eviljim

Howdy,

Just got an email that CyberRebate is now offering free DVDs (versus them being retail price after a huge rebate ). The DVDs are a whopping $169.99 before rebate but free after. They have a decent selection of DVDs, actually stocking some good ones (Meet the Parents is one I remember off-hand). Shipping is free as well
I've placed just about 10 orders with CyberRebate and have NEVER had a problem with rebates. They come almost exactly 3 months after I mail in that check.
If you have the money to spare temporarily (or one of those 0% APR credit cards!) this is a keen way to pick up some titles.
Also note CyberRebate offers unlimited rebates now. You can pick up 100 copies of a title, if you'd like. It'd cost $16,999.00 though.
I'm sure a lot of you hate CR, think this is a big scam, etc... but I'm just posting this info because I think some people might be interested -- I know I would be.
You kids can go crazy over at http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/...type=3&subid=0 -- I'd DVD Talk the link but AFAIK there is no posted CR link? They have a link to Free DVDs on the main page.

Use the coupon code PATRICK and get $10 off any purchase $100 or over (which one dvd alone would satisfy).

[Edited by eviljim on 03-16-01 at 07:03 PM]

thanador

Not a bad find, but I wish the price wasn't so high. If it was something like the Ken Burns Jazz set I'd think it was an awesome deal.

As I understand it, companies like this make money one of two ways:

1) Off the "float" of having use of your money for three months
2) The "breakage", those people who never send their rebate in. At $169, I don't imagine they'd have to have too many people not send their rebate in to profit off this deal.

Just my 2 cents worth.

eviljim

I was convinced the first reply would be someone wanting to kill me just for posting this... Yeah, their prices suck, but even at a reasonable APR you'll get your money back before you rack up more than they're worth.

thanador

Oh I agree to that. My biggest concern (and why I won't jump on the deal) is that they mioght go out of business before getting my rebate paid, much as Pointclick did. If I paid a price that I'd be willing to live owning it for, then I wouldn't have a problem, but I don't think I'd be able to live with having paid $169 for Battlefield Earth

ClassyChassis

If you go with this, Good luck in getting your money back when/if the company goes under like the rest of the dot-com graveyard.

Think twice!

Jeraden

Don't forget, you can save 5% from cyberrebates through dash.com... not sure what ****** offers.

To be honest, I don't think this company is at that much risk of going out of business. With those huge prices and the few people that forget the rebate, I think they do have the ability to make a modest profit... not much, but decent... depends on how many people they have employed I guess... if its 600+ like eToys, then yeah, they'll be gone.

DVDKrayzie

nice find, but i think if i had an extra $170 per DVD available, i wouldnt even care about saving money on DVDs........now if i had one of those 0% interest credit cards....

tasha1

******
bizrate

Just seeing if that's the word that gets filtered out. I've noticed a couple posts that were censored, and I always wondered what the word was but couldn't tell from context. This post seems clearer, with the reference to dash and all so just checking. (Yeah, I'm bored right now. )

Darn . . .that's not it. Am I just being dense? What does it start with?

Gil Jawetz

That's unbelievable! Anyone who actually goes for that deserves the $169 X-Men DVD that they get.

babka

Thanks Eviljim. Very good post! I may give this a try. I've has all my rebated returned as well..no problem.

eviljim

Yeah, I'm debating going and ordering one (or maybe two)... there's some other stuff I might pick up too.

beebs

Eviljim, thanks for posting this, but I'm just gonna chime and say this is not a good deal for me and it shouldn't be a good deal for anyone.

If they take 120 days to pay, I can make enough to buy the same disc with Tax Lien Certificates and Bonds.

-Beebs

isekii

If you read the fine print.. it says they can't take the rebate off at any time..

I can run the same service except that I will rebate you the amount in 2 month.. wanna try it? >=)

I'm sure a lot of people have received their rebates.. but Im sure there are plenty that haven't received theirs..

It seems way to high for a DVD that would cost under $15.00 dollars for them to charge $169.99

And Im most definitely sure they are probably investing the extra money in the stock market.. or letting it rest in a good APR Bank Account.

Either way.. This Cyber Rebate place seems like a big risk.

ravan

All your rebates are belong to us!

