best buy sales!!

[preludexl]

i saw 128megs ram for ~$20 after rebate.

tnt2 vanta 16meg ~$20 after rebate.

phillips 8x4x32 cdrw for $39.99 aftere rebate

also some generic digital research cdrw at 16x8x? for less than 80.

saw a radeon ve for $70 open box. anyone know what the difference bet that and le is?

oh yah a wintv card for ~$39

[japerritt]

Rebates are B/S. It takes forever if you are lucky. I 3 things from best buy and never got my rebate back after 6 months from 3 different companies. Not one of the companies would respond to my emails. I contacted best buy and raised hell until they just gave me the money back. Over one year has went by and not a trace of the rebates.

[Xeroid]

I think most companys are betting you will loose your paperwork or just forget to file for your rebate. Then when you send for your rebate 1/2 of them just ignore you!

It does make the price look impressive in the sale paper (until you read the fine print).

I HATE rebates!!!!!

Mike http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[Target]

Funny, I buy stuff all the time that are "on-sale" with the rebates.

The only, (did I say ONLY!!), place I have ever NOT received my rebates from were for purchases made at Best Buy. Staples, Office Max, Fry's, etc. have all came through.

'Nuff said.

[IW]

Well since it's "war story" time...

About 1 in 5 of my promised rebates have not come until I e-mailed, telephoned and in one case wrote a letter.


Very rarely has a rebate come in the time frame promised and in one case it took over 8 months and not the 8 to 10 weeks promised.

My biggest annoyance was a promised $20 rebate from Microsoft. They are usually among the more prompt to send the rebate. I never got it and after several phone calls they said I'd cashed the check. They sent me a copy of the front and back of the check and it was NOT MY SIGNATURE and not even my name! My suspicion is that the check was never mailed to me but in the bulk mail process was stuck to another check in front of it and went into that envelope. The person who received it cashed it in San Francisco 50 miles away from me. Microsoft wouldn't do anything about it and told me to call the "local law enforcement." I did and they "took a report" but admitted they wouldn't do anything further. I couldn't find an entry in a telephone book in SF for the person who signed it and knowing Bank of America where he cashed it with an account # written on it I figured I'd have no luck there so am out the $20.

One company after I contacted them 3 times over 6 weeks sent me some free supplies for the CD label maker for my patience and the check I received was hand written.

So, if you keep records and are patient and follow up you MAY eventually get your rebate.

I'm working right now on a $30 rebate from Symantec where they claimed on the web lookup to have sent me a postcard 6/1 saying that I hadn't included all the required information. They didn't send me a postcard and I had sent the info. I FAXed my copies to a fellow I talked with on the phone and am hoping to see that rebate.

Companies like rebates becasue:
* The retain their higher selling price.
(And the buyer gets stuck with sales tax on the full amount.)
* Most won't ever follow up and mail in the materials.

After a while it's the Principle (or is it "principal") of the thing and not the money (but it IS the cash!) <grin>

[The Beav]

After several bad experiences with rebates, I consider the price to be the price before rebate. If I do get a check I feel lucky.

[Xeroid]

Ditto. What Beav said. ^ ^ ^ ^

Mike

[This message has been edited by Xeroid (edited 08-15-2001).]

[ragtop]

I buy tons of stuff with rebates. You have to be patient, keep good records, and follow up with the companies.

Just this week I got back $135 in rebate checks:

$30 for RAM that was free after rebate
$30 for a modem that was free after rebate
$45 for a CDROM that was free after rebate
$30 off on a Philips CDRW

Some of this stuff I'm using, and some of it I've sold to others, making a few bucks in the process.

I've probably sent in 20 or more rebates in the past two years, and I received all but one of them. (I gave up trying on that one since it was only $10 and wasn't worth the effort) I will say that close to half of them required some follow-up on my part before they were sent out, but I make scans of everything before I send it in - that way I can give them any info they ask for.

[alondra]

You have to keep complete records on every rebate, scan copies of every thing sent. and ride their **** when no sign of it appears on the web site. I have fought 6 months for more than one,
getting thru the comp. answering stuff is a pain. Ive found that if you dont push any number, eventualy a person will come on. that bunch at Coppel Tex. are real sad. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/frown.gif but if you stick with it it can pay off. have three rebates in now. two recorded, one pending. I have some stuff totally free, like a set of speakers, a phone and CDR disks.