September 07, 2007
Scam....
by Dean Takahashi Mercury News [link]
I know that Shu Wong of San Jose hasn't received the $3.50 mail-in rebate for a Vastech computer networking USB hub purchased at a Fry's Electronics in May. Richard Louie of Austin, Olivia Sattaypiwat of Saratoga and Buu Duong of San Jose haven't received their rebates, either.
I know this because they told me so, and because I am staring at more than 1,300 rebate requests sent to Vastech on Bonaventura Drive in San Jose. The envelopes were tossed - unopened - into a garbage dumpster near Vastech. I have two boxes of envelopes that were thrown out without being processed. In all of my years of reporting, I have never encountered such outrageous behavior against consumers.
An employee of nearby Dominion Enterprises found the letters, along with hundreds of others addressed to Vastech, at his company's dumpster. He turned them over to his boss, Joel Schwartz, who gave them to me. All of the letters were addressed to UR-04 Rebate or some variation of the product name at the Vastech address...
(Thanks to Rand Simberg)
Of course the really big scam is that the manufacturers know that most rebates never get sent in at all. People process the low "after rebate" price, buy the product and think they got a good deal, and then lose the form or never find the time and energy to send it in.
Posted by John Weidner at September 7, 2007 08:08 AMI must say I did get back those few rebates I have sent in over the years. I guess I was just lucky?
Posted by: Andrea Harris at September 7, 2007 04:23 PMEvil Rob worked for CompUSA for a few years and he knew exactly how to fill out the rebate to get it processed properly. See, not only did they make it hard to remember to do, they'd make the rebate form complicated, so only a careful reading of instructions would lead to a filled-out form. Otherwise, they'd have to call you to get the information, and you'd have to call them back, and a few rounds of telephone tag usually leads to the purchaser saying "forget it."
Posted by: B. Durbin at September 7, 2007 07:51 PMA friend worked for a small appliance manufacturing company, and you know the "product registration" cards you can send in? He said they never see them - they get paid to include them, but the cards get shipped straight to an advertising company...not surprising, and not entirely on topic, but a similar scam!
I never remember to do rebates, but my wife is pretty good about it...
The biggest rebate I got ($50.00 for a monitor) was from Compusa. It wasn't that difficult to figure out how to send it in, and I was able to track it via email. I know a lot of people get intimidated by paperwork and forms, but it's not that difficult -- just make sure you know what part of the receipt is what (and save your receipt -- and make copies of everything you send).
You're the customer, you're entitled to service. If you can't figure out the rebate form then ask to see someone who can help you fill it out properly. Note: rebates do take a long time to come in, 8 to 10 weeks on the average. I prefer not to have to deal with them at all, but if you're on a limited income then every penny counts.
Posted by: Andrea Harris at September 8, 2007 06:00 AM
