Best Buy Working Towards Ending Mail-in Rebates 418
chibbie writes "Best Buy is finally working towards ending mail-in rebates by 2007. Rebates will still be around, but you will be able to file them online, and receive your check much quicker.
I guess this means Best Buy doesn't hate their customers after all."
I don't think so. (Score:4, Funny)
Sure they do.
opt-in (Score:5, Insightful)
The best part is that it's opt-in.
When you file a rebate, you opt-in!
Re:I don't think so. (Score:4, Insightful)
Best Buy doesn't hate customers, they just hate customers that are trying to nickle and dime them - and that includes everybody that shops with rebates in mind.
Re:I don't think so. (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I don't think so. (Score:5, Informative)
The one time I had a problem was a free computer game offer, but even that arrived eventually (it might've been 6 months, but I did eventually receive it, and when I called to check on it after waiting 6-8 weeks, they explained the delay and gave me a new expected ship date).
Personally I don't have a major problem with Best Buy. I generally don't go to them for computer hardware, though; I've got a Microcenter nearby for that.
I don't do rebates (Score:5, Interesting)
Let me get this strait. You want me to buy something at a marked up price, then spend the time and energy (time is money) to send in proof that i bought your product. Then, months later, after you have earned interest off of my money, i get some of it back, only to have saved a few dollars anyway?
Oh yes... lets not forget about all those poor souls who didnt follow your directions properly, or forgot to send it in on time, or god forbid decided not to bother!
Somehow this whole process disturbs me. It is a backassward coupon scheme, and i refuse to ever buy a product with a rebate (unless the pre-rebate cost is low already). I am almost always able to find the same product for only a few dollars more somewhere else without a rebate, and to me that is worth it.
Anyone care to enlighten me on how rebates benefit me?
Re:I don't do rebates (Score:3, Insightful)
However, because of all the things you mentioned (failure to submit the rebate before th
Don't forget: sales tax, time, effort, postage (Score:4, Insightful)
- once you cut that UPC thing off the box, you can forget about bring it back for a refund.
- you paid sales tax on the $40 you never got, that's another $3, or so.
- Figure 30 minutes of your time filling out forms, cutting out UPCs, making photo copies, etc. If you earn $25 an hour, that $12.50 right there.
- postage, envelopes, photo-copies.
- even if you got your refund, that 10 weeks without your money.
Re:I don't think so. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I don't think so. (Score:5, Insightful)
I think you're being just a little bit unfair to Best Buy here. Staples has had "Easy Rebates" for awhile now and they really are a hell of a lot easier. Go to their website, type in the number on your receipt, and receive your rebate check two weeks later. Simple. If you can't type in a stupid number on a receipt then something is really wrong with you. I'd rather check a number a few times on a receipt than home some minimum wage monkey can read my chicken scratch when I hand-write a rebate onto those little receipt rebate forms.
RAM (Score:2, Funny)
Re:I don't think so. (Score:2)
Will you share your impulse buys?
It's Not Enough (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:2)
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:2, Insightful)
Price discrimination only "works" on monopolistic situations because of the downward sloping demand curve (they face the entire buyer's market, unlike competitive markets which are price takers) When this happened, they increase their revenues by pushing their revenue area (Price X Quantity) higher up into what some consumers are willing to pay but otherwise keep because of standard prices (consumer surplus,
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:3, Informative)
Isn't what you describing what they call price discrimination in economics and when doing so means an abuse of monopoly power?
You're half right. It's called price discrimination, but doing so is rarely an abuse of monopoly power. Where it becomes illegal is when a monopoly manufacturer engages in price discrimination between different distributors - this is a form of collusion.
The term "price discrimination" sounds like it might have a negative connotation, but it really doesn't have one among economi
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:5, Insightful)
Suppose Best Buy sells a drive for $100, with a $50 rebate that half their customers send in. Then they take in $75 per sale, on average.
Alternatively, they could sell it to everybody for $75 in the first place, with no rebates.
