Best Buy and the Worst Rebate

If I buy a gift certificate, it might state something like "must be
used within 12 months of purchase". This means that 12 months after I
bought the card, it expires and I can't use it any more. Regardless of
the fact that people can walk in and buy a card now and use it
themselves for 12 months.

Rebate offers are not going to be offered for 30 days only. The
company wants the publicity of having a rebate, they'll have it
available for longer (oh, say, January to September). But they'll
still require you individually to claim it within a specific time
frame from your date of purchase.

This is perfectly normal. How do you not understand this?

heres an idea. lets say you have a project due for work, and you ahve
30 days to work on it. you figure that since you have 30 days, you
will wait till the last minute. oops....you miss the deadline. do you
think your work will let it slide, or be upset that you missed your
deadline?

Best Buy did NOT set up that rebate. Adobe did. Adobe is allowed to
set a deadline. you just messed around and didn't send it in. ive done
the same. i bought a computer chair for my dad a few years back that
had a $50 rebate. i forgot to send it in. my fault. did i go back to
office max and demand they give me $50 or give me a fradulent reciept?
nope. I made a mistake. its MY fault. NOT theirs.

yes, companies do hope that people will forgot to send in the
rebate, but at least they are offering it. they don't need to offer a
rebate at all.

this is one you just have mark as your fault, and let it be.
although, im sure you won't listen to me ro anybody else on this
board, becaus eyou are so sure best buy is at fault because of your
mistake....

My goodness, how many times have I forgotten or just plain failed to
send in a rebate offer because I was busy, forgetful, or just plain
sloppy! Once it was $75 for a Dell PC. And you mean to tell me that
instead of kicking myself in the rear for being a doof, I could have
checked to see if the rebate was still being offered to other new
purchasers and demanded the company treat me as if I hadn't let the
receipt sit in my drawer for months (or thrown it away)? I could have
changed the terms of the rebate, demanding the time limit in which I
had to respond be extended in light of the fact that the promotion was
still being offered? Because even though I bought that Dell three
years ago, I'm pretty sure they're still offering rebates to new
consumers today("a second deadline," right Jim?). Please tell me if
you get your money back, because I've got a lot of letters to write.

You didn't bother to get the rebate form mailed in a timely fashion
and this is somehow Best Buy's fault?

And expecting that they'd give you a dummy receipt is ridiculous. You
screwed yourself out of $30 - no one else did.

If they give you an updated receipt, that is fraud. You don't want to
shop at Best Buy because you were too lazy to turn in the refund info
in time?
This was all your fault. It has nothing to do with them. I love when
people screw something up and hold everyone else responsible, except
for themselves.
Why is it everyone wants to make their problem someone else's problem?
Come to think of it I forgot to send in a $15 rebate once, you wanna
pay for it? That way it would no longer be my problem. If you don't
want to pay, let me know where you work so I can boycott them. I
really don't want to take responsibility for forgetting to send it in,
so I think you should.

You want them to give you an updated receipt 6 MONTHS later? All
rebates have dates that they have to be received by and dates they
have to be postmarked.

A "sterling record for returns" has nothing to do with your rebate
issue.

As other posters have said, the other computer stores would do the
same thing as Best Buy.

You cheated yourself out of $30.00.

Why should they give you an updated receipt? why coulndt you just send
it in on time? is it THAT hard to take 5 minutes out of your "busy
life" to fill something out and send it in?? please... this is a sad
letter of an excuse. YOU should have sent in the rebate on time.. not
that hard...

I'm not going to call you folks who are defending Best Buy and their
policy of allowing a rebate (in conjunction with Adobe) with TWO
DIFFERENT deadlines sheep - but that doesn't mean I'm not thinking
it.

Why, seeing the responses to my letter, if I was a retailer, I'd take
this as a sign to make rebates increasingly complicated. After all,
it's all just the problem of the poor, distracted bastard who's trying
to make good.

Why not have an offer with three deadlines? How about one with the
actual offer deadline, one of a receipt submitted within a month of
when you buy the product and a POSTMARK deadline within two weeks.

Then we could make you get your cash register receipt signed off by
the manager, the head of the electronics department but NOT the
assistant manager. If the assistant manager signs off, then the form
is sent back to you.

