A
lot of us (including myself) have gotten trapped in the cycle of calling some
rebate center, being told "sorry about the processing error, your rebate
is now approved, please wait 10-12 weeks for a check", waiting 10-12
weeks, not getting the check, and calling AGAIN and being told the same thing
they told you 10-12 weeks ago. If you do as they tell you, you'll eventually be
told (as I have) that "the rebate has expired; it was only valid for six
months". The whole system seems designed to "delay, delay,
deny".
Well, enough is enough.
I think the key mistakes that the rebate issuers want you to make are:
* "It's the rebate center's fault." -- No way! The product
MANUFACTURER (usually) is the one who's made the rebate offer and is legally
responsible for fulfilling it. If they want to hire a rebate center to do their
dirty work, that's their choice, but there are still only two parties to the
rebate contract-- YOU and the MANUFACTURER (and/or the retail store). The
rebate center is just the AGENT of the rebate issuer. If the rebate center
isn't doing a good job, that's still the legal responsibility of the rebate
issuer. So why go round and round with the rebate center? It just doesn't make
any legal sense. In other words, if the rebate form says "allow 10-12
weeks" and you don't have the check after 12 weeks and 0 days, then the
rebate issuer is in BREACH OF CONTRACT. I don't see any reason why we should
put up with more than ONE CALL to the rebate center and a maximum of ONE WEEK
extra delay to get the check. After that, they've clearly demonstrated that
they're all about "delay, delay, deny", not about honest
problem-solving.
* "It's the manufacturer's fault" (said by the retail store)-- Not if
the store advertised the rebate! In California, if the retail store advertised
the rebate, then they are co-responsible with the manufacturer for paying the
rebate. In other states, the retail store is probably legally responsible under
contract law if the store advertised the rebate without disclosing that the
reason they're offering a rebate instead of a cash discount is that they expect
that a very low percentage of rebates will be successfully redeemed.
* "You need to wait-- that's the system"-- NOT if the time specified
on the rebate form has already passed! The
FTC says: "By law, companies are required to send rebates within the
time frame promised, or if no time is specified, within 30 days."
I've had about a 99% success rate in collecting several hundred rebates. (There
were a few I couldn't collect, but that was before I started logging and
keeping scanned copies of ALL rebates submitted.) The problem is it takes it
chews up way too much time (especially time spent on the phone and time spent
resubmitting paperwork that was "not in our system"), so I'm starting
to use a modified rebate collection system (detailed below). The idea is to get
paid with as little hassle as possible and also to collect evidence that law
enforcement agencies can use in court.
1) Buy the product and send in the rebate form, after making a scanned copy of
the filled-out rebate form, UPC, and sales receipt. Make a note of the date,
store, manufacturer, and amount in your paper rebate log. Don't throw away
anything (product box, plastic container, manuals, etc.) until the rebate has
arrived!
Also, get Delivery Confirmation so that you have PROOF of when it was
delivered-- no more hearing that your rebate was "received" three
weeks after you mailed it! You can get Delivery Confirmation for 13 cents
(instead of 55 cents) and WITHOUT a trip to the Post Office as follows:
* Download USPS
Shipping Assistant. This is a free tool that will print out Delivery
Confirmation labels for you. Unlike the
web version (which only prints labels for Priority Mail), the downloadable
program will print out labels for First Class Mail and Media Mail.
* When you print out the shipping label, also save the label's PDF or GIF file.
The reason is that Track and Confirm only shows the destination ZIP code, not the
whole address. If you save the label's file, the DC number will on it in combination
with the online DC database will provide proof of delivery to a specific
address. (Note: Electronic Delivery Confirmation records are only available
online, not over the phone, and only for six months.)
* Use a Tyvek envelope (in case it get rough treatment) and put some bubble
wrap in the envelope so that the envelope is at least 3/4" thick.
(Delivery Confirmation is only for packages that are at least 3/4" thick.)
If the envelope weighs one ounce, add an extra 12 cents for the nonmachineable surcharge. The total postage should be 62 cents
for one ounce or 73 cents for two ounces (since the nonmachineable surcharge
only applies to one-ounce mail). Here are a couple threads on the topic.
* Delivery Confirmation is probably better proof of the delivery date than
Certified Mail, since the rebate center can deliberately
delay signing for their Certified Mail at the Post Office window.
2) Allow an extra month beyond the rebate period stated on the rebate form. If
the check doesn't arrive, call the rebate center (recording the call on your $20 voice modem and making sure to stay legal by saying "I'm recording this call"). If
they say "allow 4-6 weeks" or "I will submit your request for
approval", remind them that they are already in breach of contract, and
that unless they are willing to commit to mailing out a check within a week,
that you will immediately call the retail store's manager. Remember, the whole
point of rebate centers seems to be to wear you out! So DON'T PLAY THEIR GAME--
if they don't cooperate, ESCALATE!!
