Rebates are a bad joke

Just got a card from Patriot Memory about a couple USB thumbdrives I
had bought from NewEgg a few months ago. Apparently the rebate was
only good for a limit of one unit, even though that was not clearly
stated on the rebate form, so they sent me a postcard saying that my
rebate request was invalid because it was a "duplicate" (I guess this
means because it mentioned two units and included two UPCs).

Davej galt_57 hotmail.com wrote:

Just got a card from Patriot Memory about a couple USB
thumbdrives I had bought from NewEgg a few months ago.
Apparently the rebate was only good for a limit of one unit,
even though that was not clearly stated on the rebate form, so
they sent me a postcard saying that my rebate request was
invalid because it was a "duplicate" (I guess this means because
it mentioned two units and included two UPCs).

The clerk should be promoted for that one.

I recently purchased another Oral-B electric toothbrush. Noticed
it came with the rebate, so I mailed for it. The price ended up
being $17 for the (model 1000) toothbrush and two replacement
brush heads. It's a great toothbrush. However... I did not even
know that it included a rebate until after buying it. One of their
motivations for fulfilling the rebate might be because they make
most of their money off of their expensive replacement brush
heads. They want you to be satisfied with the toothbrush while
they are selling brush heads to you.

As far as I can guess, the only reason for a mail-in rebate is for
demographics and because they don't want you to return the product.
Until someone comes up with a better motive, I will continue
avoiding mail-in rebates like the plague.

On Oct 12, 9:26 pm, Davej wrote:
Just got a card from Patriot Memory about a couple USB thumbdrives I
had bought from NewEgg a few months ago. Apparently the rebate was
only good for a limit of one unit, even though that was not clearly
stated on the rebate form, so they sent me a postcard saying that my
rebate request was invalid because it was a "duplicate" (I guess this
means because it mentioned two units and included two UPCs).

Got a cute one from Amazon. Everybody is selling ASUS soundboards,
one of the best spec'd addon boards out there, and ASUS is running hot
rebates. So it's a $50 board marked to $30 with a special $10
incentive sale along with the $10 company rebate. $10 being the
bottom line. So what's Amazon do -- they delay shipment from their
unknown, unpublished supplier of ASUS boards to within a day or two
"expected" delivery time, prior to the stipulated date on the rebate
form when it becomes invalid and worthless. Didn't know Amazon could
be that cute, too.

On Oct 13, 9:52 am, Flasherly wrote:

Got a cute one from Amazon.
(just got an update - my bad, amazon's good: . . .)

We have good news! We're able to get this part of your order to you
faster than we originally promised:

"ASUS PCI 5.1 Channel Sound Card XONAR_DG"
Previous estimated arrival date:
New estimated arrival date: (2wks under rebate cut-off date)

On 13 Oct 2011 06:27:48 GMT, John Doe wrote:

As far as I can guess, the only reason for a mail-in rebate is for
demographics and because they don't want you to return the product.
Until someone comes up with a better motive, I will continue
avoiding mail-in rebates like the plague.

They make the rebates to have lots of breakage.

I also find that you'll often find the rebate on the old verison of a
product soon before a new version comes out.

I do a fair number of rebates, so long as I don't screw up they're
basically 100%.

On Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:26:58 -0700 (PDT), Davej
wrote:

Just got a card from Patriot Memory about a couple USB thumbdrives I
had bought from NewEgg a few months ago. Apparently the rebate was
only good for a limit of one unit, even though that was not clearly
stated on the rebate form, so they sent me a postcard saying that my
rebate request was invalid because it was a "duplicate" (I guess this
means because it mentioned two units and included two UPCs).

Always assume rebates are limit 1 unless it indicates otherwise.

Look at the fine print on the rebate form (you kept a scan of it,
didn't you?) and you'll no doubt find verbage to that effect.

Loren Pechtel lorenpechtel hotmail.com wrote:

On Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:26:58 -0700 (PDT), Davej galt_57 hotmail.com
wrote:

Just got a card from Patriot Memory about a couple USB thumbdrives I
had bought from NewEgg a few months ago. Apparently the rebate was
only good for a limit of one unit, even though that was not clearly
stated on the rebate form, so they sent me a postcard saying that my
rebate request was invalid because it was a "duplicate" (I guess this
means because it mentioned two units and included two UPCs).

Always assume rebates are limit 1 unless it indicates otherwise.

That's irrelevant.

Look at the fine print on the rebate form (you kept a scan of
it, didn't you?) and you'll no doubt find verbage to that
effect.

