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  4. Rebate Hell

Rebate Hell

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  • L Lost User

    Here in the US, often times items (high-tech items in particular) will be on-sale by way of rebate. This means you pay full-price at the cash register and they give you the item and a form. You go home, fill in the form and mail it along with a copy of the reciept and the UPC bar-code from the package. If you're lucky in 6-8 weeks you get a check for the amount of the rebate. Often times you get nothing. Here's the scams: 1. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they never got any of your mailing. If you made copies and mail them, they might honor the rebate. 2. They claim that your mailing is missing one vital item. You resend them copies and hope for the best. 3. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and that the check already cleared. You lose! 4. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and must have been lost in the mail. You lose! 5. The rebate really does get lost in the mail. You lose. 6. The rebate makes it to your home but the tiny little postcard check gets mixed up with the junk mail and you throw it away! Today my "friends" at HP/Compaq pulled a #2 on me for the $100 rebate on my wife's notebook. BASTARDS!!!! So... do they "do" rebates outside the US? "Looking at cleavage is like looking at the sun. You don't stare at it. It's too risky. You get a sense of it and then you look away." Jerry Seinfeld

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    Chris Losinger
    wrote on last edited by
    #2

    i always get the #2 treatment. "you forget to include the UPC code!" well, no, i didn't. but now that i've sent it to you, i don't have it anymore, so i can't send it to you again. thanks for nothing, D-Link. Cleek | Losinger Designs | ClickPic | ThumbNailer

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    • L Lost User

      Here in the US, often times items (high-tech items in particular) will be on-sale by way of rebate. This means you pay full-price at the cash register and they give you the item and a form. You go home, fill in the form and mail it along with a copy of the reciept and the UPC bar-code from the package. If you're lucky in 6-8 weeks you get a check for the amount of the rebate. Often times you get nothing. Here's the scams: 1. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they never got any of your mailing. If you made copies and mail them, they might honor the rebate. 2. They claim that your mailing is missing one vital item. You resend them copies and hope for the best. 3. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and that the check already cleared. You lose! 4. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and must have been lost in the mail. You lose! 5. The rebate really does get lost in the mail. You lose. 6. The rebate makes it to your home but the tiny little postcard check gets mixed up with the junk mail and you throw it away! Today my "friends" at HP/Compaq pulled a #2 on me for the $100 rebate on my wife's notebook. BASTARDS!!!! So... do they "do" rebates outside the US? "Looking at cleavage is like looking at the sun. You don't stare at it. It's too risky. You get a sense of it and then you look away." Jerry Seinfeld

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      Roger Wright
      wrote on last edited by
      #3

      The only rebates I've had trouble collecting were the ones offered by Microsoft to get me to spend money I didn't have for VC++ and 2 versions of VS. After considerable hassle I managed to get one many years ago, but it was only a partial - they still owe me a training course. Some people think of it as a six-pack; I consider it more of a support group.

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      • C Chris Losinger

        i always get the #2 treatment. "you forget to include the UPC code!" well, no, i didn't. but now that i've sent it to you, i don't have it anymore, so i can't send it to you again. thanks for nothing, D-Link. Cleek | Losinger Designs | ClickPic | ThumbNailer

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        mystro_AKA_kokie
        wrote on last edited by
        #4

        D-Link?!!! i just sent them a rebate receipt a week ago for their wireless router. Guess that's 30 bucks down the drain... It's a sh*tty world. Take advantage of whomever,whenever,whereever. And oh.. becarefull what you say to me,am too sensitive.Or i might just show up at your house.i retract the latter,am trying to be a better person.

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        • L Lost User

          Here in the US, often times items (high-tech items in particular) will be on-sale by way of rebate. This means you pay full-price at the cash register and they give you the item and a form. You go home, fill in the form and mail it along with a copy of the reciept and the UPC bar-code from the package. If you're lucky in 6-8 weeks you get a check for the amount of the rebate. Often times you get nothing. Here's the scams: 1. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they never got any of your mailing. If you made copies and mail them, they might honor the rebate. 2. They claim that your mailing is missing one vital item. You resend them copies and hope for the best. 3. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and that the check already cleared. You lose! 4. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and must have been lost in the mail. You lose! 5. The rebate really does get lost in the mail. You lose. 6. The rebate makes it to your home but the tiny little postcard check gets mixed up with the junk mail and you throw it away! Today my "friends" at HP/Compaq pulled a #2 on me for the $100 rebate on my wife's notebook. BASTARDS!!!! So... do they "do" rebates outside the US? "Looking at cleavage is like looking at the sun. You don't stare at it. It's too risky. You get a sense of it and then you look away." Jerry Seinfeld

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          mystro_AKA_kokie
          wrote on last edited by
          #5

          reminds me of what my company does to prescription drug claims. "Ummm we never recived your receipt":) It's a sh*tty world. Take advantage of whomever,whenever,whereever. And oh.. becarefull what you say to me,am too sensitive.Or i might just show up at your house.i retract the latter,am trying to be a better person.

