Dell Rebate Hassle to Death

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.

"Ron Hardin" wrote in message
...
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.

The main reason that companies use mail-in rebates is the probability that
they won't have to pay the money. They make it very tedious and unpleasant
to collect.

Dell is among the most obvious. They have all of the information that they
require you to send to them already in their databases. They got all of it
when you bought the computer. Why, then, would it require 8 weeks for them
to send you the rebate? Because the hassles they give you during those 8
weeks are intended to make you give up trying to get the refund.

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.

Mail-in rebates are the hallmark of a scumbag corporation.

Luc

"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.

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.

Tom

In article ,
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.''

You're in good company. A Wikepedia article says Tivo kept 5
million dollars in rebates. It says something like 60% of the rebate
offers overall get redeemed.

Dean

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"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?

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.



Some companies are better than others. I went round and round with the company
handling Western Digital's rebate program over a check that never seemed to
arrive. It took over 5 months to finally receive and that was only after I
became incredibly abusive to each person I spoke to..,. calling them thieves and
questioning their competence and the fluidity of their company. Haven't bought
another WD hard drive since.

OTOH, companies like Staples are an absolute delight to work with in regards to
honoring a rebate. Frankly, they do it the way all companies should be required
to do.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

no cross-posting please, reply only to alt.pc-clone.dell where this was
read...

you can obtain copies of your packing slip and your invoice when you log on
to dell.com and look at your order history. it really isn't a big deal.
you may also find that they dell forums are more help than this group (who
can't help you process your rebate but can only help you vent your anger).
i have never had a problem with dell rebates. well ok, one time i had a
problem... i submitted a claim for $300 in rebates for a two pc purchase and
received a check for $450. i called the rebate department to see how to go
about returning the extra and they said they did not know of any way to
return a rebate and to just keep it... that's exactly want i had wanted to
hear.

"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.

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


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

Jonathan Kamens wrote:
I do not find that it helps to become abusive to the peons who
are answering the phones, although it may make you feel better
in the short term.


I never talked to anyone on the phone; it was all done by email. I started out
playing by the rules and being nice. When that didn't work and three months had
passed I became progressively not so nice. By the end I was a gaping asshole.
That's when I finally got my money.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

VE

"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


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


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