You Save 100.00%
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Just noticed this and wondering what the site is thinking - anyone else noticed something similar?
http://www.ecost.com/detail.aspx?edp=40940777&navid=155441524
Price: $12.00 Your Price: $0.00 including $12 rebate (You Save 100.00%)
Has it really got this bad to just get your name and address details for spamming purposes?
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What, you've never heard the term "free after rebate" before?
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Yes it's a scam but not the kind you're thinking of.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebate_(marketing)
Basically you pay the $12 and then have to fill in a load of forms and hand them in within a narrow timeframe at some point in the future when you're likely to have forgotten about it. And if you miss it they keep your money.
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@mentaldingo said:
Yes it's a scam but not the kind you're thinking of.
How exactly is that a scam? It clearly states that it is a rebate.
@mentaldingo said:
Basically you pay the $12 and then have to fill in a load of forms and hand them in within a narrow timeframe at some point in the future when you're likely to have forgotten about it. And if you miss it they keep your money.
"A load of forms" now means basic personal information and proof of purchase? The "narrow timeframe" is usually at least a few weeks. Yes, they are counting on a lot of people forgetting because a lot of people will. That's the fault of the person who didn't bother mailing it in. And they don't keep "your money", they keep the money you paid them for the product; it is their money. If you are too lazy or forgetful to fill out the forms, then you don't get a rebate. I always fill in the rebate forms and mail them off right away and enjoy my wonderful rebate checks. I realize that something like 75% of people don't ever mail the form in, meaning my rebate was subsidized by these people. I consider it a tax on the stupid, lazy and greedy fuckers I have to interact with on a daily basis, much like the state lottery. I consider it much more humane than my previous policy of facial stabbings, but if you have a better idea I'd love to hear it.
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Without reading the details, I think he meant that the time window is in the future and not "within x time of date of purchase." That makes it a little trickier. "You must send this is during this week that is 4 months from the date of purchase."
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@belgariontheking said:
Without reading the details, I think he meant that the time window is in the future and not "within x time of date of purchase." That makes it a little trickier. "You must send this is during this week that is 4 months from the date of purchase."
When have you ever seen a rebate that demanded this? Not that it would be an odious burden, but I personally never have. Hell, if they want me to wait 2 months before mailing it, I will. It's not so much the $40 as I hardly need more money seeing as I have a giant tower full of gold coins that I frequently swim in. It's the fact that my $40 rebate came from the pockets of the drooling, troglodytic fools who never seem capable of working the goddamn PIN pad in the checkout line. Listen, lady, I know you've survived two World Wars and all, but if you don't know the difference between "credit" and "debit" maybe it is time for you to admit defeat at the hands of Progress. Hey, you've lived a full, rich life, but maybe it's time to admit you are socially and intellectually inferior to people born since the 1950s and give it a rest. Believe me, nobody is going to miss you, so don't worry about causing heartache amongst the living. You are at the end of your usefulness, like a rotor that has stripped its bearings and now only emits the tedious shriek of bare metal disintegrating against bare metal as Time's pendulum laboriously counts down to your final breath.
Oh... Oh Jesus, you have coupons??? Yeah, you were supposed to give those to the cashier before you swiped your Diner's Club card and scratched out your signature on the touch-sensitive screen with your withered, arthritic claw. Oh Christ they're calling a manager... Please, just tell her that the coupons are all invalid... Really, she has no way of knowing. She's probably so frightened and tired from the Grim Reaper's ever-closing pursuit that she will believe anything you say if you just speak softly and put your arm around her. No, don't give the receipt.. NO! Oh, God, she's just going to spend the next 20 minutes reading it and arguing over every penny, because that's how she survived the Depression.. Don't you know this?? Gah... I wonder if I can hold my breath long enough to cause partial brain damage.. it would probably make things more enjoyable, at least.. alright, he we go.... ..... .... Oh, WHAT THE FUCK??? You're halfway through the receipt and then you remember to put on your reading glasses, meaning you have to start all over?? What in the name of piss were you doing for the last 5 eternities, running your eyes slowly down the receipt without actually reading it?? Why me?? What have I done to deserve this torture?? All of the other lines are moving... the guy behind is getting pissed and he looks like he might have a knife. Shit, I've got to think of a way out of this... think.. think... THINK!!! ... Alright, I'm just going to scream "Rape!" at the top of my lungs and run out the door. It will confuse enough people that I can probably get a few blocks before anyone realizes I have left all of my groceries on the conveyor.. Alright, ONE... TWO... THREE...
