scarredgod

i purchased a computer on Black Friday at Best Buy whcih had a $250 rebate. i sent for the rebate a couple days later and i decided to call today to check on the status, mainly because the rebate had to be postmarked by Jan 15, so in case i had to re-submit, i would have the time. i should also add that one of the reasons i called is because i had a strong suspicion that this rebate would not go smoothly. well, lo and behold, i was correct.

there was no record of my rebate submission. i called the rebate number and a very helpful woman answered, gave me a new address to submit my copies to, and a case number. hopefully this will go smoothly this time, i will update this thread accordingly.

the point of the post was mainly to tell people to check on their best buy rebates, especially if around Black Friday. and always make copies of everything. luckily i did. maybe it was an honest mistake, maybe they hope people didnt make copies and would be out of luck. maybe im too cynical.

out of all the different mail-in rebates this season, this was the only one handled in-house, by best buy. i prefer outside companies, where you can go online and look up your status instantly, like rebatestaus.com. the best buy phoneline tells you to wait 6 weeks before calling, conviently after the expiration date.

good luck.

ernestrp

I sent in for a Best Buy rebate around the end of September. The web site you use to track it says they received it November 20 and it was valid and in the final stages of processing and its been that way since then.

3Js

It always amazes me in the era of modern computer technlogy how long it takes to get a rebate.

These folks must be woefully understaffed or work with the speed of sleepy snails. 3 weeks tops should be plenty of time to receive the request and then for you to receive the rebate.

6-8 weeks or even more is ridiculous. The checks are machine printed not handwritten! Most rebate processing is outsourced to specialty firms that only handle rebate fufillment as their primary business. They ought to have this down to a fine science at the the point.

Still the longer the rebate can be delayed the better the cash flow for the firm offering the rebate. And I suspect that is really what is going on.

The only exception I can think of is when the rebate is a merchandise premium that they might be temporarily out of stock on.

Patman

Well, there's no real incentive to get you your money any faster, is there?

ernestrp

One might get their rebate check promptly and return to their store and make another purchase and not question any other purchases from the said company involving a rebate from said company.

I guess I'am going to have to call soon.

dvd2001

I've had good luck with BestBuy rebates, at least 15 of them for various stuff over the past couple of years. They do require patience, but they normally arrive within the specified time.

If the rebate is over $10, I make copies of everything I send in.

For one rebate where I was rejected incorrectly, I was able to get it resolved at the local store.

nekobus

I've also had good luck with BB rebates, most of them show up within a month.

nemein

I've been hit & miss so far. A $10 one came back in about a month, a $30 was supposedly received after the expiration date (even though I mailed it the day I bought the product which was about 1/2 way through the promo) so I didn't get that one. I never usually factor mail-in rebates into my purchase consideration anyway so if they do actually come through it's "found money" and I don't sweat it if it doesn't.

CaptainMarvel

Good lord, I've been having problems with rebates recently.

Virtually every one I've sent in over the past two months has been problematic.

I had two TiVo rebates that were rejected because I supposedly didn't include the proof of purchase label. On the first one, I had to call and explain that these were refurbished units, which for some reason had a new UPC sticker over the old label. I included this new sticker. They then tried to tell me that the rebates weren't good for refurbished units. Thankfully, I'd been smart enough to print out the TiVo store homepage that said "Refurbished 80-hour unit: $199 after $50 rebate." AND I'd included proof from TiVo's online pre-qualification process showing I was eligible. So after engaging in 30 minutes of back-and-forth, the representative finally agreed to fix my first rebate and include a note about the second rebate so I wouldn't have to go through the same process.

Then, of course, I have to go through exactly the same process the next time. The lady actually sees the note in her system, and just chooses to ignore it. So I have to wrangle with her for almost as long.

I recently bought a Samsung monitor and a Samsung laser printer. Both had rebates. I sent both in the same day. I used the Express Group's website to check on my rebate status, and only the monitor rebate showed up. I found that they'd entered my address wrong on the second rebate (they had the wrong zip code (which is really the only way to search), and they didn't even put my full street address.

I'm getting damn sick of these rebates. I had to sick my state Attorney General's office's consumer protection specialists on Office Depot a few years ago. They'd given me a rebate on a monitor that said "6 to 8 weeks" for delivery; 4 months later, they still hadn't gotten around to shipping my rebate.