How about a requirement that you submit four photocopies of your
receipt and the UPC code. If you submit three or five of them, we'll
could send it back to you, and tell you to resubmit. And then it won't
matter if you resubmit because you'll miss the two week postmark
deadline.

Rebate my foot. It's not a game I'm going to play any time soon,
definitely not at Best Buy who allows these games.

Even if you didn't start working on the project right away, couldn't
yo u have still sent in the rebate? I used to work at a store along
those lines, and it kills me how customers react sometimes.
-30 days is the return policy
-they cant override the system sometimes and things really wont
reprint. They couldnt return it bc it was out of the 30 day mark,
because software CANT be resold, they would have lost money because
they would have had to give you a new one, thus being out the cost of
the first one.
I dont know if this helps you to understand anything...BUt also, if
the rebate says 30 days, was the rebate offered thru adobe or best
buy?

I am a huge fan of mail-in rebates. As a consumer, I utilize them in
every way I can. Many people, like you Jim, do not submit rebates
properly, if at all.

State consumer protection laws, usually protect those who correctly
submit rebates. These laws generally guarantee any rebate promoted by
the retailer, such that the retailer must ultimately back an unpaid
rebate.

In your case, Jim, you made a purchase and were unhappy when the
retailer wouldn't help you in a fraudulent scheme to receive the
rebate. The entire time, being angry with yourself for the neglect of
submitting the rebate. Ultimately, I think you will agree that it is
not advantageous to disregard a retailer or rebates offered by them
because of this one mistake. You will, of course, learn by it and be
more astute in the future.

Your best course of action now is to contact Best Buy with an apology,
accepting the error as your own. Their management will understand
your frustration, and still come to enjoy you frequenting their
establishment.

So... your lack of planning becomes Best Buy's problem?

I did some research regarding this rebate. Based on what I found at
Best Buy's website, the rebate expires on September 19, 2006 and
states the following:

"BRAND: ADOBE SYSTEMS INC
MODEL: Premiere Elements 2.0
SKU:
REBATE: $30
OFFER DATE: 09/20/2005 TO 09/19/2006
POSTMARK DATE: 30 DAYS FROM DATE OF PURCHASE"

Now, I want to know how this is still Best Buy's fault when it clearly
states that the rebate has to be postdated no later than 30 days after
purchase.

Again, it was your responsibility. Not theirs. And chances are it
might not even be Best Buy but Adobe that has the 30 day requirement.
Again, you can blame Best Buy all you want, but when it comes down to
it, it ends up being you who let the ball drop. Plain and simple.

How is not giving you an undated reciept cheating? It's not their
problem. You waited six months, not them. They don't have to give you
an updated reciept if they don't want to (and I'm not sure why they
would). You missed the deadline; I can't believe you blaming your
mistake on them.

"It didn't say that. In big type it said: "REBATE OFFER VALID UNTIL
SEPT 29, 2006." You had to read on in smaller type to see that you
had
to file within 30 days, the nearer of the deadlines."

It DID say that you had to file w/in 30 days, it's not the company's
fault you didn't read the fine print. You were not deceived.

Just to clarify a point: the REBATE OFFER lasts until 9/2006. The time
to file the rebate, from the point of purchase, is one month (in much
smaller type). That's what I'm disputing.

If the rebate said, in large type something like "A $30.00 Rebate if
you file for it within 30 days of purchase!" Then I'd agree that it's
on me.

It didn't say that. In big type it said: "REBATE OFFER VALID UNTIL
SEPT 29, 2006." You had to read on in smaller type to see that you had
to file within 30 days, the nearer of the deadlines.

I feel deceived. Which I have been.

Why make it so hard for me to get my $30? I'm not a professional
couponer or a professional buyer. I have another job, kids, other
things to keep me busy. I want convenience. If I wanted to play stupid
games I'd get out an X-Box.

Those of you who can cry about others (like me)accepting personal
responsibility, good for you. I'm all about personal responsibility
and I respect that. :-) In the future, though, I'm going to continue
to do my part to keep my spending to companies that make my life
easier and to work with me to a reasonable degree.

For your part, continue to shop where it makes you happy and when they
throw some made-up regulation your way go ahead and accept it and
blame yourself. As for me, I'll accept part of the blame but only
part. As for me, I remember an America of fifteen years ago where
companies didn't try to nickel and dime you. I actually had a
financial institution that would call you on the phone if you were in
danger of bouncing a check. They only charged you the overdraft fee if
you made a habit of it. How about that? They figured that once in
awhile everybody messes up. Doesn't that seem quaint?

