Mail-in Rebates: Are They Worth It?
John Boyd enjoyed your recent ‘rant’ about ‘being on TV again,’ and sent me a rant of his own. He believes mail-in rebates SUCK:
I became a Mac switcher, purchasing a MacBook in June after they were updated. I bought it through MacMall. I ordered via phone. I specifically did it by phone, rather than on-line, so that I could address any questions they had, and I could get all my questions answered immediately, before the order was processed. My order went off pretty much without a hitch. The salesperson I talked to even e-mailed me four mail-in rebates that were in effect at the time of my order, while we were still on the phone with each other.
Fast forward a couple of weeks. I painstakingly copy every piece of documentation required for the rebates, I copied receipts, UPC codes, shipping labels, etc. I read, re-read, and re-re-read everything to make sure that everything was filled out as directed and required, and dropped four envelopes at the post office.
Fast-forward another few weeks, and I get two different letters from MacMall telling me that they don’t recognize two of the rebates for which I’ve applied. As I said, *their* salespeople e-mailed me the coupons that I used, but they deny any knowledge of the rebate. How convenient. I then go on-line to research MacMall. Too late for me, I find that they’re batting about .500 on honoring rebates. Silly me. I should’ve done my homework *before* ordering, obviously.
They’re not the only ones with which I’ve had problems. I got screwed out of a rebate from Cingular a few years ago. I’ve bought things at CompUSA and BestBuy and never got those rebates, either..
Moral of the story? Don’t buy anything where you’re counting on actually getting the rebate. It’s dishonest for the companies to do mail-in rebates. First, they ‘hand off’ the whole rebate process to a fulfillment company, which gives them “culpable deniability” in the whole process. The fulfillment company either doesn’t respond, or waits to respond until the effective dates for the rebate has passed, and they ultimately don’t honor it either. And on the front end of the whole process, the retailer *counts* on about thirty percent of the customers who’ve bought the item to never send in the rebate request in the first place. So, while they give the public appearance they they’re selling something at a ’sale’ price, they actually have to sell very few at that advertised price, and the fulfillment company helps them screw several additional percent of the customers out of the rebate by themselves.
If the retailer truly wants to sell something on sale, then they should do so. If they don’t, then don’t. But they shouldn’t hide behind mail-in rebates and fulfillment companies and act like they’re giving a good deal, when they’re actually double-dealing.
As for me, I won’t buy another thing from MacMall, rebate or not. I’ve found too many other vendors with better reputations. And I will not buy anything where the savings is based on a mythical mail-in rebate either. It’s either a good price without the rebate or it’s not. If it’s not, I’ll look somewhere else.
I am enjoying my new MacBook, and I’m enjoying your newsletters and videos. Keep up the good work. Best to you and Ponzi.
I don’t like anything but instant rebates, but I’ll take a mail-in rebate over anything else so long as I don’t have to purchase another product to save money.
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12 Comments
Philippines
December 5th, 2007
at 3:41am
i have my own wireless connection and i put wap key so other people cannot connect without my password…
i got a problem i have my guest he bring their laptop and after they on the machine its automatically connect my internet without my password…
can you tell me why….
Dirk Landiss
December 5th, 2007
at 8:41am
It seems to be a widespread “scam”. Almost every mail-in rebate I’ve sent in over the past two or three years has been initally refused, then after re-submission of the identical items, it mysteriously is approved. There really should be some kind of investigation of these practices by a legal body.
Moctod
December 5th, 2007
at 10:10am
From 1996 - 2002, I sent out 9 rebates. I got back two.
I actually told Kensington to pound their $5 rebate, after they wanted my credit card info on the bottom 1/2 inch of the original receipt (which I cut off). I said all this trouble for not enough money to go to Wendy’s.
Now, I actually buy competitor items when rebate items are pushed. Or I walk out, empty handed. Salesdrones and Managers get upset with me, but…
I don’t do rebates. No really. I don’t.
steve-oh
December 5th, 2007
at 2:35pm
Rebates=evil. Too much work for too little reward. I always like the ones for a .50 rebate when postage is .41 And I’m sure there are those morons out there that go for it every time.
Email Marketing Ocmpanies
December 5th, 2007
at 9:08pm
Mail-in Rebates: Are They Worth It?
Pablo Honey
December 6th, 2007
at 6:20am
I feel your pain. I guess it comes down to, “what do you have more of, time or money?” If you are the the humble housewife type who enjoys clipping coupons and keeping track of expiration dates and such, then go for it. However, if you are a busy individual, the 30 minutes to an hour of copying, sorting out, and submitting a MIR (mail-in-rebate) are probably not a good value. Especially if you expect your intitial submission to be processed in good faith and a timely manner. I haven’t lost a rebate yet, but I always weigh the time to money ratio. And you can bet that if I’m taking the time to fill it out, I’m also putting reminders on my calandar to follow up and check the status, before the rebate expires.
TXBrad
December 7th, 2007
at 8:13pm
I have done rebates on different items in the past and haven’t had a problem. But there was one time that I thought I was going to have a problem with a rebate with Office Depot on a Western Digital Hard Drive.
I sent in the rebate form with all the required information and even made a copy for myself. Well, I used their online check status and it showed that I never sent in anything. So, I ended up calling their customer service and told them about it. They told me to resubmit everything again. I did and some weeks later I ended up with 2 rebates checks for the same item!
Tom
December 12th, 2007
at 9:19am
I don’t think this is a rant, it’s an expression of what typically happens with rebates. This is rant: If you’re lucky, it takes months to get anything. Rebate givers know that not everyone will submit for a rebate or will have the tenacity to follow up. It allows retailers to advertise a price that they know they do not have to honor all the time.
mordin_x
December 12th, 2007
at 1:30pm
With all the mail-in rebates I’ve done I have never been refused or have I ever had to resend anything.
M. Freeman
December 12th, 2007
at 3:49pm
Hey, a couple of things. First, take your vitamins. Now to the subject of REBATES. I ALWAYS process rebates that are at least an amount worth the effort. I keep records, and I can’t remember the last time I did not receive the rebate that I processed. I do have a problem with companies that you deal with directly to purchase their product and then have to mail in the rebate. It would save them money in processing and handling if they just reduced the purchase price, but they know that less than 50% of rebates ever get sent in to them. I will continue to process rebates, particularly on rebates in excess of $5.00.
M. Freeman
Bill
December 12th, 2007
at 3:57pm
I have not had any trouble with rebate money. But I do rebates infrequently. I often pass up a product that has a rebate because I know I won’t fill out the form and I feel I’m being overcharged.
Ralph in Montana
December 13th, 2007
at 9:24am
Not all of the stores offer “scams”… Staples has a very painless mail-in process in addition to their “instant” rebate program. I have never been disappointed with their service, warranty process or any other aspect of Staples…
I have absolutely NO affiliation with this company or any of it’s affiliates if they have such.
Ralph in Helena, MT