God help you if you don't photocopy everything.

scarredgod

just want to update this thread, thankfully my $250 rebate came today in the mail, whew.

i hope everyone else gets theirs too.

gdjohnson

I have to say that even if you submit everything as instructed you have a 50/50 chance of getting the money. As stated above either they say they have no record of receiving it or the rebate coupon is returned claiming something is wrong (often after the offer has expired). I included printer ink and such from Office Depot with their mail-ins for ever advertised deal not just Best Buys & CompUSA. I don't go for mail-in rebate deals anymore, if it's a discount it better be at register.
Greg

nickdawgy

what web site? I don't see anything on Best Buy's site....

Patman

This past week I got my Best Buy rebate from my purchase of a Liteon DVD burner drive from Black Friday.

ernestrp

http://www.rebateshq.com/clients/par...ates/index.jsp

I still have not received my rebate from back then. It still says processing. I guess I'am going to have to call as soon as I get my voice back.

GodzillaMusic

I hate rebates too. Just took me SEVEN months to get a $20 rebate from McAfee antivirus. I filled out all the forms and mailed them in back in the beginning of August and it showed up in their system 3 days later saying I'd get the rebate in 30 days or less. It took numerous emails and phone calls to finally get it seven months later. I say stores should just take off the money at the register and let them get the rebates but it will never happen.

C_Fletch

I am just wondering when they are going to outlaw these ridculous practices. They were easy in the begininning but they have obviously found a loop hole in the system. Technically this IS FRAUD!! But unfortuantely everytime someone yells "FRAUD!!" these ****ing companies relent and give you the money. But for every guy that yells "Fraud!!" there are 20 other people who forget, give up, try to get the company to pay but have not made copies of their documents, etc, etc, etc, etc. It's a scam.

How many different excuses can we list guys and gals...................

ernestrp

I finally called the phone number that was on the rebate receipt thing. What a waste of 30 minutes!!! 25 minutes on hold. Then I get a foreign person that was hard to understand and after about 5 minutes all he can tell me is that my rebate is valid and it should be sent to me sometime, probably in about 30 days from today.

ernestrp

I just checked my rebate status and:

Date Received: 11-20-2003
Status: Reward Fulfilled
Check Number: *******
Check Issue Date: 02-03-2004 (Please allow 10-15 days for delivery

Maybe it was my phone call or maybe it was my email to them asking if I needed to contact Best Buy or Logitech to find out why the rebate I sent in on 9/29/2003 had not been sent to me yet.

babka

I have never received any of my 3 rebates from best buy which should be called worst buy. I NEVER buy anything with rebates from them now. The claim to have lost my info or never received it like you said. B.S. company. I dont even shop there anymore. I go to other stores and price match so as not to give them my business of roughly $200 or so per month of spending.

nickdawgy

I sent in 2 rebates to Best Buy last month and rebateshq says they can't be found. What should I do?

eau

If you have photocopy of the rebates, you can get rebateshq to redo it. Otherwise, you are SOL.

basaro

I've gotten lots of rebates, and the only ones I've ever had a problem with were a few rebates I did with Pest-Buy.

One of them claimed I didn't purchase the item in the specified time-frame. HELLO! ass-buy automatically prints a rebate form and receipt at the register when you buy something that qualifies for a rebate. It's that simple, yet they refused my rebate. That was the second one, and the final straw, I can't remember why I didn't get the first rebate. I never buy anything with a rebate from them anymore. In fact I hardly buy anything from them at all anymore. They treat their employees and customers like dirt and I'm fed up with it. My business goes to CC, CH and DDD. They keep me happy.

dcprules

I've never had any rebate problems, until Best Buy. In November "black Friday" I bought this Norton Systemworks/AntiSpam/Firewall package that was free after mir, they still have only sent me the one for $30. I've been trying to get the $50 rebate for a while, too. Of course, I have copies of everything except I lost the copy of the rebate and best buy does not have it on their website (they get rid of all of their rebates after 30 days). Hopefully I can find the lost copy.

Really frustrates me, I've never had trouble with a rebate until this one.

nickdawgy

I have my receipt, that's about it.

ernestrp

I posted above about my troubles with a Best Buy rebate. I sent a rebate in on 9/29/03. Rebateshq said they got it on 11/20/03 so it took almost 2 months for them to post it as being received. I finally got my rebate after calling about 2 weeks ago when it had been in final processing since 11/20/03.