HIS is running a rebate scam

Thanks for the follow up post. It's good to get the end of the story.

Too bad you had to play Hard-Ball to begin with...

Glad you received your $$ too! :p
 
newegg rocks!

Dear Customer,

We have confirmed with HIS and we show that your rebate is valid. Here is a copy of your rebate details for your reference.

HIS - Hightech Information Systems Limited

ST****RT, C
Promotion HIS Video Card up to $40 MIR
Rebate Number 1****3
Rebate Amount $20.00
Currency USD
Promotion Type Rebate
Submission ID 1*******1
Status We have received your submission and it is being processed. The estimated mail date for your check is 12-Nov-2008.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please visit our FAQs page. If you still need assistance, please feel free to email me directly and I will be happy to assist you.

Thank you,

Nell Wang
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Way to step up newegg and getting this thing sorted out... they were already my favorite online shopping destination by far.. this just cements that position :) (but shame on you HIS!)
 
Newegg is not just the best online retailer of electronics I've dealt with, they are the best business, period, I've dealt with. I love them.
 
ordovician said:
Newegg is not just the best online retailer of electronics I've dealt with, they are the best business, period, I've dealt with. I love them.
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+1 on Newegg customer service. I had an issue where I paid $3 for rush processing (I'm impatient) but the item did not ship for another 24hrs. I called thinking I was going to have to be a dick about it to get the refund on the rush, but the lady was real nice, and explained some BS that it was not their fault, but UPS's. Now here I was, about to launch into a tirade about how it didn't matter when she said, "But we'll credit you back the rush fee plus a dollar (???) for the trouble."

I was lost. Didn't know what to say. I mean, I was all worked up to be angry, and then I had nothing to do with it all, lol. As long as they keep treating the customer that way, I will always come back.


So in summary....
HIS -1
Newegg +1
 
Never had a problem with newegg before, they're the best for a reason. They do need to can scamming rebate companies however.
 
When I worked retail (not PC's) rebates were in the hundreds, and in some cases thousands of dollars for some customers (yes, thousands).

They asked me sometime what should I do to ensure I get this: I basically said: Photocopy everything you have, the envelope you send it in, send it certified mail return receipt (that shows who signed for it, and it sends you back a card with their signature and the delivery date, in court, this is as good as having the silver bullet to shoot into their chest, if it would ever have to come to that, and being that some were in the thousands, they had small claims viability).

I also told them to feel free to keep me on their side, as I could make shit happen. If I, a lowly scrub retail employee can call and get shit done, I know the retailer you bought the product from can.

I had one customer that was constantly denied a rebate for like $500, they worked with me every step of the way. I put a phone call in, and got the manager involved, and said I'm looking at all the documentation from the customer, and there's nothing in here that would invalidate this rebate. They had me fax it all, and it was approved 1 day later.

Moral of the story. If you seem to be getting shafted, do not hesitate to turn to the retailer and say " Hey, I brought my business to you, and this is part of the deal, I need your help". If they ignore you, then you know they don't care about your business anymore than the product mfg does, and you should take your business elsewhere and make sure your voice is heard in the process. Doing so, will make things move.
 
I used to be a manager for Staples and we had so many issues with all kinds of rebates.
Part of our budget was a little extra cash in case we had to pay out for some of them.
 
glad to hear that you had a positive outcome...b/c of this thread I have avoided HIS products.

it's pretty damn ridiculous the amount of loop holes you had to jump through just to get your damn rebate and kudos to newegg, they rock!
 
i just bought a HIS vid card doh

but yeah newegg is the bomb i have never ever ever had a hard time with them, always recieved shipments quickly and in top quality and their customer service is the shit!

yay for newegg!
 
I don't mind rebates as it saves me money, and I've gotten about 97% of all my rebates over the last year. Had to fight with OCZ once, but the only one I've missed getting was a $10 HIS rebate. HIS pulled the exact same "Receipt was photocopied" BS on mine (it wasn't), they also said that the UPC code was not included, and also that it was the wrong UPC code :confused: Not sure how I could not include the UPC code and have it be the wrong UPC code. I think it was their way of saying "We don't honor rebates."

