Rebates are Hell

A

amcwill417

Guest
Looking at a Sunday Best Buy ad insert in the newspaper and looking at a
comupter system I see listed the following mail-in rebates:
$150 Best Buy Bundle
$50 CPU
$50 monitor
$50 printer bundle
$20 printer bundle

for a total of $320 for the computer system. ( I do not understand why the
printer has two separate rebates).

So why not just take all this off at the cash register? When I go to the
grocery store and buy a loaf of bread I do not get a mail-in rebate offer.
I am of the opinion that all this rebate stuff is nonsense and vastly
complicates things. And for what purpose?

Alex
 
So why not just take all this off at the cash register? When I go to the
grocery store and buy a loaf of bread I do not get a mail-in rebate offer.
I am of the opinion that all this rebate stuff is nonsense and vastly
complicates things. And for what purpose?

They know that a large percentage of the people will not send in the
Click to expand...
rebates. They get a large ammount of sales due to the low price after
rebates that many never send in.
 
amcwill417 wrote:

Looking at a Sunday Best Buy ad insert in the newspaper and looking at a
comupter system I see listed the following mail-in rebates:
$150 Best Buy Bundle
$50 CPU
$50 monitor
$50 printer bundle
$20 printer bundle

for a total of $320 for the computer system. ( I do not understand why the
printer has two separate rebates).

So why not just take all this off at the cash register? When I go to the
grocery store and buy a loaf of bread I do not get a mail-in rebate offer.
I am of the opinion that all this rebate stuff is nonsense and vastly
complicates things. And for what purpose?

Alex


It allows them to report higher gross sales to keep Wall Street happy.
Click to expand...

It also gives them the use of your money for a while.

And, as another poster noted, some people don't send in for the rebates.

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form che...@prodigy.net.
 
"Ralph Mowery" <rmowery28146@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:pABZe.3910$QE1.49@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
So why not just take all this off at the cash register? When I go to
the
grocery store and buy a loaf of bread I do not get a mail-in rebate
offer.
I am of the opinion that all this rebate stuff is nonsense and vastly
complicates things. And for what purpose?

They know that a large percentage of the people will not send in the
rebates. They get a large ammount of sales due to the low price after
rebates that many never send in.



Well it is about time for consumers to raise hell about this. Best Buy also
Click to expand...
has free delivery (limited to $50) after mail-in rebate for major appliances
over $398. Crazy, absolutely crazy!.

Alex
 
"CJT" <abujlehc@prodigy.net> wrote in message
news:4336E685.6090201@prodigy.net...
amcwill417 wrote:

Looking at a Sunday Best Buy ad insert in the newspaper and looking at a
comupter system I see listed the following mail-in rebates:
$150 Best Buy Bundle
$50 CPU
$50 monitor
$50 printer bundle
$20 printer bundle

for a total of $320 for the computer system. ( I do not understand why
the
printer has two separate rebates).

So why not just take all this off at the cash register? When I go to
the
grocery store and buy a loaf of bread I do not get a mail-in rebate
offer.
I am of the opinion that all this rebate stuff is nonsense and vastly
complicates things. And for what purpose?

Alex


It allows them to report higher gross sales to keep Wall Street happy.

It also gives them the use of your money for a while.

And, as another poster noted, some people don't send in for the rebates.

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form che...@prodigy.net.
Click to expand...
Someday we will be offered mail-in rebates for a grocery store purchased
pizza. One pizza will probably have several rebates: one for the cheese,
one for the tomato sauce, one for the pepperoni, one for the crust, etc.

Alex
 
Most people don't send in the rebate.

The last numbers I saw indicate only about 40% of the buyers do.

That is alot of money.

They also go to great lengths to make it difficult for you to send in
the rebates.

And to add insult to injury, many times they will not send you the
money....and if they do, it is many months later.

TMT
 
amcwill417 wrote:

"CJT" <abujlehc@prodigy.net> wrote in message
news:4336E685.6090201@prodigy.net...

amcwill417 wrote:


Looking at a Sunday Best Buy ad insert in the newspaper and looking at a
comupter system I see listed the following mail-in rebates:
$150 Best Buy Bundle
$50 CPU
$50 monitor
$50 printer bundle
$20 printer bundle

for a total of $320 for the computer system. ( I do not understand why

the

printer has two separate rebates).

