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rebates / companies to stay away from

Postby UALOneKPlus on Mon Jul 19, 2004 1:38 am

Starting a sticky thread to let others know about your bad experience with rebates.

I'll start:

Known bad rebate companies (or their processors who are known to have ripped off shoppers), in no particular order:

a. Buslink - their rebate processors are notoriously bad
b. MadDog - just MAD and BAD
c. OfficeMax - I personally have repeatedly had rebates not fulfilled. Like they say "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me". I shall not shop at OfficeMax again.


cfitz says this about MadDOG:
Yes, they really are that bad. I have personal experience being stiffed by Mad Dog, as have others on this forum. And if you think you can protect yourself by making photocopies, sending you materials in with dated delivery confirmation, etc., guess again. I did all that and had full documentation that I had sent in what was required when it was required and in the manner required. But Mad Dog denied my rebate, claiming I hadn't registered my product on their web page. I had registered it, of course, and had the print-out of the registration confirmation. But all my letters, emails and phone calls went unanswered. Eventually I realized I was never going to get any response from them, let alone my rebate, and that it wasn't worth continuing with the hassle for $10.

I think that is their strategy. Deny your rebate (or just "lose" it) and then simply ignore all your efforts to contact them. It doesn't cost them anything to stall, and they know you will eventually get tired of wasting time and money trying to get a relatively small rebate.

I hated to let Mad Dog get away with it, but in the end I decided that all I could realistically do was try to warn others so they don't get ripped off by Mad Dog too.


Please add your experiences here.


disclaimer This post and the following ones in this thread are the opinions of their respective authors, and in no way reflect or represent the official view of this website.
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Postby aviationwiz on Mon Jul 19, 2004 2:03 am

Fujifilm - Claims 30 days for rebate time when you file online, takes more than 60 days. Very slow.
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Postby Shredder on Mon Jul 19, 2004 2:14 am

aviationwiz wrote:Fujifilm - Claims 30 days for rebate time when you file online, takes more than 60 days. Very slow.


All rebates are. Even Staples and Office Depot (two among very few better companies that issue rebates on the products they sell) rebates take longer than said on their rebate forms.

Just look at the rebate this way...

rebate - re = bate which sounds like bait.
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rebates / companies to stay away from

Postby kingofheck on Mon Jul 19, 2004 12:01 pm

Very Bad: :evil:
(these companies will not pay unless one contacts them to complain):
CompUSA (TCA or "Where's my rebate")
IO-Magic / Hi-Val / Digital-Research
EPO
Koss
Philips

Bad: :cry:
(these take a long time, but eventually pay):
Best Buy
Fuji
Kingston

Good: :)
(these usually are on time):
Staples
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Postby LoneWolf on Mon Jul 19, 2004 1:20 pm

I never buy based on rebate. Ever. It's not worth the hassle.

I lost track of how many people came to the computer store I once worked at, wanted us to match prices on a hard disk, etc. and then were so shocked that we wouldn't match a mail-in rebate price. I'd sometimes tell them if they were friendly type folks that if they came back 8 weeks later (when their rebate check was supposed to arrive) we'd have it at that price too.

I' d rather pay slightly more online for an item than pay a ton more locally for an item that you'll eventually save money on if your rebate check actually arrives. I get the item quickly, it costs less initially, and I don't have to go through the hassle. No sales tax either.
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Postby MadBurner on Mon Jul 19, 2004 7:55 pm

Based on my experience, these are the worst companies for rebates:

KHypermedia/ValueDisc/OfficeMax/Fujifilm/Panasonic

They will deny just about every claim for BS reasons but they ALWAYS agree to pay after a firm phone call but of course it takes another 3 months to get it!

MB
Last edited by MadBurner on Mon Jul 19, 2004 8:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby MadBurner on Mon Jul 19, 2004 8:42 pm

aviationwiz wrote:Fujifilm - Claims 30 days for rebate time when you file online, takes more than 60 days. Very slow.


I submitted a rebate to Fujifilm on 11/10/2003 and they just printed the check on 7/19/2004!!

FUJIFILM IS SLOOOOOOOOW!!!

MB
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Postby Dartman on Mon Jul 19, 2004 10:31 pm

OfficeMax will try to not honor big rebates it seems even if you fill out everything properly. I had one disallowed becuase supposedly It was the wrong UPC. I took all my stuff I had directly to my store and 10 minutes later it was fixed. I did get my check within the 30 days they promised after that.
Another rebate I sent in came with no problems, maybe they were having a off day or it was new help :)
I try not to count the rebate too but sometimes it's a good deal anyways and the rebate is icing on the cake that they hope you won't send in, or give up when they refuse to honor it.
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About officemax

Postby Kitto on Mon Jul 19, 2004 10:47 pm

Sorry to hear bad experience of officemax rebates, but I have good experience with officemax. I have received 99% of rebates from officemax. The 1% I am still waiting. I have mailed for at least 10 rebates to officemax and get them back all! The largest rebate amount is $30. Also I have received over 100 bucks from officemax.
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Postby Boba_Fett on Mon Jul 26, 2004 6:37 pm

