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Uh. This sucks. They are going to replace rebates with something where You have to pay for a stupid card and then only be allowed to get future discounts. This sucks horribly.

I never buy anything with a rebate. This can only be good for their business.

Circuit City was also going to try this about 2 years ago, but nothing ever came of it.

What is the big deal with having to pay to get the RZ card?It's only 10 bucks,if you don't spend enough to come out ahead from it,then just don't get it.But chances are you will make more in RZ certificates than you spent to get the card.Do you complain to the bank that you have to give them money to earn interest from them?

Exactly.

I'd MUCH RATHER have the RZ than them stupid dumbass rebates..

Yea sure! Go ahead and pay money for future discounts! Bleh. And considering that people have been moaning about the regularity of RZ certificates coming - you just trade one hassle for another.

Cash is always better.

It also said it will phase out mail-in rebates over the next two years, bowing to customer complaints. Its shares fell more than 6 percent.

With mail-in rebates, customers pay a higher price but get money back - sometimes hundreds of dollars - by mailing in copies of receipts and a form.

"Our customers are telling us they just hate the process,"


No, they hate *not getting the rebate check*. The process is fine, and if you really wanted to, there are other ways of doing it. Heck, instant rebate at the register, since the store would be able to recoup from the manufacturer.

So since with rebates you pay a 'higher price' but get cash back, will we now see lower prices?
Best Buy is really turning into Anti-Consumer Buy, making it harder and harder to shop there and save money. The concept of 'pay for membership, *then* spend money to earn points [for what, cash discounts, rebates, specials?]' is a little convoluted. I pay for a membership at BJ's, but I save money instantly there; and I have all the grocery cards, again, I save money instantly.

Costco occasionally does rebates, and it is a quick efficient process. Fry's and BB make it as hard as possible and people are often screwed over.

Agree. That doesn't turn me on at all.

True. It also seems lately rebates are denied for no reason in hopes you won't persist. Also, I hate paying $100 for something with an $80 rebate because I pay tax on $100 when the bottom line cost is $20. Tell me that doesn't suck.

Of course, that's a purely theoretical savings, which Best Buy could very well emulate. When you introduce the card, you raise prices across the board and then discount a few items for card-holders so it appears they're getting a deal when they're actually, on average, paying more for their groceries than they were before the card was introduced.

When my corner grocery store introduced loyalty cards, some items' regular prices went up by 50% or more instantly (2 liter soft drinks, for example, went from a regular price of 99 cents to $1.49. The most common discount for these soft drinks now puts the price at $1.19, which is 20 cents more than what I paid before, even though they now tell me I'm saving 30 cents on each one. And they're not always on special. Sometimes, you have to pay the $1.49 price). There are often card deals on these items to this day, though even with the card-holder discount, the price is still higher than it was prior to the cards being introduced.

I could see Best Buy raising the price of DVDs, for example to a regular price of $25 and then giving a $4 discount for Reward Zone card holders, giving you an instant savings of $4, even though you're probably paying $5 more than you would have before.

Personally, I would prefer just having lower prices overall rather than some convoluted way of giving discounts that may not be discounts at all.

That's true as well, which is why I mainly use the 'cards' for the items that are actually cheaper than 'normal' with the card discount, and shop at WalMart for most other groceries, since they're generally 5-25% cheaper than the grocery stores, sometimes even considering the discount cards. [FL or Lowe's has 2-liters with the card at times from .89 to 1.09, WalMart just dropped their regular prices on 2-liters to 88 cents.]
Last year our Food Lion 'remodeled' to compete with a Lowe's which had just reopened. The week the remodeling was complete, FL's prices on most on things we buy went up 2-30%, while they were advertising 'Always Low Prices'. Whatever. Been there maybe three times since, and always to max out on the things that are highly discounted [like, BOGO] with the card.
All that considered, BB has actually increased prices overall [at least on many DVD's] in the past year or so, so a discount card and 'preferred pricing' might approach the original pricing structure. Paying for that discount card seems like adding insult to injury. But BB is making such a negative rep for itself, even among non-dvdphiles, that many people will still use alternate sources for a lot of the items--Circuit City, Deep Discount, Amazon, etc. Of course there will always be the people who need it now, or don't comparison shop, but that's not isolated to BB or the electronics stores anyway.
Just goes to reinforce the idea that the consumer who stays educated and informed, and comparison shops, will always do better. Everyone else who doesn't, helps subsidize the rest of us. And like you say, many times savings are 'psychological.'

They could always take a lessson from Staples and do online rebates which work quickly and efficiently. There really is no reason for me to shop at Best Buy anymore. The rebate process is such a hassle and the only good deals you get have rebates which are reimbursed only half the time. It is not worth the gamble

I think Best Buy makes it pretty easy. The register spits out a rebate form, a rebate receipt, and all I have to do is mail it in. I can't think of an instance where I have not received a rebate that I submitted - and I do it all the time - whether it be through Best Buy or elsewhere.

I would hardly categorize it as a hassle. Plus, it's optional. I'm sure the mindset in rebates is that most folks will be too lazy to actually fill out a form and put it in the mail.

On principle I don't really understand the concept of paying a registration fee to be eligible for rebates/discounts.

I've never had a big problem with rebates. The important thing is that you make copies of everything. It's like using delivery confirmation when you sell something on Half.com

Meh. I hate rebates. Always the last option for me when bargain shopping. I'm generally willing to pay 10% more than the rebate deal if I can find a place that has it onsale with no rebates.

I agree with that; consumer education always says to never buy something *just because* it's on rebate, you have to treat the rebate like a 'bonus.' Slightly-more-expensive right now is better than slightly-less-expensive-after-twelve-weeks.
I believe some states don't even allow mail in rebates; if an item is advertised for 49.99, they can't say '89.99, less 40.00 rebate', they have to sell it to you for the 49.99 as advertised.

This is good news. No need for all these manufacturers to get my personal info.

I like the death of the stupid mail in rebates...but what they have to replace them is almost as bad if not worse.

I'm totally turned off from buying *ANYTHING* that requires me to mail in for a rebate. I'd rather be lured into some store with a instant deal on an item than to see what i would be getting if i sent off 4 different rebate forms.

I remember when day after thanksgiving sales were something to wake up early for or to camp out outside the store...nowadays its just mail-in this and send off for rebate that...what a fucking joke.