Making Rebates More Difficult To Realize
We all know that the idea behind the mail-in rebate is to capitalize on the consumer’s tendency to ignore the rebate until it’s too late. If you’re on the ball you’ll get a rebate check in 4-6 weeks.
Today I received my rebate for my Cingular phone: a “Cingular Reward Card” — a VISA card preloaded with my rebate amount. Gee, this will be useful! It’ll go great next to my American Express gift card from 2 years ago, which fortunately doesn’t expire (this one expires in six months).
It just now occurred to me that I can probably easily use them to pay off my cell phone bill online, instead of burning them at the Apple Store. Not as much fun, but… Eureka!
December 8th, 2005 at 12:07 pm
Only in the US can offering something at “sale price” with teeny, tiny words about a time sensitive, mail-in rebate be legal. In the rest of the Westernized world, pulling that kind of crap will land you with a massive fine or in jail for false advertising.
Circuit City’s receipts are perfectly geared towards the company offering the rebate, too. Ever leave one in the car? The thermal paper dies, rendering it useless to get your $40 back on a hard disk purchase.
For today, I’ll dream of a lawsuit that will never come.
December 9th, 2005 at 4:09 pm
I am overwhelmed with joy that you have brought up this subject of rebates during this most vunerable time of year for all of us. Rebate awareness is something we should all practice on a daily, if not hourly basis. As this article states, rebates are certainly not a laughing matter, and should be taken seriously this holiday season.