So why not just take all this off at the cash register? When I go to

the

grocery store and buy a loaf of bread I do not get a mail-in rebate

offer.

I am of the opinion that all this rebate stuff is nonsense and vastly
complicates things. And for what purpose?

Alex



It allows them to report higher gross sales to keep Wall Street happy.

It also gives them the use of your money for a while.

And, as another poster noted, some people don't send in for the rebates.

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form che...@prodigy.net.


Someday we will be offered mail-in rebates for a grocery store purchased
pizza. One pizza will probably have several rebates: one for the cheese,
one for the tomato sauce, one for the pepperoni, one for the crust, etc.

Alex


The only thing that will stop the trend is consumer revolt (or
Click to expand...
legislation brought about by consumer revolt).

Don't buy stuff that has rebates.

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form che...@prodigy.net.
 
"Too_Many_Tools" <too_many_tools@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1127676620.891655.75540@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
Most people don't send in the rebate.

The last numbers I saw indicate only about 40% of the buyers do.

That is alot of money.

They also go to great lengths to make it difficult for you to send in
the rebates.

And to add insult to injury, many times they will not send you the
money....and if they do, it is many months later.

TMT
Click to expand...
Maybe I've been extremely lucky, but I've sent in all rebates due me and
have received the checks in a reasonable amount of time - ofteimes much
quicker than they stated as a time frame to be allowed. I don't mind getting
a $100 or $50 back! The items I bought - with those sorts of rebates, almost
paid me to buy them.

Maybe rebates aren't the best thing since apple pie, but if a consumer is
going to buy an item with a rebate - WHY NOT take advanatage of it? Many are
able to be done online.

The "only" rebate I'd done which I had trouble with and DO watch for similar
conditions to avoid - was - a rebate stated you had to have a "street"
address - NOT P.O. Box - to receive the check. Problem was, my Post Office
will NOT deliver mail without a Post Office Box number. Therefore, I never
got that particular rebate. As I said, since then, I don't do those sorts of
rebates. I even explained to the rebate issuers my problem, to which they
pretty much said - too bad.

jm
 
On Sun, 25 Sep 2005 16:16:07 -0400, "jm" <jm@notrash.com> wrote:


Maybe I've been extremely lucky, but I've sent in all rebates due me and
have received the checks in a reasonable amount of time - ofteimes much
quicker than they stated as a time frame to be allowed. I don't mind getting
a $100 or $50 back! The items I bought - with those sorts of rebates, almost
paid me to buy them.
Click to expand...
Ditto. When we go over to the USA we always call in a Fry's store and get the
stuff that is expensive here in the UK :))

A lot of rebates have turned up before we have left, in our friend's name of
course!

Count yourselves lucky, a Linksys PCMCIA wireless card in Muncie, IN was $19.99
in August, last week in our local Staples store it was Ł39.99, equivalent to
$US 72.00 !!!

Peter
--
Peter & Rita Forbes
Email: diesel@easynet.co.uk
Web: http://www.oldengine.org/members/diesel
 
I seem recall that Best Buy was sued and has for the moment cleaned up
their act...while they are being watched.

TMT
 
"Too_Many_Tools" <too_many_tools@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1127683562.021175.8640@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
I seem recall that Best Buy was sued and has for the moment cleaned up
their act...while they are being watched.

TMT
Click to expand...
Now that you mention it, I do believe it was "Best Buy" who was sued for
that. MY shopping is usually at "Staples". And I've already given my record
there. The one bad deal I had was from a "Auto" product sold "anywhere". In
defense of the person hating the rebates... I can say - rather than offer
them, it may be cheaper and more convenient to just do it at the register.
BUT - some come not from the "retailer" e.g. Staples - but from the
manufacturer. So, if the "retailer" was to offer them to entice business...
then by all means, they "should" be able to delete at time of purchase.

jm
 
Most people don't send in the rebate.

The last numbers I saw indicate only about 40% of the buyers do.
Click to expand...
Then they are not very brilliant shoppers, are they?