I've gotten every single rebate I've ever sent out for (probably around $1000 in rebates) from Big Boys like CompUSA (I think their rebates are good) and Office Depot to little $10 rebates on crappy 56k software modems. The only one I am wary of at the moment is this $25 rebate from Soyo for a 802.11g laptop card. They said it would take like 12 weeks total or something. There is no reason for that :(
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Postby aviationwiz on Mon Jul 26, 2004 7:05 pm

PriceGrabber MIR's are very good!
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Postby BillyG on Sun Aug 01, 2004 11:00 am

I have had trouble with Khrappymedia :( rebates too - bought a 100 pack of thier 48X generic (CMC) CD-R's at Officemax. They sent me a card that told me I had sent them the wrong UPC. I had everything scanned so I sent back copies of everything and they finally honored it.

One of the fastest rebates was from Memorex - I got my rebate check back in 3 weeks.

One of the major OfficeMax rebate adresses is in El Paso TX - I wonder if they hire anyone who can read english??

BTW is Spin-X another one of Khypermedia's brands?
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Postby UALOneKPlus on Sun Aug 01, 2004 11:54 pm

BillyG wrote:...BTW is Spin-X another one of Khypermedia's brands?
I could be wrong, but I think it is.
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Postby Rich on Tue Aug 03, 2004 8:21 am

Opposite of the topic; Office Depot has long been the best place to buy from. I've had experience after experience where they bent over backwards to price match and cover rebates.

Almost 2 months ago I bought my WRT54GS Linksys Router and the PC card WPC54GS and they were out the door before rebates for $180 with a $10 Office Depot rebate on each and a $10 Linksys rebate on each = $40 bucks.

The local Office Depot was out of the rebate forms and they gave it to me ::cash:: right at the register after purchasing them.

I've had Office Max swear to uphold a rebate and just dis-own it when the problem came up.

Sadly Compusa has become as bad as Office Max for handling rebates which is the bottom of the barrel.

One guy at work said something to a rebate worker. He told them ok, if your not going to pay the rebate then send me back my barcode so I can return this puppy. They immediately sent his rebate.

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subject: rebates / companies to stay away from

Postby kingofheck on Tue Aug 03, 2004 1:08 pm

"The local Office Depot was out of the rebate forms and they gave it to me ::cash:: right at the register after purchasing them. "


Wow!!! :o

"Sadly Compusa has become as bad as Office Max for handling rebates which is the bottom of the barrel. "


Every rebate from CompUSA I've ever submitted has
been a headache. :cry:
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Postby MonteLDS on Sun Aug 15, 2004 3:55 pm

If you ever forget to send in that UPC w/ Sony they do a great job to get you a little note to say hey you forgot it.
I had sent in the wrong paper, and when i got the letter back to say i hadn't i said "D'OH!" i expected that it might take 6 more weeks for me to get my money back, but 2 weeks later i got my check! good people there.

Also Best Buy did a good job to send me the rebate in the time they promises 6 - 8 weeks
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FUJI rebates have taken a turn for the worse

Postby kingofheck on Mon Sep 13, 2004 12:44 pm

It looks like the FUJI rebates have taken a turn for the worse.
Here is a transcript of the 'help' I just received:

Thank you for using the Fujifilm My Rewards website. Your session will be handled by the next available agent

Your Representative today is charles.

charles: Hello, (Me), how may I be of service to you today?
(Me): Greetings, I am wondering about my rebate that I submitted 2004-06-26.

charles: One moment please.
charles: May I please have your last name and zip code?
(Me): (Me), 00000

charles: Thanks. One moment while I look this up for you.
charles: Thanks for holding.
charles: Can you please tell me what this rebate is for?
(Me): For the CDRs

charles: I do show this rebate being in the processing stage of being mailed out.
(Me): Yes, I have been checking the status on-line regularly, but it has not changed status for about a month. I seems like it is stuck somewhere.

charles: Not at all. Your rebate should be mailed out within the next batch or two.
charles: Is there anything else that I can do for you at this time?
(Me): Do you know about what time I should expect my check?

charles: I'm sorry but I do not. I do apologize for this inconvenience.
(Me): Do you know when the next batch should be mailed?

charles: I'm sorry but I do not.
charles: The checks go about it batchs so I don't have a date to give you.
(Me): Do you know whom I should contact to get this information?

charles: I do not. I don't have any contacts at this location.
charles: Is there anything else I can do for you at this time.
(Me): No. Thank you for your help.

charles: Your welcome. Thank you for contacting fujifilm rebate center. Have a nice day.


:cry:

ARRGH!!!
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Postby Boba_Fett on Tue Oct 12, 2004 8:10 pm

LOL. Last March I sent out a $25 rebate offer (found on NewEgg) for a Soyo 802.11g PCMCIA laptop card. Well, I got it today... I guess I should be grateful, but damn, this is one of the main reasons rebates suck.

