Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
That is completely spurious logic. The fact that there have been scams involving rebate offers certainly doesn't imply that all such offers are scams. That's a ridiculous generalisation.
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I suspect that mail-in rebates started as a means of controlling the discount passed on to the consumer, that is, to ensure the retailer doesn't just gobble it up as profit. But it has since become a moral ski-slope for even some of the biggest companies as they realize that the rebate can be relied on to boost their bottom line.
I am suggesting that
all mail-in rebates are a shady business practice. Marketers now know that by making it difficult to collect the discount, many will fail to do so and the money will end up going to the shareholders, not the customers. An honest merchant can give you a discount in a straightforward manner if he chooses to do so. If the manufacturers want to control who gets the discount, they can offer a checkstand rebate or instant rebate, as it is called.
Who does the mail-in rebate benefit? Certainly not the oft-forgetful elderly, the busy consumer, or those outside the demographic conditions of the offer. I recently bought a Canon camera. I am very pleased with it, but if it had been sold with a mail-in rebate, I would have passed it up. Even if you are diligent in collecting the rebate, you can be sure someone else is being cheated.
I think it is better if we send a message to dodgy manufacturers by not participating in their calculating little games. Just buy another brand. They will eventually catch on and stop doing it.