JUGhead

Well this is how they probably make money; Get some moron who thinks hes gonna get a DVD for free after getting his $2,000 rebate. Now this moron gets his DVD in the mail "kewl got my DVD!! fOR free!!" "oh I'll pick that up and send it in later I gotta enjoy my new DVD!!" "where the hell is that #$%$#% #@$%@#$% rebate form!?!?!!? Nooooo this DVD cost me $2,000>

Cyberrebate.com: Sucsessfully bent another customer over.

Hell they probably bank on people losing them, forgeting them, getting lost in the mail. Who knows. Talk about RIP OFF.

Pasolini

Here's a quote from a Wall Street Journal article from Feb 2001, which i found at CyberRebate's OWN WEBSITE, in their 'about us' section.

Meanwhile, the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan New York has received enough customer complaints to give CyberRebate an "unsatisfactory" rating. Many of the complaints alleged that the company failed to fulfill orders or to issue refunds and "adjustments" to dissatisfied customers.

Regardless of the testimonials of the company's reliability by a few dvdtalkers, you'd be completely insane to throw $169 at a product that you can purchase for around $10. That's a 5.9% return on your investment. Is it really worth it??

furthermore, the company is NOT profitable. Here's another quote from the same article:

Nevertheless, CyberRebate Chief Executive Joel Granik, 24 years old, says the privately held company he started in 1998 ... will be profitable this year. Mr. Granik contends his customers start out buying goods that are free, but they soon switch to items that aren't. And that's where the profits are.

(not to be age-ist, but would you really trust a 24 year old w/ $6048 of your money for 36 dvd's????)

[Edited by Pasolini on 03-15-01 at 05:45 AM]

Zedsed

^

(so people will stop recreating this discussion thread)

gbub

I could see this working if you recently applied for one of those credit cards with a 0% introductory rate on purchases for X number of months. Still that's too much money for me to have floating in cyberspace.

Centurion

In this type of bargain, the risks far outweigh the benefits for the consumer.
There are enough negative posts about this deal to steer me clear of this.

Thanks, but no thanks.

isekii

I agree to that.. Too much risk~

Deals4all

Put it on your VISA card, they have a 100% safe policy for Internet orders, if they rip you off, a quick call to VISA will refund your money back.

wabio

UN-F#@KING-BELIEVABLE!. Where do these morons get off charging $160 per DVD? I should send them an order paid for with Monopoly money just even things out.

bboisvert

That depends what VISA considers a "rip off". Say Cyberrebate sends you the DVD, but then they go out of business and don't come through on the rebate... VISA could probably refuse to refund you your money, since you purchased (and received) a DVD. The rebate may just be something additional that VISA doesn't have to consider.

Make sure to read the fine print.


I have had great luck with CyberRebate in the past and got a bunch of cool free stuff (universal remote, shower radio, alarm clock, stuff like that). However, about a year ago they started charging these obscene prices... $200 for a jigsaw puzzle, $1200 for a VCR, etc. Those prices have scared me off and I haven't purchased from them since. However, from what I have heard from others, they still come through on all of the rebates and even have a pretty decent "rebate tracking" system online...

However, to risk $170 for a DVD that you can find for $15 or so... doesn't seem too bright.

Deals4all

Ya, I dont know what happened to them, there before rebate prices used to be about retail, now its crazy. But I cant see them going bust anytime soon, seeing as they are charging crazy amonuts now.

renaldow

It doesn't work that way. You are buying a DVD for $169.00. If you received that DVD, as far as Visa is concerned you bought merchandise and received it. They won't do anything about it.

The rebate is between you and the company involved, and has nothing to do with the purchase that you made. Visa or anyone else is not a part of it. Basically, you're on your own and at the mercy of the company offering the rebate.

This isn't a good deal, it's a gamble. Legitimate companies do not make this their business plan. Eventually people are going to get burnt. If you've gotten rebates in the past, great. That doesn't mean you're going to get them 6 months from now though.

And, by the very nature of a rebate, they can stop paying at any time. Which means that if they do go out of business they do not have to honor the rebate as a valid debt, no matter what they promise on their site.