They also go to great lengths to make it difficult for you to send in the
rebates.
Click to expand...
Some places make it very easy. They let you track it on line, and I have
found that those I frequent, are quite good at telling me when the check
will arrive, and sonofagun, it shows up right on schedule. CompUSA, Best
Buy, Staples, and other major outlets seem to do a pretty godd job. If its
because of a legal threat, or just good business practice, it doesn't
matter to me, I will take advantage.

If you are wise with your credit cards and money, you can charge it, and
get the rebates before the bill even arrives in many cases. Hey, if they
are dangling cash in front of me hoping I am too stupid to take advantage,
I am willing to take em on, and thank them for the great product at a
fantastic price. Thanks a lot to those who ignorantly throw away the cash.
Makes for better deals for me.

Whining usually means you cannot afford it in the first place, so find a
different hobby. All the reasons given here about 'why' pretty much sum it
up, so get used to it, we are not gonna see it end.

How can you legislate against it? Always we cry to the government to help
us out. If you don't like rebates, don't use em. Life is too short to
stress out about it.
 
<mark349@lycos.com> wrote in message
news:433726c4$1$woehfu$mr2ice@news.aros.net...
Most people don't send in the rebate.

The last numbers I saw indicate only about 40% of the buyers do.

Then they are not very brilliant shoppers, are they?

They also go to great lengths to make it difficult for you to send in the
rebates.

Some places make it very easy. They let you track it on line, and I have
found that those I frequent, are quite good at telling me when the check
will arrive, and sonofagun, it shows up right on schedule. CompUSA, Best
Buy, Staples, and other major outlets seem to do a pretty godd job. If its
because of a legal threat, or just good business practice, it doesn't
matter to me, I will take advantage.

If you are wise with your credit cards and money, you can charge it, and
get the rebates before the bill even arrives in many cases. Hey, if they
are dangling cash in front of me hoping I am too stupid to take advantage,
I am willing to take em on, and thank them for the great product at a
fantastic price. Thanks a lot to those who ignorantly throw away the cash.
Makes for better deals for me.

Whining usually means you cannot afford it in the first place, so find a
different hobby. All the reasons given here about 'why' pretty much sum it
up, so get used to it, we are not gonna see it end.

How can you legislate against it? Always we cry to the government to help
us out. If you don't like rebates, don't use em. Life is too short to
stress out about it.

Well, Mark, the point is that instead of having YOU cut out UPC codes from
Click to expand...
boxes and send them in by mail why not have the retailer give you the cash
right at the register and then let them get the money from the manufacturer
if it is the manufacturer's rebate. It many cases it is the retailer's
rebate which makes it even more stupid not to do it at time of purchase.
Also once you have cut the UPC code off of the box you cannot return the
product (in 14 days with Best Buy) unless you pay a restocking fee.

Alex
 
The concept of "rebates" became popular in the 70's.

If the retailer would reduce the price at the register, they leave
themselves open to being caught having to maintain that price if the
government imposes price controls as Nixon did.

With a rebate, a company can pull that discount at any time and doesn't
have to continue it. It is the same reason why car companies don't just
lower the price of a vehicle...if they did and were caught in a price
control move they would have to continue selling it at a severe
discount.

But again since most people don't pursue the rebate, it is easy money
in a company's pocket.

TMT
 
"Too_Many_Tools" <too_many_tools@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1127704553.548498.166530@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
The concept of "rebates" became popular in the 70's.

If the retailer would reduce the price at the register, they leave
themselves open to being caught having to maintain that price if the
government imposes price controls as Nixon did.

With a rebate, a company can pull that discount at any time and doesn't
have to continue it. It is the same reason why car companies don't just
lower the price of a vehicle...if they did and were caught in a price
control move they would have to continue selling it at a severe
discount.

But again since most people don't pursue the rebate, it is easy money
in a company's pocket.

TMT

It is a rare thing to see rebates on grocery items and clothing. However
Click to expand...
Coca Cola recently had a rebate offer which required one to peel the UPC
label off individual bottles in a 6-pack and guess where the glue held the
label most securely! But rebates are a way of life for electronics retailers
such as Best Buy and Circuit City. I have not seen price controls around
for a long time so I doubt that is now an issue. I would suggest that
rebates actually increase prices because companies must operate and maintain
rebate centers.

