The Mercury News has just busted a San Jose company, Vastech, for throwing 1,300 rebate requests for $3.50 into a dumpster.
Vastech makes a USB hub product, and threw away the mail-in rebates after getting them from customers who had bought the USB hub at Fry’s Electronics.
Rebates are almost always more of a hassle than they’re worth. It’s too bad Fry’s lets its retailers get away with this.
9 Comments
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Jitendra said:
Matt, Could not agree with you more…I have decided to never again buy a product that comes with mail-in rebate.
-Jitendra
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Boomer said:
Agreed, Jitendra — it’s almost never worth the hassle or the waiting period.
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mba said:
I usually agree as well but then, I skeptically bought a Viewsonic screen at the Renton Fry’s with an offer for a 75$ mail in rebate. I followed all instructions and submitted. Quickly I received an email confirmation with a link to track my mail in rebate processing. 5 weeks later, I received a 75$ check in the mail. I was blown away.
I don’t recall who was processing this for Viewsonic but I was surprised by the whole experience - much better then I was expecting.
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Simon Foster said:
This also happend to me when I purchased a NetGear router from Frys Electronics. I sent the coupon in to NetGear and received nothing. When I called NetGear they just blew me off and said I had no chance of getting it back as they may have lost it. It’s a total scam and these manufacturers and retailers are getting away with criminal activity in my opnion.
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RitaSue Siegel said:
I bought an expensive monitor at Comp USA which came with a $50 rebate from the manufacturer. I waited and waited and received nothing. I submitted a complaint on the website of the NY Attorney General’s office and received a response that said the store was being investigated in regard to similar complaints. Sure enough, I got my rebate in about 2 weeks. Learning: Go to the organization responsible for protecting your rights as a consumer. Any merchant that knowingly or not participates in fraud will pay attention to an investigator from the AG’s office.
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Mark said:
Rebates do suck and so blatantly nickel and dime customers. As someone who has also made many reluctant trips to Fry’s, I can say with certainty that Fry’s sucks just as much. If the rebates don’t get ya, the faulty refurbished hardware, the endless lines, the impossible sales clerks, or the chaotic store environment will. I would love to see an investigative reporter profile Fry’s; I’m sure we’d see a lot of dirt get dug up. It’s just a shame that a suitable competitor hasn’t moved next door and wiped them out.
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Don Jones said:
There must be a venture capital backed company solving this problem somewhere! If not, perhaps an online clearinghouse for people to post complaints. Probably a lawsuit-magnet, but you never know…
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Thomas said:
I was had by HP and Fry’s. I sent in my $50 rebate check for the a6010n desktop I bought at Fry’s a few months ago and I got a letter back from HP saying they couldn’t process the check because they couldn’t read the handwriting. I took drafting in high school and everyone always remarks at how precise my handwriting is. It’s sad to see a major brand like HP stoop to such fraudulent tactics and it’s sad to see businesses resort to such shitty ways to make money. Whatever happened to making a good product and pricing appropriately for it? HP, you suck. Fry’s, you suck too.
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Hamilton said:
Just got bit buying anti-virus SW. They denied my claim and then refused the copy as they could net read one character on the UPC code even though it was on the receipt when the Fry’s worker scanned it.
I will never buy anything from Frys just cause it has a rebate.
