Rebates are awesome for manufacturers and bad for customers. Here's why. Rebates draw customers, but when it comes time to collect many customers either forget to apply for the rebate, lose some or all of the paperwork, or fill it in incorrectly.
If they manage to get everything in then they have to wait 8-12 weeks for a check. Rebate companies hope customers will forget, and in some cases won't send the rebate unless the customer makes an issue of it. Customers find themselves talking to 3rd party companies who have their own interest at heart. The less rebates they send the better.
I've had good and bad luck w/them, but I avoid them whenever possible. Why offer rebates? Car manufacturers do it and customers use the money as a down payment. However, car companies have gotten caught in their own trap. Now people expect rebates. But rebates for inexpensive electronics are quite different in that customers must jump thru hoops to get them. Since many people don't actually get their rebates, companies end up selling their products for a much higher average price. In effect, they mark up a product, offer a rebate, and end up averaging a selling price somewhere in the middle.
Feel free to post your opposing views. I appreciate the feedback.
I'm with you.....I don't like them. I once had a $100 rebate that the company (actually I guess it was some 3rd party hired by the company) did everything in its power to avoid paying. They claimed that I didn't submit the paperwork correctly. When I submitted the copies again showing that the information was correct, they claimed that the rebate was not available in my state. When I challenged them to show me where it stated this in the "rules and regs", they finally paid up. Took me something like 6 months to get my $$.
Rebates are awesome for manufacturers and bad for customers. Here's why. Rebates draw customers, but when it comes time to collect many customers either forget to apply for the rebate, lose some or all of the paperwork, or fill it in incorrectly.
Seems, is, red tape too much, why not just discount from the get-go?
Many customers, correct, simply forget or get "tied up" submitting forms for rebates.
I can't believe all the customers who don't redeem rebate certificates simply 'cause they don't
follow thru. Awful and, correct again, the manufacturers do count on this. Taking advantage,
certainly. Missing the rebate Mr./Mrs./Ms. consumer, yes.
Like going to Las Vegas, they KNOW the odds.
I would like rebates "up-front." Why not just call 'em an online
discount?
read the fine print, and dont be in a hurry to get your money and you should be just fine :)
I have done many rebates, and i know that the companies dont expect to have to pay out (thats the point of them), but with me i have always gotten a good deal and my money :)
Palm owes me a $50 mail in rebate. When I bought my Zire 71 from their website I choose to get teh $50 mail in rebate. Well, tehy never gave me the $50 rebate but instead a free case. What a jip.
Other than that I am against rebates. I'm willing to pay $5 more on something sans the rebate.
I've become quite partial to rebates offered at Staples. Buy the item, go to Staples' web site, fill out a form including a code from your cash register reciept and that's it. About 3-4 weeks later, a check shows up. I've never gone wrong with them.
The one thing I've learned about rebates - even if you are dilligent in redeeming everything - is to treat the original cost of the unit as the full cost of the unit. Any recieved rebate check is "found money". Save it, use it for Christmas presents, etc.
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i'd rather have a £30 discount in the store, than a £100 rebate
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Rebates are no problem for me.I have submitted several and got everyone.Did I have problems,you bet.I just hammered the rebate centers into submission.It's a game to me and I always win.I messed with one rebate center on a monitor rebate I didn't recieve in a timely manner and they ended up sending me two separate $70.00 rebates.It was a mistake but the checks were cashed without any problems.Did I keep the extra rebate?I will never tell.
Yo stevenator65, I am sorry my compadre, I have to disagree with you. I love rebates. Here's why:
In the many cases that I have purchased a rebate product, I could have purchased either the same product or a similar product on-line. Once you add shipping and handling (as a side; what is "handling" anyway?), it would be cheaper to purchase the item from the "brick and mortar".
Now as to filling out the forms, I always go to the store's customer service desk to fill out the "hoop-filled" paperwork (this includes cutting out the required UPC or product identification code.
Once I have completed the forms (on average - twenty minutes), I ask the customer service person to make a copy of everything (sometimes they charge, most times they don't) and I ask for an envelope. I stuff all of the required documentation into the envelope and mail it. In about 7 weeks (on average), I receive the rebate.
Now is waiting for the rebate worth this trouble? Well let's look at the relevent cost. Usually the rebates are at least $10.00. I spent 20 minutes of my time and $0.37 for a stamp. As an equation it's:
If I were paid by the hour, it would be $28.89. Now I am not sure of your earnings, but isn't something that YOU want worth a little bit of your time to secure a lower price for it?
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