I’ve always been a fan of a stronger “truth in advertising” law. I think that all advertised prices should be the full price (including tax) and any restrictions or stipulations to that price should have to be printed in the same size font as the price itself.
I would also greatly rein in the use of the word “free”. Like if you advertise freecreditreport.com, then I show up at your website and see my totally 100% free credit report. I shouldn’t have to give out my credit card information, sign up for a 30 day period, then remember to cancel the service before being billed. If you need my credit card number, then your product isn’t free…
I still cannot comprehend why this isn’t the case in the US.
I’ve heard some weak apologist bullshit about all the local county/city/state taxes, but there’s absolutely no reason why this data can’t be entered into one of the store’s POS computers, allowing it to print price tags with the full and complete price on them (inclusive of all taxes etc), regardless of whether the store is located in Boston, Honululu, or at the South Pole.
The reason (at least for Canada) that I keep hearing is that it keeps the amount of tax you are paying transparent. If it was bundled in the sticker price you could never be sure that the amount the government was taking was the amount that you though. This way the government can’t quietly raise taxes without you hearing about it. With the tax not included I can always quickly look to ensure it is the same 14% I am used to. Not saying I agree but this is the rational I have been fed for about 20 years.
It makes it VERY difficult, however, to print out a flyer (or distribute any other advertising) with prices on it. As an example, I have 2 Staples stores within a 10 minute drive of my home, each is in a different municipality. If I get a Staples flyer, or see an advertisement on TV, with this rule, they can’t show a price because the with-tax price will be different at each store. Using today’s system, they can advertise a particular printer for $199, and have that price be consistent nationwide, regardless of the individual town’s tax rate.
The company I work for did away with all mail-in rebates a while back, instead opting for instant rebates for literally everything. We rely on the manufacturer funding to even us out in the end. I can’t say 100% since I haven’t looked too closely at the data, but from what I can tell it’s worked out positively for us. The only issue is that we provide the savings on the front end instead of the manufacturer so it eats away at our instant profit. We basically take the place of the consumer in that we front the money to them and then wait for the manufacturer to make it up to us so our regular reporting may not reflect the additional revenue. Regardless, it’s been a reasonably good promotional tool.
I’ve argued before that the price of the printer isn’t actually $199, as that’s not what the consumer pays for the product once taxes are included.
One option is that the price include all state taxes, and in the event of municipal taxes, either the ad has a disclaimer that “This price does not include municipal taxes; the appropriate price is displayed in your local store/available on our website/by calling this number”, or (another option) that the retailers just take the hit on the 1% Fudd County tax in the interests of goodwill to customers and recoup the money from Head Office.
Another option- one that would be unpopular with some, but it’s still an option- is to do away with “Local” sales taxes entirely. That would solve the pricing problem, at least.
That’s a pretty lame excuse, IMHO. They can simply include the tax amount on the receipt, as we do here- “This sale contains a GST component of $X”; which eliminates sneaky sales tax-rate hiking by the Government (Besides, you think someone would notice if they did that anyway- it would be in the paper and on TV etc.)
My cell phone died so I went to the AT&T retail showroom for a new one. The price on the one I wanted was 49.95 (basic cellphone)…no mention of any other loop holes.
At the register, the clerk tells me, “To get the price you have to sign for 2 more years of service” SCAM#1
Also, "You must pay 99.95 (plus tax) because theres a 50.00 rebate" SCAM#2
Also, "You must sign on for one of our other services (text message, music, ect" SCAM#3
Also, "To get the rebate you must send in the receipt, barcode, special thingy on the box,
and the rebate comes in the form of a "credit card" SCAM#4
I hate those rebate "credit cards"..it's hard to use them and you nearly ALWAYS
leave some on them before they expire.
When big “reputable” companies scam you from the start…it’s no wonder EVERYONE in this country is becoming more and more dishonest (about everything!)
How is the following scenario handled in your country:
The sales tax rate is 10%. Since we do not have fractional currency the tax is applied in a tiered manner. An item that costs $0.01 is not subject to tax as an individual item. But if I buy 100 of them I do pay the $0.10 tax.
We tax the transaction - not the individual items. If I spend a dollar I’m supposed to pay $0.10 tax regardless of how many items I bought to get to that
level.
So you have VAT. Do you pay $0.02 for a penny piece of gum? That’s a 50% rate on that item. We don’t work that way - nor would it be accepted.