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          • L Lost User

            Here in the US, often times items (high-tech items in particular) will be on-sale by way of rebate. This means you pay full-price at the cash register and they give you the item and a form. You go home, fill in the form and mail it along with a copy of the reciept and the UPC bar-code from the package. If you're lucky in 6-8 weeks you get a check for the amount of the rebate. Often times you get nothing. Here's the scams: 1. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they never got any of your mailing. If you made copies and mail them, they might honor the rebate. 2. They claim that your mailing is missing one vital item. You resend them copies and hope for the best. 3. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and that the check already cleared. You lose! 4. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and must have been lost in the mail. You lose! 5. The rebate really does get lost in the mail. You lose. 6. The rebate makes it to your home but the tiny little postcard check gets mixed up with the junk mail and you throw it away! Today my "friends" at HP/Compaq pulled a #2 on me for the $100 rebate on my wife's notebook. BASTARDS!!!! So... do they "do" rebates outside the US? "Looking at cleavage is like looking at the sun. You don't stare at it. It's too risky. You get a sense of it and then you look away." Jerry Seinfeld

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            Smitha Nishant
            wrote on last edited by
            #6

            I remember Nish telling me he got a rebate of $100 on his laptop purchase from the US. Smitha Every problem has a gift for you in its hands. -- Richard Bach

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            • S Smitha Nishant

              I remember Nish telling me he got a rebate of $100 on his laptop purchase from the US. Smitha Every problem has a gift for you in its hands. -- Richard Bach

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              Nish Nishant
              wrote on last edited by
              #7

              Smitha Vijayan wrote: I remember Nish telling me he got a rebate of $100 on his laptop purchase from the US. Yup, Fujitsu sent me the check but it took them 4 months to do it rather than the 4 weeks as they had said when I purchased it. I think it's dumb - this whole concept of mail-in rebates. If you see a $50 item with a $20 rebate, mentally just think of it as $70 - that's what I did last month when I was in a CompUSA store. Nish


              Now with my own blog - void Nish(char* szBlog); My MVP tips, tricks and essays web site - www.voidnish.com

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              • L Lost User

                Here in the US, often times items (high-tech items in particular) will be on-sale by way of rebate. This means you pay full-price at the cash register and they give you the item and a form. You go home, fill in the form and mail it along with a copy of the reciept and the UPC bar-code from the package. If you're lucky in 6-8 weeks you get a check for the amount of the rebate. Often times you get nothing. Here's the scams: 1. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they never got any of your mailing. If you made copies and mail them, they might honor the rebate. 2. They claim that your mailing is missing one vital item. You resend them copies and hope for the best. 3. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and that the check already cleared. You lose! 4. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and must have been lost in the mail. You lose! 5. The rebate really does get lost in the mail. You lose. 6. The rebate makes it to your home but the tiny little postcard check gets mixed up with the junk mail and you throw it away! Today my "friends" at HP/Compaq pulled a #2 on me for the $100 rebate on my wife's notebook. BASTARDS!!!! So... do they "do" rebates outside the US? "Looking at cleavage is like looking at the sun. You don't stare at it. It's too risky. You get a sense of it and then you look away." Jerry Seinfeld

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                Omega501
                wrote on last edited by
                #8

                Not sure how often this works, but a lot of the time you can get them to knock the rebate off the price at the checkout - that way they have the fun of getting the rebates outta the companies, and saves you lots of hassles

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                • L Lost User

                  Here in the US, often times items (high-tech items in particular) will be on-sale by way of rebate. This means you pay full-price at the cash register and they give you the item and a form. You go home, fill in the form and mail it along with a copy of the reciept and the UPC bar-code from the package. If you're lucky in 6-8 weeks you get a check for the amount of the rebate. Often times you get nothing. Here's the scams: 1. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they never got any of your mailing. If you made copies and mail them, they might honor the rebate. 2. They claim that your mailing is missing one vital item. You resend them copies and hope for the best. 3. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and that the check already cleared. You lose! 4. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and must have been lost in the mail. You lose! 5. The rebate really does get lost in the mail. You lose. 6. The rebate makes it to your home but the tiny little postcard check gets mixed up with the junk mail and you throw it away! Today my "friends" at HP/Compaq pulled a #2 on me for the $100 rebate on my wife's notebook. BASTARDS!!!! So... do they "do" rebates outside the US? "Looking at cleavage is like looking at the sun. You don't stare at it. It's too risky. You get a sense of it and then you look away." Jerry Seinfeld

