Your Mail in Rebate May Be In Jeopardy

I stopped shopping for rebates. Really not worth my time to waste telling them I didn't get one.

So if it isn't an instant rebate, I look elsewhere.
 
Yeah, whats the problem with just putting an item "on sale" like in the good old days? Rebates are damned tedious.
 
DiabloAzul126 said:
Just got this in my inbox:


So.. I deposited said check like 2 weeks ago, I wonder if I'm in the green.
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I really wonder if trendnet will refund your "insufficient funds" charge if you already tried to cash it before you got the notice.
 
Mail-In Rebates are a scam. The whole point of them is so they can dazzle you with a price that is lower than what you must actually pay, with the hopes that you will not remember to send in the rebate form in time or make some mistake in filling it out so they can deny you the price they advertised in the first place. Dishonest.

Companies have no trouble mailing out invoices or subscription renewals or solicitations of all kinds at lightning speed. There is absolutely no good reason whatsoever that it should take so long to send you a rebate check. Except to continue the hustle: even if you fill out your rebate application correctly and mail it on time, they will keep that money in the bank for months to milk even more out of it before finally sending it back to you. (And it is your money; they are not doing you any favors.) They think their customers are suckers. And we are if we think we are getting a good deal from this.

It deliberately skates the edge of false advertising; they want to scam you as far as they can legally get away with. Why not drop the price upfront (or give an "instant rebate" at checkout) if they want to compete on price? Because they are trying to have it both ways. It is a patently anti-consumer practice. I was surprised to discover from [H] that "We have been longstanding supporters of mail in rebates (MIR) in our industry" -- WHY? :confused: How about being a supporter of honest, upfront pricing? Between MIRs and overpriced shipping & handling, it is unnecessarily difficult to comparison shop by price on the Web, something that should be trivially easy with a database! (Which is another reason why they do this: to make it harder to comparison shop.)

Good riddance.
 
Ludic said:
Are we sure that CPG isn't trying to get the companies to give them money to match the percentage of rebates submitted? Say a company gave CPG $100,000 for rebates, and customer submitted $300,000 worth of rebates? Who normally would be on the hook for that?
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As others have said, as a rule, it's the rebate house. They say they'll fulfill the rebates for X dollars.

However, It could be that there's something in the contract that says that the rebate house gets paid x% of what they pay out (say 95%) if rebate application/payouts exceed some predetermined number.
 
poee said:
Mail-In Rebates are a scam. The whole point of them is so they can dazzle you with a price that is lower than what you must actually pay, with the hopes that you will not remember to send in the rebate form in time or make some mistake in filling it out so they can deny you the price they advertised in the first place. Dishonest.
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And because so many people don't do it correctly (if at all), it means that I can get a better deal than if they lowered the price at retail and everyone got it.

I"m not a huge fan of rebates, but it's hard to argue with paying 160 for speakers that typically sell for 250 and are at best 190 on sale without a rebate.

I can recall getting 50% off (roughly 100 dollars) of a HD with rebates.

With that said, when it comes to DVD's, I prefer cheaper prices...rebates are too small and they require me to mess with the packaging, and I like to keep those tabs/UPCs ;)
 
Not a fan of MIRs. Never have been, never will. Best MIR I ever received was on my new Verizon phone...where the person selling it to me applied it instantly to my purchase instead of making me mail everything in.

w00t! $100 off my phone ($50 instant / $50 MIR applied instantly)
 
Have had multiple issues with rebates, and I don't try to take them into account when I buy things just to make it simpler on me. I'd say I would have gotten half or less of the rebates I sent it, but I called them on a few of the more expensive ones and got them fixed which took 2-4 calls each and about 2 week waits in between calls for the "process" to happen again.


So we're talking waiting 2 months to find out if they fail at processing it, then another half month to month after I call them to get it corrected...and if it fails again....another two weeks minimum. So 3-4 months.

I got to the point where I'd scan or photograph the stuff I was mailing with the envelope filled out, so I could say: "Look I have a picture of everything ready to be packed into the already filled out envelope so unless you can show me where I filled out something wrong or didn't photograph an item give me my money." and even this took a month and a half to make them process it, they failed it twice...and told me one of those failures was that it wasn't properly entered on their end the second time I called.

My take on it is that they want to make sure a certain percentage of the rebates are processed, and when it gets past that threshold they become a little relaxed in how much processing goes through.

Oh, and I had these UPC labels cut out that were kinda small and I felt they'd get lost easily, so I taped them to the form that asks for them. And wrote really large on the form in sharpie and the other forms where the UPCs were with big arrows, they failed to process that one too because the UPC codes weren't included...took two calls to resolve that. And both times I spoke to a clearly foreign person, who told me twice they were going to check the file they had on it...and they couldn't find those UPC codes after I told them they were taped to it. Then I told them I had pictures if they want to argue, and all the sudden the manager green lighted everything.

