Dell Rebate Hassle to Death

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 18:57:24 GMT, "Tom Scales"
wrote:
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

I'm one of the ones that make mail-in rebates good for companies. I
buy the product then forget or are overwhelmed with other things
(going thru major depression) so I don't send the rebate in.

The company ends up getting my sale, without having to pay for the
refund.

Now, unless I'm absolutely sure I will send a rebate in, I don't buy
anything with a mail-in rebate, only ones that have instant rebates.

So, you should all feel grateful to me, after all, I am helping to
finance your rebates :-)

Journey

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.

I don't feel it's worth my going to court exactly for $100, but I do post
that _Dell does not honor rebates_ whenever the matter comes up, to warn others
about the practice.

Your choice.''

Post the details of your case in the Dell Community Forums, repeatedly
if necessary. You will get your money.

"Lucid" wrote:
"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.

Oh, sorry, I had confused you with:

/*
They finally paid my mail-in rebate, after several confusing
conversations with their India-based representatives. I don't know for
sure, but being able to mention in my emails that I had a return
receipt confirming that they got my rebate application may have
provided some motivation for the final payoff. It cost me a couple of
bucks to get a rebate of more than a hundred bucks. They still jerked
me around for weeks. Considering that I did everything by the book and
still got a significant hassle, I can just imagine how their
less-attentive customers are treated.
*/

That other guys sounded like he spent more than five minutes
organizing, copying, sending Return Receipt Requested, tracking,
calling, and getting "jerked around for weeks".

My mistake.

Now, unless I'm absolutely sure I will send a rebate in, I don't buy
anything with a mail-in rebate, only ones that have instant rebates.

So, you should all feel grateful to me, after all, I am helping to
finance your rebates :-)

I will buy items that offer rebates only if the price WITHOUT the
rebate is one I'd pay anyway. I assume I won't be getting the rebate
and won't choose one vendor over another if the rebate is the only
difference between the two. I send in the rebate forms if I have them
but so far have never been surprised by receiving one.

Tom Lake

journey wrote:

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 18:57:24 GMT, "Tom Scales"
wrote:
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

I'm one of the ones that make mail-in rebates good for companies. I
buy the product then forget or are overwhelmed with other things
(going thru major depression) so I don't send the rebate in.

snip

I'd imagine that the vast majority of people do just the same. And that's
the reason manufacturers and retailers will continue to offer rebates. In
the big scheme of things, it's good for business.

Notan

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 14:17:49 -0500, William P.N. Smith
wrote:
That other guys sounded like he spent more than five minutes
organizing, copying, sending Return Receipt Requested, tracking,
calling, and getting "jerked around for weeks".

My mistake.

Your only mistake was in failing to be specific about the time you
were referring to. You quoted my comment about the return receipt
only costing a couple of bucks when you asked if my time was worth
anything. Natually, I assumed that you were talking about the time
related to getting the return receipt.

As for the massive hassle that Dell threw my way, my time is worth a
great deal. That is why I said that I won't be doing business with
them any more.

Luc

Dell pulled that crap with me but after struggling for about 6 months, I
filed a complaint with my state Attorney General.

In one week I received a check.

PJ

We have purchased three Dell Dimension systems.
All three had rebates applied to them. Two were "time of purchase rebates"
and one was a "mail in rebate".
No problem was experienced with either of the "time of purchase rebates".
BUT; the "mail in rebate" took more than a dozen phone calls and emails and
more than 4 months before we received it. And that was AFTER, they admitted
that the rebate submission had been received.

I would suggest that you, regardless of what evolves, learn from this.

Try to stick to "time of purchase rebates'

When you must use a "mail in rebate", document and keep copies of every bit
of paper work and submission that is required for the rebate.

For some large mail in rebates(I've had a couple that exceeded $500); I
sent them "Certified, return receipt".
$5.00 is a very small price to insure that the documentation for a $500 +
rebate has been received..

With regard to Dell, I, personally, will only buy items involving any
substantial rebate if it is a "time of purchase rebate". No more Dell "mail
in rebates" for me.

Irene


"Ron Hardin" wrote in message
...
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.

I don't feel it's worth my going to court exactly for $100, but I do post
that _Dell does not honor rebates_ whenever the matter comes up, to warn
others
about the practice.

Your choice.''
--
Ron Hardin


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

Jim Higgins wrote:

It's even more fun trying to deal with them when they don't include
the rebate certificate with the shipped item.

AFAIK, Dell never gives you the rebate form. You have to download it.

That said, I've always received my rebates but they do take way too long
to process and mail them, IMO.

Bob

"Jim Higgins" 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.

I don't feel it's worth my going to court exactly for $100, but I do post
that _Dell does not honor rebates_ whenever the matter comes up, to warn
others
about the practice.

Your choice.''

It's even more fun trying to deal with them when they don't include
the rebate certificate with the shipped item.

Who does anymore? They're just PDFs on their website.