Your Mail in Rebate May Be In Jeopardy

MIR's suck. though I've never been ripped off on one, I've had to go through inordinate amounts of energy keeping track of it all, chasing down the rebates, calling a million 800 numbers and getting bounced around... its such a racket. The fact that the expected redemption is often less than 50% is criminal.

its the second biggest racket to student loans lol.
 
darkpaw said:
I'd be really intersted in knowing what happened to all that money personally. The fact that they don't know...
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Nothing happened to the "missing" money. It was never there to begin with. Basically I read it as they (they = both rebate processor and manufacturer) underestimated the redemption rate and didn't set aside enough money to cover it.

panfist said:
If company x has to give the money to a company like CPG to hold in escrow...the money is out of their bank account already. What's the advantage for company x?
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The advantage is that you don't have to deal with it in-house. Not all companies run these promotions all the time, and so it is just easier to outsource rebates.

I've known of a few that did rebates in-house. I recall Connect3D did that (and where are they now?) and ClubIT may have done that (and where are they now?).

Pogo said:
Also, why the ridiculous wait times for the checks?
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They don't want you to rebate something and then return it, thus making free money. While most vendors won't take stuff back without a UPC, some have been known to whether due to negligence or lax policy. Theoretically if you have to cut out the UPC and wait 2-3 months, you are less likely to return the item.

"Traditionally" redemption rates are often quoted at around 30%, and typically it is higher on bigger rebate amounts (probably close to 80%) and can be lower on small amounts. Sheesh, I had a $2 rebate on a $10 multipack of toothbrushes once that I didn't bother redeeming.

I think since a lot of shopping is done online with easier price comparisons and easy access to PDF rebates, redemption rates are probably pretty high these days.

Disclaimer: I'm just guessing at the percentages.
 
This is just another example of cooperate greed! Its just these good ole boys getting their nest egg (golden umbrella) before the sh__ hits the fan! Thats whats wrong in America today. Always screwing us hard working Americans! Maybe a little jail time would shake up their coin purse! Just like AIG and these good ole boys on wall street ripping off all of US then retire with the cash and our countrys in a tail spin and their sipping on a mai tai in the bahammas!
 
So, I have to go on a game show to grab my rebate?

This is bullshit. The price for plane tickets is gonna cost more than what my rebate is even worth! Then I'll have to pay for the hotel. I'm not doing rebates anymore.
 
If something is a good deal even without the rebate, then I'll buy it thinking that I might get a check as a bonus. If it's only a deal with a MIR, then I consider it no deal at all. MIRs are a gamble (though I often don't have trouble with them).
 
trick_m0nkey said:
I am in the catagory of people who will not touch those rebates with a ten foot pole. Rebates are crap and the instant I see a "deal" that is only really a deal after a rebate, I move on. This only makes my views on rebates that much more justifyable.
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Exactly the same here, I count the rebate as a gamble and only buy if I'd be happy with the price pre-rebate. They always have been gambles even when you keep copies and follow up on unsent ones, from excuses to lies to outright scams. I never understood why people got offended when people complained a "hot deal" wasn't a deal because it depended on a rebate, asking for no complaints. It's widely known they aren't exactly reliable.
 
Some phone rebates were kinda screwey a few months ago.
I sent in 3 rebates for 3 of my phones, $50 each for a total of $150 for the mathematically challenged.
2 got denied for some reason and the 3rd one was for $230, which covered all of them and left some extra.
 
This is a result of the rebate company underestimating the amount of rebates they will get.

I believe this is due to 2 reasons.

1. The trend with most retail stores doing the rebates for you, so all rebates are instant. Best Buy does this, and though I despise Best Buy, this is one of the policies I think they got right. When the retail stores do the rebates for the customer, it ensures the money flows for the rebates. A corporate giant like BB is going to make damn sure they get their money.

2. Anyone in the tech industry generally has a slightly higher intelligence than average joe, and techies know how to fill out rebate forms properly. They usually know how to make sure they can get the rebate if the rebate company pulls the usual BS.

