To receive a letter stating that you're ineligible for the cash because you failed to (check all that apply): include the UPC sticker (and thereby void your warranty); copy the title page of the (nonexistent) user manual; sign in blue ink.
Many of you have found PC World's On Your Side column a useful place to vent frustration and seek help. Often On Your Side, aka our "end-of-your-rope" department, can resolve problems that seem hopelessly mired in bureaucracy.
A peek inside the onyourside@pcworld.com mailbox reveals that most of the 100 or so complaints we field each month center on tech support woes. ("The bums hung up on me!" "Why won't anyone there call me back?" "I had to wait for more than an hour on hold, and after all that they still couldn't help me." )
The next-most-frequent issues involve rebate hassles. ("They never sent a check!" "Now they tell me the rebate period has expired.")
Third, we receive mail from readers with faulty systems who feel like a hot potato being tossed among vendors anxious to disclaim responsibility for the bad performance.
Unraveling these snarls can take weeks. But we have a secret weapon in our effort: the tenacious author of On Your Side, Amber Bouman. On any given day, she's running down solutions to 15 exasperating service and support problems on your behalf. Though we have room in the magazine to print only one case each month, Amber resolves as many as she possibly can.
Armed with scads of documented specifics about who said what and when, Amber approaches the company's media relations office and relays all of the information. The vendor typically retraces the steps of the problem, comes up with a solution, and then tells Amber, in detail, how it will make things right for the customer.
Amber's advice for avoiding snafus? "If you run into trouble, it's important to contact the company and write down the details of every conversation. What day and time did you call? Ask for both the first and last name of the person you talk to. If they transfer you, get the next person's full name. How long were you on the phone? Take notes on what they want from you, and what they say they'll do."
In many instances, Amber says, you should consider the fine print your friend. For rebates, note the program's expiration date. Follow all instructions to the letter, and include every requested document.
Make copies of all the paperwork you send in. It's the only transaction record you'll have if something goes wrong. And if the money doesn't arrive as promised, contact the company, and take notes on the details mentioned above. "You can resolve a lot of rebate problems more quickly by calling the vendor instead of the rebate center," she reports.
In some cases, though, the effort may not be worth the hassle. Do a little arithmetic before you decide to chase down the money, Amber says. If an item costs $50 without a rebate, and a competing product costs $60 with a $20 rebate, buy the $50 item and skip the headaches.
It's unfortunate that a customer done wrong has to turn to a national technology publication and Web site for help, but that's part of why we're here. For going on 25 years, PC World has been an advocate for technology consumers, and we aren't about to stop. (For more on rebates, see Consumer Watch.)
Kimberly Brinson is managing editor of PC World. The e-mail address for On Your Side is onyourside@pcworld.com.
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