Please Eliminate Mail-In Rebates, Office Depot

Honestly, when I was a salesperson, I HATED selling rebates! And I
always felt bad when a person came in really upset about not getting
one. But most rebates come from the manufacturers, not the retailer...
so usually there was nothing I could do but refer them to corporate
(again, which I hated doing).

I wouldn't expect things to change though. The rebate game really is
about statistics, and the fact of the matter is that people just don't
send them, or fill them out right. Even if they can deny a small
percentage, its still a gain for them.

8 Rebates for a single item? or was it 8 for your entire purchase
several items?

I personally don't like rebates. When I do purchase something that
gets a rebate, I make copies of everything and keep them. (oftentimes
i lose them, but the effort is there!) I suggest that to everyone,
therefore if you miss a rebate you know exactly who to contact and
what you are entitled.

My memories of rebates are a nightmare, but they are also dating from
a few years ago when rebates were more of a pain. I understand that
some stores allow them to be done online now? are they still difficult
to understand?

I've actually had the exact opposite experience with rebates. I've
gotten rebates that I probably shouldn't have and in the last ten
years, I cannot remember not getting a rebate that I sent away for. My
best story is when I bought an LCD monitor with a $100 rebate. I
filled everything out and put it with the mail to go out. Apparently
it got knowcked off the desk and I did not find it until a year later.
Even though the rebate period was 6 months gone, I figured I might as
well put it in the mail. 3 weeks later I got my $100 check. Based on
my experience, if you do everything as required, you'll get your
rebate. It's not always easy, but usually worth the little bit of
effort.

I don't think MIR is any type of fraud. As almost every poster so far
noted, it's worth the trouble to follow directions and keep records.
If the instructions say "Highlight in Yellow the price paid on the
reciept" (unusual, but just as an example) and someone circles it
instead in crayon. Guess what? It gets tossed because the terms were
not followed.
I use MIR's all the time, especially if it's something I use or need
and the end result is that the item is free (well the cost of postage
kind of negates that.) But it's still worth the effort.
I've gotten great offers from MIR on consumables and sometimes buy
something I otherwise may not (like 3M laptop computer screen wipes)
and find a great product I can trust enough to buy. Sometimes I find
something worth avoiding...but that's a chance I take on any purchase
anyway.
I do like how some companies have a monthly MIR circular where
everything is spelled out and it's convenient to use and STILL it
takes patence. I just copy the page and cross off the check(s).
It's a win win situation for the consumer AND the company.

Walter, I reread your letter and realized you didn't provide a lot of
details. Thus people are left to wonder how careful you were about
following the rebate guidelines. I suppose since this letter is to
Office Depot, a few more details are in order (did you follow the
deadlines, procedure, etc). I know it can be very exasperating if you
DO follow all the guidelines and get bumkus to find the strength to
document what has happened, but it is needed for the company or rebate
handler to act.

I'll reiterate that some firms are known for sketchy rebates, and one
does not always get what one is rightfully due without a lot of pain.

OTOH, the point of many is that you have to follow the rules to the
letter, or you can't expect to get the rebate.

its not a total fraud if you follow the instructions and are PATIENT.
If you don't follow the instructions or dont try to follow through,
thats not the companies fault. Trust me.. they are NOT going to get
rid of mail in rebates. NO ONE will.

I have only had one rebate which was not honored in the last ten
years. I still got it, court costs and penalties.

1. read the instructions with a magnifying glass.

2. keep copies of everything.

3. submit promptly.

4. never throw away junk mail until you have checked to insure that
there are no rebate checks hidden as junk.

5. call the number on the rebate form on the day given.
ie, if it says 8 weeks, call after eight weeks.

6. when you call the rebate clearing house, always be polite, never
threaten, never say liar(i mean lawyer), etc.

because you danced around this so beautifully but did you actually
SEND any of the rebates in to be reimbursed? You don't mention what
the time frame is or if you received any verification at all about
these rebates, only that the manager paid one of the rebates out of
his own store funds.

Heres the thing, companies don't WANT you to send in rebates. They
want you to buy things you don't really want at their prices because
you think you;re getting such a deak and then they take their sweet
time getting your money back to you, hoping you'll forget about it
altogether.

You know the old saying, "If its sounds too good to be true, it
usually is."

And its not acutally OMax that controls the rebates. The majority of
the time, the manufacturers are controlling these things, not OMAX, so
the fact the manager caved and gave you money out of his own funds was
incredibly generous on his part. That just cut into his profits.

Personally, I would suggest using Staples instead. They offer cash
back discounts on items, most (if not all) their rebates can be
submitted online without ever mailing a single receipt and they will
even send emails to keep you informed throughout the process if you'd
like.

They won't stop the rebates, especially not when they can get people
like you to spend nearly $200in their stores.

I agree with Smiley Guy, and I agree with everyone who said that you
probably shouldn't count on getting the rebate, thus you shouldn't
take the rebate amount into consideration when making a decision
between different products/brands/models.

The one time in the 10 years I tried to get a rebate, I sent it by
Priority Mail (Or something like that). Turns out, it was in the fine
print that that wasn't allowed (it was easy to miss, I had to read the
fine print more than once after the notice I'd gotten from them to
that effect). To be fair, they did give me some valuable
coupons/vouchers instead of the rebate check.

