Rebate whores.....

[Deceptitech]

Rebates...

Why in God's name do people make a rebate the main drive in buying things?
People will order the worst crap possible if there is a mail in rebate for 20 bucks. Why does a mail in rebate carry more weight than 50 plus negative reviews from customers?

Case in point... Person orders an item from our store, it has a rebate. This item is for a computer case, and had a mail in rebate for 20 dollars. Every product review for this item on our site says that it is junk, and not to order it. Said person orders it, and the rebate system does not take a stardard rebate, and requires us to make new receipts for each order(the rebate company refuses the standard receipt, and have agreed to take our receipts). this may take a couple days from the moment they ask for the new receipt. Customers invariably wait to the last minute to ask for this receipt, and when the rebate is expired, they return it because they get the rebate. Then they complain because they have to pay to return it because we do not issue return labels for "buyers remorse"(if it is damaged or defective we do, if the customer is defective they pay to have it shipped back)

Oh bother...

[Dino]

Oh yeah. Rebates.

The only ones offered at the large home improvement store I work at are manufacturer's rebates. Period. End of story.

On the rebate paperwork the customer fills out, it clearly states this. Period. End of story.

The manufacturer is the person to contact if there is a problem. Not us, the store. No amount of ranting is going to get us to give the customer anything by way of rebate. Period. End of story.

In light of the forgoing, I've had customers trying to get me to solve their tragic rebate dilemmas after I've provided them with the phone number of the manufacturer who is providing the rebate. I've even had one threaten my company with legal action! The store manager and I had a good laugh over that one.


Rebates. Fuck 'em.

[Banrion]

I'll admit, I am a rebate queen. Now that's not to say that I will ignore all warnings just to get a rebate, especially since once you submit the rebate, you can't return the item to the store. But I have never had any trouble with rebates. I always fill em out as soon as I get home make copies and send em out.

I got my router for free that way. I wanted a wired router, not wireless, BB only had one on the shelf, a d-link for $45.00 with a $25.00 manufacturer's rebate, and a $20.00 BB rebate. I got both checks in about 6 weeks, so my router cost me $0.78 (stamps to mail rebates). I even bought in in Moo Hampshire so I didn't even pay sales tax.

[Becks]

Only time I deal with rebates is when Pepsi and Frito Lay are doing one, usually around Super Bowl time. Since I already purchase both brands throughout the year, it's just an added bonus to my Pepsi-drinking, chip-eating life.

[Confuzed-Monkey]

I know exactly what you mean.

I hate rebates with a passion.

We get people all day long that say they want free delivery of their appliances. "The commercials said I get it." is the usual complaint. You get free delivery with Mail-In Rebate, plus the purchase has to be over 397.00 dollars. So they have to pay for delivery up front, but they get it back. I get cursed out at least twice a day because of this. I even have a laugh at people who try to barter with us, because they live with a couple of miles of the store. HA

Then they take it out on us, like we came up with the rebates and it's terms.

[lordlundar]

Gotta repost this one. This customer wanted a flashdrive that had a $20 rebate to it. End price was about $40 after rebate. We had some clearance ones that work well for $20 and were the same capacity. I told him about it. "Oh no, I want the one with the rebate."

So let me get this straight; instead of saving $20 on a flashdrive and getting a pretty good product, you want to shell out three times the amount, hope you get your rebate back, and get a product that is largely untested.

Once more with feeling!

[Fraggle]

I have a question about rebates, i ask myself this question at leadt 30 times a day.

Why, o dear God why, can people not accept they have been rejected for a rebate?
Please tell me, i d love to know

[BookstoreEscapee]

Because they are ENTITLED!!!

And they just can't deal with rejection

[RentalRacer]

if it is damaged or defective we do, if the customer is defective they pay to have it shipped back)

That made me laugh...we should all be allowed to exchange defective customers

[ebonyknight]

Why, o dear God why, can people not accept they have been rejected for a rebate?
Please tell me, i d love to know

What do you mean rejected for a rebate? Why would someone be rejected? Because they haven't fulfilled the terms or just because they have bad breath?

[wildcatgrrl]

Why, o dear God why, can people not accept they have been rejected for a rebate?

Everyone, say it with me: if the customer doesn't get the rebate, it's FALSE ADVERTISING! Despite the fact that the customer did not read or follow the directions to properly request said rebate.

Boy, if I had a dime for every time I heard FALSE ADVERTISING about rebates. Sir/Ma'am, a lack of comprehension on your part does not constitute false advertising on my part.

[Fraggle]

Everyone, say it with me: if the customer doesn't get the rebate, it's FALSE ADVERTISING! Despite the fact that the customer did not read or follow the directions to properly request said rebate.

Boy, if I had a dime for every time I heard FALSE ADVERTISING about rebates. Sir/Ma'am, a lack of comprehension on your part does not constitute false advertising on my part.

I just had another one, it went like this -

SC - I was rejected because it said i never included an some bank account details when i applied. This is a disgrace, i payed for these products, i want my rebate
Me - Did you fill in all the bank account details on the application form?
SC - I didn't know what some of them were so i left it out

And your suprised you were rejected? How exactly can we pay the money into your bank account when you don't provide all the necessary details

Dear God

[JustaCashier]

And your suprised you were rejected? How exactly can we pay the money into your bank account when you don't provide all the necessary details

"I know you have all of my personal in your computer, even if all I've ever done is pay by credit card or check, or perhaps done a return where you input my name, address, and telephone number!"

Mike

[Kara]

Ugh. Phone rebates aren't quite as bad, but when I worked at Circuit City in Computers, we dealt with them all the time. It was always fun when they'd come in and scream at us about not getting their rebate, then we'd find out they bought it like 2 weeks before. It said 8-12 weeks there buddy. Go sit by your mailbox for a couple of months and leave me alone.

Worse than the rebates was this ongoing promotion we had where if you signed up for a year of AOL or Compuserv, you got a $200 instant gift card. You had to give a credit card number and it would automatically take it from your credit card every month, and there was a huge termination fee if you canceled. But customers figured out you could sign up for like 10 different accounts at one time, get enough gift cards to then turn around and use them on your in store purchase, then call AOL or Compuserv the next day and say your credit card was stolen and they would cancel all the accounts no questions asked. We knew what was going on but the Corporate bigwigs didn't care and there was no limit ever set to stop it, Compuserv and AOL had to know what was going on and they still didn't even bother to check and see if the card on file had been reported stolen, so there were people getting all kinds of free stuff.

Oh, and they'd also send in the rebates and get money for nothing. We had a few regulars who I think made a living pulling things like this.

[Format C]

When I worked at OfficeMax, I hated rebates with a passion. Customers would let the rebates decide what they purchased. Then they would get a BS reason for denial. Then OfficeMax stopped the mail-in rebates altogether. I cheered at that.