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                  Johnny
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #9

                  I cant think of many rebate-style items in the UK. If anything, it's a coupon, so you get the discount at the checkout. I know that some car manufacturers have special offers to pay your sales tax on a new car, but I would hope that is also done when you buy it. Cheques just arnt in style here, fortunatley!

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                  • J Johnny

                    I cant think of many rebate-style items in the UK. If anything, it's a coupon, so you get the discount at the checkout. I know that some car manufacturers have special offers to pay your sales tax on a new car, but I would hope that is also done when you buy it. Cheques just arnt in style here, fortunatley!

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                    Ian Darling
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #10

                    Johnny ² wrote: I cant think of many rebate-style items in the UK. Ditto. I think it's a combination of consumer laziness - nobody in the UK can be bothered with the hassle of rebates, and probably some consumer protection laws against it anyway (see Trading Standards). We do have a whole wodge of laws to do with pricing of products (brief description[^]), and I would suspect most mail-in rebate offers would fall foul of that.


                    Ian Darling "If we've learned anything from history, it's that those who feed trolls are condemned to repetitive conversations. Or something like that." - Eric Lippert

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                    • L Lost User

                      Here in the US, often times items (high-tech items in particular) will be on-sale by way of rebate. This means you pay full-price at the cash register and they give you the item and a form. You go home, fill in the form and mail it along with a copy of the reciept and the UPC bar-code from the package. If you're lucky in 6-8 weeks you get a check for the amount of the rebate. Often times you get nothing. Here's the scams: 1. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they never got any of your mailing. If you made copies and mail them, they might honor the rebate. 2. They claim that your mailing is missing one vital item. You resend them copies and hope for the best. 3. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and that the check already cleared. You lose! 4. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and must have been lost in the mail. You lose! 5. The rebate really does get lost in the mail. You lose. 6. The rebate makes it to your home but the tiny little postcard check gets mixed up with the junk mail and you throw it away! Today my "friends" at HP/Compaq pulled a #2 on me for the $100 rebate on my wife's notebook. BASTARDS!!!! So... do they "do" rebates outside the US? "Looking at cleavage is like looking at the sun. You don't stare at it. It's too risky. You get a sense of it and then you look away." Jerry Seinfeld

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                      Lost User
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #11

                      There isn't much of this in the UK and I just don't touch any deal like that. The words 'con' and 'patronising' come to mind for some reason :suss: The tigress is here :-D

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                      • L Lost User

                        There isn't much of this in the UK and I just don't touch any deal like that. The words 'con' and 'patronising' come to mind for some reason :suss: The tigress is here :-D

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                        L Offline
                        Lost User
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #12

                        It has become completely out of hand here on computers and peripherals. If you buy via the web you're usually OK but if you want to run down to the office supply center 9 times out of 10 the item has a rebate. :( "Looking at cleavage is like looking at the sun. You don't stare at it. It's too risky. You get a sense of it and then you look away." Jerry Seinfeld

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                        • L Lost User

                          Here in the US, often times items (high-tech items in particular) will be on-sale by way of rebate. This means you pay full-price at the cash register and they give you the item and a form. You go home, fill in the form and mail it along with a copy of the reciept and the UPC bar-code from the package. If you're lucky in 6-8 weeks you get a check for the amount of the rebate. Often times you get nothing. Here's the scams: 1. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they never got any of your mailing. If you made copies and mail them, they might honor the rebate. 2. They claim that your mailing is missing one vital item. You resend them copies and hope for the best. 3. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and that the check already cleared. You lose! 4. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and must have been lost in the mail. You lose! 5. The rebate really does get lost in the mail. You lose. 6. The rebate makes it to your home but the tiny little postcard check gets mixed up with the junk mail and you throw it away! Today my "friends" at HP/Compaq pulled a #2 on me for the $100 rebate on my wife's notebook. BASTARDS!!!! So... do they "do" rebates outside the US? "Looking at cleavage is like looking at the sun. You don't stare at it. It's too risky. You get a sense of it and then you look away." Jerry Seinfeld