The last time I purchased something with rebate offers, all the
paperwork sat on my dresser until it was too late.

I, like Lee, have had good luck with rebates. Why? Because I make
copies of everything, circle things on rebate forms, and have other
tricks to better my chances. Even when I'm rejected (which happens
more often than I'd like), I'm always prepared to prove my case and
have been successful in virtually all cases.

However...

That's a lot of work. So, I pick-and-choose which rebates to go
after, these days. I don't bother with rebates for products I
wouldn't have purchased without the rebate. I go after rebates that
are worth something. A dollar isn't worth it. $100 is.

My advice to shoppers is to assume you won't get the rebate. Then,
shop based on that. That way, you buy things you really want/need and
pick a store/price that's fair. It's better to pay $100 for something
than $150 with a $100 rebate, some times.

MIR rebates get a bad name. And justifiably so. But when they work,
they are a win-win situation.

Remember, rebate processors get selected based on how they have no
false positives (giving rebates to people who shouldn't get them).
They are not hired based on the number of false negatives (denying
people rebates that should get them).

I had terrible trouble with a Dell rebate a year ago. In response to
the first response below, I am very organized and tenacious when it
comes to knowing, understanding and meeting terms of discounts. I
followed every condition and met every deadline, and received squat in
terms of tracking or receiving the rebate. Even the seemingly well
intentioned CSR's who noticed I had spent over two months and ten
hours on the phone trying to get my rebate, and offered cash coupons
sent both regular and email, failed. Three such promises were made.

I finally found a customer advocate who credited my account a small
amount over the original rebate. She was pretty snotty about pointing
out I got "more than I deserved". I pointed out that my hourly pay
rate to earn my rebate was about $5.50.

After reading other posts about rebates, it appears most "smart
shoppers" assume they won't get a rebate, and buy an item if the price
they pay ends up being the final price.

Unfortuantely, I think companies will continue to promote poorly
supported rebate programs. I feel your pain.

It's been my experience that the tenacity required to realize rebates
just isn't worth it in most cases. Props to the folks that have the
time and systems in place to pursue them.

I'm with you on this one. While I don't believe all mail-in rebate
offers are frauds, I generally avoid them as I've heard of too many
problems trying to claim them from companies with bad track records of
honoring them.

The most important thing is to read everything on the rebate
(including all fine print) and make sure you fill out the rebate
correctly. I'm not saying you didn't do this, but this is just general
advice. Even a simple, easily fixable mistake can hold your rebate
offer up for weeks.

Equally important is to retain copies of everything you send to them.
The majority of mail-in rebates require you to send in originals (like
receipts, UPC codes, etc) so having copies means you have proof.

A lot of mail-in offers also take weeks to process, sometimes up to 12
weeks, which is another reason why I tend to avoid them. But follow
up, and follow up often.

If the rebate is past the processing time, and you still haven't
gotten it, then I'm not sure where you go from there, but I am sure
there is tons of information on the Internet on how to resolve the
situation. You're not the only one who has had issues.

I feel for you, I really do. I have never had luck with rebates from
ANYPLACE, and have for years considered the on-shelf price to be the
price I am going to pay. I never count on a rebate. If I am not
willing to pay the pre-rebate price, I do not make the purchase,
because while they may not be fraud, rebates are made intentionally
difficult to claim and simply aren't worth the effort to me. I am
always impressed when someone makes it work for them, of course, but
rebates just won't get me in a store to make a purchase! I hope you
are able to get some of the money you are entitled to from your
rebates!!!

With all due respect, Walter, you are incorrect. Mail-In-Rebates are
not a total fraud. People on this site know that I am a big rebater
and use such programs to a large extent. I generally receive well
over $1000 worth of rebate each year, and as of yet, have never lost
out on one I thought I should receive.

In order to consistently be successful with such rebate programs, you
need to have a system of being organized yourself. Far too many
people mail in rebates very haphazardly, never keeping copies of
everything required, getting proof of mailing or following up with the
rebate in a timely fashion.

You also need to know the consumer protection laws within your
particular state. Most that I'm aware of protect the consumer as long
as you can absolutely show you've correctly completed the rebate
process. The rebate becomes a "condition of sale" and the store
becomes required to pay for the rebate if the rebate center fails to
do so.

I will admit, I did run into a problem with an Office Depot rebate
about two years ago, but after carefully following my own structured
process, the rebate was paid.

Lets see if I can help you out.

You've stated that you mailed in 8 different rebates. To begin with,
were these items purchased at the same time? How about listing off
the items purchased, along with the date of purchase and the rebate
you expected to receive.

Secondly, it is very important to retain copies of everything you
mailed. This would include copies of the rebate form, sales receipt
and possibly UPC bar code from the product box. This is a 12 digit
bar code presented in the form "x xxxxx xxxxx x".

Have you kept copies of these items. Each rebate form should have a
phone number, generally toll-free, to contact the rebate center. Have
you done that yet?

Reply back ASAP, as time may be important to claim the rebate(s).

I look forward to hearing from you.