Or, they could implement an online rebate system. If this leads 3/4 of their customers to get the rebate, the offered rebate could only be $33 instead of $50 to get the same average revenue per system.
It's an empirical question for the company which setup will allow them to make the most sales. (Note that this is somewhat independent from the base amount of profit they make per unit; if they decided a drive only needed to sell for $60 on average, they'd still be faced with the same set of choices.) It's a separate question which system an individual buyer prefers. If you're allergic to rebate checks, or if your time is extremely valuable, you'd prefer #2. If you just want the best price, it's in your interest to have a system like #1 where few other people bother to obtain the rebate, allowing the company to make the discount quite large.
One conclusion you could draw from this plan, then, is that Best Buy has decided to cater more toward relatively well-off customers who value their time highly, and less toward customers who shop on price.
Still good business sense (Score:2, Insightful)
We all know that rebates are a 'bait-and-wait' scam where the manufacturers lure customers to products with big dollar rebates, and then bet on the fact that only a small percentage will ever claim them.
As far as the ones that get their boxtops but never pay up, there should be a special level of hell for.
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:3, Interesting)
Thanks to mail-in rebates, those of us who aren't too lazy or stupid to fill them out will save more than everyone else.
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:5, Funny)
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:5, Interesting)
I can't imagine that anyone about to spend over a thousand dollars on a TV or computer @ Best-buy would turn down a 10%, 15%, or 20% off coupon.
My mother regularly saves 30%~50% on groceries because she clips coupons and uses her frequent shopper card. She saves the reciepts to show me and everytime, I ask her when the supermarkets will just start giving her food for free.
Rebates and coupons have low redemption rates, which is why bargain hunters spend much less on the same things you and I buy every day. If rebates were rung up at the register, the savings offered would drop like a rock as the rate of redemption headed for 100%.
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:5, Interesting)
All stores lie to their customers to PRETEND they're getting a discount.
The other day I was in a store and saw a sign for Levi's 501s for $38, MSRP $42. Then I went to the store next door and saw a similar sign: Levi's 501s for $34, MSRP $38. There isn't any way to reconcile this, other than realizing that stores are lying through their teeth.
Back to the point, I also saw a documentary a few months ago about shopping clubs. They went to a city with two supermarkets with shopping clubs and bought a good list of various items with their club cards. Then they went to a neighboring city, bought the same items from a similar supermarket with no shopping club, and the non-discounted items without a card were a LOT cheaper.
The moral of this story... Stores are lying to you. Shopping clubs only pretend to save you money. You have to compare not to the non-discounted price at the same store, but to the normal price at a non-shopping club store. Club cards are only useful if you can't chose to shop elsewhere.
Besides, the customer tracking is completely unacceptable. It only serves to find out how to squeeze more money out of you. Just think about it, they can find out what products are selling in aggregate without tracking each buyer. They only need per-buyer info to figure out how to make their store less attractive to customers who aren't making them much money. Club cards don't magically make it cheaper for the supermarket to buy that head of lettuce, or can of soup.
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:3, Interesting)
With rebates often it works out that the rebates are cheaper though. I've seen some rebated stuff at stores that are far cheaper than any online price. They tend to be small things (a spindle of CD-Rs or similar), but occasionally you see a jackpot. I saw a 120 GB hard drive for I think around $50. Pricewatch puts a similar drive at $55. A similar drive from Segate (which was the sale i
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:2)
Which is why I said it...
Actually, I don't think it's OFTEN the case. Depending on where you are and what stores are around, driving 50 miles out of your way might actually save you a lot of money, and allow you to maintain some privacy as well. I'm not in a big city, but it's still only a 15 mile drive to get to a much better supermarket than the 2 around here.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:2, Insightful)
customer tracking... (Score:3, Informative)
Actually, I wouldn't be so against it if they made my information available to me too. I would very much value the record of what I buy when, and to have it categorized nicely and in a format I can use in some financial s/w would be awesome for making future budgets.