It was only $10, so not really worth my time to call and argue for it. I just don't buy HIS products, rebates or not. Plenty of other card makers out there.
 
Kudos to Newegg! :cool:

Boo to HIS. :mad:

Glad it worked out for you in the end, even though it required some follow-up on your part. :)
 
I also have an update to this. My original reply to this thread was that I had disputed their rejection but didn't really expect to get anywhere with this. I relatively quickly got a reply that they assigned me a new submission ID that I could track. On a whim I decided to track it this morning to see if they'd rejected it yet :p, but surprisingly it says a check was mailed on 10-23 (yesterday as of this post) and to expect it within 15 days (though of course I'd be surprised if it took anywhere near that long if it was really mailed out). I guess I'll see. :)
 
I found out just last week that my HIS 3870 has a problem. It gives me that "Display driver has stopped responding" message. Since rebate has been cut/sent due to time restrictions, and HIS's warranty policy requires one to pay shipping to AND return shipping, So beware before cutting out your rebates (look up RMA/Warranty and support policies before you do it. And test out your cards as much as you can before doing so).
 
I just sent in two rebates to asus. One for a 4850, and one for a P5Q Pro. I sent them off on the same day, but I've only gotten an email saying they recieved the one for the card, not the mobo. :(


edit: I feel like a total chump for passing up on a Visiontek lifetime warranty, for a MIR and a free copy of freaking Alone in the Dark.
 
Mail-in rebates, how I hate thee so. These things seemed to start popping-up first in computer sales, but now they've multiplied and spread into almost everything you can think about buying. Car salesmen love rebates, and you? Well, you get to pay taxes on the full amount, not the "discounted price."

In the six months it takes for me to see my money returned, what is it being used for? My guess is it's funding some terrorist cell. <jk> :)

...and another thing...What's with all the damn arts and crafts involved with mail-in rebates? Oh gee, let me find my scissors, tape, and maybe some paste to eat while I'm at it. What am I five?! Is this the 70's? Envelopes? Stamps? What are those? I'm buying something that can pump-out 11,000 MPixels/sec and I can't handle the rebate for it online using this fancy Internet thing? No, we're sorry, you're gonna have to run your tongue over this saliva activated seal to get any money back from us.

It used to be that a mail-in rebate was uncommon, now it's uncommon to find something that doesn't have one. Personally, I've gotten back about 75% of my rebates, and I've sent-in a good many. If you do everything right, anything short of 100% success rate is just plain unacceptable. They are relying on the fact that most people don't have the time and/or room for the added stress of having to track-down a $10 rebate. Well guess what...from now on, I don't have the time to look at your product if it has a mail-in rebate associated with it...how about that?

I'm sure they are shaking in their boots. :)

OP. I hope you get your money.

HIS. Keep your cards, thanks.
 
MIR is an hassle.

For example. I bought a BFG GTX 280 that failed me after two weeks but the MIR was already sent by then.
Since the video card box was somewhat mutilated, I was forced to replace the video card by the exact same model. (Of course, this policy makes sense or everybody would return their video card and keep the MIR as a net profit.)
Unfortunately, this particular model was out-of-stock and only came back in stock last week. So I have not been able to enjoy video gaming for a month now.

I think that any respectable resellers should not allow MIR (like BestBuy did not so long ago).
 
5tharrow said:
Mail-in rebates, how I hate thee so. These things seemed to start popping-up first in computer sales, but now they've multiplied and spread into almost everything you can think about buying. Car salesmen love rebates, and you? Well, you get to pay taxes on the full amount, not the "discounted price."

In the six months it takes for me to see my money returned, what is it being used for? My guess is it's funding some terrorist cell. <jk> :)

...and another thing...What's with all the damn arts and crafts involved with mail-in rebates? Oh gee, let me find my scissors, tape, and maybe some paste to eat while I'm at it. What am I five?! Is this the 70's? Envelopes? Stamps? What are those? I'm buying something that can pump-out 11,000 MPixels/sec and I can't handle the rebate for it online using this fancy Internet thing? No, we're sorry, you're gonna have to run your tongue over this saliva activated seal to get any money back from us.

