Expiring offer: Best Buy will stop rebates

[brainshrub]

http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/5326006.html

Retailers' love affair with mail-in rebates may be coming to an end.

In response to customer complaints, Best Buy Co. Inc., the world's largest electronics retailer, promised Friday to eliminate mail-in rebates within two years. Best Buy's rivals, including Circuit City Stores and CompUSA, are expected to follow suit.

"Our customers are telling us they just hate the process," said Ron Boire, executive vice president and general merchandise manager at Best Buy.

But it wasn't immediately clear Friday whether Best Buy would pass on the eliminated rebates in the form of lower prices, though several industry watchers said they expect the company to do so.

###

Thank God! I hate rebates. Anytime I see one, I tell the manager that I will not be buying the product due to the rebate.

I say something to the effect:

"The rebate tells me that I can find this item on the internet cheaper. I came to your store for the convenience, but the rebates remove any convenience-factor that I would have enjoyed."

Then I go home and, sure enough, I find the exact-same item for less without an inane rebate to fill out.

[Renew Deal]

1. Rebates are a scam

They are never paid on time and they hope you forget.

[jayctravis]

11. Agreed in most cases.

Some of the larger rebates...for a computer that are like $50-100 are usually not.

I listen to customers complain about rebates all day. A rebate should *never ever* be the deciding factor in buying a product. It's icing on the cake, but you shouldn't count on them.

[ixion]

2. mail in rebates are a scam, IMO

I never even bother with the headache of sending the stupid things in anymore.

[Liberal Veteran]

8. Which is EXACTLY what they want...in a way, it's bait and switch.

Come in and buy our product that is on sale with 30 dollars instant savings and a 30 dollar mail in rebate.

Oh, yeah....we need a copy of your UPC, you need to register your product online, and you need to mail a copy of your receipt along with the UPC and registration code we may or may not have sent you during your online registration with the form completely filled out within 15 days and in 3 months we'll send you a check.

They are counting on the fact that 30 percent of people won't bother with the bullshit and another 10 or 20 percent will screw up and not be eligible for their rebate.

[China_cat]

3. The only place I've never had a problem

with rebates has been Costco. They print out a rebate form with the info you need, you go online and enter it in their rebate center and about 10 days later you have a check.

It's lovely.

[brainshrub]

9. I wish I had a Costco in my area.

I've heard nothing but good things about them.

[blackrican]

13. Costco

as far as Costco: we bought my son a playset for around 700-800 dollars.
A few months later they sent us a $100 check. The letter with the check stated that the manufacturer had used other materials than the ones advertised with the equipment. Besides the money, we had the option of either getting the parts replaced, returning the set for a refund and if i'm not mistaken 1 or 2 other options. My wife and I looked at each other in disbelief. Costco ROCKS!!!!!!!

[dmr]

16. Welcome to DU, blackrican

:hi:

[brainshrub]

18. Great Googley Moogley!

A large corporation doing the right thing without being prodded by a lawsuit or bad publicity? WTF?

ON EDIT: Welcome to DU. :toast:

[Chomskyite]

26. Costco really does things right

And if they keep going the way they're going, they're going to send Walmart the way of Sears and KMart.

[Ironpost]

4. Never have I recieved my rebate, never best buy

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

5. I absolutely loathe the rebate system.

It's just a cheap way for them to collect a few cents interest on your dime (literally). Meantime, you sit and stare at the mailbox, waiting six, eight, or more weeks for your check.

Let's all just go back to paying the price and being done with it.

[tabasco]

6. Rebates worked ok for awhile but they've become scams.

The last one I used involved going online and registering. No response.

I'm sure that's what happens to everyone.

Then there is the next step you are instructed if you do not receive a response.

Complete scam. I have not received my rebate yet. I'm sure if it comes it will be well-disguised as junk mail.

[diatribe]

7. Rebates are another marketing ploy.....

You fill out valid information about yourself and whammo you're on 5,000 new mailing lists.

They win either way. They keep your rebate if you don't reply and if you do, they make the money right back.

[TahitiNut]

10. States like 'em. Sales tax is collected on the pre-rebate amount.

No refund. They could triple the prices of everything and offer 67% rebates and state revenue officials would swoon.

[AgadorSparticus]

12. i'm glad they are getting rid of this nonsense. i hate it too.

[Robeson]

14. Never buy at Best Buy. They are a repuke company that has one...

...of the worst ratings for political contributions. In the past they have given heavily to Republicans. http://www.buyblue.org/index.html

[brainshrub]

24. Kick.

Because people have to remember to buy blue.

[Voltaire99]

28. Yes, it's a solidly pro-Bush company.

I'm done shopping there.

[MidwestTransplant]

15. Isn't that ironic. Here's an email I received from Best Buy the other day

Thank you for contacting Best Buy about your rebate. I'm Adam with Customer Care.

We appreciate your concern about receiving your rebate. Best Buy takes great pride in making it easy for customer's to submit and redeem their rebates, and we apologize if you did not receive this level of service. We have shared your comments with the management teams from the appropriate departments who will review the situation for improvement opportunities. Please be certain Best Buy will continue to focus on satisfying our customers every chance we get.

Thank you for sharing your comments with Best Buy. Please don't hesitate to contact us with additional questions or concerns.


Best wishes from Best Buy,
Adam and the Customer Care Team

[Piperay]

17. They are nothing but a rip-off

anyway and the Best Buy ones are the worst. :mad: I sent in one and they kept sending the stuff back saying I hadn't sent the proper forms (I had) but by the time the crap went back and forth they had run the clock out of it and I got NOTHING. :argh: :grr:

[Deja Q]

19. We like low prices in the first place. Not games where the marketer can

find any excuse to deny the rebate. That's happened to most of us, in one form or another.