How is this fraud? If I, the consumer, neglect to send in the paperwork and request my money back, it’s not the vendors fault. I bought that item knowing that I would pay $100, and if I filled and mailed the form I would get $40 back. The deal didn’t read “spend $100 now and will hand you $40 at the door”.
I do agree that the number of rejected rebate requests is a problem though. If I do what is required in order to get the rebate, then I should get the money.
But why make people jump through hoops? If you’re selling a product (camera, car, whatever), why not just sell it on it’s own merrits? Why impose an extra step at the point of sale? It’s imposing “conditions” that are totally unrelated to the product in the HOPES that the consumer will fuck up, and it’s wrong.
Why offer sales at all? In some kind of ideal world, there would be an absolete value attached to everything. You would know before you ever looked that widget A was worth $40. But consumers aren’t that logical, and suppliers know that. Sales, rebates, coupons, frequent flier points, bonus gifts, “but wait, THERE’s MORE…”.
You want the lowest cost. The supplier want the highest profit. It’s really that simple. Anything that the supplier can do to convince the buyer that their widget is a great deal, they will try. And as long as we all know the rules, more power to them. If you don’t want to play the rebate game, don’t. Ignore the rebate. Buy items based on what you are going to fork over at the cash register. If you’re willing to take the gamble that you will fill out and send in the rebate request, then you have that option. I only object to situations where the rules of the game aren’t clearly laid out, and adhered to.
Rebates are paid for by manufacturers. Sales, where the shelf price is marked down, are paid for by the retailer.
If you buy a an item for $100 at the register, and send in a rebate form for $50, the $50 comes out of the pockets of the manufacturer.
Still, that doesn’t make a cash register rebate difficult. The retail store has a close relationship with either the manufacturer or a vendor and money exchanges hands frequently.
But that’s exactly what it implies.
Here are two scenarios.[ol][]If you buy now, this product will cost only $50! If you fill out the form correctly, don’t mind lending us your money for 8 weeks, don’t mind having to argue with the redemption firm about it, actually get a response from the redemption firm at all, who is counting on you to forget about it or throw away the check with junk mail. and remember that the manufacturer is planning on many consumers not redeeming their rebate, so they have no intention of doleing out a rebate on EVERY unit? What kind of idiot do you take us for, anyway? We’ve got this carefully calculated so what we pay is far less than what we promise! Or:[]If you buy now, this product will cost only $50 at the register, no more, no less![/ol]Which do you think is fair, and which do you think is borderline fraud?
Yes, if you want to eliminate the concept of rebates, then by all means enact this law.
However, on behalf of those of us who know how to follow directions and want to spend out time filling out the forms and waiting for the rebate check/gift card/coupons to show up, just pretend like your law is in place and don’t bother with them. Ignoring rebates will have the same effect as if you enacted your law.
It’s not “borderline fraud.” The rebate conditions are generally spelled out easily enough in terms that even a ten-year-old can understand. You have to include certain items (e.g. a receipt and/or proof of purchase), you have to mail these items to a certain address, and you have to do so by a certain date. There is no “borderline fraud” involved.
Do people fail to fill out all the requirements? Sure. Do they sometimes miss the deadline? Doubtlessly so. Neither one of those conditions amounts to fraud though, borderline or otherwise.
And then there are cases where the consumer does everything properly and still doesn’t get the rebate. Like the OP in this thread, for example.
I’ve gotten most rebates I’ve sent in, albeit after a ridiculously long processing time designed (I’m certain) to allow you to forget having submitted the application. But there have been a few where I got boned, because it “got lost” or was “improperly submitted,” etc. It may or may not be intentional fraud, but there no question in my mind that for many rebate processors, competence and efficiency are on the “optional” list.
In those cases, there are methods to see to it that they are held to the agreement. But I’ve never encountered that in the many times I’ve used mail-in rebates, and frankly, I’ve never even heard of it until now.
Nobody denies that. Not me, and not anyone else in this thread. That still doesn’t make it fraud though, borderline or otherwise.
Like it or not, there are going to be times when the system fails. Unless you can prove that vital information was deliberately withheld though, you can’t call it fraud. While it’s *possible * that the manufacturer is deliberately ignoring your rebate application, no reasonable adult would immediately jump to that conclusion.