July 5, 2005

  • I hate rebates.  I really, really hate rebates.

    Last month I bought myself a new cell phone, having had the previous
    one for over two years.  Because it was two years old, there was a
    trade-in allowance of $100 available, except that's not strictly
    accurate as any applicable rebate was subtracted from the
    allowance.  There was a $50 rebate offered on the model I
    selected, so Verizon knocked $50 off the price up front, with the idea
    being I'd send in the rebate form to receive the remaining $50.

    Ha!  Bet you think I lost the form, right?  Bet you think I
    can't lay hands on the receipt, eh?  Bet you think I delayed too
    long so it didn't get postmarked in time, true?

    Wrong.  All wrong.  Wrong, wrong, wrong.

    I have the receipt, the form, and sufficient time to get it in the mail.

    What I'm missing is the darn BOX the phone came in.   The bar
    code is supposed to be cut off and sent in with the form and the
    receipt.   Can't find the dumb box anywhere . . . I'm pretty
    sure it got tossed away. 

    ARGH!!! 

Comments (2)

  • I am with you on this particular loathing. I think rebates were invented with the full knowledge that Something Will Always Go Wrong. I bet they don't actually have to pay out on the vast majority of the rebates that are due. I can't begin to guess how much rebate money I've blown over the years for one reason or another!

  • Not to mention it takes so long to actually receive the rebate that I tend to forget about it entirely. Who knows how many I've sent off for that never arrived, but I didn't think to follow up on?

    And I've read you're absolutely correct...the company counts on most people not bothering, or doing as I did and inadvertently disposing of one of the necessary elements.

    They're stinkers.

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