REBATES – ONE LAST TIME

Jim Hickel: “You have inspired me to create my own one-page web site, sharing everything I've learned about successfully collecting on those pesky rebate offers.”

Mary Schroeder: “The one retailer that seems to be an exception to the stories posted, at least in my experience, is Costco. You file a rebate claim online. You mail in nothing. And I've received 100% of the rebates I've claimed.”

Brad Payne: “Staples now offers ‘easy rebates’ – you just go to their web site and enter a code from your receipt; no clipping, no boxes, no mailing.  If enough people are fed up with rebates, other stores may follow suit.  If we're lucky, this could be the beginning of the end for the rebate scam.”

Tom Reingold: “I bought four phones (for my whole family) from T-Mobile. We've been their customer for two years. We were due four rebates. We got letters, saying we had not complied with the terms. The customer service rep we spoke to said that lots of those letters went out in error. She corrected the problem for us.  But she only does it for those who call to complain, not those who get discouraged. The best I can say is that this is a huge pattern of errors in the vendors’ favor, and that’s not very good. The worst I can say is far worse. I would sound cynical, but the pattern is so clear, I think it's really willful manipulation of customers not to give the deal they promise.”

Jim Thorp: “There is one more option for local store rebates: direct negotiation with the local store manager.  Even if the rebate fulfillment house rejects your rebate, it is a lot cheaper for the local manager to pay the rebate directly than to face you in small claims court (where a judge will certainly accept the copies you made), and where the judgment could be much higher than the face amount of the rebate.”

F OK.  No more.  Write me anything about rebates and I will cancel your subscription.