That being said, I don't trust MIR rebates, and never bet on them to get the lower price. MIR's have been a real hit or miss with me.
 
hardcase said:
I gave up on rebates a long time ago. If I get one, that's nice, but I don't buy into the "$X.xx after rebate" business. It costs whatever I paid for it and the rebate doesn't make it cost any less.

I haven't not received a rebate that I've sent for, but unless I balance my checkbook on a quarterly basis, it's pretty hard to figure that I saved any money when the check doesn't get to me for a couple of months.
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Must suck to've never gotten a hot deal AR.

My Excel spreadsheet shows since May 16th, 2001 I've received $13,561.25 in rebates.
 
MIR are nice for those willing to go the extra mile for a little change on the flip side.

but in this digital age, why should i have to use snail mail to get a rebate? i gotta cut out stuff, get envelopes and stamps, then mail the letter. while this may be a trivial thing for some people, it's just not something i ever do, or want to do. i send out (with displeasure) some thank you cards every now and then.

and 8 - 10 weeks to receive a rebate? that is such crap. i understand that they have to go through every letter and all, but seriously, has no one thought of a better system for handling things like this? and what if you don't receive your rebate after the allotted time? they claim they never received it? so not only do i have to put forth the extra effort of snail mailing stuff, now i have to actively monitor the rebate process to ensure i get what was advertised to me.

i just bought a new system, and i have about $160 in "rebates" to mail in. i'm probably not going to do it because it's just too much of a hassle.

kudos to those who get their rebates, but they are, and will always be "rebates" to me.
 
kent said:
Must suck to've never gotten a hot deal AR.

My Excel spreadsheet shows since May 16th, 2001 I've received $13,561.25 in rebates.
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Wow. I thought I was bad. :eek:

I've done several thousand dollars of rebates in around 10 years, and on average have about a 100% dollars back rate. I've been burned on a few rebates, but I have also received unexpected rebates too (i.e. ones that shouldn't have qualified or that were not offered). It at least evened out.
 
"speculation up the law enforcement" is RIGHT! rofl

Yet another reason to go to a "rebateless" system. :)
 
MIR's are a scam and always have been. They were just another way to gleen data from consumers and without getting anything in return other than the headaches that came with them. I'm surprised that the [H] actually advocates the use of MIR's, but then again, they do have to deal with vendors who supply them. They are a pain in the ass and all vendors should simply kill the practice once and for all and just offer the lower price without the headache. You will get my business that way in a much faster fashion too. I don't care how low a price of a product is, but if it has an MIR attached to it I will never buy it from that vendor.
 
Obviously, just like everyone else they had their money in the stock market. Have you checked your 401K recently? The way this company was making money was investing it between the time the company paid them and you and I asked for our rebate check. It's no more fraud than all the money I'm paying to these idiot fund managers to lose 50% this year.

Frightfully, it is the "safe" funds that they were probably investing in - stable things like mortgages and insurance companies. Just the kind of things which have "unexpectedly" been hit the hardest. Looking for an evil corporation here? Nah, just one more company victimized by over-spending and over-investing. And just like every other company as opposed to admiting guilt they are looking for someone else to pick up the tab - in this case the manufacturers who entrusted them and will have their names dragged through the dirt for the late (non-existant?) rebate checks.

On the other hand, this is at least one company who won't be bailed out by the tax-payers.
 
Freezebyte said:
Ah shit, I just sent in my rebate for my new EVGA 260. Thats just fucking great.....
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Don't panic! :)

I'd say you're in good hands w/eVGA. Had one rebate to deal with from them,
and it was on time, and accurate! =)

-But believe me, I understand that initial "sinking feeling"....
 
mail in rebate = scam
they're just working the numbers, out of 10 people 8 will claim, they pocket the rest.. and especially after Acer completely fucked over a number of clients (saying all their $100 rebates were invalid despite everything being complied to perfectly) and the repercussions hit MY back pocket, people returning laptops because they were refused a rebate despite me advertising it as so, people demanding their rebate from me... I will NEVER do ANY rebate promotions, if that means missing out on business i couldnt give a crap.. and I've never bought Acer (for clients, i never bought one for myself b4) since...
 