Guess people are less forgiving about losing 50 bucks they were supposed to "save" with things how they are now.
 
Hmm, I was just about to send in My BFG rebate to these clown in Phoenix. I'm starting to think I should just talk to BFG customer support instead, as theirs is pretty good.
 
MIR's obviously don't help the upfront price of items, so that deters @ least me from using them. Plus, I simply use Ebay to search for better prices. If I can't find a "deal" on Ebay, I go with svc/pts/jab-tech/newegg etc so I can @ least know I'll get my item.
 
steller2k said:
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.
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I think you hit the nail on the head. Assuming no actual fraud, they probably were investing the cash they had in escrow into something that had a yield, and this is where they made most if not all of their profit. PayPal makes their money the same way (or at least they used to)- they invest the float. This is also how banks make money though it's a little more complicated there (or a lot depending on the bank). Anyway, these guys probably said "yields on cash suck, let's buy some AAA-rated stuff that has a higher yield". Problem is AAA-rated is meaningless for the newer stuff that came out of Wall St. given how S&P and Moody's were running their shops, and the rest is history.

Bottom line: these guys are insolvent, which means they owe more than they have. They will likely go bankrupt, and what's left will be split among the creditors of the company. That includes people owed money for rebates, but you're talking pennies on the dollar at best. This is a very bad situation and will change the way the rebate business is run forever. Over the long run it will be less profitable which probably means fewer/lower rebates.

I'm a finance geek so sorry if I got lengthy here.
 
http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2008/11/10/daily66.html

Friday, November 14, 2008 - 5:38 PM EST | Modified: Friday, November 14, 2008 - 6:13 PM
Continental Promotion seeks bankruptcy protection after layoff
Tampa Bay Business Journal - by Michael Hinman

Just a day after it handed out pink slips to 17 employees, CPG Marketing Inc. and Continental Promotion Group Inc. of Tampa have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Friday.

The companies both list an Eisenhower Boulevard office as their address, and both have Daniel Granger as its chief executive. Continental Promotion lists assets of between $1 million and $10 million, and liabilities in the same range from between 200 and 999 creditors. CPG Marketing listed estimated assets of $1 million to $10 million, and liabilities of between $10 million and $50 million, with up to 50 creditors.
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all I can say is good riddance, and i hope no one here gets screwed. I gave up on MIR a long time ago - my time is worth more to me than the paltry amounts saved, and the hassle.
 
time to change the title of the post to "Your Mail in Rebate Will Be In Jeapordy"
 
arcturus said:
I warned about this company over 2 1/2 yrs ago on these forums ...

http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1029325978&postcount=9
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Before they went bankrupt (Ch 11 reorganization), they paid all my rebates. I only have one rebate outstanding from CPG.

This still won't discourage me from taking advantage of deals with rebates in the future. Problems come up every once in a while. The difference is that I recognize that most can be resolved with a quick phone call or resubmission rather than throwing a fit on a web board. ;)
 
Wheresatom said:
Because if company x sells 10,000 units because of the mail in rebate lure, but only 5,000 customers remember to fill out the forms and mail them in, they get to keep the money from the other half that only bought the product based on the rebate.
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Just to expand on this, the marketing behind MIRs is that it places your product listing higher when you "sort by lowest price" on places like Amazon, Newegg, Best Buy, etc.

It's much like trying to get the prime shelf space in a brick & mortar store. Plus, as mentioned above, everyone has the intention of collecting the MIRs when they evaluate their purchase, but in reality, few people actually fill them out or qualify. So that way companies can keep their extra $20 above market value for their product.

In a volume business, it's probably the cheapest and most guaranteed form of advertising/promotions cost versus rate of return.

poee, it's not a scam. They just put stipulations on purchasing at a lower price. It is no different than paying for club rewards such as a Costco Membership.
 
BTW, technically the company advertising or "offering" the rebate has the contract with you, not the rebate house. The manufacturer or store contracts with the rebate house basically to do processing. This is why some companies (like TrendNet and Costco) are being proactive about fixing the situation for people - it's because they're the ones on the hook and they know it!

Famously, companies like CompUSA and buy.com like, or liked in the case of CompUSA, to deny any responsibility for rebates. Legally they were wrong, and I believe there were some lawsuits filed that sought class-action status, but it's not very cost-effective to even file small claims pro se for a small-dollar rebate, so most people were just SOL.

I do hope that this manages to somewhat reform the rebate business, but it's such a lucrative racket that there will be new players in the game before long...
 
Damnit. I still have a $40 BFG supposedly coming. It says it will mail on 12/11. Why do I not see that happening now?
 
pxc said:
Before they went bankrupt (Ch 11 reorganization), they paid all my rebates. I only have one rebate outstanding from CPG.

