wrong item was purchased, even though Kohls had taped the rebate to the box.. to their credit though, I was able to take my infomation is and they gave me the money, but then again.. MORE hassle factore.

 

4. CompUSA.. Still shows pending.. 7 weeks later.. uggh.. no money YET...

 

5. Office Depot.. seems to have gone to a black hole.. nothing on them either...

 

Normally I am very careful about filling out rebates and sending the right stuff in, in year past I have had very few problems but this year overall has been a total disaster!

[Swampbaby]

Staples is AWFUL on rebates. I have always had to wait weeks and weeks on any from them but other companies seem to be able to process in a short time frame. Sent two Staples rebates ($50 and $25). Have NOT received either, however, yesterday one of them was approved and a check made but the other was still in "validation". Odd cause both of them were done on the same day - NOVEMBER 24th. Had a SanDisk rebate send in several days later and received the rebate check right after Christmas. All of these were rebates sent in via computer.

 

I agree, a company bets that most people will either forget about sending the rebate in at all OR will not comply with the rules so therefore be turned down.

[Starr_n_Kitty]

My husband and I try to avoid rebates. Too much of a pain. That's why we choose Best Buy over Curcuit City when they are having sales. Best Buy never has mail in rebates on anything.

[cinnamon16201]

still waiting on staples rebates

 

I did three of them from Staples on BF. All say they have been printed/mailed. I received the cheap one over two weeks ago, but the two larger ones haven't made it yet. I just emailed them about it.

 

My FIL hated grocery coupons. He said that they should just lower the cost of the product and save the hassle for both the customer and the store.

[deelite]

STILL waiting on Staples and Kingston (Buy.com) rebates!!!

 

 

 

Once again......I HATE REBATES!!!!

 

 

 

Now that I am done with that rant.... for listening...

[wifeymiller]

still waiting on staples from BF too! I'm getting more and more irritated every day that I check the mail! It's been PLENTY long enough! $100 - DH's b'day this weekend, NEED IT NOW!! ERRR.

 

The info says printed/mailed... it's been a week. The mail doesn't take THAT long to get here!

[ButterBee]

I feel your pain . I am waiting on $352 from black Friday rebates. Two from RadioShack, two from Office Depot. I also have others not from Black Friday, One for CompUSA, one from Buy.com, and two toy/game manf ones, totaling about $90 . That's around $440 - a lot of money tied up in rebates.

I may opt to pay alittle more next year just to not do rebates.

[kfinto65]

I reviewed my records from last year. If the pattern holds the rebate checks will start arriving in a week or so.

[yaychickens]

I worked for Staples for many years, so I can't speak for any other retailer, but since I had to help customers on may occasions with rebates I can share a couple things with you.

 

1. Submit online with Staples with the easy rebate system. It ususally takes around 3 to 4 weeks to get your check. The store employees will help you if you ask to fill it out while there in the store.

Your check looks like a postcard when you get in it the mail, so you would'nt believe how many times people throw them out thinking it was junk mail. So be careful when sorting your mail!

 

2. If you have to mail it in, FOLLOW ALL THE DIRECTIONS. I'm not trying to put anyone down, but I'd say 90% of the time people with problems did not fill everything out, didn't send the UPC, bought the wrong product, did not send the receipt in, etc, etc, etc.

 

3. If all else fails, just go down to the local store and talk to a manager. Be sure you bring all your receipts and bar code copies, and your rejection postcard if you have one. The manager can call the rebate hotline and often fix everything and get it validated on the spot. The store can't give you any money, but they will help you get your rebate validated.

 

Hope this helps!

[Kandy]

I sent in two rebates on the Affes HP computer

 

$50.00 rebate in mail (they rev'd 12/6) is in route to me as of yesterday

 

$100 rebate they rev'd 12/5/06 -their date the check will be mailed 02/07/07 (8-12 weeks is what the form said)

Okay so now I got the $50.00 rebate.