Another reason would be Ritek refusing my rebate because they said I didn't include the UPC, which I specifically remember including... BASTARDS! :evil:
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Postby Intimidator on Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:04 pm

If you use a little common sense and protect yourself you should have nothing to worry about with any company you deal with. However, some may take longer than others. Yes, rebates can take some time to receive but this is where you get the REALLY good deals from.

Make sure you keep a DATED copy of everything you send.

I have 100% rebate success!

If you have a problem with OM it just takes a simple phone call or visit with the STORE MANAGER showing your documentation and they will take care of it. I knew ahead of time that Mad Dog was bad and I told the manger directly what I have found from my research. It was obvious that I knew more about this then they did. They said let us know and we will take care of it. Then you hold THAT manager to their word.

Best Buy just takes a phone call

Fuji they are harder to deal with but persistence pays off.

Western Digtal is GREAT!!

Kingston Value Ram was great as well. I did have one come back from them that said I had an the wrong UPC. That was crazy! Pulled out my records contacted a rep. Faxed my info directly to him. That was it!!!

Lite-On was great!

Linksys was great!

Microadvantage was great!

Don't have a CompUSA around here.

Many people will just forget about their rebates since it was not much in the first place or they have poor record keeping skills.

Bottom line it is YOUR responsibility to make sure you get your rebate. If you drop the ball then it is your own fault.
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Postby aviationwiz on Sun Oct 17, 2004 2:21 pm

Does anyone frequently use FatWallet Cash Back?
http://www.fatwallet.com/cashback/

I do. Just a little bit back on normal purchases, it adds up.
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Postby Boba_Fett on Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:13 pm

Intimidator wrote:
Bottom line it is YOUR responsibility to make sure you get your rebate. If you drop the ball then it is your own fault.


I'm going to partially disagree here. If you follow the rebate guidelines to the "t" and they reject it due to incompentence or whatever, that is their problem (which then turns into my problem). Customers SHOULD NOT suffer due to shitty fulfilment centers. If you are offering rebates, you should have near 100% customer satisfaction AND near 100% successful rebate fulfilment. Lying to the customer on the max wait time for receiving rebates and claiming losing small UPCs should be treated with legal action. Bah...
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Postby Intimidator on Sun Oct 17, 2004 8:22 pm

Like I said, it is your responsibility when the company messes up or trying not to fulfil your request. Sure you can take legal action but are you willing to pay the atty fees for such a small amount or waste precious time for a small amt? No one would do that. The only way you could do this is make a Class Action Suit against the company. But that would be very difficult to round up all the people and even then those type of suits are difficult to resolve if you don't have enough people to join.

Protect yourself and your great deal you got using rebates!
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Postby shimman on Fri Nov 26, 2004 1:40 am

VERY SLOW & DIFFICULT(not recommended for non professional deal hunters) SOYO, K-HYPERMEDIA, OFFICE DEPOT(except exress group), PHY, HASTINGS, BESTBUY, TIGER DIRECT

SLOW: CIRCUIT CITY, OFFICE MAX, SONY, MAXTOR, AT&T, CANON, OFFICE DEPOT(express group), WESTERN DIGITAL, EPSON

OK: KONICA MINOLTA, SAMSUNG, D-LINK, HP, K-BYTE

FAST: TDK, STAPLES, BELKIN
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mad dog rebate finally came!

Postby rmdir on Wed Dec 08, 2004 10:29 pm

Finally got a rebate today for an NEC drive in a Mad Dog box. It took a while, I sent it in back on July 15. The rebate form says 4-6 weeks for processing, but it's obviously more like 4-6 months.
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Buslink is the worst!

Postby shock on Sun Jan 02, 2005 2:11 pm

Picked up a Buslink CDRW. Sent in the rebate info that day. Of course, I
made copies of everything and when I sent it in, I sent it so I could track
it through the USPO. I check a while afterwards and yes, it was in their
system and deemed "valid". Great. So I wait and wait. The 6 weeks go by,
the 8 weeks go by. Around 10 weeks, I check again and it is still "valid"
but nothing beyond that, so I call. I get told it will be sent out "soon". A few
more weeks go by and nothing. Now I start calling... every day. They stop
taking my calls, they stop taking *all* calls. I leave messages, but I guarantee
they never hear them. So about 8 (yes, eight!) months into it, I check out
where Buslink is located ... LA County. So, I go online, fill out a complaint
with the Better Business Bureau of LA County. I wait another week, then
call Buslink and I actually get a person. They ask me my name, say just
a moment, come back on the line and tell me that a check will be hand-written
and sent out that afternoon. A couple days later I receive the rebate (only
9 months since I sent it in!) and a day or so after that I get an update from
the BBB telling me that Buslink has sent me my rebate. Keep in mind, my
rebate had been marked "valid" from the day they received it - they just
weren't going to pay it!

Honestly, I didn't think the BBB would actually do anything, but they did.

I ... will ... never ... buy ... a ... buslink .... product ... again. Ever.

I will say this though, every rebate I've ever sent in, I've gotten. Even Buslink!

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