If one store did this, it would pretty much guarantee I bought as much from that store as possible. It's in their interest too as far as I can tell.
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:2)
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:3, Informative)
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:5, Informative)
Over here you cannot advertise a discount, unless it is based on an actual retail price that the product has actually been sold for prior to the discount in the same store. Failure to follow the law carries steep fines.
Yes, there are ways to 'milk' this as well - say, sell some product for a few weeks for an inflated price, then drop it to a 'big' discount, but in general scams like the one you describe do not happen over here. Mostly discounts are 'real' discounts - companies clearing out excess stock to make room for new stuff. Or just outright advertising stuff cheap *without* silly '50% off' stickers. You can sell cheap to pull in people, you just can't claim it's 50% off some imaginary 'retail' price that has no basis in reality.
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:2)
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:3, Interesting)
Start a card-swapping club at work or with a few friends. Every week, all of you throw your cards into a hat and draw them at random. You won't get targeted coupons that way, though, because "your" buying history is pretty much gibberish after a while.
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:5, Insightful)
She's not saving more than I am by going to the Low Bill or the Aldi and buying generics. The receipts only prove that she would've been screwed if she bought brand names at full price.
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:2)
Money saved via rebates on a new (2wks old today) computer system, games, and other software: $500
Time to fill out rebate forms: 15 mins
Senseless?: No.
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:5, Informative)
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:3, Informative)
Tactics like this are used to entice foot traffic; they bring in customers into the store. Of course, once they are in, customers tend to purchase other goods along with the 'discounted goods,' and hopefully profit will ensue to the business. It also employs another important strategy: It prevents the customer from going to the competitor's establishment to spend their money. Most of the time loss leader goods are cooperative strategies employed by b
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:2)
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:5, Insightful)
When you deal with mass quantities of sales like Best Buy does, a lot of money flows in and out the doors. Keeping the money in the door for as long as possible before it has to flow back out allows for the corporation to maximize its use of the money while it has it.
If it takes a minimum of, say, 40 days to process a mail in rebate, thats about 30 days that Best Buy gets to hang on to your money. More correctly though, thats 30 days that it gets to USE your money. With the massive amounts of small purchases that come in, this really adds up, and the interest obtained from holding that money for those 30 days is a valuable source of income for Best Buy. Further to this, when you get a large cash float income for reinvestment like Best Buy can obtain through this process, the interest payments and investment returns go way, way up. I can gaurentee you that this is a revenue stream that Best Buy tries to maximize.
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:2)
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:2)
Why not just deduct the rebate at the cash register? We all know that's doable. No, their dream is to extract from each customer the maximum personal price. Those willing to pay full price do, and those only willing to pay a lower price get it. Willingness to do senseless work determines who falls in what camp--it's just like coupon clipping.
This is exactly how it works in Sweden already. If there's a rebate, you give the rebate coupon to the cashier, and you get the price deduction immediately.
The on
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:3, Insightful)
Why not just deduct the rebate at the cash register?
You mentioned one reason - it allows different people to pay different prices. Another reason is that it gives the company a short-term loan. But probably the most important reason for traditional rebates (complete with cutting and sending in the UPC code), is that it stops most resellers from coming in, buying the product at the low price, and then reselling it at a profit (some will just sell the item without packaging or without the UPC code, but t
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:2)
Of course it is - more people actually get the rebate, thus the average price of the time goes down, thus they have to make the saving smaller to make the same amount of money.
Re:It's Not Enough (Score:5, Funny)
Looks like they sold out all their calculators.
rj
onrebate (Score:5, Insightful)
Why assume that Best Buy is trying to help out the customer? Maybe they're trying to make it more efficient for themselves to eat your money.