This still won't discourage me from taking advantage of deals with rebates in the future. Problems come up every once in a while. The difference is that I recognize that most can be resolved with a quick phone call or resubmission rather than throwing a fit on a web board. ;)
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I find this comment striking in its irony, for it's the success of people who got rebates which ultimately contributed to the company's downfall, the same company for which they were prepared to do business with in the future.

Guess the lesson learned here is to make sure you don't file too often if you want the company to stay in business :)
 
arcturus said:
I find this comment striking in its irony, for it's the success of people who got rebates which ultimately contributed to the company's downfall, the same company for which they were prepared to do business with in the future.

Guess the lesson learned here is to make sure you don't file too often if you want the company to stay in business :)
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Homer: Not a bear in sight. The Bear Patrol must be working like a charm.
Lisa: That's specious reasoning, Dad.
Homer: Thank you, dear.
Lisa: By your logic I could claim that this rock keeps tigers away.
Homer: Oh, how does it work?
Lisa: It doesn't work.
Homer: Uh-huh.
Lisa: It's just a stupid rock.
Homer: Uh-huh.
Lisa: But I don't see any tigers around, do you?
Homer: Lisa, I want to buy your rock.

The irony is funny, just not in the way you think. :p
 
Sorry, I didn't bother to read the entire thread since the first page...
OCZ (rebate-zone.com) isn't part of CPG (continental promotion group) right?

I just got back a rebate from them, but am not interested in having to pay the fees associated with a bounced check :(

If someone could let me know through PM or a reply to this thread, that'd be great.
Thanks in advance :)
 
"We have been longstanding supporters of mail in rebates (MIR)". Really, we hadn't noticed that you promote NVidia products based on mail-in rebate prices from one particular online company and also base your bang for buck recommendations off of those dubious and ever changing prices.
 
Why does the name Daniel Granger ring an alarm bell with me??? I've searched but haven't come up with anything.
 
I would also be leary of who you buy gift cards from for the upcoming year. Default risk will be high in many cases.
 
DigitalGriffin said:
The way it works is Suplier X expects 50% of the people to ask for rebates. So they supply the rebate company with 55% of the expected rebate total. If >55% of customers ask for the rebate, then the rebate company looses money.
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No, rebate company does not lose money. Yes, manufacturer supplies "expected" rebate amount. If there was a lower amount of submissions, then rebate company RETURNS the extra money. If the submission rate is higher, manufacturer pays more. At least this is how CPG was supposed to work.

Other rebate houses may be different.

Ludic said:
Say a company gave CPG $100,000 for rebates, and customer submitted $300,000 worth of rebates? Who normally would be on the hook for that?
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The manufacturer would be on the hook for that. See above.

arcturus said:
Will assume the companies like newegg or fry's have pulled CPG rebates?
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I know some have been pulled.
 
My experience has been positive with rebates. I keep a simple spread sheet with purchase date/amount/date sent, scan all completed forms/upc/invoices, and finally an expected delivery date.

I use a label printer and copy/paste the address from the PDF rebate form. So no possible typos.

In 4 years I have only had a problem twice (both resolved) out of 117 rebates totaling more than $2300 in rebate checks. One of those times they tried to tell my they didn't receive it.

The kicker: I put it all on my Amazon card so I get Amazon points and write off everything as a business expense.
 
Has there been any CONFIRMED reports of rebate checks bouncing?

Anyone here personally?
 
Is status-now.com affiliated with CPG / rebatestatus.com at all?

Just realized the gigabyte UD3P motherboard rebate shows www.status-now.com to check for rebate status... and the mailing address is in Tempe, AZ where CPG has/had a processing center?

Thanks in advance if anyone knows. :)
 
Okay... just noticed that it says it's Velocity Fulfillment... couldn't figure out how to edit my post.
:) I feel a bit safer with the rebate now :)
 
The BS rebate game that Tiger and other retails have been playing have only been hurting small businesses like mine for years. This is only good news for small business. Customers will flock to smaller stores after being screwed over in the biggest rebate debacle ever.

Also, some of these retailers will have to pay up to three times. Costco has even asked consumers to bring rebates to the store to be filled.

Imagine this scenario for a big retailer:

Rebate on item is $25, but rebate company is gone and the check bounced when the customer cashed it. Now the retailer gets to pay THREE times for one failed rebate.

1) $25 to the rebate company that stole the money.
2) $25 to the customer directly for the promised rebate.
3) an ADDITONAL $25 to the customer to pay the bounced check fee to their bank.

If the stores don't cover the bounced check fees, it's going to be an instant class action lawsuit from hell.
 
So... anyway I got these nice 2ghz core clock 4870X2's to sell for only $5 after a $600 MIR! Buy it now! ;)
 
My buddy just got laid off from these guys Last Wednesday. He was an ace developer.

Anyway they laid off 25 developers and kept 4.

Get your rebates if you can!
 
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