sparkling husband primitive stacks the deck

[franksolich]

http://upload.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6011005

Oh my.

The sparkling husband primitive.

Stinky The Clown  (1000+ posts)        Tue Jul-07-09 09:27 PM
Original message
 
Offer a rebate then stack the deck against letting customers collect. What a ****ing racket. (NO MJ)

This is an MJ and SP free post. KEEP IT THAT WAY

I bought a new HP printer online ... direct from HP. Remarkably, they were the cheapest game in town. Even after shipping, they were cheaper than any of the big boxes. They were, insome cases, $200 cheaper than other web sites.

They also offered a trade-in program, and my old clunker was worth $100, even in non working condition (it needs a new fuser - at $400, worth more than the damned printer).

So I buy the printer. It shows up in two days. I am told to download a document to learn about how to do the trade in. It turns out that HP has outsourced this to some other company.I am told to download the "form". The "form", it turns out is 14 (count 'em) pages of fine print and hard to follow prose. In the end, there is one link in there that one needs to follow.

Except the link is broken.

I call HP sales. I tell them to help me. The eager young man in Costa Rica (not India, remarkably - I always ask) gets to the same page, but on a different web site. We fill out the form together - such fun.

Next day, the trade in company contacts me by e-mail. My proof of purchase is insufficient to them. After filling the air with blue language, I call the same HP number and tell this person to fix it. In the course of discussion, I ask her if she's also in Costa Rica (Spanish accent). No, she's in the Philippines. She shows me where my elusive "Online Order Receipt" is located. I open it and print it to PDF, and she sends me a copy. Nice young lady.

Next I get an e-mail from the trade in company. They will only pay $75 because I bought the printer after July 1. Except I bought it on June 29th. As shown of THE ****ING INVOICE THEY REQUESTED.

Back to HP's sales number. After clicks and buzzes and various levels of pressing 1 and 4 and 2 and 7, I get another youg woman. Spanish accent. Where? Belize.

She sends me a form that documents the date of purchase. I am to send this to the trade in company.

I just sent it.

I am not hopeful.

They wear you down.

At what point is $100 - or $75 - no longer worth the pain of dealing with this shit?

By the way, all of this gets me no money. It gets me a SHIPPING LABEL. To send the old printer off to them. Then ... maybe ...... I get my trade in.

What a ****ing racket.

rsmith6621  (1000+ posts)      Tue Jul-07-09 09:33 PM
Response to Original message
 
1. This is Why I Dont Buy Rebate Items...
 
.....I think rebates should be illegal....they are gambling on people unlike your self to forget or just give up halfway down the path.

If you cant give me the savings at the register then I DON'T WANT YOUR DAMN PRODUCT.....Congress should stop these programs.

pnorman  (1000+ posts)        Tue Jul-07-09 09:46 PM
Response to Reply #1
 
3. "If you cant give me the savings at the register" 

That has always puzzled me, and I too have a sour taste in my mouth with some rebates that I've had to deal with (although NOTHING like yours!). Is it to get by "fair trade" laws that may still be on the books in some states? Such were a large part of FDR's New Deal recovery plan, but I thought they were all eliminated a long time back.

ThirdWorldJohn (393 posts)      Tue Jul-07-09 09:42 PM
Response to Original message
 
2. 14 pages is insane.

sandnsea  (1000+ posts)      Tue Jul-07-09 09:47 PM
Response to Original message

4. Lifting the world out of poverty

One shipping label at a time.

Seriously, if our economic geniuses hadn't blown our financial house to smithereens,
and if Al Gore were President the last 8 years and had invested in green technology,
this would be an example of trade working the way Clinton intended.

Provided you get your rebate. Which is also why I only do instant rebate purchases because somewhere along the line there I'd have called someone a ****wit and been blackballed...

imdjh  (1000+ posts)      Tue Jul-07-09 09:51 PM
Response to Original message
 
5. Rebating is a skill, an art, and a religion, but your case is the worst I have heard. 

The only company to screw me out of a rebate was Fuji and they did it from their service center in Nashua New Hampshire.

"We cancelled that rebate program. We lowered the price."

This was after playing games with Best Buy, the game where they advertise the digital camera that they don't have and give you a rain check for a model that they will never get again?

Texasgal  (1000+ posts)      Tue Jul-07-09 09:52 PM
Response to Original message
 
6. What in the world would MJ have to do with a rebate???

Stinky The Clown  (1000+ posts)        Tue Jul-07-09 09:55 PM
Response to Reply #6
 
10. Nothing

Let's keep it that way.