Has anyone else had any experience with the online rebate firm onrebate.com? They ate my rebate claiming insufficient documentation (which I know is wrong...), but the worst part is they will not even allow me to resubmit anything to them. After waiting on hold for 30 minutes, the nice customer service representative explained how their decision was final, with no option for recourse whatsoever. Then she even transferred me to her manager, a filled-up voicemail box. Emails have gone unanswered for a month. Apparently they're affiliated with tigerdirect.com, which I understand has equally craptastic customer service. At this point, I'm gonna go to Fry's and try to get them to fulfill the rebate they promised me, as the rebate firm is effectively impossible to contact.
Personally, I think it's safe to assume that Best Buy is no different, and unless they prove otherwise, I'll assume that they "hate their customers [arstechnica.com] after all."
Re:onrebate (Score:5, Funny)
After waiting on hold for 30 minutes, the nice customer service representative explained how their decision was final, with no option for recourse whatsoever.
I guess there's always small claims court.
Re:onrebate (Score:4, Informative)
Their new "rebate guarantee" is bullshit. It has you shell out $5 for certified mail for a $8 rebate (on a lot of items, the "rebate price" is broken up into several rebates, each going to a different address).
Don't believe me? Click here for the BBB report. [bbbsoutheastflorida.org]
They have also settled (we know what that means) with the FTC for doing shady stuff with "warranties" on the products they sell.
They are fucking scumbags, they don't even answer most of their complaints, pure and simple.
As for your situation, try filing a complaint with the BBB, the FTC and possibly with the Attorney General for your state. When the mouthbreathers in the call center "cannot do anything more for you", that is your next step. Except in cases like the shitbags above, you will generally get a reasonable person calling you within a few days and your problem will be taken care of.
Good luck
Re:onrebate (Score:2)
I agree with you 100% I bought a drive from them last fall. The drive was shown in stock, and with the rebate the price was attractive. The "rebate form download link" wasn't for a rebate form at all. It took me to another site where I was to fill out an online application to have the rebate form mailed to me. The form asked for all sor
Re:onrebate (Score:2)
You're not alone. But clearly some companies don't care about having a bad rep. Now, this isn't to say that some people have had good experiences with them, but I hear a lot more horror stories than good ones.
I had much better results with a rebate from a Staples purchase (info submitted online). I'm generally very careful about opting-out of default mailing requests when submitting info, but I was getting spammed from them afterwards (at least it w
Re:onrebate (Score:2)
If they can get away with it, some companies will have screwing their customers as part of their business model.
just keep in mind that there's already too much government regulation of business
There may be many regulations, but it still seems that many businesses are not treating customers ethically.
For example the government seems to be doing a poor job of insuring truth in advertising.
Perhaps the problem isn't too many regulati
i don't believe they don't hate their customers (Score:3, Insightful)
My guess is, the vast majority of Best Buy customers aren't really the net-savvy types (i.e., everyone I know buys computer equipment at Newegg, not best buy or the like). So this is merely an effort to combat the increasing amounts of people redeeming these rebates by mail.
This is the cynic in me talking, yes.
Re:i don't believe they don't hate their customers (Score:3, Interesting)
They still hate us... (Score:5, Insightful)
Corporate Spin (Score:5, Interesting)
This has absolutely nothing to do with that. The fact is, Best Buy is running scared since the FTC recently made CompUSA responsible for the rebates they had offered. They were required to put out a good sum of money to make good on those rebates.
From http://www.twice.com/article/CA6301701.html: [twice.com]
"Best Buy announced in April 2005 that it intended to eliminate mail-in rebates from its portfolio within two years in an effort to improve customers' experience. The announcement also followed a warning from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in March 2005 that retailers will be held accountable for all rebates they advertise, including those sponsored by vendors. The edict came after the FTC ordered CompUSA to make good on hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid rebate claims."
Re:Corporate Spin (Score:2)
Re:Corporate Spin (Score:4, Informative)
I noticed while there that it wasn't so much the best buy rebates that people had problems with. I worked customer service and we regularly offered to fix a problem with a rebate right there in front of you if you had a problem and recieved a rejection letter from best buy.