You need to get a clue. He was denied a single rebate because he
sent two requests with two proofs of purchase.
--















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From: Loren Pechtel lorenpechtel hotmail.com
Newsgroups: alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt
Subject: Rebates are a bad joke
Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:47:54 -0700
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On Wed, 12 Oct 2011, Davej wrote:

Just got a card from Patriot Memory about a couple USB thumbdrives I
had bought from NewEgg a few months ago. Apparently the rebate was
only good for a limit of one unit, even though that was not clearly
stated on the rebate form, so they sent me a postcard saying that my
rebate request was invalid because it was a "duplicate" (I guess this
means because it mentioned two units and included two UPCs).

I thought rebates had mostly disappeared.

Everyone was whining about them some years back, all the fuss they
required and "why can't they just apply a discount across the board",
never grasping the point of it all. Endless debates, one side arguing how
much trouble they are (usually because they had trouble) while the other
side arguing how much they liked rebates and how much they saved with
rebates (usually because they had no trouble).

And then some of the stores announced they'd drop the rebates, and slowly
they disappeared.

They've pretty much disappeared here in Canada. I suppose they still
exist (after all, rebates were around for a long time, just in a more
complicated and less obvious form), but they aren't the issue they once
were since they aren't common. Nobody much is complaining, nobody much is
boasting about the great deals.

The rebates counted on only some making the effort. If it had been across
the board, it wouldn't have been worth it to the companies. They
didn't want to give away products, they wanted more people to be buying
their products, and thus the enticement of deep savings was seen as
good, so long as the effort for the rebate meant not that many went for
the rebate.

Every so often, people whine now, wishing there were rebates, forgetting
all the fuss made in the past, despite people warning at the time that if
rebates went away, the really low prices would disappear. It was never a
matter of the rebates going away and the prices dropping.

Michael

Michael Black et472 ncf.ca wrote:

Davej wrote:

Just got a card from Patriot Memory about a couple USB
thumbdrives I had bought from NewEgg a few months ago.
Apparently the rebate was only good for a limit of one unit,
even though that was not clearly stated on the rebate form, so
they sent me a postcard saying that my rebate request was
invalid because it was a "duplicate" (I guess this means
because it mentioned two units and included two UPCs).

I thought rebates had mostly disappeared.

Everyone was whining about them some years back, all the fuss
they required and "why can't they just apply a discount across
the board", never grasping the point of it all. Endless
debates, one side arguing how much trouble they are (usually
because they had trouble) while the other side arguing how much
they liked rebates and how much they saved with rebates (usually
because they had no trouble).

And then some of the stores announced they'd drop the rebates,
and slowly they disappeared.

They've pretty much disappeared here in Canada. I suppose they
still exist (after all, rebates were around for a long time,
just in a more complicated and less obvious form), but they
aren't the issue they once were since they aren't common.
Nobody much is complaining, nobody much is boasting about the
great deals.

The rebates counted on only some making the effort. If it had
been across the board, it wouldn't have been worth it to the
companies. They didn't want to give away products, they wanted
more people to be buying their products, and thus the enticement
of deep savings was seen as good, so long as the effort for the
rebate meant not that many went for the rebate.

That's called a "scam". If they have gone away (I certainly
haven't missed them), part of the reason could easily be legal
problems. Not that it matters.

Good luck and have fun.
--















Every so often, people whine now, wishing there were rebates, forgetting
all the fuss made in the past, despite people warning at the time that if
rebates went away, the really low prices would disappear. It was never a
matter of the rebates going away and the prices dropping.

Michael

Davej wrote:

Just got a card from Patriot Memory about a couple USB thumbdrives I
had bought from NewEgg a few months ago. Apparently the rebate was
only good for a limit of one unit, even though that was not clearly
stated on the rebate form, so they sent me a postcard saying that my
rebate request was invalid because it was a "duplicate" (I guess this
means because it mentioned two units and included two UPCs).

I couldn't find any Patriot thumb drive rebate offers from a few
months ago at NewEgg, only some for Sept. 2011, and all the forms
said, starting on about the 4th line under "Rebate Terms and
Conditions":

" Limit ( One (1) rebate per qualifying rebate offer, per person,
billing address, household and receipt/invoice/packing slip during the
eligibility period, except were prohibited by law. Only one (1) rebate
application per envelope."

However rebate processors are known to alter forms after the fact or
have different forms on file than what the customer was given. I
experienced that with Parago (Texas, Florida), and they're considered
one of the best, most honest processing companies, so always keep a
copy of the original form. I hope you didn't have to deal with
another company, like the crappy one in San Diego, Worldwide Rebates,
which charges extra for "rush" processing. Also before submitting,
always e-mail AND phone the rebate company to verify all the terms,
and if it's legal in your state, record the phone conversation.