I have to believe that fifteen years ago the small vendor would have
tried to see to it that I got my measley $30 rebate because the offer
hadn't expired yet.

30 days is just that - 30 days! The fact that you chose to wait *six*
months to try and get your rebate is no one's fault but your own. It
is your fault for not following the rules, your fault for not taking
the initative until now to do anything about it.

How is it Best Buy's fault when you can't be bothered to spend 5
minutes to fill out the rebate form and send it in. I'm sure it will
teach Best Buy a lesson that you can't follow the requirements and
punishing them for your own inadequacies. Yeah, that'll teach them
good.

Virtually all rebates have a time line, in this case, 30 days. You
waited 6 MONTHS! The print says 30 days from purchase, not "first
use". Do you understand the difference? And it ALL Best Buy's fault???
Even if they "washed" the receipt for you, the rebate window has long
past and Adobe would not give you a rebate. Why don't you just send it
all in now anyway, then write PFB again and complain when Adobe says
no way?
One of the most annoying things about this world is people who screw
up, whether out of apathy, slovenly procrastination, or ignorance,
then try to blame EVERYDODY else rather than accept personal
responsibility for their own actions, or inactions!
So sad....

I love a good rebate. Sometimes it's enough to sway me to buy one
product over the other I'm considering.

That being said, I've used rebates enough times to where I have a
standard procedure:

As soon as I leave the store where the rebate is being offered, I stop
and make 2 copies of my receipt and the rebate form. One is in case
it gets 'lost' in the mail and one goes in the 'tickle file'.

As soon as I get home, I fill out the form, attach anything needed,
stamp it and put it in an outgoing mailbox immediately.

I do this because I've been where you are a few times. I forgot about
it, missed the deadline, and ended up stuck. It's not a fun position
to be in, and in the end you wind up kicking yourself over it.

The bottom line here is that you dropped the ball. You knew you would
need to take action on the rebate, and you didn't do it. You waited 6
months, you only had 30 days. You didn't get burned, you messed up.

Release steam alert!

Letters like this really cloud the REAL rebate issues people have. You
were wrong, Best Buy did nothing wrong, accept the fact that this
rebate issue is your fault. Period.

Next time, is you write a complaint about a rebate, only do so if you
have joined the ranks of the many who have really been cheated out of
a rebate. As it is, you just look like a childish fool.

Policies are put in place for a reason. If you missed the deadline,
you missed the deadline. Certainly you can't blame Best Buy for your
missing the target date.

AAFES isn't any different, if you have a rebate (not sure they even
offer products with rebates) on a product bought at the PX you still
have to submit it in the indicated timeframe. Sure, you don't pay tax
at AAFES but you sure do pay a surcharge (at least in my area you do)
so it all equals out in the wash. I've found that while AAFES has
great deals on some things, there are other things I can find cheaper
at other places.

The reasons Best Buy wouldn't let you return the item, repurchase it
and use the rebate is because the rebate is no longer being offered
and everyone knows you can't return (for a refund) any open software
programs. Even if the rebate was still offered, you wouldn't have
been able to get a refund, only an exchange (in the case of defective
merchandise) which would be indicated on your new receipt making the
rebate null and void.

My suggestion would be to immediately send in the rebate whether you
are using the product right away or not. Seems to me you are out of
luck on this one.

"You've made my life just a little bit harder and cheated me out of
$30 of my hard earned money that would have been paid by another
company."

Thirty dollars makes your life harder? Thirty dollars?!? I'd hate to
see what a REAL problem does to your life, Jim. Grow up!

How did Best Buy cheat you out of the rebate? You knew it had to be
turned in with 30 days, you say so in your letter. You didn't turn it
in. That's your fault, it's not like Best Buy hid the stamps or
somehow prevented you from going to the post office.

It sounds like YOU are the one who cheated yourself out of $30
hard-earned dollars, since you are the one who neglected to turn in
the rebate. Did you expect BB to hold your hand all the way to the
mail box?

How are they cheating you? You went past the return date policy so
they couldn't help you. It's not their fault you're out the $30.00.
The fault lies with you. You knew you had 30 days to mail it in and
you waited 6 months.