However the big problem was the 3rd party rebates. (AKA when you have more then one rebate for a product). The rebates that went through individual companies usually seemed to come back unfullfilled. So while everyone gets upset at the company the problem exists all over. These third party rebates are often given at all retailers and aren't exclusive. Best Buy won't honor them because they are not theirs.
I don't see how they will fix the third party rebates. As long as the companies offering them don't care then it's going to be a problem.
I know the store I worked in went out of it's way to make the customer happy as long as oyu didn't jump down a rep's throat (because it's obviously their fault *sarcasm*) the moment you step up to the counter. The reason was we wanted return customers. Often there were times that people walked out screaming they would never shop here again to cause a scene. Next week I'd see them back and have to help them again and they were quiet as could be (kinda amusing to me). So while people say they will stop shopping at a store I find not many hold themselves to that.
For what it's worth... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:For what it's worth... (Score:2)
Re:For what it's worth... (Score:5, Insightful)
Wow, maybe they can streamline it more in the future. I'm thinking of a system like this (just an idea; don't attack me if I've oversimplified it):
Re:For what it's worth... (Score:2)
The type of rebates I like best (Score:2)
This happened several times to me at Costco. Is it a Costco thing or something else?
Of all the rebates I had to mail in, from experience, I figure I only have a 50/50 chance of actually getting the money (back).
This is great for accountability. (Score:3, Insightful)
So, web based filing would be great. Staples and their "EasyRebate" works online now. I've used it once. The way they prevent cheating is that they link their sales database to the rebates database, thereby making sure that a rebate on a single sale is never claimed more than once -- which really was the whole point of the UPC code clipping portion of a rebate.
Re:This is great for accountability. (Score:2)
http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm100/adding.htm [usps.com]
The mail-in rebate is a temporary soluion... (Score:3, Interesting)
Rebates mean you pay extra taxes (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Rebates mean you pay extra taxes (Score:2, Informative)
Lets use your example at my local best buy. Our tax rate (Knoxville, Tennessee) is 9.25%. So on the 1000 dollar order we are paying 1092.5 dollars for the final product. A tax of 92.5 dollars. With the said 200 dollar rebate I will pay 892.5 dollars, which in my book is less than 1092.5 dollars. Now, you say you will pay more to avoid this so le
Re:Rebates mean you pay extra taxes (Score:2)
I have an easier way (Score:4, Insightful)
I have a simple policy. If I'm going to buy something from your store, you're going to give me your best price right there. If I have to deal with a rebate, that removes the incentive to shop locally, and I'll just go mail order. 99 times out of a hundred the mail order price, thanks to sites like pricewatch, is going to be less than the Best Buy price even less the rebate...and that takes in to account the shipping charges.
Best Buy and places like that use rebates for one simple reason...us stupid consumers put up with it and still buy their products. If everyone would simply quit doing that, rebate crap would disappear next week.
Satan says (Score:5, Funny)
Cynical me. (Score:5, Interesting)
Bullshit. Filing rebates online eliminates a paper trail, which will allow them to sit back and say, "whoops, you entered a number wrong, you don't get your rebate" or "whoops, you didn't submit on time, sorry, no rebate", or even "whoops, we never got your submission, sorry."
The rebate companies hate the fact that customers keep copies of their rebate submissions - especially if they have delivery confirmation numbers that prove that they are lying.
A copy with a delivery confirmation number is damn near irrefutable evidence in small claims court, even though collecting from some of the clearing houses is nearly impossible because they move around, change their names, etc so much.
This might be a slightly cynical response, but really, how many of the people here haven't had to put up with bullshit (defined as the rebate company lying) when trying to get a rebate in the past?
Of course, the only punishment companies get is a small fine and a "warning" from the FTC. Fraud on such a scale should be punished by jail time of executives, but, of course, that won't happen.
And yes, boys and girls, sending out thousands of postcards stating "sorry, you didn't send your submission by the postmark date" when they know that you did, is fraud. Not paying out the rebate even when you send in proof / give them the tracking number that clearly states that it was mailed and delivered on x dates, is something else.