...
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Staples' E-Z Rebates for the win! :cool: Too bad the electronic rebate trend hasn't really caught on. :(
 
WGSquallx2002 said:
I found out just last week that my HIS 3870 has a problem. It gives me that "Display driver has stopped responding" message. Since rebate has been cut/sent due to time restrictions, and HIS's warranty policy requires one to pay shipping to AND return shipping, So beware before cutting out your rebates (look up RMA/Warranty and support policies before you do it. And test out your cards as much as you can before doing so).
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Thats all good and dandy but I hope you're aware that under vista you could get the atikdamg.sys whatever error from a bad stick of memory. If vista crashes at anypoint it reloads drivers and the video driver is the last one to go so big surprise it claims the video driver is at fault when that is hardly the case.
 
so i FINALLY get his to send me a check, and then i get this email :rolleyes:

Dear HIS Customer,

You recently participated in one of our mail-in rebate promotions and your
check has been sent to you on behalf of HIS by a third party mail in rebate
firm. We have received information that the third party mail in rebate firm
that we have contracted to process our rebates is experiencing financial
difficulties and your check therefore may bounce even though we have already
paid sufficient funds to our contractor.
We ask you not to deposit any mail-in rebate check dated prior to November 13.

We are working to take corrective action to get your check to you as soon as
possible. We will update you as soon as we have the proper procedures in
place how to obtain your rebate.

In the meantime, please hold onto the check you have received and do not
deposit it.

Should you have any question, please send any inquiry to
[email protected]

Please accept our apology for this inconvenience and be assured we are
working diligently to address the situation.


Warm regards,
HIS customer service
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I say dont bash HIS because of the MIR company is not doing the job correctly and is going down the tube, HIS just needs to get a different MIR division to handle it
 
OofC_S7v7N said:
I say dont bash HIS because of the MIR company is not doing the job correctly and is going down the tube, HIS just needs to get a different MIR division to handle it
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So, it comes round full circle. Can't say I didn't call it like I saw it when I made this thread though. The reason my original rebate got rejected was because this rebate company was in the hole, and needed to find any excuse not to pay out. HIS is not totally to blame, however, they ARE the ones who chose to use this particular company.
 
I wont buy HIS after I had a TNT2 Pro card of theirs and the fan went dead after a month.

Never was able to get them to send me a new fan or a replacement card. Had to salvage a fan off of a 486 heatsink and bolt it on, so it took up my first PCI slot too.
 
OofC_S7v7N said:
I say dont bash HIS because of the MIR company is not doing the job correctly and is going down the tube, HIS just needs to get a different MIR division to handle it
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HIS is still responsible for the actions of its subcontractors. When those Ford SUVs had faulty tires from Bridgestone (several years ago, I think), Ford still deserved some of the blame, not just Bridgetone.
 
Yeah but if i bought that ford i would have put 95% of the blame on bridgestone not ford, same in this case if the company was going down and thought that maybe HIS could help them out and take on their business, and HIS knowing absolutely nothing about the problem than its not their fault.
 
beowulf7 said:
HIS is still responsible for the actions of its subcontractors. When those Ford SUVs had faulty tires from Bridgestone (several years ago, I think), Ford still deserved some of the blame, not just Bridgetone.
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It's not just HIS. You should see the list of company names that have used this company in the past. You may recognize a few of them...

