PlanetFeedback's ShopperCast

Rebates: Beat Them At Their Own Game

Complaints about rebate hassles are numerous.  While our reporter's last experience with rebates involved letting the receipts and the UPC codes sit on top of her dresser for a year gathering dust, there are many, many consumers who perform their due diligence and gather all the necessary paperwork, only to get their rebate rejected. 

As a matter of course, rebate center reject about a third of all claims.  When your rebate gets rejected, rebate centers blame the store, the store blames the rebate center, and you're left with no rebate and little recourse.  If you send in the UPC (the bar code) from the packaging, you could be in trouble if your purchase fails -- the warranty coverage won't be there if you can't produce the UPC.  The same problem can happen if you sent in your original receipt (as most rebate offers require).

It's apparent to any observer:  The rebate system is purposely set up to be a complicated set of procedures in order to set the consumer up to fail.

Advice:

• Don't rely on the rebate when comparing prices -- shop around for the best price, period.  Treat the rebate offer as a bonus, not a factor in your decision.
• Support stores that offer paperless rebates, such as Staples, Costco, and Rite Aid.  You do everything online and you don't have to send in proofs of purchase, your original receipt, the valuable UPC, etc.  This also allows you to track your rebate online.
• Keep an eye on your junk mail:  Rebates often are disguised to look like junk mail in the hopes that consumers with throw them away, which equals money in the rebate centers' pockets.

~Contributed by Angela~

A Box Blocks a Rebate

It is the latest ploy to keep you from getting a rebate?

Microsoft has recently started using fancy flip-out boxes for some of their products.  One such product is Live OneCare, which has been offered with rebates.  The rebate calls for the customer to send a copy of the product's activation code... which appears on a non-removable yellow sticker inside the hard plastic case.  Placing the case onto a scanner or photocopier to get a clear copy of the sticker is near impossible.  The construction of the box doesn't allow the flip-out to sit flush with the copier's glass.  The copy is illegible.  And sure to be rejected by the rebate processors.

A call to Microsoft's rebate hotline reveals that they expect you to cut out the label.  Yes, says the customer service agent, even if that means using a hacksaw and sending them shards of broken plastic.  Or, send it an illegible copy.  He promises that they'd reject the rebate but the consumer could then call back 8-12 weeks later and re-argue.  Yeah, right!

Realistically, we're sure that Microsoft isn't purposefully trying to stop rebates.  Rather the geniuses (who seem think replacing biodegradable paper for lasts-forever plastic is a good environmental idea) in Microsoft marketing didn't talk to the rebate folks to tell them, hey, you need to think of another form of proof of purchase.  Or box is meant to withstand a nuclear blast!

If nothing else, the plastic box makes an excellent paperweight, when filled with sand.  For keeping rebate forms from flying away, we suppose.