Dell Rebate Hassle to Death

"Scott en Aztlán" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 10:05:42 GMT, Ron Hardin
wrote:

email back to Dell :

``I can't resubmit it because I mailed it to you! It's gone. You have
it.

You surely have the record that I bought the system. You surely have
the price I bought it at, which offered a $100 rebate. You surely have
the record that I have received no rebate.

None of that matters. They don't WANT to give you that money, and, as
you saw, they will use any little technicality they can to justify
keeping it.

Congratulations - looks like you've joined the club.
--
Official Member of the Rebate Rage Club

Let's face it, if Dell was intentionally denying rebates, this newsgroup
would be flooded with complaints. It's not. Mistakes happen. Always make
copies.

"Ron Hardin" wrote in message
...
Tom Scales wrote:
Some context would help. If there was a real problem with rebates, this
newsgroup would be flooded. Personally, I've bought 8 or so systems with
rebates and they've paid every single one.

This should not be a problem. Just send them another copy of your
paperwork
and they'll honor it. I'm sure you would have kept a copy for a $100
rebate.

Context : I sent the stuff in, nothing happened.

A query produced the suggestion that I send it in again.

That was my answer. I don't have a copy. They have it.

$100 isn't enough to seek out a copier in some distant store against the
possibility
that mail would get lost. Mail doesn't get lost unless it's deliberate,
more or less.

This is my only Dell system, so they're one for one, a pretty high failure
rate.

--
Ron Hardin


You could have purchased a scanner for less than $100.00 and used that to
make a copy of the rebate materials for itself.

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

Talk to someone in customer service.

Journey

Tom Scales wrote:
Sorry, but if you didn't bother to copy it, you're out of luck. They
process millions of rebates. Occasionally they get lost. I guarantee that
on the form you filled out, it properly cautioned you to keep a copy.

Tom

They don't get lost. There's an address on the front that keeps rerouting the
mail until it gets where it's supposed to go.

Dell can however set up a flakey mail processing center, where getting lost is
quite likely. That's their responsibility.

As to keeping a copy, they have all the records of it that they need.

No doubt they process millions. Nevertheless they ``lost'' mine, one for one,
100%, and don't seem inclined to honor it.

I'm sure they don't mind if it post it, is all.

--
Ron Hardin


On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

Tom Scales wrote:

"Scott en Aztlán" wrote in message
..
On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 10:05:42 GMT, Ron Hardin
wrote:

email back to Dell :

``I can't resubmit it because I mailed it to you! It's gone. You have
it.

You surely have the record that I bought the system. You surely have
the price I bought it at, which offered a $100 rebate. You surely have
the record that I have received no rebate.

None of that matters. They don't WANT to give you that money, and, as
you saw, they will use any little technicality they can to justify
keeping it.

Congratulations - looks like you've joined the club.
--
Official Member of the Rebate Rage Club

Let's face it, if Dell was intentionally denying rebates, this newsgroup
would be flooded with complaints. It's not. Mistakes happen. Always make
copies.


If it's a mistake, you'll be the first to hear about it, when I post that
I got my rebate. Don't hold your breath.

--
Ron Hardin


On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

"William P.N. Smith" wrote in message
...
"Lucid" wrote:
It cost me a couple of bucks to get a rebate of more than a
hundred bucks. They still jerked me around for weeks.

And your time is worth nothing?

Well, let's see... Five minutes at the post office counter may have some
value, but I didn't charge them. I was already at the post office to pick up
mail from my post office box.

Luc

"Tom Scales" wrote in message
. ..
Let's face it, if Dell was intentionally denying rebates, this newsgroup
would be flooded with complaints. It's not.

You've stated that foolishness twice, and it is no better the second time.
Two seconds on Google will give you an idea of just how widespread this
problem with Dell rebates truly is. Some of the first things that popped up
we
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/compu...l_rebates.html
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=15019
http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/...ry030410JF.htm

You assume that many participants of this newsgroup would be complaining,
and there have been postings of problems here, but in general, computer
customers have been cowed into silence by the pervasive atmosphere of bad
customer service, bad tech support and general scumminess by computer
companies. Measuring the lack of an uproar is a foolish way to prove the
absence of a problem.

Luc

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 16:20:15 GMT, Ron Hardin
wrote:

If it's a mistake, you'll be the first to hear about it, when I post that
I got my rebate. Don't hold your breath.

--
Ron Hardin


Call them up, complain, ask to escalate. How long have you had the
computer? I've had Dell offer me $100 in their accessory store, $100
cash, free 3 year warranty upgrade, free upgraded extended battery,
and a free printer.

It can be a hassle, but it's likely that you will be able to get
something. As long as you know that you're on moral high ground and
did everything right from your end, then you should feel free to try
to make things right, in some form or another.

Journey

"Lucid" wrote in message
...
"Tom Scales" wrote in message
. ..
Let's face it, if Dell was intentionally denying rebates, this newsgroup
would be flooded with complaints. It's not.

You've stated that foolishness twice, and it is no better the second time.
Two seconds on Google will give you an idea of just how widespread this
problem with Dell rebates truly is. Some of the first things that popped
up we
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/compu...l_rebates.html
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=15019
http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/...ry030410JF.htm

You assume that many participants of this newsgroup would be complaining,
and there have been postings of problems here, but in general, computer
customers have been cowed into silence by the pervasive atmosphere of bad
customer service, bad tech support and general scumminess by computer
companies. Measuring the lack of an uproar is a foolish way to prove the
absence of a problem.

Luc



The first site says they've gotten a lot of complaints. I believe that. The
massive numbers make complaints expected (hey, I don't like rebates either).

The second site just quotes the first, so that's not very reasonable.

The third just disses rebates.

Rebates are good for the company because a small fraction of buyers bother.
They're not good for the consumer (generally).

Personally, I like them, as I always am careful and have gotten every single
one of the hundreds I've done. I find it comes down to care, preparation
and, yes, keeping a copy.

Tom

"Tom Scales" wrote in message
news
Personally, I like them, as I always am careful and have gotten every
single one of the hundreds I've done. I find it comes down to care,
preparation and, yes, keeping a copy.

I was as smug about them as you are (but I hope I didn't say it to others),
until my recent problem with Dell rebates. I made copies and I got a return
receipt when I sent the rebate forms in. It didn't make any difference. Dell
put up a storm of irritating hurdles for me to run. The Indian call center
that constantly tells you to wait ANOTHER 10 days each time you call; their
claim that they did not get the rebate forms; their non-functional rebate
status web page; etc, all contributed to my decision to stop buying Dell
products. I only bought from them this time because I could not build a
decent laptop myself.

Anyway, it is all well and good to have had good luck SO FAR with rebates,
but it is silly to dismiss the claims of other people that there is a real
problem at Dell (and other places). It is a real problem.

Luc