Cameras
Camcorders
Cell Phones
Components
Desktops
HDTV
Home Theater
GPS
Laptops
Monitors
MP3 Players
Networking &
Printers
Storage
Breakdown in the Process
Rebates are a headache for consumers, a tricky situation for retailers, and a major expense for manufacturers. So why are we seeing more rebate offers than ever before? Because stores and product makers want to lure shoppers into buying their products, and they know some people won't collect.
Market research firm Aberdeen Group reports that about 60 percent of buyers who could redeem computer-related rebates don't try. "That's money the store and/or the manufacturer keep," says Aberdeen analyst Peter Kastner. Of the 40 percent who give it a shot, half experience problems or don't get a check at all.
In addition, rebates are evolving beyond the simple $5-back-on-a-$50-purchase model. Many software vendors, including Symantec and Pinnacle Systems, offer "net-zero" rebates in which buyers, like Theisen, are promised all of their money back (except, of course, the sales tax). But the burgeoning number of rebate deals in newspaper ads, on store shelves, and on Web sites has resulted in a crescendo of consumer complaints. PC World's On Your Side mailbox and chat boards such as those on FatWallet.com (a site that offers shopping information and tools for saving money) are overflowing with gripes about denied rebate redemptions.
Part of the problem is that three parties--the product manufacturer, the retailer, and the rebate fulfillment house--are usually involved in the process. Each company ends up relying on the others to ensure that things go smoothly.
Rather than process thousands of redemptions themselves, manufacturers and retailers frequently contract with a fulfillment house to open and sort mail, log in consumer data, and, if all requirements have been met, issue rebate checks. But those fulfillment houses can't cut any checks until the sponsoring manufacturer or retail store hands over the rebate money, which can take anywhere from 15 to 90 days after the fulfillment company's invoice date. If the sponsor pays the invoice with a paper check, the fulfillment house must wait several days for that check to clear before it can write any checks to consumers. Sometimes the manufacturer doesn't pay the invoice at all; a few fulfillment houses (which prefer to remain anonymous) told us that they have quietly gone to the Federal Trade Commission to report such a problem.