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@morbiuswilters said:
*lots of funny stuff snipped*
Alright, ONE... TWO... THREE...
That gets an award for If-I-Were-Drinking-Coffee-There-Would-Now-Be-Coffee-On-The-Keyboard.
Very, very good.
B
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That kind of rebate seems to suck. Sure, I'd send it in and be happy to get some money back - but why make it that difficult? Are most people really that stupid and forget to send it in? Good thing I've never seen that "live". Probably wouldn't buy it, but who knows, maybe if it's a really good price..
Here, it simply says "2,80EUR" instead of "3EUR" on the price tag. Of course, that leads to .. old ladys checking their receipts wheter or not the 0,20EUR were substracted correctly..
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@morbiuswilters said:
@belgariontheking said:
Without reading the details, I think he meant that the time window is in the future and not "within x time of date of purchase." That makes it a little trickier. "You must send this is during this week that is 4 months from the date of purchase."
When have you ever seen a rebate that demanded this? Not that it would be an odious burden, but I personally never have. Hell, if they want me to wait 2 months before mailing it, I will.
I've had something similar. Not one of these rebates, but a similar money-back scheme.
I bought a new TV in 2000, paid £89 for extended warranty i.e. 5 years' cover instead of 1; if I didn't claim on the extended warranty during its life then I could mail the roughly eight-by-one-inch "insurance validation slip" back to the insurance company within a month (IIRC) of the expiry date and claim my £89 back. That's a five-year wait followed by a one-month window.
Didn't need to claim, kept the slip with my other insurance docs, sent it in at the right time, got the money back. Nice. I was amazed it went that smoothly, really; five years is plenty of time for buyouts, mergers, go-bust-nications and what have you.
(Of course it's not completely free - it cost me the depreciation due to inflation from 2000-05, and 5 years' potential interest, on £89. Plus the price of a stamp. Cheaper than a typical extended warranty though. Anyway that's beside the point here.)
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@morbiuswilters said:
How exactly is that a scam? It clearly states that it is a rebate.
There are definitely some rebate outfits out there that are scammy. One was caught throwing envelopes they received straight into the trash without opening them recently. Tiger Direct is also attached to an infamously shady rebate company, OnRebate (the BBB gives them an F). Both companies are owned by the same people, posing a clear conflict of interest.In some cases, "rebate" and "scam" are damn near synonymous.
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@merreborn said:
@morbiuswilters said:
How exactly is that a scam? It clearly states that it is a rebate.
There are definitely some rebate outfits out there that are scammy. One was caught throwing envelopes they received straight into the trash without opening them recently. Tiger Direct is also attached to an infamously shady rebate company, OnRebate (the BBB gives them an F). Both companies are owned by the same people, posing a clear conflict of interest.In some cases, "rebate" and "scam" are damn near synonymous.
Well, I would try to avoid those places. However, I have never not gotten a rebate. I also make copies of everything I mail off and note the date, etc. so I can monitor for rebate and contact the rebate center if I don't get it. So far that hasn't been necessary.
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@morbiuswilters said:
@mentaldingo said:
Yes it's a scam but not the kind you're thinking of.
How exactly is that a scam? It clearly states that it is a rebate.
This particular one may or may not be a scam, but there was a rash of rebate scams a few years ago in the US, and it made a lot of people cynical about them. If I recall correctly, there were a few companies that handled most rebates, and it was found that they would pretty much reject applications out of hand without even checking to see if they met the criteria. I had this happen to me recently. I sent in a rebate card and received back a post card saying my rebate was denied. I emailed them asking why, and suddenly, my rebate wasn't rejected any more. They gave no reason as to why it had been rejected initially or why they changed their mind. It's all pretty fishy and has certainly made me less likely to waste my time with rebates in the future. I can understand why people feel like they're being scammed in cases like that.
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@dcardani said:
@morbiuswilters said:
I've never liked the "rebate" scheme at all. I'd rather have an actual discount price tag than to trust some company to honor the rebate process, fortunately in my country these schemes are nonexistant. The closest I've ever seen on the rebate thing is with the DSL modem: you can buy it at, say, Wal-Mart, but then call Telmex and give them the Serial Number. They will automatically credit your phone bill, so it kind of qualifies as an instant rebate.@mentaldingo said:
Yes it's a scam but not the kind you're thinking of.
How exactly is that a scam? It clearly states that it is a rebate.
