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This and That
Rebates are more trouble than they’re worth
By THOMAS MICHALSKI
Article published on Wednesday, July 11, 2007 |
We have all fallen for them. Buy an item and get a mail-in rebate.
The elusive check usually never arrives because rebate companies are experts at creating reasons for not parting with the money.
Case in point is a new computer I purchased. I mailed the appropriate paperwork that ensured me a trouble-free experience in obtaining a free upgrade.
Months later I received a form letter from the company’s redemption center of Orem, Utah. I was not eligible due to a lacking order number.
An order number? Wasn’t that on the two-foot-long receipt an electronics store issued me?
Apparently not.
The company, which published reports saying it is slowly divesting itself from rebate programs due to the numerous complaints, provided the order number that probably was on the original receipt. The customer service representative, to the company’s credit, was extremely helpful. She went through a lot of trouble to find the required numerals.
On Feb. 21 I mailed in the order number. Guess what? I still haven’t received my upgrade, or a letter or telephone call providing a reason why.
Not to be outdone was another electronics store that promised a $30 rebate for a satellite radio. Months later, and again after sending all the appropriate paperwork, I received a postcard saying I was not eligible because the radio never was activated.
What? I suppose the music emanating from the satellite radios of each of my cars is imaginary. Of course, the radios were activated. Why would anyone buy a radio and not do so?
Rebates are like extended service plans like those bothersome little plastic discount tags super markets and drug stores issue. They are designed to attract customers to purchase products or use a particular store.
Type in “rebate problems” into any search engine and hundreds of Web sites pop up. Companies charged with consumer rebate issues reads like a who’s who of American business. Rebates are not handled by manufacturers or stores, but by companies expert at wearing people down. Denial letters include lame excuses such as not purchasing an item within the correct time frame or not including some obscure piece of information or the bar code.
Rebates are deliberately intended to be a hassle to discourage customers from redeeming them. The more people who give up equals to more money for manufacturers. The rebate companies count on your forgetting to send in rebates, improperly filling out forms, mailing them late or not including bar codes from discarded shipping boxes.
More than $500 million in rebates go unfilled every year, much of it due to deceptive practices. There are ways to fight back. Read offers carefully and make copies of everything. You can complain to the Federal Trade Commission or to the state attorney general’s office. You can even contact ConsumerAffairs.Com that has filed numerous class action suits on behalf of consumers.
The bottom line is don’t give up.
Until next time …
Thomas Michalski is the editor of the Pinellas Park Beacon.
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Article published on Wednesday, July 11, 2007
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