(I'm looking at you logitech, you fuckers still owe me $20)
Re:Cynical me. (Score:3, Interesting)
So if you file your online rebate, print the screen, and don't get it in 6-8 weeks you now have your proof.
Why are people so negative about rebates on
I've never had a problem with any rebate I've ever submitted, and lately I'm getting them back faster than ever.
Re:Cynical me. (Score:2)
Because I have caught rebate companies lying to my face more times than I can remember. As have many, many others.
Did you miss the BBB link where hundreds of people filed complaints against TigerDirect, primarily for rebate problems? Did you not see how TigerDirect simply ignored those complaints?
It isn't just them - CompUSA got kicked out of the BBB for rebate (and other) "issues" (not just an unsatisfactory rating) a while back and there are tens of thousand
Re:Cynical me. (Score:3, Insightful)
They can obviously afford to sell the item at the after rebate price. So why not just sell it at that price to begin with?
a) The percentage of people who do not get their rebates is free money to them.
- either the customer doesn't send it in, or
- the retailer doesn't send it out
b) The interest they gain on the loan of that money during the rebate period. I have no interest in loaning a billion dollar company money, so that THEY can gain 60 days of int
You have every right to be a cynic. (Score:2)
I recently purchased an item from Fry's that had a rebate. Fry's prints you a custom rebate receipt that is part receipt, part rebate form. I fill it out and send it in. IU get a letter a few weeks later that says that although I provided my UPC code I failed to provide my receipt so they are rejecting my rebate. The receipt and the form were combined; if they got my address to write me back they got the damn receipt, and they proved it by writing me.
Screw rebates. I ju
Optimism (Score:4, Insightful)
No, it means they can harvest (and sell) your address and contact info without having to pay for the envelope opener and data-entry team. That, and the cookies (oh, the cookies).
Rebate idea for charities (Score:2, Interesting)
You know at Christmas time there are people standing around outside of various places with a pot where you can put your change in, get a smile, maybe a wave, and you feel good. Well, why not put a large box outside where people can drop their rebate offers. The person standing there can have a box cutter to get the barcode off of the box and the charity can then send in the rebate coupon.
Unfortunately, in our world today the box cutter guy would be taken for a
Staples has been doing that... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Staples has been doing that... (Score:5, Informative)
Although I suppose it depends on the manager, I've never had a problem doing a pricematch and using one of their coupons (if you sign up for their catalog, you get a $30 off $150 coupon every month) and you can also save a couple percent if you use their business card (you get a check at the end of every quarter for 2% (or something) of your purchases). Also, I'm pretty sure that their free shipping if you buy $X doesn't exclude everything and their in-store clearance deals are usually really good (I got a zip drive with 5 zip disks for $20 and a $50 rebate printed out (so -$30 total price) when zip drives were still worth something)
In the rare case that one of the chat CSRs decline a pricematch, you can always try again and you'll get a friendly CSR that does. Or be nice when you call in and you'll be given the pricematch.
That said, when they switched to a different rebate house (a few months back) I had to call in and get my rebates shipped, but the person who I spoke with spoke english without an accent and was very pleasant to deal with and I've never had to lift a finger after doing the online submission again. If you think I'm shilling, take a look at my posting history, I'm highly critical of dishonest retailers (and don't mince words).
It is a shame that they don't sell more tech stuff, it would be nice to deal with them more often.
"Just enter this 72-digit code to get your rebate" (Score:2)
Ever had to mail a rebate from a Costco purchase? (Score:4, Interesting)
I used to work in electronics retail, home of the never-to-be-seen-again-mail-in-rebate. I know from my experience there that the only ones really pushing for rebates are the retailers since the cost of rebate is born by the manufacturer and the retailer can advertise the rebated price and still sell the product at full price. Yes, there are some retailer initiated rebates but they're pretty rare. The pressure from retailers pushing for rebates seems to have lead to manufacturers farming out their rebates to fulfilment centres with the intent on honoring as few as possible.