It got to the point with me that I would ignore the price with rebate and only purchase if I can afford it and not buy it cheaper without rebate elsewhere. If the rebate came then I would treat it as free money.
 
Dammit.....now I have to debate buying that memory from Newegg this week....it's only 10.00 after all the MIR's :D Newegg I hope you didn't read that comment; wait actually yes I did....please don't become another Best Buy of old.
 
sorry if i sound like a retard, but...
A, if company X sends 10 000 to CPG (based on expecting how much $$ will need to be paid out), why is CPG the bad guy? if they spend all that 10 000 to customers who rightfully filled out their rebates, they did their job (yes, that is an assumption, but from the look of the article, we dont know if the money was stolen or a lot of people just sent in rebates.) if the money is stolen, then it seems like CPG is at fault, not the whole rebate industry.
doesnt that mean company X is at fault?

also
Currently CPG is contacting its customers telling them that they will need to yet again deposit money into CPG accounts in order for CPG to have the cash to cover rebate checks to consumers. This is money that companies have already paid CPG previously. CPG is telling its customers that if they do not pony up AGAIN, consumer rebate check payments are in jeopardy. In our example above, CPG is not sure where the $100,000 is that Company X paid them, but we are sure that they want another $100,000 or CPG will start bouncing consumers’ MIR checks.
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i REALLY dont understand this. so if i wanted a rebate from CPG, they want me to give them money so they can give me my rebate? and whats this "again" word?
if they are saying they need more money from the companies they worked with to pay people like me, then thats different....

whats wrong with my ideas?
 
I dislike having to wait for rebates, but some companies forget why they have rebates in the first place, to make customers happy. When rebates work, they also help the consumer in a way. It prevents ebay sellers from buying out all the 'half-off' ram sticks and hard drives, etc. because they can only send in one rebate per household, ensuring that their discount reaches the small customer.
 
kent said:
Must suck to've never gotten a hot deal AR.

My Excel spreadsheet shows since May 16th, 2001 I've received $13,561.25 in rebates.
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I like a good deal, but I'm pretty sure I haven't bought 13k worth of items that had rebates, much less received that much back.

That said, this year I think i got $200-$400 (though some of that went to my mother.....I bought and assembled, but all the savings was hers to keep).
 
-PK- said:
I dislike having to wait for rebates, but some companies forget why they have rebates in the first place, to make customers happy. When rebates work, they also help the consumer in a way. It prevents ebay sellers from buying out all the 'half-off' ram sticks and hard drives, etc. because they can only send in one rebate per household, ensuring that their discount reaches the small customer.
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That's why vendors put limits on the quantities of certain items you can buy.

I buy based on the amount of money I have to pay to the vendor. If rebates have any impact on my spending, it is negative - I will avoid them. If it's only a deal AR, it's not a good deal.
 
Methadras said:
MIR's are a scam and always have been. They were just another way to gleen data from consumers and without getting anything in return other than the headaches that came with them. I'm surprised that the [H] actually advocates the use of MIR's, but then again, they do have to deal with vendors who supply them. They are a pain in the ass and all vendors should simply kill the practice once and for all and just offer the lower price without the headache. You will get my business that way in a much faster fashion too. I don't care how low a price of a product is, but if it has an MIR attached to it I will never buy it from that vendor.
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Are you joking? AR, I just bought an eVga gtx 260 for $140.00. Others got a PNY for 120. Where you can come anywhere close to that without rebates?

How about a P180 or 182 for $40-50? Logitech's top end surround speakers for roughly 160 shipped? It may happen occasionally, but it's not common.