Alex
 
The costs of actually having to process rebates has forced companies to
set up the websites where you can file the rebate information. In some
cases, the rebate mailings we have sent in went from the mailbox to the
trash can to "lower processing costs".

The other reason why companies in the electronics industry do rebates
is because ir allows them to gather considerable information on their
customer base....which in turn they sell to other companies. Ever get
an "offer" from a company that you have neither heard of nor have
contacted before...well it is liikely that your personal information
was sold to this company by another who retrieved your name, address,
phone number and buying habits from your rebate trail. After the "Do
Not Call" list was put into effect, this practice has increased.

I should also point out that asking for ones phone number at the time
of purchase coupled with your credit card information gives the
retailer an enormous amount of information on you and your buying
habits and shapes what rebates will be offered in the future at that
store....why offer a rebate if they know that you will be buying that
product again?

Nothing is ever free....and neither is a rebate.

TMT
 
"Too_Many_Tools" <too_many_tools@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1127748854.796525.319740@g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
The costs of actually having to process rebates has forced companies to
set up the websites where you can file the rebate information. In some
cases, the rebate mailings we have sent in went from the mailbox to the
trash can to "lower processing costs".

The other reason why companies in the electronics industry do rebates
is because ir allows them to gather considerable information on their
customer base....which in turn they sell to other companies. Ever get
an "offer" from a company that you have neither heard of nor have
contacted before...well it is liikely that your personal information
was sold to this company by another who retrieved your name, address,
phone number and buying habits from your rebate trail. After the "Do
Not Call" list was put into effect, this practice has increased.

I should also point out that asking for ones phone number at the time
of purchase coupled with your credit card information gives the
retailer an enormous amount of information on you and your buying
habits and shapes what rebates will be offered in the future at that
store....why offer a rebate if they know that you will be buying that
product again?

Nothing is ever free....and neither is a rebate.

TMT
Click to expand...
With all due respect to your points made - valid (I'm sure) - I will say -
if I get a rebate and they sell my info, I don't really care. WHY? Well - if
the rebate is going to net me any amount of cash back, that is money in my
pocket. As for them selling my name, shit - many places have already done it
anyway which I "didn't" get a rebate offer from. So, if I in essence am
going to be paid for it, what the hell! My trash can takes all that I care
to feed it - both real and computer......... I get spammed on here - from
places I didn't buy from or check out - i.e. pain relievers, viagra and
similar products, stocks, bonds, etc.. Phone numbers I could care less
about - I'm on a do not call list and I have caller ID as well. I get tons
of calls a day by many so I always check the ID before answering. I get NO
calls at present from "retailers". I give out only what I feel they need to
know - nothing more. Bottom line - whether we choose to take a rebate or
not. these "sleeze ball" companies who love to spam - are going to do it
regardless. Lets face it, it's been around for a long time. Circulars in the
mail for you to shop stores - IS not asked for. They're just sent out -
PERIOD! That practice has been going on for YEARS. It has just gotten worse
since the computer age.

jm
 
Well, Mark, the point is that instead of having YOU cut out UPC codes
from boxes and send them in by mail why not have the retailer give you
the cash right at the register and then let them get the money from the
manufacturer if it is the manufacturer's rebate. It many cases it is the
retailer's rebate which makes it even more stupid not to do it at time of
purchase. Also once you have cut the UPC code off of the box you cannot
return the product (in 14 days with Best Buy) unless you pay a restocking
fee.
Click to expand...
I would like it to work that way too, but as others noted, companies use
the sales numbers for inflating their stock earnings, and fudging other
statistics, and they count on people not cashing in the rebates. Those are
crappy reasons to you and me, but they are valid, and understandable.

If a person can get $300 worth of rebates on a computer, they still have
the choice of not bothering, or waiting two weeks before turning in the
rebates. No one has to use them, and no one has to buy a product because
of the rebates....

We cannot argue how dopey it is, because I agree with you :) but in the
end, its either put up with it, if its worth the while, or just throw the
money in the trash. I sure don't want my government getting involved.
Teddy Kennedy is too busy drinking and killing young women, to be
babysitting businesses who offer rebates.....

John
 
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