FormerDittoHead  (1000+ posts)      Tue Jul-07-09 09:54 PM
Response to Original message
 
7. I avoid them when I can, but sometimes you have to deal with it. HERE'S THE POINT...

Funny thing, with everyone talking about health insurance, I think the point about health insurance is that they make their profits from DENYING a certain number of paying people coverage!

But to the rebates - HERE'S WHY I ALWAYS HATED THEM.

If you wanted to sell something for a lower price - LOWER THE PRICE.

THE ONLY DAMN REASON THAT REBATES EXIST IN THE FIRST PLACE IS THAT THEY *KNOW* A CERTAIN NUMBER OF THEM WON'T BE CLAIMED/GIVEN.

SO IT'S A BIG SCAM, AND THEY USE THEIR CREATIVITY TO FIGURE OUT HOW NOT TO GIVE IT TO YOU.

I remember an MP3 player I bought from eCost. It took THREE WEEKS to get, and guess what the rebate said? Must be mailed / received by AFTER THE TIME I GOT THE THING.

I feel for you.

PeaceNikki  (1000+ posts)        Tue Jul-07-09 09:55 PM
Response to Original message
 
8. Michael Jackson invented rebates. 

LEAVE MICHEAL ALONE!!

[DumbAss Tanker]

I have to agree with them on the rebates, it is a marketing ploy that pisses me off, I dsicount the value of any price that relies on "After rebate" as part of the offer.

[AllosaursRus]

If you shop around you can usually make the same deal without the rebate nonsense. I try not to do any rebates unles they are instant at the time of purchase.

[RobJohnson]

Congress should stop these programs


 

I've never had a problem getting a rebate, although I don't make alot of purchases that include a rebate offer.

The rebate comes from the manufactuer of the product & not from the retailer....that is why they can't simply charge you less when you buy it. Yes, they do bank on a few people that will never send in the rebate, etc.

It's a marketing tool that works.

[docstew]

I know it's almost assumed, but  .  Not on the trials and tribulations of getting a rebate, those rules are retarded and the companies are betting you will forget or give up.  But third call, girl with spanish accent, in Belize?  The only english-speaking country in South America?  Admittedly, I've only known two people from Belize, but they both spoke English with minimal, if any, accent.

[franksolich]

I know it's almost assumed, but  .  Not on the trials and tribulations of getting a rebate, those rules are retarded and the companies are betting you will forget or give up.  But third call, girl with spanish accent, in Belize?  The only english-speaking country in South America?  Admittedly, I've only known two people from Belize, but they both spoke English with minimal, if any, accent.

Primitives tend to not be very good at geography.

[Karin]

Don't miss the fact that all of this would have been prevented, Stinky's headaches and all, if we'd had Al Gore for the last 8 years with him investing in green technology.   

[Freeper]

Don't miss the fact that all of this would have been prevented, Stinky's headaches and all, if we'd had Al Gore for the last 8 years with him investing in green technology.   

Damn, Bush is even responsible for rebates being hard to cash in 

[thundley4]

I find it hard to believe that a printer bought from HP was the lowest price he could find. Best Buy, Walmart or any other big box store often have better deals .  Then there are place like Newegg or TigerDirect that are even lower on prices.

[RobJohnson]

I know it's almost assumed, but  .  Not on the trials and tribulations of getting a rebate, those rules are retarded and the companies are betting you will forget or give up.  But third call, girl with spanish accent, in Belize?  The only english-speaking country in South America?  Admittedly, I've only known two people from Belize, but they both spoke English with minimal, if any, accent.

DUmmies lie. I find it hard to believe that the company had call centers, in so many different locations!

Of course, the person that took the call, might of been able to tell it was a DUmmie on the line, and was afraid to give her correct location out of fear of being stalked & raped. 

[jukin]

The only time I have a problem with a rebate is when I forget to send it in.  Therefore, on small rebates I assume I will be paying the full price and not the discounted price with rebate.

[thundley4]

The only time I have a problem with a rebate is when I forget to send it in.  Therefore, on small rebates I assume I will be paying the full price and not the discounted price with rebate.

I don't let anything less than a $20 rebate savings sway me.  That $20 has to be under the price available somewhere else.

[USA4ME]

The sparkling husband primitive shouldn't try and do things only adults can handle and should stick to doing what he does best; saying stupid things.

.