Not sure if this is a GQ question so I figured I would put it here.
So I bought a camera, lens and printer in January so I could take advantage of a very nice rebate offered by the company who manufactures said products. In the instructions on the form, it said among other things to include a copy of the warranty card for all items that I am requesting a rebate for. All is fine and good until I discover that the printer does not have a warranty card. Just a registration card. So I call the rebate people and they say, “Oh, we know about that issue. Just send the rest of the stuff in.” So I send it away with everything I have and wait. Nothing from the company until about 2 weeks ago when I check the status page on their website and it says “Non-Compliance Card Issued”. Off to the phone I go and give the company another call. The fine gentleman I talked to said “It is not a problem Mr. *****, we have all we need to process your check. Please wait 6-8 weeks for your check to be sent out. If you do actually recieve the non compliance card, just throw it out.” I got the reps name and employee number and thanked him for his time. Today I looked at the website at my wifes request and noticed that I must resubmit all info by April 26th. Sounds kind of fishy to me. What do you think? What would you do?
You must be kind of new to rebates. What you just described is not at all uncommon with rebate submissions. Rebate problems are the number one consumer complaint to retailers. The trick for you is to be persistent. Forget about phone calls because they leave no paper trail. Send an email with a strong protest and say that you will report any non-payment of the rebate to all appropriate consumer protection groups. You will get an email response that will square everything for you. I’ve done this many times successfully.