This particular one may or may not be a scam, but there was a rash of rebate scams a few years ago in the US, and it made a lot of people cynical about them. If I recall correctly, there were a few companies that handled most rebates, and it was found that they would pretty much reject applications out of hand without even checking to see if they met the criteria. I had this happen to me recently. I sent in a rebate card and received back a post card saying my rebate was denied. I emailed them asking why, and suddenly, my rebate wasn't rejected any more. They gave no reason as to why it had been rejected initially or why they changed their mind. It's all pretty fishy and has certainly made me less likely to waste my time with rebates in the future. I can understand why people feel like they're being scammed in cases like that.
However, my dad lives in the US, and over there, this rebate scam stuff is very common. I remember buying stuff, sending the mail-in-rebate just to get either no answer, or "rebate declined" posts. Seriously, its 2008, can't they just manage a frickin' online rebate system?? If the item's a printer, cellphone, or any electronic gizmo that has a unique serial number, the process can be done seamlessly. But no, the whole point of rebates is to scam consumers, so most will go through the mail-in system. Oh, and the "can't process your rebate in the first 6 months" or such.
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I don't know about other places, but I noticed on Best Buy's rebate form it said, "It's your responsibility to get this to us, if it's lost in the mail you're outta luck" or something of that nature.
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@danixdefcon5 said:
@dcardani said:
@morbiuswilters said:
I've never liked the "rebate" scheme at all. I'd rather have an actual discount price tag than to trust some company to honor the rebate process, fortunately in my country these schemes are nonexistant. The closest I've ever seen on the rebate thing is with the DSL modem: you can buy it at, say, Wal-Mart, but then call Telmex and give them the Serial Number. They will automatically credit your phone bill, so it kind of qualifies as an instant rebate.@mentaldingo said:
Yes it's a scam but not the kind you're thinking of.
How exactly is that a scam? It clearly states that it is a rebate.
This particular one may or may not be a scam, but there was a rash of rebate scams a few years ago in the US, and it made a lot of people cynical about them. If I recall correctly, there were a few companies that handled most rebates, and it was found that they would pretty much reject applications out of hand without even checking to see if they met the criteria. I had this happen to me recently. I sent in a rebate card and received back a post card saying my rebate was denied. I emailed them asking why, and suddenly, my rebate wasn't rejected any more. They gave no reason as to why it had been rejected initially or why they changed their mind. It's all pretty fishy and has certainly made me less likely to waste my time with rebates in the future. I can understand why people feel like they're being scammed in cases like that.
However, my dad lives in the US, and over there, this rebate scam stuff is very common. I remember buying stuff, sending the mail-in-rebate just to get either no answer, or "rebate declined" posts. Seriously, its 2008, can't they just manage a frickin' online rebate system?? If the item's a printer, cellphone, or any electronic gizmo that has a unique serial number, the process can be done seamlessly. But no, the whole point of rebates is to scam consumers, so most will go through the mail-in system. Oh, and the "can't process your rebate in the first 6 months" or such.
Once again, the point is not to scam users. It's also not to give instant rebates or online rebates. Obvious-fucking-ly the companies would do that if it was their goal. However, they know 80% of people will not mail the rebates in or will fail to follow the three steps clearly stated and will leave out the UPC or the form or something. Because of this, they can offer significantly higher rebates than if everyone got the rebate. This makes the initial purchase more attractive, which means they sell more stock. It's not a scam if it's a result of people just being too lazy or incompetent to fill in a form and mail it off. Now, there might be some companies that do toss out rebate forms, but in 10 years with over $4000 in mail-in rebates I have never not received a check back except for the one time I tried to scam the system and buy a bunch of items and get the rebates sent to family and friends. They caught on that all the rebates were from the same card and only sent me one. Then again, maybe my friends and family just kept the checks... hmm... Regardless, I knew the risk going in and it was only $10 or so per rebate for 8 items.
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I'm a 50 year old male DBA in St. Louis, but I want to have your babies. (Because of your entries in general, but that stuck-behind-the-old-lady at the Try 'n' Save in particular)
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I've read about all of the scams, and I certainly believe that not all rebate companies are on the up-and-up. But personally I've never had any problem getting rebates either -- save for the one time mentioned below -- it just takes a bit of extra care and timeliness. Theoretically rebates can also be a way for the retailer to capture some of the consumer surplus. Some people will be simply be willing to pay more because they feel their time and effort is worth more than the amount of the rebate. Or they'll forget.
Or there was the time my wife threw out the box for her cell phone before I had a chance to get the UPC and send in the rebate form. I'm thinking she was in on the scam.