I wish the Competition Bureau in Canada had the balls that the FTC has and made retailers responsible for rebates who would then pursue the rebate from the manufacturer in case of unfulfilment. Score one for the USA!
Re:Ever had to mail a rebate from a Costco purchas (Score:2)
Sure, if you can even get to the parking lot past all the people idling their cars in line for an hour to save 3 cents a gallon on gas. Then the product you want only comes in a 50 gal. drum. Then you take your jumbo cart to the check out line of death (from starvation). Finally there's the legal body cavity search at the exit (legal because you agreed to it in your membership contract).
At least at Best Buy or Fry's I can simply say "No!" a
Staples (Score:2, Informative)
They've already done it on laptops (Score:2, Informative)
Second Link (Score:4, Insightful)
Why do people say that so often? It's obvious that nobody understands what it means.
It doesn't mean the customer can do no wrong, or that they should get whatever they want. It means you don't make an issue out of something that really doesn't matter. When they say they want a better pair of speakers for their Panasony stereo surround-sound system, you don't tell them the speakers that came with it are as good at it gets, you don't tell them that they've confused the brand name, and you don't tell them that stereo isn't surround-sound. You just let them go right along being right, and sell them the fancy looking expensive speakers. THAT is what "the customer is always right" really means.
It really pisses me off that he groups those together, like people who bought a discounted computer are just as bad as those who are getting rebate checks from items they've already returned to the store. It also pisses me off that they are angry that some customers are forcing them to really honor the terms THEY MADE UP about price matching... if you don't like it, change your policy. Either way, accept the consequences of your own terms and shut up. Hell, the customers are forced to accept the terms even if they don't want to, why shouldn't Best Buy?
Re:Second Link (Score:5, Insightful)
Absolutely. The head of Best Buy has an "interesting viewpoint" on the people who support his stores.
I won't mince words, he goes on batshit insane rants about his customers pretty often, and seems to think that he is entitled to make profit (and as such, anyone who costs him profit by using a coupon, pricematching, etc is stealing directly from him), but that really isn't the issue.
I have no problem with them validating rebates and punishing people who submit rebates and then return a product. Shit, if it becomes a pattern, take them to court or even have the DA file charges, but as you said, there is a difference between someone who engages in fraud and someone who wants to get a good deal and uses a pricematch and a coupon on an item that also has a rebate.
Speaking of which - they already have a computerized validation system for rebates that apparently takes data from their POS system, if you return something, your rebate submission will be rejected. The 2 year timeline is completely unrealistic and is, quite frankly bullshit (many others have pointed this out)
It also pisses me off that they are angry that some customers are forcing them to really honor the terms THEY MADE UP about price matching...
Oh. My. FSM.
Pricematching at Best Buy is like dealing with a schizophrenic. You never know what is allowed and what isn't. Sometimes you can use a coupon with a pricematch, sometimes you can't, sometimes the coupon price is subtracted from the pricematch, sometimes the after rebate price is used - it goes on and on and is really annoying.
Even the stuff on the "pricematching sign" can be completely ignored by the managers. Managers will just shrug their shoulders when you read the sign to them and say something like "Well, that's how it is" as if you are in an episode of the Sopranos.
To their credit, they have been cementing their position on several issues, although virtually every single policy change that they have set in stone has been hostile to their customers. Many of their rebates now specifically state that the rebate is not valid if a pricematch is performed on the item (terms like this were on the WD HDD rebate I filed about 6 months ago) and there are other examples.
I really don't care, their prices aren't competitive on the items that I purchase (techie stuff) and the hassle isn't worth it either. To say nothing of the fact that a lot of items that they have good prices on are on perpetual backorder or are cancelled with no explanation given (During the black friday weekend, they cancelled several of my orders - a laptop, a Radeon X700 and something else, but they charged my card as soon as I placed the order, and didn't refund it until several days later)
Re:Second Link (Score:2)
I'm pretty sure Best Buy does this. And yes, it is really annoying.