If you document what you sent in (photocopy it) and require the addressee to sign for the rebate documents, you will get your money back.

If you're only getting 10 bucks back, it's not worth the extra shipping cost, but if you're getting 40 or more it is.

At most, I've missed out on 10-20 bucks on rebates that I sent in, while I've gotten at least 1000.00 (probably much more) back.

I can see going for something without a rebate if the prices are close, but when I go for a rebate item, it's not close.
 
Tiger Direct ripped me off twice of $40 in mail-in-rebates.

After that, I lost all hope in MIRs.
 
nilepez said:
Are you joking? AR, I just bought an eVga gtx 260 for $140.00. Others got a PNY for 120. Where you can come anywhere close to that without rebates?

How about a P180 or 182 for $40-50? Logitech's top end surround speakers for roughly 160 shipped? It may happen occasionally, but it's not common.

If you document what you sent in (photocopy it) and require the addressee to sign for the rebate documents, you will get your money back.

If you're only getting 10 bucks back, it's not worth the extra shipping cost, but if you're getting 40 or more it is.

At most, I've missed out on 10-20 bucks on rebates that I sent in, while I've gotten at least 1000.00 (probably much more) back.

I can see going for something without a rebate if the prices are close, but when I go for a rebate item, it's not close.
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That's fine if they work for you, but for me they don't I've been burned so many times and followed procedures to the letter that I just gave up. It got to the point that I spent more time dealing to get my rebate than the value of the item I actually bought. My time is worth money and I treat it that way. However, if you want to be teased into purchasing a product you 'hope' you will get your money back for, then that's your choice, but don't try to ridicule my opinion on the subject just because I don't agree with the entire concept of a rebate. If a company wants to be genuine, then offer a genuine price without the hassle of making me do the dirty work to get the promised money less the price of the product in the form of a rebate. Lower the price automatically and people will buy. No extra work from you, no headache chasing down any rebate checks and offer. How is that for a novel concept?
 
I think I found all the addresses CPG uses (some might be outdated):

Phoenix, AZ
Scottsdale, AZ
Tempe, AZ
Niagra Falls, NY
Tampa, FL

If your rebate form tells you to check status on rebatestatus.com, that's CPG.

I just checked my outstanding rebates and I have one to CPG. :mad: It's an Antec rebate. I had sent in 6 rebates to CPG in the last year and 5 were paid quickly. I'm going to need to call about the Antec rebate tomorrow. That just about kills any future Antec deals for me.
 
flemmyd - by "customers" they mean the companies running the rebates on items.. not you. you're a customer of company xyz. CPG's customers are HP, Logitech, etc etc...
 
I just got a confirmation email from EVGA for a rebate that I mailed on the 8th, damn thats was fast
 
I've had fantastic experiences with MIRs, actually. I sent in a $150 MIR for Toshiba laptop and it must have been processed twice, because I got a check for $300 in the mail. No way in hell I was sending it back because not only would the rebate company not care that I returned the money, there is a 99% chance that I would never see the true $150 check that I was owed if I returned it, simply due to the sheer amount of people working at a place like this.

Hence, I quickly deposited my $300 and called it a day.

If it was change at a Famer's Market or something, it would be a completely different story.
 
I personally dislike MIR and would not make a purchase based on it. That is why I used to hate ClubIT, every single deal they had dealt with MIR. I did like the rebate center that Tiger Direct was using before, because they had an option where you could fill out the rebate online and get it expedited for a small fee, the rebates were always guaranteed that way.
 
All of this made no sense to a non US dude like myself until after reading the following articles,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebate_(marketing)

and particularly this (which I remember vaguely)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3704669.stm

You can kind of see why in these financially risky times why more people will want to call in those rebates, and since the MIR companies probably survive on the those who don't cash them in why they could be a liability. Yet another horrible side to the 'Credit Crunch' :(
 
I use rebates all the time, never had any real problem. My average with MIR is about 9 out 10, only one rebate I never got back (only $2 rebate)
 
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