Rebates - Grrrr

On 10/12/2003 9:24 AM John while directing tourists to the Zazu Pits,
was inclined to say:

its not like Im not getting any - I still get them but many arent
coming in.

My last two Fujis - and strangely Fuji has always been very fast and
reliable for me as was Khyper - seem to be stuck on hold.

I wouldnt be so PE-od except for my problems with Office Max rebates.
Since then a fair amount have been taking while or have problems.
Almost all the pens and and little doodads were rejected from Omax and
their recent email to look over my rebates well - the ones directly
from them did arrive but ALL the ones from the manufacturers were
rejected and still are rejected.

What really PE-od me was looking at the DEAL sites - theres threads
from others who were all rejected for Pac Digital , Khyper media and
burners etc. One thrread say they had really bad experiences at
COMPUSA but mine have generally been good.

On a thread about Office max Khyper media and burners and Pac Digital
- they all had to complain and call and finally got their rebates
after being rejected so its alot more common than I thought. .

It just makes me really paranoid about all rebates now.
Probably lost $200 or so on them the last few months and if anymore
pile up it could easily hit $500 or so. One Circuit City rebate is $65
on a lousy 256 PC133 memory chip which cost $70 cash.

If you are doing the rebate thing - things seem kind of iffy the last
few months so Id recommend keeping meticulous copies and notes of
everything.

Ive got to check the Khypermedia free burner deal. Office max sent me
their rebate but Khyper rejected it. Can you believe that? One side
agrees its valid the other rejects it.




SONY has been jerking me around over a $20.00 rebate. The latest, they
say that the serial number of my SONY CRX-225A/U CD-RW is not in their
database. They're telling me to go back to the seller. I got the
device right from a stack of CRX-225A/U drives and it was in a
CRX-225A/U box! I got it at Circuit City. They don't take goods back
once they are out of the box and installed unless defective. I have a
good mind to go to one of the consumer advocates at NBC-News New York
or similar.

--
________
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Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

Brian K wrote in news:m_fib.23884$Eo2.8805
@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net:

SONY has been jerking me around over a $20.00 rebate. The latest, they
say that the serial number of my SONY CRX-225A/U CD-RW is not in their
database. They're telling me to go back to the seller. I got the
device right from a stack of CRX-225A/U drives and it was in a
CRX-225A/U box! I got it at Circuit City. They don't take goods back
once they are out of the box and installed unless defective. I have a
good mind to go to one of the consumer advocates at NBC-News New York
or similar.

It IS defective if the merchandise is not what its supposed to be... as
Sony has told you.

Get someone higher up in the CC store you got it at. If the product inside
is not what its supposed to be (as Sony says) they have to take it back.
Lets say for argument the device is a Sony, but the wrong model #. Then
again they would still have to take it back. Its not their fault and they
would then send it back to Sony. It would be no different than if you
bought a Two Towers DVD, but FOTR was inside instead.

And be nice. It goes a long way with the thankless jobs customer service
people have to do. )

John ) writes:
its not like Im not getting any - I still get them but many arent
coming in.

My last two Fujis - and strangely Fuji has always been very fast and
reliable for me as was Khyper - seem to be stuck on hold.

I wouldnt be so PE-od except for my problems with Office Max rebates.
Since then a fair amount have been taking while or have problems.
Almost all the pens and and little doodads were rejected from Omax and
their recent email to look over my rebates well - the ones directly
from them did arrive but ALL the ones from the manufacturers were
rejected and still are rejected.

What really PE-od me was looking at the DEAL sites - theres threads
from others who were all rejected for Pac Digital , Khyper media and
burners etc. One thrread say they had really bad experiences at
COMPUSA but mine have generally been good.

On a thread about Office max Khyper media and burners and Pac Digital
- they all had to complain and call and finally got their rebates
after being rejected so its alot more common than I thought. .

It just makes me really paranoid about all rebates now.
Probably lost $200 or so on them the last few months and if anymore
pile up it could easily hit $500 or so. One Circuit City rebate is $65
on a lousy 256 PC133 memory chip which cost $70 cash.

