So I bought some electronic equipment the other day thinking that I was paying $49 for it and when I got to the checkout they charged me $149. "Excuse me." I say very politely, "but you overcharged me for this item it was only supposed to be $49." The store clerk looks at the receipt and then at me with his teenager, crooked smile and says: "The $49 is after your rebates. You get a $50 rebate from HP, a $30 rebate from Office Max, and a $20 rebate from the actual Chinese worker in Botswana who put it together for you. Also we already took off our $50 in store rebate." I stood there with my mouth open as he gently pushed me aside to help the next customer.
I cannot stand mail-in rebates. Maybe it is because I never get around to mailing it in. Maybe it is because you have to include the sticker from the side and a copy of your receipt as proof of purchase. Maybe it is because the cost of mailing all the legal documentation and the cost of the attorney fees to figure out what you have to mail in is more than the money coming back from the rebate. I think it is just because they never really send it back in the first place. I know I have sent in countless of those things and I don't remember getting one single check from the Chinese worker in Botswana who is supposed to send it to me.
Why do they do this? All the advertising for electronics nowadays shows a price in big, bold letters and then in the fine print lists the rebates you have got to send for. It is not really deceptive advertising but it is more like trickery. I think their advertisements should go more like this: "You can buy this computer for $1499, but if you want to put up with multiple mailings, reading fine print with a magnifying glass, and saving every receipt for the last 5 years THEN you can buy it for $499!" Some people might actually go for it. Most of us would not. I will spend more for something that I don't have to mail in a rebate, just to get them to stop giving rebates ... wait a minute ... maybe that is their purpose to begin with. Maybe they want me to buy the more expensive one by putting mail in rebates on the other ones.
Naah. That couldn't be it. I am too smart of a consumer for that. They can't trick me into buying anything I don't really need ...