Netgear Rebate scam - seeking information

Good news, thanks.

If anything, you should place an even greater value on your time because you have relatively little of it left.

In any case, I am not retired, nor, I suspect, is the OP. Our time has value, even if only to ourselves.

I refuse to suppress the truth simply to line my own pockets with the money of people who were suckered in by a scam. Your morality may vary. ;)

I don't get screwed, either - at least, not anymore. I don't make any purchases on the basis of a rebate, so there is no opportunity for anyone to screw me out of one. Simple!

Or maybe she likes me enough to allow me to see through all the bullshit?

Bev is talking about the huge loss-leaders, like the 200GB HDs for $29. And she's largely correct: you typically don't find those types of prices without a rebate involved. But what's really happening (and Bev will readily acknowledge this) is that the people who fail to submit their rebates correctly (as well as the people whose rebate submissions get "lost" or declared "incorrect" even though they are neither) subsidize people like Bev. In other words, Bev gets great prices on certain items because a bunch of suckers paid too much for those same items, and a portion of that overpayment was given to Bev in the form of a rebate check. This makes Bev a willing participant in the scam - not something that everyone will be confortable with, to be sure.

Of course, you are also correct: the VAST majority of rebates are not for these spectacular loss-leader discounts, but rather for piddly $1/$5/$10 amounts, and it's usually pretty easy to find a competing product that simply sells for the "after-rebate" price in the first place. This is the approach I prefer to take.

Just how much of your time have you wasted chasing down falsely-rejected rebates? Sounds like it's been a hell of a lot! How else would you know that "P.O. Box 028516, Miami, FL" belongs to Parago, or that Parago will "typically approve rejections?"

Only the naive would ask that question. The reason they reject (or "lose" - i.e. throw away) perfectly valid submissions is to raise the profit margins for their employers: the companies that hire them to process their rebates. I seem to recall reading somewhere (probably in this very newsgroup) that rebate processing houses actually GUARANTEE a certain percentage of rebates will be rejected. Any truth to that, do you think?

The original idea behind the rebate was to give the customer a price break in trade for loaning the vendor some money. Rebates with 90 day paybacks were common. At the time (early 1970's) the economy was the pits, inflation was rampant, commercial loan rates were astronomical, we were having an "energy crisis", and companies were looking for creative financing. If they could sit on some of the customers money for a while, then they just might make payroll until the economy recovers. Borrowing money from employees was also common.

The next step was for the States to declare the rebate to be taxable. No logic required. They just wanted the tax revenue. They couldn't pass up takeing a piece of the action.

Duz anyone seriously expect to see any manner of rebate reform by the States when they rake in lots of tax revenue from consumers? I don't think so. It's like the administrations rebate on perscription medicine scheme. You don't get a discount, you get a rebate. The difference is that with a rebate you pay taxes on the full amount.

Searching Google for "rebate reform" (with the quotes) yields 10,300 hits. The good news is that the Feds are looking for revenue enhancement and have gone after some rebate fraud. CompUSA and some others were caught in by the FTC in March for deceptive rebates. All that happened is that CompUSA agreed to pay on past rebates and promised to clean up their act (which apparently hasn't happened). Eventually, they'll figure out that they can fine the box vendors for consumer fraud and maybe we'll see some mild reform.

Are you referring to his New Economic Policy of 1971?

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I've heard some stupid replies but this one takes the cake. I guess as far as you're concerned anyone that's retired should go to sleep in a coffin because they most likely won't wake up anyway. I wish I was around when you are old enough to retire or even when you're old enough to get out of your diapers.

I find most "rebates" to be like coupons - a sales gimmick. Our local grocer had their $1.50/dozen eggs advertised this week for $1.00 with their coupon. Too bad I had already bought eggs at Walmart for 75 cents / wasn't able to save 50 cents with the coupon.

More than half, to my way of thinking. Well, I guess I could be washing dishes or vacuuming or pulling weeds or posting to usenet instead of filling out forms and xeroxing. Yeah, washing dishes, that's the ticket...

If you regard your time as a limited quantity, I would think it might make you extremely anxious...

