Down with Rebates

Mail-In Rebates


Viva! Revolution! Grab your pitch forks. Stoke the bonfire. Take that ole’ guillotine out of the basement and set it up in the town square. The mob must unite to topple this marketing nightmare known as mail in rebates. Burn ‘em. Burn ‘em to dust. We can’t allow this scam to continue any longer.

Consumers have swallowed the mail in rebate scam hook, line and sinker. Instead of looking for the best sales price consumers are actually counting rebates into their buying decisions. Never mind that 80% of all rebates go unfilled. Or that those that do have to wait six to eight weeks to get their money back. Rebates are not good for the consumer. They allow companies to reap the benefits of our cold hard cash until they deem all the proper paperwork has been filled out.

What happened to the good old sale?

Consumers seem content to fork over $399 today only to wait on the promise of their money returned. I think I’d rather pay less at the checkout counter. Wouldn’t you? Perhaps if we all banned together and stopped buying products based on mail in rebates then they’d get the idea. If a product is going to be cheaper make it cost less today, not jump through fiery hoops to get the money.

Or at the very least offer the rebates online so we can fill out the forms quickly and easily. No, I like the no mail in rebate better. On with the revolution.   ¶ 10:42 AM