* Abbott Laboratories (Freestyle Meters)
* Acronis Software
* ACTIVSION
* Adaware
* Adobe
* Advance Auto Parts
* Antec
* ArchBrook Laguna (Magellan Refurbished Rebate from Pep Boys)
* Atdec (wall mounts)
* AVG
* Bed Bath & Beyond
* BIC Corporations US - Shaver Division
* BFG
* Bridgevine
* Canon
* Casio
* Checker / Schuck’s / Kragen Auto Parts
* Citibank
* Core
* Costco
* DBL Distributing LLC (Harman Kardon)
* DeLorme
* Freestyle Meter
* Fujitsu
* Joe’s Sports
* HIS (video cards)
* Home Depot
* Logitech
* Motorola (Surfboard cable modems)
* Murray’s Discount Auto Parts
* Natures Earth Products
* Newegg (for certain products, other than Rosewill)
* Panda Distribution
* Pandigital
* PC Tools
* Pentax Imaging
* Ping
* PriceGrabber
* Rosewill (Newegg house brand)
* Rustoleum (Menard’s July $4 Door Paint Rebate)
* Samsung (printers)
* Smith Micro Software
* Spot
* Tabletops Unlimited
* TomTom
* TrendNET
* Westinghouse
* Windstream
* XFX
* XM Satellite Radio
* ZeroTherm
* Zyxel
 
OofC_S7v7N said:
Yeah but if i bought that ford i would have put 95% of the blame on bridgestone not ford, same in this case if the company was going down and thought that maybe HIS could help them out and take on their business, and HIS knowing absolutely nothing about the problem than its not their fault.
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Of course they're responsibe. A company is responsible for it's business decisions. It is not a customers responsibility to start sleuthing around trying to figure out what's going on. Lots and lots of companies make the parts that go into a video card, just like a car or any other product. Would you go crying to the maker of the PCB or capacitor on the video card if the PCB cracks or the capacitor blows? Hell no you wouldn't. That's not your problem. Just the same, it's not my problem what half-assed company HIS and others decide to use to validate and pay their rebates. It's a waste of your time to try and deal with the rebate company as they're the ones screwing you over to begin with. You need to deal with HIS, and hold them accountable. This crap people spew about it not being anyones fault is just that, crap. Make HIS straighten it out. If they can't or won't, don't buy from them again.

In case you couldn't tell, one thing that really pisses me off is when companies try and worm their way out of rebates. I can't believe anyone would think HIS or any other company doesn't know how the rebate business works and is off the hook when the rebate contractor screws over their customers.
 
OofC_S7v7N said:
Yeah but if i bought that ford i would have put 95% of the blame on bridgestone not ford, same in this case if the company was going down and thought that maybe HIS could help them out and take on their business, and HIS knowing absolutely nothing about the problem than its not their fault.
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Just to give a somewhat relevant example, while I don't know if it's a guaranteed thing, from what I've read, if a manufacturer or rebate company screws a Newegg customer and all the documentation (of the rebate) is legit, then Newegg will take the bite and provide the rebate check while it figures out the rebate w/ the manufacturer/rebate comp. Perhaps HIS should do that.
 
well im not in managment of either companies so i can not actually straighten anything out and most likely any of my comments will either get disregarded and or not even looked at, so there is only so much you can do in the end.
 
To be fair about MIR's is that they are more there to help the retailer. If you have ever worked in retail you know how inventory works. Just because you can buy the product for a certain price now, doesn't mean that was the price that you paid for the item sitting on your shelf. A company buys the product for one price, manufacturer wants to increase sales by reducing price to compete in the market, but why would the company sell the item for less than they purchased it for yesterday? The rebate makes it simple for the entire industry to offer similar prices for the product without putting the burden onto the retailers.

Now, products that are released at a certain price because the rebate will exist (read: cell phone industry) are simply there to take advantage of ignorant/lazy consumers and should not exist.
 
Its basically a gimmick, cause us Americans are always looking for a better deal and when we see were we "save" money by a rebate when think its a good deal.
 
All rebates are scams. They are inticing you to buy at a low price, but then hoping you dont send in the paperwork to claim the rebate. If they just took the rebate off at the register, there would never be a rebate again.
 
Comte said:
All rebates are scams. They are inticing you to buy at a low price, but then hoping you dont send in the paperwork to claim the rebate. If they just took the rebate off at the register, there would never be a rebate again.
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I think you're misusing the word "scam". It's only a scam if you properly submit a rebate but don't get the rebate check within the advertised time (usually 8-12 weeks).
 
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