Worse, for each hard drive Best Buy sells, they seem to mark up the price by $50. Mail order or Sams Club (and likely Costco) have prices far lower.

So I really don't need Best Buy or CompUSA for most of my items, and if they jack up the cost of the ones I do need, I'll just order more from the internet in advance.

:hi: to them.

[Enraged_Ape]

20. Those rebate forms are worse than a 1040 tax form

I just completed two rebate forms for a computer I bought at CompUSA. It took me ALL DAY to fill out the damn forms, make the requisite photocopies, and make sure I included the proper copies/originals of the UPC and all of the other sundry information.

It was ridiculous. If I charged my time by the hour (and I do), I went in the hole on that deal.

[sbj405]

21. How many lost jobs will this equate to?

Have you ever noticed where the rebates get sent? ME, AZ, El Paso. I imagine the processing creates much need jobs in those areas. As much as I hate rebates, I don't buy their reason. It's about cutting labor costs.

[Ilsa]

22. You know, I sent off for a rebate a month or so ago.

I can't remember what it was on. I don't remember how it was for, but it might have been for $30-50. I hope i didn't receive it and tear up the check, thinking it was junk mail.

I hate rebates also.

[montana_hazeleyes]

29. With only a month gone by

you probably haven't received it yet. Many times rebate checks come in those envelopes that are perforated all around the whole thing and you tear it open that way, so be on the look-out for one of those.

[Ilsa]

32. Thanks. I think I remember what it was for, also.

We bought new cell phones in late February, and they had big rebates on them. The check might be for about $100.

[ozone_man]

23. Rebates are a way of having a sale without the sale.

It's a scam that should be outlawed.

[Greylyn58]

25. Best Buy can do whatever they want

as I quit shopping at their stores 3 years ago. They are the biggest ripoff artists I've ever seen.

I purchased a camcorder there 3 years ago to take with me on a trip. They gave me a box which I thought held the specific brand I wanted, that had extra do-dads. Well I went straight home, excited about my new purchase, but when I opened the box a cheaper brand(by the same company, but without some of the extras) was inside.

Unfortunately, I had made my purchase right at closing time so I couldn't return it that night. I went back the following day with my receipt and the camcorder to make my exchange, but they refused to exchange it. The store manager even accused me of trying to scam them by returning a cheaper camcorder to make a profit. She even went so far as to call me a liar. I was furious and what was worse the camcorder in the box didn't even work.

I wrote a letter to their corporate office and complained, but that also didn't do any good. They apologized for what the manager said but that was all I got from them

I did however get the last laugh. I took the camcorder to a different Best Buy and told them it didn't work and could I get it fixed. Well it seems this store said I could exchange it since my purchase was only a couple of days old.

Long story short, I ended up getting the camcorder I thought I was buying originally. The outside of the box showed the type and brand I should have received so they just gave me another box that held the correct item.

I refuse to buy from them ever again. I've never been as angry as I was after that mess.

:mad: :grr:

[PA Democrat]

27. I HATE rebates

CompUSA advertised a free photo printer with the purchase of a digital camera. Only problem, it involved FOUR different rebates.

They printed out EIGHT different forms, but was was like a test of fine print reading comprehension to figure out which ones applied, and of course if you sent in the wrong combination they were invalidated.

Four months later, I still haven't received one of the rebates. One was a $30 gift card that could be spent only at CompUSA, and one was a debit card with a value of $50 that requires you to carefully read the instructions. While it SAYS debit card, it must be processed as a credit card payment or it is rejected.

NEVER again.

[NNguyenMD]

30. I'm almost afraid to be the dissenter here but I have no problem with...

rebates. I've gotten some pretty good discounts with rebated items too, granted you only get the money 2 paycheck cycles later, and it takes a lot of paperwork to fill them out, but the way I see it a save is a save.

Of course instant rebates are far better, but they're never in the same magnitude of price drop that mail in rebates provide. I suppose the companies hope you just forget about them once you purchase your item, so I always make it a point to mail in the rebate the first thing I do when i bring my item home.

Also, for little things like mouses, keyboards, CD-Rs, rebates are pretty negligible for cost saving. But on things like computers, digital cameras, cd-drives and expensive computer equipment I think that they're worth it.

The worst mail-in-rebate nightmare I ever had was a SONY mail-in-rebate for an extra laptop battery for a SONY VAIO i purchased in 2001. Guess when I got the battery?

One full year later...its not surprising mail-in-rebates generate a lot of complaints but I'll be sad to see the system go.

[NNguyenMD]

31. California and Texas DUers maybe familiar with Fry's Electronics,

service is not great, probably has better deals than Best Buy and is my alternative to shopping there everytime I come back home to visit my parents in California.

[Tracer]

33. Oh swell.

On Saturday, I purchased a new gas stove at Best Buy after doing my online research and shopping around at other local stores.

The model I wanted was $100 less at BB than anywhere else Ñ and also came with "free delivery" ..... meaning a REBATE of the $35.00.

This morning, I went online and attempted to complete the rebate form.

It wasn't there! Just a list of rebates that all expired in March.

So, now I'll have to do it by mail and hope for the best.

I have had good experience with online rebates in the past. They are quicker than mail-ins .... which, by the time they come, I've forgotten what they were originally for.

P.S. I didin't know that Best Buy was a big donor to Republicans.