was it Seagate?
both my father and I had issues with getting rebates from drives we bought at Fry's. They denied them and claimed something was invalid... in both cases, after informing a CSR at the rebate house that we had everything photocopied, she immediately approved them. It still took a while to get the money, but it did eventually come.
check out the fatwallet.com rebates forum. At the time, there were quite a few people having problems getting Seagate rebates.
You have actual FACTS with which to refute my statement, I assume? Not just your anecdotal evidence?
I'm looking forward to seeing them.
A couple of dozen? Wow, that's a lot!
Of course, you made copies of all your submissions, just in case a rebate processor "loses" your submission or declares it to be "invalid" - so how about posting some scans here? I expect your followup post to contain two dozen links to .JPG images of your rebate submissions on the image hosting site of your choice (I suggest
Feel free to block out the personal info like your name and address, but be sure those amounts are all clearly visible.
Then I'm afraid she'll be disappointed.
It's amazing the lengths that some people will go to in order to take offense. :rolleyes:
Actually, I've come to suspect that the people who enjoy rebates look at it as kind of a hobby. Filling out the forms, making photocopies of all the materials, filing them away carefully, and putting notes on the calendar to remind them to follow up, it's all a sort of hobby to some people. They actually ENJOY it, much as a history buff enjoys spending endless hours in the library looking at old microfilms of newspapers from the 1800s.
OF COURSE my time is a limited quantity. I have yet to see any evidence of my own immortality.
So why don't you just go rob some retarded guy on the street? Surely that's a quicker and easier way to take advantage of someone with limited intelligence than sending away for a rebate... ;)
But seriously, there are two main categories of people who fail to get their rebates: those who simply don't apply, and those who go to all the trouble to fill out the forms in what they think is the correct fashion only to be denied based on some bullshit technicality.
Now, if someone is too lazy to fill out the rebate paperwork on something they purchased, that's fine - feel free to take their money. I certainly would have no qualms about doing so. However, it's more than a bit sleazy for a company to purposely make the "rules" as tricky as possible in order to trip up as many people as possible and use that as an excuse to renege on the promised rebate. In fact, it's borderline dishonest - kinda like a speed trap in the little podunk town where the speed limit sign is hidden behind a "carelessly" untrimmed bush.
Well there you go.
I, OTOH, am still waiting for that $50 rebate check from Lucent Technologies for that ISDN Terminal Adapter I purchased about 10 years ago. Perhaps if my experience (and the experiences of the others who have posted here that they do not make purchasing decision on the basis of a rebate) had been as rosy as yours has, nobody would be complaining.
That's not your job. That's your HOBBY. You will get your retirement income regardless of whether you fill out those forms or not.
It's quite telling that you and all the other rebate cheerleaders make your rebate submissions with the full expectation of being cheated. I can think of very few everyday business transactions where similar precautions are necessary.
It's as if you enjoy playing the game and "beating" the marketers more than actually getting the rebates.
Why not just enclose a letter stating as much? Something along the lines of "Dear Parago, I know you're going to try to cheat me out of this rebate, but I have proof that I filled everything out correctly and won't hesitate to take you to small claims court if you try to jerk me around. So just send me my check, OK?" Surely this is better than just dropping a lot of hints? ;)
Correction: First-hand knowledge of being SCREWED OUT OF rebates (or nearly so, had you not followed-up on your submissions.
By my count there are at least 4 other people who have posted to this group that they no longer make purchasing decisions based on a rebate. Are their experiences "bullshit," as well?
11:30PM? I'm usually in bed asleep by that time. Or, if I'm awake, I'm doing something a lot more pleasant than chasing down a bunch of rebates that I'm being cheated out of... ;)That they were too honest to survive in this shady business? That the ones who have survived do the exact same thing, they just don't admit it publicly?
That's pretty much my attitude, too. I don't like spending time tracking down rebates that never arrive, so I think of them like loaning money: if I see the rebate or the repayment, great, but I don't expect it. I'd never buy an item depending on the rebate to make the purchase worthwhile.
I take offense to blatant stupidity.
i got screwed out of a rebate for a toshiba deskstar HDD from frys. there was NO UPC on the box. at all! there were several barcodes, but NO UPC.
For someone who's time is so valuable, you sure spend a lot of it harping about other people using rebates.
John E.
That's par for the Fry's course.
Fry's accepts returns with items missing from inside the box all the time; it's no surprise that they would accept a return with a missing UPC. No doubt someone bought the disk drive, filed for the rebate, then brought it back for a refund, knowing full well that the Fry's guys would never notice the missing UPC barcode.
When one shops at Fry's, one quickly learns to detect even the most subtle signs that an item has been returned and re-shelved (and probably stripped of some vital components).
As I suspected.
Of course, you can say anything you want. Whether anyone believes you is another question.
But that's all beside the point. Even if you filled out two dozen rebates this week, and each one was for $1 million, that's hardly representative of the typical rebate offer amount.
And I take offsense to those who are too easily offended.
I also complain about top-posters. In my opinion, they're even worse than the scum who concoct rebate scams.
Nope, plenty of other rubes!
Oh come on, you're just not trying!
I really try to avoid thinking that the clock is counting down. It does no good and changes nothing -- just makes me unhappy.
It's mean to take advantage of the truly retarded. Dumb normals, however, are completely different.
Or user error. Never forget user error.
No. More like the speed limit sign is posted half a mile before the speed trap and cop and if you missed it or ignored it it's the driver's problem, not the town's.
Remember -- "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."
Obviously. It boils down to "Why does Bev win and why do I lose?"
Yeah, but one reason we can live on our SS is that we know how to avoid spending unnecessary money.
Sorry, but while I am willing to spend my time filing rebates and following up on them (and even posting here) I will not go to the level of wasting my time to post my rebates (and blanking out my info) to satisfy you that I sent out the number of rebates I did.
But I can tell one thing. Until a couple that I sent out today, none of them were as small as the amounts that you claim the "vast majority" are. Of course, you would be able to prove that to yourself simply by looking at a weekly ad for Best Buy or Circuit City.
Bill
Why does he have to supply you with anything? Since you have deep pockets and little time, I suggest that you should pay ~$100 for each rebate copy you want to see (time is money, right?). Its like playing poker, you need to put your money where your mouth is to see the cards. Otherwise you will be known as "catfish Aztlán" (aka, all mouth and no ass). I've got a notion you will fold and take a needed hike. So how much of your oh so valuable time have you spent writing these post? You must be out thousands of dollars by now.
I've seen this topic come up over and over again, especially in regards to consumer electronics. It's amusing, sometimes a bit disgusting, to read the whines.
I've gotten a lot of money back over the years through rebates, and honestly don't remember ever getting stiffed on one. Some people claim that they don't consider the rebate in making purchase decisions; sometimes, I certainly do consider it. I don't obsess over it, but I do read the instructions carefully, and follow every step. Like Bev, I often wonder why some others seem to have so much trouble with it...
Also, your slur at Bev for being a "willing participant" is childish nonsense. Whether you like it or not, the rebate is a perfectly legal marketing tool, and she is simply taking perfectly legal advantage of the offer.
In this I agree -- I don't bother with trivial rebate offers.
Cabling-Design.com Forums website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.