One of the hassles of each level in the rebate collection process is having to
re-explain the problem over and over, and re-fax the documentation over and
over. What I have been doing lately is to put together a web page that includes
a generic complaint letter and JPG images of the documentation. That way, all I
have to typically do is email the URL. If they insist that the information must
be faxed or snail-mailed, then I usually take that as obstructionism, and
immediately escalate the issue to the next level. (It's the 21st century, after
all!) (I scan my rebates at 150 dpi so that the scan shows all the fine print
clearly. One problem with Internet Explorer is that when these oversized images
are printed out, IE doesn't print the right side of the image. (Neither
'Windows Picture and Fax Viewer' nor Mozilla have this problem.) However, this
HTML solves the problem perfectly both on-screen and when-printed: '<img
src=myfile.jpg width=90%>' (no height attribute).)
3) Call the manager of the retail store where you bought the item. THIS IS THE
MAGIC BULLET-- store managers probably hate rebate BS even more than you do!!
Both Frys and COMPUSA have special rebate-follow-up departments-- people who
sit there all day on the phone trying to get your rebate. All you have to do is
email or fax your documentation to the store manager. Then THEY can waste as
much of their time as they want fighting with the rebate center-- SWEET!!! If
they fail, the store manager will mail you a gift certificate for the amount of
the rebate. If the manager can't or won't cooperate (AND you're sure that your
request is legitimate), tell him that your next step is to write the CEO, and ask
for the spelling of the store manager's name.
4) If there's no "store manager", if the store manager is unwilling
to commit to solving your problem, or if the store manager hasn't solved your
problem within two weeks, send an email or fax to the CEO of the store chain.
This is ANOTHER MAGIC BULLET. I sent an email to Michael Dell with attached JPG
images of the scanned paperwork, and a guy from their executive office called
back within HOURS and committed to mailing the full rebate amount within 10
days!
5) If the CEO hasn't solved the problem within 24 hours, file a complaint at
BBB.org. BBB is takes weeks to respond, but they can sometimes get results.
6) File a complaint at PlanetFeedback.
7) Complain to the business's partners. An example of this is complaining to
the store about the manufacturer's not paying the rebate.
8) If appropriate, and if you're sure you haven't done anything wrong, file
complaints with your
state department of consumer affairs, your state attorney general, the FTC, the FBI, and the Postal Inspection Service. (Intentionally cheating people out of
their rebates is FRAUD, after all!) Most of these agencies won't actually
investigate on your behalf, but they will send a letter to the company. A lot
of times, the company will realize it's time to pay when they see get a letter
from the Postal Inspection Service or the Attorney General. If you've kept
copies of all paperwork and notes or recordings of every phone call, you have
very valuable evidence that can be used against the company in court (so
MENTION in your complaint that you have perfect records of everything).
9) Take the company to court. That might sound extreme for something as small
as a rebate, but the filing cost for small
claims court is CHEAP-- $22 in California. Filing a claim doesn't mean you
need to hire a lawyer or pay any further fees-- in fact, lawyers are not
allowed in CA small claims court, and the most cost-effective strategy is
probably to file a small claims case and then immediately get on the phone to
the company, tell them you've filed a small claims case against them, negotiate
a settlement (now that they know it will cost them real money to keep ignoring
you, they'll be much more cooperative), and then drop the case. If the company
is still unresponsive, then they probably won't show up in court on the trial
date (so you'll win just by showing up). Regarding whether going to court would
be held against you (for example, by future employers), I suspect that if the
details of the case would make a good "honest customer fights back against
crooked business" story in the newspaper, then any honest employer would
see it as "this guy gets results!" (and you as someone they'd want on
their team). Here are some threads (1 2
3 4 5 6 7) by folks that sued in Small Claims Court. In every case the
company settled before trial, and in most cases the consumer ended up with not
just the missing money and court costs, but also money to cover their time.
Unsure? You can observe a Small Claims Court session without participating--
it's free and quite interesting. Here is a checklist of consumer laws. NOLO.com publishes a
couple excellent guidebooks: Everybody's
Guide to Small Claims Court and Everybody's
Guide to Small Claims Court in California. My local library had plenty of
copies. In California, you can get Small Claims Court procedural advice for
free (such as having the sheriff serve process rather than using Certified Mail
(to avoid refused delivery)) through the Small Claims Advisor. Usually you
leave your phone number and the Small Claims Advisor will call you back in a
couple days. I've found that the advice is very helpful IF you write out your
questions in advance and in detail. You can also get legal advice over the
phone through Legal Services Plan for $10/month.
Here's an article that has a similar rebate collections procedure. (Is is
COLLECTIONS, isn't it? We're dealing with deadbeat manufacturers who won't pay
if they can get away with it, and we have to figure out how to get them to
pay!)