Mail-in rebates

“Since when did it become ok for companies just to con you out of cash. Sirius this time. I normally avoid mail-in rebates like the plague, but as it was something I was going to get anyway and it was $50, I thought, why not. So I send it in, wait a couple of months, then get a postcard telling me I didn't include the number from the box - which I know I did for sure. In fact there's a hole in the box where I cut the thing out from as they wanted only the original.
I'm now stuggling to find the copy of it I made. This BS annoys the hell out of me. They count on people not filling it in to start with, then I'm sure they just refuse a load with any old excuse, banking that people will just give up and they keep the cash.
Basically, the whole mail-in rebate crap shoud be banned. They souldn't be able to advertize a price with the rebate taken off, as basically most of them have no intention of ever paying it back.

I say again, this was Sirius, buy XM people buy XM..... rant over.”

“In defense of SIRIUS, I got my rebate with no hassle.

XM is struggling right now. Apparently when people set up their accounts they have been haggling over the price. You should be able to get it down to $3/month. Not sure how long your equipment will be useful . . . but they do have converter boxes out that will allow you to hook up SIRIUS to your XM equipment.”

“I guess I'm ok with Sirius, been fine otherwise, it's the whole mail-in rebate con that annoys me. It's what I expected, so I was careful to do everything to the letter, and they still try to con me.”

“That sucks!! I hate those things too. Someone told me they do it so they can make interest on what they owe you, until they give it to you...or something like that, I didn't really understand.”

“The rebate thing is a pain in the arse. I do love my SIRIUS radio though.”

“Lyra - I think they get to count it as revenue, if not profit. Like I say if there's a way to get it without the mail in then I'll take it, but once I bought it I figured I may as well send it off. They also know that a lot of people don't get round to sending it in, or send it in wrong, or get denied for no reason. That way they get to advertize a lower price than you actually end up paying.”

“Have you ever noticed how many of the rebates are often sent the same address in Minnesota? Some companies outsource the rebate function and I think that the outsourced company gets to keep a percentage of whatever they don't rebate back to the customer. That in no way relieves the original company of any responsibility to the customer, of course.

I keep copies of EVERYTHING. And I send my rebate stuff certified mail, return receipt requested. It's costs a couple of dollars, but well worth it when they claim that they never got my form, etc. But customers should not have to do this.”