Rebait and Switch
Has anyone else had trouble with rebates lately? I think I have noticed a deceitful new twist on the whole rebate situation. As it is, I hate rebates, or the process of getting a rebate. In this world of everything NOW, having to go through filling out a form, gathering receipts/UPC codes etc. and mailing the stupid thing and then waiting 6-8 weeks for a paper check which must be taken to a teller in the bank seems awfully cumbersome. Often, as Im sure the company offering the rebate counts on, I buy the product with all of the best intentions of sending in the rebate and then I just dont get around to it.
I recently purchased a few items with $50 rebates from Samsung and I purchased a Nikon D70 camera and Speedlight, which both had rebates totaling $125 and a Seagate Hard Drive with a $60 rebate. So this is a total of 6 rebates I was expecting.
The Seagate rebate was processed quickly and I received a check right away. It was the last one I sent in and the first one I received anything from.
From Samsung, I recently received a letter stating the receipt I included was not from a participating retailer and they could not process my rebate. Why was the retailer handing out the rebate forms then? So I called Samsung and asked them what was wrong with my receipt. They said they could not read the retailer name and I had to send in a new copy of it. WHAT?? So I did it, I made a new copy of the receipt and sent it on in to them. Oddly this new copy didnt look any different to me that the first one I had sent in and the retailer name was in bold letters on the top.
About a week later, I got two letters on the same day about the other two I had sent in. Each letter stated my rebates could not be processed because they had been postmarked after the cutoff date. Once again, I called Samsung. The person on the phone read me the rebate Must be postmarked by the end of June, and yours was postmarked June 28th. And I say, yes AND. Last I checked that was BEFORE the end of June. Ohhh yeah, well they made a mistake, and the person supposedly fixed the problem for me.
So this brings me to my Nikon rebates. I received two letters yesterday from Nikon. They stated I must not send in photocopies of the UPC and serial numbers and if I want my rebate I must send them the original ones within 21 days. This would be fine and good IF I HAD SENT THEM PHOTOCOPIES! Sadly for me, I did not send them copies, I sent them the original ones so I cant resend them. So much for those rebates. I sent them a scathing email and called the company headquarters after doing a little Yahoo Yellowpages searching to find the number. Well see what happens.
SO now I wonder, this is 5 rebates all denied for bogus reasons. Is this the new rebate scam? I understand companies offer rebates as opposed to instant savings because they know probably a good 50% or more of the people who buy the product thinking they will use the rebate end up being like I so often end up being and just forget or never get around to sending it in. A mail in rebate is a great marketing tool Im sure because the companies can advertise a fabulous after mail in rebate price which is so low because they only have to actually pay out half or less of them. I wonder if some corporate assfuck decided they could improve their bottom line even more by denying legitimate rebates. If even 10% of the people they send out a denial to just roll over and take it, up goes their bottom line. Of course down goes the good will and my desire to ever purchase a product from them again, but as Im sure they know, by the time the 8 weeks has gone by, I have already showed off the new toy and bragged about the rebate. By the time this 8 weeks goes by I have absorbed that $50, I have moved on to a new toy and the bad word of mouth is fairly low. What assholes. Dont buy anything from Samsung or from Nikon, the D-70 SLR is a nice camera, but Cannon makes good ones too and they are not engaging in this form of rebate fraud.
Has anyone else had trouble with rebates lately? I think I have noticed a deceitful new twist on the whole rebate situation. As it is, I hate rebates, or the process of getting a rebate. In this world of everything NOW, having to go through filling out a form, gathering receipts/UPC codes etc. and mailing the stupid thing and then waiting 6-8 weeks for a paper check which must be taken to a teller in the bank seems awfully cumbersome. Often, as Im sure the company offering the rebate counts on, I buy the product with all of the best intentions of sending in the rebate and then I just dont get around to it.
I recently purchased a few items with $50 rebates from Samsung and I purchased a Nikon D70 camera and Speedlight, which both had rebates totaling $125 and a Seagate Hard Drive with a $60 rebate. So this is a total of 6 rebates I was expecting.
The Seagate rebate was processed quickly and I received a check right away. It was the last one I sent in and the first one I received anything from.
From Samsung, I recently received a letter stating the receipt I included was not from a participating retailer and they could not process my rebate. Why was the retailer handing out the rebate forms then? So I called Samsung and asked them what was wrong with my receipt. They said they could not read the retailer name and I had to send in a new copy of it. WHAT?? So I did it, I made a new copy of the receipt and sent it on in to them. Oddly this new copy didnt look any different to me that the first one I had sent in and the retailer name was in bold letters on the top.
About a week later, I got two letters on the same day about the other two I had sent in. Each letter stated my rebates could not be processed because they had been postmarked after the cutoff date. Once again, I called Samsung. The person on the phone read me the rebate Must be postmarked by the end of June, and yours was postmarked June 28th. And I say, yes AND. Last I checked that was BEFORE the end of June. Ohhh yeah, well they made a mistake, and the person supposedly fixed the problem for me.
So this brings me to my Nikon rebates. I received two letters yesterday from Nikon. They stated I must not send in photocopies of the UPC and serial numbers and if I want my rebate I must send them the original ones within 21 days. This would be fine and good IF I HAD SENT THEM PHOTOCOPIES! Sadly for me, I did not send them copies, I sent them the original ones so I cant resend them. So much for those rebates. I sent them a scathing email and called the company headquarters after doing a little Yahoo Yellowpages searching to find the number. Well see what happens.
SO now I wonder, this is 5 rebates all denied for bogus reasons. Is this the new rebate scam? I understand companies offer rebates as opposed to instant savings because they know probably a good 50% or more of the people who buy the product thinking they will use the rebate end up being like I so often end up being and just forget or never get around to sending it in. A mail in rebate is a great marketing tool Im sure because the companies can advertise a fabulous after mail in rebate price which is so low because they only have to actually pay out half or less of them. I wonder if some corporate assfuck decided they could improve their bottom line even more by denying legitimate rebates. If even 10% of the people they send out a denial to just roll over and take it, up goes their bottom line. Of course down goes the good will and my desire to ever purchase a product from them again, but as Im sure they know, by the time the 8 weeks has gone by, I have already showed off the new toy and bragged about the rebate. By the time this 8 weeks goes by I have absorbed that $50, I have moved on to a new toy and the bad word of mouth is fairly low. What assholes. Dont buy anything from Samsung or from Nikon, the D-70 SLR is a nice camera, but Cannon makes good ones too and they are not engaging in this form of rebate fraud.