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                          Chris Meech
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #13

                          I don't understand why it seems to be catching on as the marketing gimic of the 00's for selling computers, electronics, etc.. but it sure is a pain. I don't bother considering anything for purchase that offers a rebate. Can you imagine a grocery store selling fruit and the farmer offering you a rebate of 25 cents an apple. It's pointless and a waste of time and energy. To me the use of a rebate offer is just an indicator that the item is over priced to start with and so I go shopping else where. Chris Meech We're more like a hobbiest in a Home Depot drooling at all the shiny power tools, rather than a craftsman that makes the chair to an exacting level of comfort by measuring the customer's butt. Marc Clifton VB is like a toolbox, in the hands of a craftsman, you can end up with some amazing stuff, but without the skills to use it right you end up with Homer Simpson's attempt at building a barbeque or his attempt at a Spice rack. Michael P. Butler

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                          • L Lost User

                            Here in the US, often times items (high-tech items in particular) will be on-sale by way of rebate. This means you pay full-price at the cash register and they give you the item and a form. You go home, fill in the form and mail it along with a copy of the reciept and the UPC bar-code from the package. If you're lucky in 6-8 weeks you get a check for the amount of the rebate. Often times you get nothing. Here's the scams: 1. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they never got any of your mailing. If you made copies and mail them, they might honor the rebate. 2. They claim that your mailing is missing one vital item. You resend them copies and hope for the best. 3. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and that the check already cleared. You lose! 4. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and must have been lost in the mail. You lose! 5. The rebate really does get lost in the mail. You lose. 6. The rebate makes it to your home but the tiny little postcard check gets mixed up with the junk mail and you throw it away! Today my "friends" at HP/Compaq pulled a #2 on me for the $100 rebate on my wife's notebook. BASTARDS!!!! So... do they "do" rebates outside the US? "Looking at cleavage is like looking at the sun. You don't stare at it. It's too risky. You get a sense of it and then you look away." Jerry Seinfeld

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                            brianwelsch
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #14

                            I never received my $75 from e-Machines 2 years ago. I try not to ever buy anything based on the fact that I'll cash in on the rebate. I rather not deal with it. BW The Biggest Loser


                            "And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
                            No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun"

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                            • L Lost User

                              It has become completely out of hand here on computers and peripherals. If you buy via the web you're usually OK but if you want to run down to the office supply center 9 times out of 10 the item has a rebate. :( "Looking at cleavage is like looking at the sun. You don't stare at it. It's too risky. You get a sense of it and then you look away." Jerry Seinfeld

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                              Colin Angus Mackay
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #15

                              I think the trick is to be completely hard-nosed about it. Refuse to buy unless they discount at the checkout. Of course, if your monitor had just started making funny clicking noises and smells funny then you might be a bit desperate just to get a replacement. (Anyone know of a good 17+" monitor? at a reasonable price with good display quality)


                              "You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." --Zig Ziglar Coming soon: The Second EuroCPian Event

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                              • L Lost User

                                Here in the US, often times items (high-tech items in particular) will be on-sale by way of rebate. This means you pay full-price at the cash register and they give you the item and a form. You go home, fill in the form and mail it along with a copy of the reciept and the UPC bar-code from the package. If you're lucky in 6-8 weeks you get a check for the amount of the rebate. Often times you get nothing. Here's the scams: 1. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they never got any of your mailing. If you made copies and mail them, they might honor the rebate. 2. They claim that your mailing is missing one vital item. You resend them copies and hope for the best. 3. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and that the check already cleared. You lose! 4. 10-12 weeks pass with nothing. If you remember and contact them, they claim they sent it weeks ago and must have been lost in the mail. You lose! 5. The rebate really does get lost in the mail. You lose. 6. The rebate makes it to your home but the tiny little postcard check gets mixed up with the junk mail and you throw it away! Today my "friends" at HP/Compaq pulled a #2 on me for the $100 rebate on my wife's notebook. BASTARDS!!!! So... do they "do" rebates outside the US? "Looking at cleavage is like looking at the sun. You don't stare at it. It's too risky. You get a sense of it and then you look away." Jerry Seinfeld

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                                Terry ONolley
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #16

                                That's not rebate hell - that's rebate heaven. Hell is when your rebate check is delivered by a 7' tall 400 pound bouncer who beats you half to death with a baseball bat for actually sending in all the correct documentation.


                                Glano perictu com sahni delorin!

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