Suppress the truth? HAH! The truth is out there somewhere, all they have to do is bend over and pick it up. It's a sort of rough justice that every once in a while the stupid and careless subsidize the rest of us.

Well, I've only been screwed out of $5 and I regard the expenditure of time as acceptable. People use their time to pump sewers, butcher hogs, sell used cars and carry signs saying WILL WORK FOR FOOD. Everybody has some kind of job, mine is filling in forms.

Perhaps.

Actually I'm serious. During his administration he put a "freeze" on prices and wages. And the rebate was invented.

YESSSSSS! You're catching on, boy!

Hey, I was just following orders. Well, maybe not, just following the procedures laid out for me.

Stuff like that you can get at yard sales for a buck or so.

Because they think they can get away with it?

Perhaps they have learned to judge who's stupid enough to have submitted the rebate without saving a copy. Since the advent of super-long cash-register-generated rebate forms, I tear them in half in order to xerox on a single sheet rather than multiple sheets, tape the torn rebate slip back together, staple the UPC to an empty spot on the receipt or rebate slip, and staple the whole thing together before mailing. I also underline the requirements and put check marks by each one.

This might seem to indicate a careful shopper who has saved a copy and will not hesitate to use it, making it a nuisance for them to deal with if they try to reject it.

Or maybe god DOES like me.

Not quite ... try 15%, and only on certain items:

Sears Policies

Satisfaction Guaranteed or Your Money Back Our goal is that you are completely satisfied with your purchase. If for any reason you are not satisfied, simply return your purchase in its original packaging, with your receipt within 90 days of your purchase, 30 days for Home Electronics and Mattresses for a refund or exchange. If you are not satisfied with your purchase after these time periods, please let us know. Your satisfaction is important to Sears. a.. A 15% restocking fee applies on select Home Appliance, Home Electronics, Home Improvement, Household Goods, Lawn & Garden, and Automotive products not returned in the original box, unused, and containing all original product packaging and accessories. b.. Special orders cancelled after 24 hours of purchase are subject to a 15% order cancellation fee

-- Jeremy Nichols Minneapolis MN

I bet she likes you to pay full retail to help pay for other's rebates.

You know Scott, when you continue to post blatantly incorrect information like this, you show how put of touch you are with rebates. I have mailed out a couple of dozen rebates in the last week, and I don't think that more than a couple each were for $5 or $10. The rest were for $15-50 each.

Yeah, for grocery/drug items the rebates will be $1-5, but that is clearly not what most people here do (the those grocery rebates are VERY reliable, in any event).

Bill

Nah, I think it is just random, although some who do enough rebates tend to push the envelope and actually send a photocopy when the rebate form says that it is accepted, knowing that they may need to call to get the rebate fixed after the fact.

Bill

I know, I know!!! It's because I actually speak with first hand knowledge of rebates, rather than you who just posts bullshit based on experiences a long time ago.

And my time spent chasing down rejected rebates consists on an

11:30pm call every 2-3 months to get stuff fixed in bulk, or an occasional email from their website.

Yeah, TCA had that in their promotional materials, and they are out of business. What does that say about them?

Yeah, it sucks that Parago rebates stuff that they shouldn't (and I knew I was opening myself up by posting that rhetorical question). Should they be investigated for this? Probably. Should companies who do not pay their rebates in the time stated on the rebate form (Hawking, et al) be investigated and prosecuted? Absolutely. But unlike you, I am unwilling to give up the great deals I can get on rebate stuff because of a few problems. Maybe I just have a higher tolerance for pain than you do. And I know that if stuff shows up broken, I can get it fixed.

Bill

Me too, Fry's beat me out of a $50 rebate on a disk drive. Made three trips there over a year period - each time got a lot of sympathy and service (on the phone to someone) and promises.

Lesson learned

Scott en Aztlán wrote

Mindless stuff. Those are the ones that dont have to fit work into the time they have, stupid.

You were wrong there.

Only if you are short of time, stupid. Not everyone is.

And as Bev pointed out, she gets a pretty decent return on the time anyway.

Wota f****ng wanker.

You miss out on the best rebates.