[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Snafus Delay Best Buy Rebate here

[gurman]

How about denouncing rebates altogether. I refuse to purchase anything that requires me to fill out a rebate. COSTCO is one a few that handle the rebates w.o. any mailing.

[hvanderw]

think Best buy is bad ?? Try Ecost.com seems everything there has a rebate but good luck getting it ! I aree with gunman I dont buy stuff with mail in rebates any more. If they can not give me a low price to begin with forget it!

[Stageshirt]

I just plain do not do rebates any more. Except for the Instant Rebates some stores offer at the register. Before you go out the door.

[Desmond417]

I had such a bad experience with Best Buy that never again will I purchase anything from them.

[smgolden1]

If I'm presented with two products identically priced, one with a rebate, and one without, I will buy the one without in protest of the rebate. If we all start registering our annoyance with rebates maybe we can relegate them to the annals of history.

[nikkosguy]

I had stopped buying from any store that sold with rebates. I have always felt that if there was 20 or 40 dollars to get back, then the store should have sold it that much cheaper to begin with. I know that I am not the only person to stop shopping at Best Buys because of their rebates. I wonder how much money total, they lost over the years because of their selfish policies on rebates?

[cherrieweb]

I also will not buy anything with a rebate, one reason they don't send to a P.O. box , and when I did have it sent to a address I never received the rebate.

[br549woofer]

Some stores are now offering instant rebates along with mail-in rebates. I just purchased an item with both types, but the only reason I did was that the instant rebate made the item a good deal. If the mail-in rebate disappears in cyberspace, I'm still ahead. But, I agree, if there is only a mail-in rebate, I shop on the internet instead.

[quismo]

best buy in canada is the same way, you send in the paper work and get nothing back. you email best buy and get no help. I use staples now, as they give you the rebate at the till and take care of the rest.arf

[terp66]

Purchased a USB hub from Radio Shack that offered a $20 rebate. Terms were: purchase product between two dates and have the rebate postmarked by another date. There was a paragraph of legalese (mostly they are not responsible for lost rebates, they have to be cashed within 90 days, etc. No where does it state what to mail in except the rebate slip. Since the rebate is from the retailer and lists the UPC number on the rebate form, seems OK. Except, I have completed enough rebates to know different. A call to Radio Shack confirmed, you MUST include the UPC code from the box and a copy of the sales receipt. Is this a concious effort to trap neophyte rebaters into being denied their money? When the rebate is rejected after 8 weeks, where do you think the box with the UPC code is? In the landfill! DG

[yoesca]

Even with proper documentation..getting a rebate back from Best buy is one big joke. No matter if you send proof of your original submission...I swear i think they let time go on and on with the hopes that you'll forget.It is so much easier getting rebates when you file on line for rebate. Staples has on line rebates..you get rebate money back a little faster than you would submitting by mail.

[the3laings]

A little history on the rebate is in order:In the mid 70's when inflation was out of control the goverment was considering price freezes as one possible way to stem double digit growth.The retailers were justifiably nervous putting anything on sale fearing that their sale prices could become permament.They created the rebate program as a way of keeping their regular prices (safe from freezes), yet offering an incentive to purchase.The rebate could be retracted at any time immune from the price freeze controls.Personally I cannot stand the mail-in rebate programs and specifically do anything to avoid them.Statisically someone figured out on mail-in rebates that 28% of people:Get the rebate, fill it out, cut out the UPC, mail it in, wait, receive, and finally cash the check.If you are a vendor giving out $20 rebates.Would you give: instant rebates where 100% get $20 = $20 eachor would you mail-in rebate $20 where 28% get $20 = $5.60Multiply that out by a few thou .

[DukeB]

I'd say around 20 years ago a store opened in northern New Jersey that advertised all sorts of super deals on electronics and household items; I think they had another store in New York as well. The price you paid in the store was just OK, but with the advertised rebates the deals were fantastic. I remember buying some blank VHS tapes (at the time they were rather expensive) and paid the retail price. The clerk handed me a mail-in rebate form that went to a PO Box somewhere. There was no place on the form to indicate how many tapes were purchased (and therefore how much $ was to come back). The clerk said "just write it in somewhere." I smelled a rat, but mailed in the form. A couple of months later the store was boarded up and the owners skipped town. No one received their rebate; it was just an enticement to get people to pay more than they would have elsewhere.

[Holly601]

The rebate business is a scam that should be outlawed. In most instances it is used to unload superseded products at MSRP, with no intent to honor its so-called rebate. In addition to the firms mentioned by previous bloggers, two prime offenders in my experience are Microsoft and Syracuse Learning Systems. CompUSA also has refused to take back hundreds of dollars of items it sold that defaulted on promised rebates.

[joem]

For a real thrill on the rebate merry-go-round try the Tiger Direct one-- NO, please don't!Still out of pocket, overcharged, and possessing software for which I found I had paid but didn't even order (as part of the supposed rebate offer).really upset redneck....