If you are doing the rebate thing - things seem kind of iffy the last
few months so Id recommend keeping meticulous copies and notes of
everything.

Ive got to check the Khypermedia free burner deal. Office max sent me
their rebate but Khyper rejected it. Can you believe that? One side
agrees its valid the other rejects it.




I set up a routine for my rebates, and I buy a lot from Office Max.

1 Be careful you get all the paperwork at the store. They don't always
print out the Rebate Receipt and invariably the offer requires the
original, i.e. the one with all your purchases on it. Usually they fix
the problem during the week and I drive back to return/rebuy. Hey, it's
going to be "free" isn't it? Be philosophical about their screwups.

Today at Staples I bought something and when I tried to file online found
that the "reward" was only for $10, not the $15 (price paid) that was
advertized. Have to take it back tomorrow for settlement.

2 Notice that the filing deadlines are getting shorter and shorter? Fill
out paperwork within two days of purchase. In cases where you bought the
same items, advertized in a different week, call the toll free number to
be sure you are eleigible for both. Usually there is more than a limit of
1 per household in such cases, but OfficeMax in particular has been
offering things like slim cases, usually Belkin, twice in the same month.

3 MAKE XEROX COPIES OF YOUR ENTIRE SUBMISSION. I even copy the envelope
to show it was properly addresses. Then double check to be sure you not
only included the UPC but signed the coupon, in cases where that is
rewuired. Are they trying to build a federal case against those who make
more than one submission?

4 Mail right away.

5 After 4 weeks, call the tell free number to see that your submission is
in the system. About 10% of the time they will claim not to have gotten
it and you will have to resubmit.

I keep my submissions in rough chronological order and ask about a bunch
of them from the same company, so I'll learn they have some and are a
sending me checks on others with one call. Be prepared for soembody with
a Spanish or Indian accent. They are invariably polite, but sometimes
hard to understand.

6 If you think you are being screwed, call the corporate HQ of the
selling company. I got my Pacific Dicital and Cendyne rebates that way.
OfficeMax actually cares about customer satisfaction--it's the damn
fulfilmanet houses that don't.

7 I've been using online sbmission and it seems to work. Even Parego,
one of the bete noirs of most of us, seems to be reasonable if you do most
of the work.

I've gotten very rebate I have submitted by following the steps above.
Remember, you don't have a God-given right to receive these things for 50
cents (envelope plus copy plus stamp) and can buy them for full retail at
Office Depot or MicroCenter, who don't offer "free after rebate." I'd
rather try things for "free" and if it requires a little work on my part,
so be it.

Brendan
--

its not like Im not getting any - I still get them but many arent
coming in.

My last two Fujis - and strangely Fuji has always been very fast and
reliable for me as was Khyper - seem to be stuck on hold.

I wouldnt be so PE-od except for my problems with Office Max rebates.
Since then a fair amount have been taking while or have problems.
Almost all the pens and and little doodads were rejected from Omax and
their recent email to look over my rebates well - the ones directly
from them did arrive but ALL the ones from the manufacturers were
rejected and still are rejected.

What really PE-od me was looking at the DEAL sites - theres threads
from others who were all rejected for Pac Digital , Khyper media and
burners etc. One thrread say they had really bad experiences at
COMPUSA but mine have generally been good.

On a thread about Office max Khyper media and burners and Pac Digital
- they all had to complain and call and finally got their rebates
after being rejected so its alot more common than I thought. .

It just makes me really paranoid about all rebates now.
Probably lost $200 or so on them the last few months and if anymore
pile up it could easily hit $500 or so. One Circuit City rebate is $65
on a lousy 256 PC133 memory chip which cost $70 cash.

If you are doing the rebate thing - things seem kind of iffy the last
few months so Id recommend keeping meticulous copies and notes of
everything.

Ive got to check the Khypermedia free burner deal. Office max sent me
their rebate but Khyper rejected it. Can you believe that? One side
agrees its valid the other rejects it.


That happened to a friend of mine too. He sent in both rebates at the same
time but apparently the kHypermedia rebate had a different (sooner) due
date. Can you say "scam"?