Up Front: The Check's in the Mail? Rebate Realities

Sellers can do much more to cut the red tape and long waits buyers endure.

Contact PC World Managing Editor Kimberly Brinson at mageditor@pcworld.com.

I needed a new photo printer, and after some research I discovered a respectable model that carried an attractive $50 rebate. But a close reading of the rebate terms on the Web (rendered in type so fine it would make stock tables look like billboard text) revealed that I had just one day remaining to buy the printer and less than three weeks to collect the required paperwork and mail in the forms, including my original receipt.

It's tough to avoid rebates these days, and they seem to be getting more problematic than ever. Are rebates really worth the hassle? For most people, the answer depends on the value of the promised return. But even a thrifty buyer has to doubt whether getting a few lousy bucks back justifies going to all the trouble.

Next to tech support woes, complaints about rebates are the most common reason why PC World readers write seeking help from our On Your Side columnist Grace Aquino.

Aquino, a senior associate editor who has been our On Your Side author for three years, says that most of the complaints she hears about rebates involve checks that are long overdue. "When I contact the company on the reader's behalf, the check usually gets expedited. Overall, I think vendors do hang on to people's money, probably assuming that the customers will forget about it."

This month we examine various aspects of the rebate problem--including how rebates actually work, the roles of fulfillment companies and of vendors, and your responsibilities as a buyer--in "Rebate Roulette."

Aquino, who edited the article, notes that certain grounds for rejecting a rebate recur frequently. Common customer errors include: submitting an incorrect product code and/or an invalid receipt; improperly following directions in assembling the documentation; purchasing a version of the product not covered in the offer; failing to note the rebate expiration date before sending in the forms; and attempting to claim multiple rebates for multiple products purchased, when only one rebate per person is allowed.

Call in the Feds

In some cases, the Federal Trade Commission (which works to prevent fraudulent business practices) intervenes when buyers fail to receive their money from a rebate offer. Before the 2003-2004 holiday season, for example, FTC investigators performed a random sweep of 51 Internet retailers to review their rebate claims. The agency found it necessary to send warning letters to 11 sites--that's more than 20 percent of the sample--demanding that they clarify the type of rebate being offered. Was it in-store or mail-in? What were the conditions for getting the rebate? What was the total price a customer would pay at the time of purchase to receive the rebate? And after how long an interval could customers reasonably expect to receive a check?

"Consumers should be aware of what a company says it's going to do," says FTC senior staff attorney Michael Ostheimer. He says most rebate complaints occur because a company either sends checks late or doesn't pay the money at all.

Incomplete or poorly expressed instructions are another common culprit. For example, Ostheimer recalled, one vendor provided a space on its rebate form for an e-mail address and then declined to pay rebates to people who failed to fill in this address. The instructions, however, had not specified that an e-mail address was mandatory.

There's no reason any of us should have to risk being denied payment on a poorly defined technicality, or wait for months for a check to arrive. Vendors could do more--much more--to list pre-rebate prices clearly, to explain terms straightforwardly, and to pay rebates promptly.

In the end, I didn't buy the photo printer. I was too skeptical about ever getting the rebate. And that kind of response is not good for either buyers or sellers.