 

The $100 rebated changed to received and processing no mail date so I emailed then and was told th check the website its updated daily and it had been received on 12 7 06. this is why I emailed because the date the check was being mailed was gone.

[wifeymiller]

I worked for Staples for many years, so I can't speak for any other retailer, but since I had to help customers on may occasions with rebates I can share a couple things with you.

 

1. Submit online with Staples with the easy rebate system. It ususally takes around 3 to 4 weeks to get your check. The store employees will help you if you ask to fill it out while there in the store.

Your check looks like a postcard when you get in it the mail, so you would'nt believe how many times people throw them out thinking it was junk mail. So be careful when sorting your mail!

!

This doesn't explain why the rebates from BF are going on 9 weeks now. Says "check mailed" and it's not here. I konw what I'm looking for, I've gotten them in the past. Ridiculous that it's taking so long for EVERYONE to get their Staples rebates!

[aarkaay]

Is Circuit City trying to scam. It happened to me too. My rebate was denied with "invalid price ", when I called up CC the customer rep. fixed it in no time. May be they are rejecting rebates and then grant them only if the customer calls back????

 

I am so totally fed up with Circuit City.

 

Did Black Friday shopping online with Circuit City, everything had MIRs. I sent in the rebates the following Monday. Yesterday (January 12), I get 4 letters in the mail from Circuit City Rebates, telling me that my rebates were missing various information (3 said I was missing the purchase date and/or price, 1 said it was an ineligible product). I keep all paperwork, and had sent in every bit of information they needed.

 

There's a phone number at the bottom of the letters, so I called today (after some deep breathing). Thankfully got a very nice customer service rep, and in less than 10 minutes, he'd "fixed" whatever the problems were. All he did was pull up the record, make a click or two, and told me it was fixed. Rebates should be mailed in 7-10 days.

 

Now, why couldn't they have been processed correctly the first time? I included the rebate form, completely filled out, the UPC codes, and the receipts, with purchase price circled. What more do they need??

 

I'm guessing they hope that people are either too disorganized, or too tired to care, and just let the rebate go. That's disgusting.

[aarkaay]

Generally after rebate check is mailed, Staples sends email to the customer .Though online status may say check has been mailed, check is not mailed until you receive the email. It has happened to me twice before and I am still waitin for my BF rebates.

 

This doesn't explain why the rebates from BF are going on 9 weeks now. Says "check mailed" and it's not here. I konw what I'm looking for, I've gotten them in the past. Ridiculous that it's taking so long for EVERYONE to get their Staples rebates!

[Swampbaby]

My two Staples rebates were submitted within minutes of each other on 11/24. One has stated mailed for a full week and the other is still in "validation". We are now beginning our TENTH week of waiting. I've received Staples rebates before and realize what they look like - the only problem is this extremely long processing time. Right now they are sitting on $75 worth of rebates. I've received and cashed all the other BF rebates and did this prior to Jan. 1st.

[kranky]

Rebates won't go away because the seller gets all the benefits of being able to advertise a lower price, without having to actually deliver that low price to everyone.

 

Most places contract with a rebate fulfillment company to handle the processing of the rebates. Did you know the rebate processor (RP) will guarantee the cost to the company for handling the rebates? The RP knows statistically how many people will claim a rebate based on the amount of the rebate and the cost of the product. Let's say XYZ Company wants to offer a $10 rebate on a $50 product. The RP estimates that will be claimed by 40% of the buyers. So the RP tells XYZ company they guarantee the maximum number of rebates will be, say 42%. If more people claim the rebate, the RP has to eat the extra cost.

 

This might explain why your rebates are denied, then magically approved once you complain. It's easier to just deny rebates, then give in to the people who take the time to call.

 

Another thing you can do if you can't get a denial straightened out is to take the copies of your rebate materials back to the store and talk to a manager. Sometimes they can make a phone call and clear it up.