[geeks] Rebates (was: I was wrong (big 2.5" PATA drives))

[Doug McLaren]

On Sun, Feb 03, 2008 at 11:50:54PM -0500, Shannon Hendrix wrote:

> My best guess is that I have gotten roughly 50% of my rebates back, and I'm 
> being generous.
...

If I follow all the rules to the letter and get things in on time (the
most important thing), I'd say I get 70% back with no extra effort on
my part.

I get 20% or so more by keeping track of my sent rebates and calling
them when I don't get my check.  When I call, the usual response is
that I was missing something -- which is very very unlikely as I check
this stuff very carefully -- but they just want me to copy my copies
and send it in again, and I get my check.

I think they often take a certain percentage of valid rebates and
arbitrarily decide that they're now invalid because something was
forgotten, usually they say it's the UPC.  So if somebody doesn't
follow up, they just saved their $20.  And if somebody does follow up,
well, they give them another hoop to jump through, and then they get
their money.  This policy saves them money (as they pay out less in
rebates) but doesn't piss off those who keep careful records and
follow up on things enough for them to start screaming fraud, though
it probably is.

The remaining 10% they just pretend they never received the rebate and
no, it's too late now.  Or they've gone bankrupt and there's nobody to
pay it out, etc.  It's not usually worth pursuing, but do keep a note
of who does this and don't do their rebates anymore.  Right now, my
`makes up bogus reasons to not honor valid rebates' list is dominated
by T-Mobile.

The keys are --

   1) follow every rule to the letter.
   2) do it on time, preferably early.  (If you're a single day late,
     the odds of you getting your rebate drop from 90% to 20% or so,
     and two or three days late drop it down under 10%.)
   3) keep photocopies of everything, including the UPC itself.
   4) keep track of your rebates and checks, and followup when it's
      time to do so.

By doing these things, I've gotten about 90% of my rebates.

> The most common reason is they claim they didn't get the information they 
> needed.  That's a very convenient excuse for them to give since you no 
> longer have it, and can't prove they received it.

You should still have your copies, and I've found that they'll
generally accept copies of your copies when it comes to this --
presumably because they know they're screwing with you and they just
got caught, and since you're the sort of person who keeps records and
follows up, you're not the one they want to piss off.

-- 
Doug McLaren, dougmc at frenzied.us
People are like onions -- you cut them up, and they make you cry.