Actually...this is something I have wanted to write about for a while.

Rebates.

They make me think that I am getting a cheaper price on something. They have helped persuade me on a purchase before. When I do receive the rebate, it feels like that particular chapter in my purchasing book can end. I usually expect a large load of rebates around the February through April time frame from all the holiday spending.

But I really hate the whole rebate process.

I read somewhere that rebates are how business make more money. Something like less than half of the people fill out rebate forms for rebates worth $100 or more. It drops to something like 15% for purchases less than $50. So customers end up paying more, thinking that they will fill out this sheet, include a photo copy of the receipt, and mail it in. Many people forget about the rebates and sometimes, it feels like the rebate companies don't send out the check. Since the consumer forgets, there's no expectation there.

I'm religious about filling these out. I make sure I get my money. I even list it on my PDA to expect a check around a certain time.

I have found that some stores are cool about the whole rebate thing. Staples has got to be the best, as you can fill out the rebate online, even. Believe it or not, Fry's actually isn't too bad about the whole rebate thing, I have found. In my experience, stores such as CompUSA and Circuit City can suck about rebates. Best Buy has made efforts to stop doing the rebate thing all together.

When you buy online, however, it's different. Regardless of what store I buy from (Amazon, Dell, TigerDirect, CompUSA.com, Outpost.com), all my rebates seem to be processed by this administration called rebatesHQ. And rebatesHQ suck.

RebatesHQ suck hard.

The last two times I have mailed a form to them, they have been invalid--though I have successfully done my part in the rebate portion. It's getting to be that, not only do they make money from the customers that forget to fill out the form, they make money by denying those that do send them in.

I ordered this cool 3D fish screen saver for my computer (which I never use and it doesn't work with multiple monitors anyway). The shipping was free, and after rebate, the item would have been free as well. I dutifully sent it in. A little over a month later, I received a postcard that said I didn't send it in on time. Lame!!! I called up the number listed on the card, spoke to this guy named Jay and was put on hold several times. It was like this (paraphrase):

Jay: We have listed that you did not submit your form in time. Let me verify this.
- Hold -
Jay: What was your name again. I need to check it in my system.
Spencer: Spencer. Isn't it on your screen somewhere? I mean, you are looking at my issue.
Jay: Let me check.
- Hold -
Jay: It says that you have not submitted your form in time. I am going to check with our manager. Can you hold, please?
- Hold -
Jay: OK. Your rebate was invalid. But as a valued customer, I can honor your rebate. Can you spell your name?
Spencer: S P E N C E R.
Jay: OK. Hold on just a moment.
- Hold - *Sound of tapping on a keyboard in the background--but way too many characters than simply my name. More like replying to an email or chatting to someone online
Jay: OK. Your rebate was invalid. But I have changed it's status to valid. You should receive your rebate within 4 to 6 weeks. Is there anything else I can help you with?
Spencer: No. Thanks.

I was hoping to never have to go through rebatesHQ again.

Unfortunately, this was not the case.

I bought a hard drive from TigerDirect. It was an exceptional deal (yes, indeed, too good to be true). At the time, it was a 400GB hard drive for $70. Of course, that's after a huge rebate. This was the big one. This was the rebate that better work or I am going to bust down some buildings.

So I sent it off. This one was easy. In fact, when the hard drive came, I didn't even need to cut out the UPC. It was on a sheet that said something like "Use this sheet for the UPC." Again, I dutifully sent in the rebate. It was the middle of July. I checked pretty much every week, through July and August.

And then today--I checked it out. It was finally on the status page at rebatesHQ. Again, it said it was invalid.

Now buildings were about to be busted down.

I haven't even received my postcard telling me that the rebate was invalid. I wasn't going to wait. I looked around for a number to call. It wasn't listed on the page. I had to go to TigerDirect.com and pretend like I was buying another drive to get access to the rebate form, which hopefully had the phone number. It did, and I called them up.

It was pretty much the same process again. But this time I found out that the reason the drive rebate was invalid was because the UPC code was invalid. That was ridiculous as the product made it completely clear which UPC sheet to submit. It was an OEM drive. There was no box or manual. The only documentation was the UPC code. This could not be any clearer which UPC to submit. How on earth can this be invalid?

So I spent another 10 minutes on the phone. Again, I just had to say that I submitted the form. I didn't even have to prove the validity of the form. It was just explaining myself and my situation. I didn't call with a pissed off attitude. The person I spoke to wasn't impolite. But it felt like he was doing his job, as if he was part of a system of denied rebate handling.

The system was the following:

1. Wait for a customer to submit a rebate.
2. Mark the rebate invalid.
3. Update the rebatesHQ site indicating the unfortunate circumstance and some random reason as to why it was invalid.
4. Send out postcards for the issue.
5. Repeat for all rebates.
6. As the last obstacle between the customer and his rebate, wait until he calls--if at all.
   

When he calls, pretend to be typing to give the illusion of working hard on helping the customer when the truth is, the check box marked "Valid" simply needs to be clicked by the mouse. Put the customer on hold as if leaving my desk to speak with my manager. Bite into sandwich. Don't forget to click on the "Valid" check box. Then take the customer off hold and explain that, yes, the rebate was invalid. The customer did something wrong, but you have now come and made it all good by telling them they are a valued customer and that you will hook them up.

I checked after a few more minutes. The rebate is now valid and is processing.

So, from the customer who fills out the rebate, it seems that the new process is the following:

1. Buy product.
2. Fill out the rebate form.
3. Cut out the UPC code from the box or include the UPC sheet.
   
4. Make a copy of the receipt.
5. Make a photocopy of the entire package.
6. Put inside envelope and apply a stamp. Place in mailbox for the mailman to pick up.
7. Wait for the postcard in the mail telling the customer why the rebate is invalid.
8. Call up phone number on postcard.
9. Explain that you did everything you were supposed to do.
10. Get rebate validated.

Isn't that lame? Let's hope that we don't have to add an additional step about the rebate check being lost in the mail and calling up rebatesHQ again and explaining everything again.

technorati tags:rebates, rebatesHQ, tigerdirect

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