Woah woah woah (Score:5, Funny)
Old news - Staples.onlinerebates.ca (Score:2)
the solution is to... (Score:2)
make it a point to focus on the techniques used by the rebate middle party to avoid paying you.
Since the FTC and the likes seem to be so focused on the wrong information (which advertisers and manufactures are invilved) instead of the tactics being applied to increase the appearance of customer failure, the tactics are not being addressed of which the middle party is applying.
The crime is many, from mail fraud to bait and switch.
the middle party fullfillment companies are the ones
As a former Best Buy employee... (Score:2, Informative)
That being said, I hated that job. I was in customer service and it was my job to try to explain draconian policies to customers (although our store was fairly liberal with return policies and so on). Apparently, the kid behind the counter getting paid $8.XX is the one who makes up the rules.
Every person I've talked to that used to work there and no longer does has hated it and
Hold on a second (Score:2)
Retailer Best Buy said this week that it will electronically process rebates for notebook PCs and PC accessories, eliminating the mail-in rebate.
the electronic rebate program for laptops will apply just to rebates Best Buy itself offers, and not third-party suppliers.
By the end of the two years, the retailer hopes to eliminate all mail-in rebates within its store
In the first week of February, the online rebates will be extended to a range of computer accessories
Over time, Best
Total Dupe (Score:3, Informative)
How Rebates Really Work... (Score:3, Insightful)
Over time, Best Buy will ask third-party vendors to get on board with Best Buy's electronic rebate system. However, the ability of Best Buy to process rebates from third-party vendors will vary by vendor, as the retailer works to establish the program with each manufacturer over time
Follow the money...These guys are betting on the fact that a good percentage of consumers don't go to the trouble of mailing in the information.For those who complain that their information is lost by the processing company, make a copy of the documents to prove it was all together when you sent it.
I've never had a problem with the mail-ins but I'm sure that time will come.
Too many, voids a rebate. Tax not considered. (Score:3, Informative)
If you're buying a product and the clerk said too many people are in the line, I'm not giving you the 10% discount because there are too many people asking for it. I know what I'd do. RIP clerk.
Also you have to consider taxes, the rebate you think you are getting is after taxes. You pay $100 for a product with a $50 rebate, the rebate you send in is *after* you purchase the item at $100. The item at $100 + 5% tax = $5 in tax, but if the rebate (like the ads imply, "$50 rebate!") took off $50 first it would be $50 + 5% = $2.50. Your $50 "rebate" is not only $47.50, minus the cost of the envelope and stamp to mail it and also your time and effort.
Wonder how many customers Best Buy had to lose? (Score:3, Insightful)
How many customers does a company have to lose that way before they change behavior? That's one of the big reasons I do most of my shopping online now. It's not always cheaper than at the store and there's always shipping and handling, sometimes S&H and sales tax. But I can still comparison shop a lot faster than driving store to store. Even for clothes. It's so easy to send stuff back to Nordstroms if it doesn't fit. Takes less time than driving to the store and only costs $5 in postage. It's worth it.
Best Buy can kiss my ass.
CompUSA (Score:3, Informative)
rj
Re:Do you have the documentation? (Score:2)
You can also file a BBB and a FTC complaint. Once you do that, you will usually get a call in a few days from someone who isn't one of the mouthbreathers in their call center.
Re:Do you have the documentation? (Score:2)
You can ask the court to sieze the company's assets to pay you. This is usually in the form of a county sherrif going to the corporation's nearest office, padlocking the doors, and auctioning off the property. Usually this gets the company to pay rather quickly.
True, but the cost for the sherrif to do this usually exceeds the size of the award (the ones near here charge you to do it, I'm sort of assuming the same thing happens in the rest of the country). I don't believe that I've ever heard
Re:Staples (Score:2)