Rebate Scams Create Ill Will, Office Depot

Carla,
The exact same situation happened with me. I was sent a card in the
mail that said "A valid UPC was not submitted". I was 100%
sure that I did submit the UPC (and there is no way it could be
missed, it was at least 4 * 8 inches). I was furious when I saw this
card. I am very aware of all the rebate scams and always make copies
of things I send in. Sure enough, I looked at the copies and I DID
send in the UPC. I called the number on the card 866-541-0284 and the
first time, my call disconnected after talking to the representative
for 30 seconds. I called again, and another representative started
looking into it and said "I do see that you DID submit the
UPC" and boom! My call disconnected again! Finally on the third
call I was able to get confirmation that they are going to send me a
check and it will arrive in 2-3 weeks. Needless to say, I won't be
shopping at Office Depot again. Regardless of whether I get the check
or not, their shady practices are just not worth the hassle.

Carla,
The exact same situation happened with me. I was sent a card in the
mail that said "A valid UPC was not submitted". I was 100%
sure that I did submit the UPC (and there is no way it could be
missed, it was at least 4 * 8 inches). I was furious when I saw this
card. I am very aware of all the rebate scams and always make copies
of things I send in. Sure enough, I looked at the copies and I DID
send in the UPC. I called the number on the card 866-541-0284 and the
first time, my call disconnected after talking to the representative
for 30 seconds. I called again, and another representative started
looking into it and said "I do see that you DID submit the
UPC" and boom! My call disconnected again! Finally on the third
call I was able to get confirmation that they are going to send me a
check and it will arrive in 2-3 weeks. Needless to say, I won't be
shopping at Office Depot again. Regardless of whether I get the check
or not, their shady practices are just not worth the hassle.

Good Grief! Another update. I forgot that I also posted a message on
the Office Depot.com's online email website. I just received a reply
from another Office Depot rep. She wrote: "We certainly apologize for
the inconvenience that this rebate has caused you. It sounds as though
you may have received your unqualified letter by mistake.
Unfortunately, human error can occur and a keying mistake can be made.
It appears this may have happened in your case. We show you contacted
us by phone, and your order was reprocessed. Please allow 3-4 weeks
for processing."

I doubt that this can be called a "keying mistake". Rejecting rebate
submissions erroneously happens far too often to be accidental. One
Planet Feedback member wrote that I must be doing something wrong if
four out of four submissions resulted in problems. I assure you that I
did not do anything wrong in ANY of the submissions except to believe
in the companies' promises to refund part of the purchase price if I
followed their directions.

Thank you to all the people who responded to my message. In addition
to the relief I felt from venting my anger, I got confirmation from
fellow consumers. I also got satisfaction from Office Depot as a
result of Planet Feedback's contact. I have two updates to report.

First, I called Office Depot's Mail-in Savings Center the next morning
and spoke to a customer rep who found my submission materials and
discovered the UPC that she said must have been overlooked. She
promised to send my check out immediately and apologized profusely for
the inconvenience. She said the UPC must have been missed because "it
was so small". I sent in the entire side of the box, measuring about
5" x 5". Hardly tiny.

Second, a few hours later, I got a phone call from Office Depot's
Customer Service management office who had just heard from Planet
Feedback. The woman was very professional and very pleasant and
apologetic. She promised to expedite my check. I then told her I had
already spoken to a CR who found my UPC and was already processing my
rebate. She said she would include that information in her report. She
was sympathetic to my concerns and gave me her name and direct phone
number and asked me to call her in the future if I have any problems.
I told her that most customers wouldn't have gone to the lengths I did
and even though I would get my rebate, the frustration and
time-consuming followup leaves me with a negative feeling toward
Office Depot and toward future offers of mail-in rebates from all
companies. She was very understanding and I feel my point was heard.

The most positive thing I've gotten from this experience is that
speaking up and doing something about a situation you object to is
important, productive, and cathartic. Thanks again to Planet Feedback
and all you wonderful new friends. I really needed those "atta girl"s.

I believe the rebate documentation that you send is gone over by
businesses hired out by places like Office Depot. Anyway, yes, the
excuse "a valid UPC was not submitted" is a very common one. I myself
have experienced this idiotic excuse more than twice. Thankfully,
after sending letters to them, via Planetfeedback, I did get results.
I hope you do to. Good letter.

I enjoyed reading your letter for several reasons.

I laughed visualizing a "cyclone-like paper storm". I'm sure it wasn't
funny to you at the time, but that was a perfect description of what
it must have looked like.

I also loved this question...
"Is the money they make by not fulfilling rebate offers so great that
they aren't bothered by the bad feelings they cause toward their
company?"

And this statement...
"Sure, those of us who are organized enough and persistent enough will
finally get our checks but the bad feelings will last a long time."

And this...
"You only know about the money you save by invalidating rebate
requests but you'll never know how much business you lose because of
consumers as angry as I am."

If you sent this letter to my company (if I had one), it would
definitely make me stop and think. Ill will is something most people
can't get over and hold on to forever. That's not the feeling I would
want my customers to have.

I think this is a perfect letter.

This is a legitimate issue, and we know from thousands of other
letters to PlanetFeedaback that you are not alone in frustration over
rebate programs. Thank you for taking the time to share your
thoughts.

- Pete, PlanetFeedback founder

Ive never had any problems with rebates. Since you have had 4
problems maybe you are doing something wrong....just a guess.

Good letter. I'm so bad about rebates (I KNOW I won't get around to
doing all the necessary work to send them in), so I never count on the
rebate dollar amount when I'm considering a purchase. But for someone
like you, who does do the work, it's worth it.

I think of these rebates like health insurance: Health insurance
companies often will reject claims, knowing that x% of people won't
fight back. Same with rebates.

This is a good letter Carla. Rebates are notoriously hard to claim.
The internet is riddled with complaints about them. I like your
suggestion that they stop offering them if they aren't going to honor
them. I, like you, will not be a repeat customer of establishments
that don't back up their advertised rebates. There are two companies
on my list so far.

Sadly, I think companies will continue to offer them for a simple
reason: they count on a large number of people getting lured into
buying, and then not following though on properly submitting them.
That brings a lot of revenue into the company. Then there are the
people who properly submit a rebate, but don't follow up in the case
of non-payment.

Honest people like us, who follow all the rules of the rebate, are
treated with callous disregard, IMO. It is as if they are used to
taking advantage of everyone, so why care when someone calls? Tell
them they didn't send something and make them do it again. Then you
have to go find a fax or send another copy. It is a racket, so a lot
of consumers take the attitude "I'd buy this even if I don't get the
rebate." Then you are pleasantly surprised if it comes, and not
bitter like us when it doesn't.

I hope you end up getting what you are due.