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*rebate Tip*

N

Northerner

2[H]4U
Joined
Dec 25, 2002
Messages
2,539
im sure some people know about doing this but this is a warning to those who dont!

more and more lately a lot of hard drive companies are offering big rebates on their drives.
western digital is the main one and that is what i want to talk about!

i have always used wd drives and this year i built a new system and the first drive i put in
had a rebate so i filled it out and mailed it off and never got the rebate!
so after i put in a second drive i wrote down all the information on the rebate form, most
importantly the phone number!

it has been 2 months since i sent my last rebate in and i have been waiting patiently and
i figured i would just call and see what happens..... boy what a scam they got going!
after taking down ALL of my personal information (like they didnt already have it) they said
"were just finalizing your rebate and that should be sent out to you shortly"

what a big bunch of bullshit! im sure no one ever gets their rebate unless they call in to
check on it so from now on i will always write down the rebate info and the date i mailed it
all in and then do a follow up call a month or so down the road to check the 'progress'

has anyone else run into this kind of rebate scam???
 
out of many items i purchased with rebates i only got one rebate back worth $40-60 and that was back in 97-99

i purchased a pair of cheap headphones for $15 with $12 in rebate, its been a year now and no $12 to be seen..

i've stopped buying anything with the letters REBATE on the box
 
I just bought a Hitachi hardrive with an $80 mail in rebate so hopefully this doesn't happen. :eek:

But I feel pretty safe, most companies I have dealt with before take like 3-5 months for the rebate to come back, but whatever, its $80 however long it takes. Fill out the rebate and move on. ;)
 
Unfortunately, this is common practice. Companies profit from people who don't bother to send in their rebates or send them in late or without all the right paperwork. On top of that, they reject rebates for no reason and hope people don't keep records and don't bother to call back, for a bit of extra profit.

I've always kept very careful records of my rebates and copies of everything. Out of my last four rebates, I've had two of them "accidentally" rejected. I had to call back and in one case send a fax copy of my paperwork. In both cases, I had followed the instructions to the letter and gotten everything in well before the deadline. In both cases, they claimed it was some typo or computer glitch on their end. Since I have careful records, I did end up getting my checks, but not without a lot of hassle. I'm sure if I didn't keep copies of everything they would've just told me "I'm sorry, we can't do anything for you."

This is a big business scam and there are news stories about it every once in a while, but instead of getting better, it seems like the companies are just trying to see how much they can get away with.

You have two choices: 1) don't buy anything with a rebate, 2) keep careful records and copies of everything you send them and be prepared for a fight for every check.
 
From what I've seen, all rebates are used for are to move slow selling or closeout items off the shelves. They make the products look attractive, but more often than not I'll avoid something with a mail-in-rebate, because I've have a number of bad experiences. Sure, in the long run you save money (if you get the rebate check), but you still had to shell out the regular price to begin with. IMO, it just isn't worth the hassle.
 
Rebates help move product, yes, however they can also be thought of as a no-interest loan on the part of the manufacturer. The retailer (ok distributer then retailer, whatever) buys the product at wholesale, the manufacturer gets all their money. Now, lets say you buy the drive 3 months later with a rebate, and send it in 1month later, and it takes 5 months to get your rebate and lets say you're lazy and don't cash the check for another month. That's 10 months that the manufacturer has had that money, and could be using it for any number of things or just accruing interest on it in a bank. That minimizes the effect of giving a rebate.

The basic rule of rebates is, though, make a copy of the rebate form along with the UPC and keep the original receipt. I always do this and If I have a problem, I call and it gets fixed. Plus I usually forget about them (althogh I keep a list of outstanding rebates) so all of a sudden I get a $50 check in the mail which is pretty sweet.
 
im so glad i called in last week cause yesterday i got one rebate for my first drive i sent in, and today i got my other rebate for my last drive i got.both rebates are from different places so i dont know if its a big coincedence or what that i got both at the same time since i sent them in about a month apart!
but from now on i will start printing out two of the rebates (one to send in and one to keep) and also scan the upc and make another copy of the reciept and i put them in a file folder and i also mark on the calendar normally '8 weeks' out so when the time comes around i will know to start keeping an eye on things or get ready to take some action!
 
I can honestly say I have never had an issue with rebates. I have received every one I have ever sent in. Well over 20, many of them hard drives. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I doubt that companies would risk loosing customers by something as simple as not paying a rebate, not to mention the illegality of it.
 
I haven't had a problem with rebates, at least not that I recall. I bought a WD160 (which is now screwed btw) last boxing errr week (boxing day is never just a day anymore....) sale for $230 CAN and got $130 back within a month. I also bought a Linksys wireless router and wireless PCI with $15 rebate for each and got $30 within a month as well. I honestly think there's an element of luck to it because not all people follow up properly *cough* government *cough*
 
I buy everything online
rebate @#@!$%# for the most part keeps me from using brick and mortar outlets
well that and I have a reasonable expectation of due dilegence from a retailer like newegg
they know what it takes to properly handle and ship components
whereas I have little confidence in most 18 year old stock boys and the rough handling of the general public with retail packages on a shelf
especially when it comes to drives, HDD or Optical

of course the vast majority of what Id be looking for just isnt available in a brick and mortar either,
they dont stock workstation level components on the one end (Opteron)
or antique components on the other (recently bought an MSI K7T for an old Athlon 1200)
 
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