I don't know about you, but I avoid rebates like the plague. Often, I am lured into a sale too good to be passed up, only because of a promise of a very significant refund from the manufacturer. Over the years, I have grown quite skeptical of this system for various reasons. Right now, I'm drumming my fingers as I'm still waiting on a 50 dollar rebate I should have received at least a month ago.
A lot of us have had the experience too, where we waited faithfully only to discover in the end, that we didn't cross all the T's or forgot to dot a couple I's. Or, "Sorry, the offer expired" is one that gets my teeth gnashing. Or worse yet, we just didn't ever get the rebate and all attempts to communicate with someone about it, ended in voicemail hell. But really, it's not a big secret that most of us don't even bother to apply. We just tell ourselves we'll fill out the forms, lick the stamps and trundle down to the post office....later. We do this to sweet talk ourselves into pulling the trigger on yet another hardware or software purchase.
Manufacturers and retailers know this and use predictable human nature to set the levels of the rebates. Now, some brave Internet shops are venturing into the unknown, offering rebates that can be filled out online! Will this ease of compliance cause the consumer to be more likely to comlpete the process, will the rebates finally start flowing in our direction? Hard to say.
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"This is really bringing the power of technology into what historically has been a manual, backward process," said Jeffrey Roster, a retail analyst with the research firm Gartner Inc. Retailers offering online rebates remain a small minority, because there's a risk in making rebates too easy for customers. The economic calculations built into rebates assume many customers will be sufficiently enticed to buy, but either fail to follow the proper steps in submitting the rebate form or simply forget to submit one at all. "If one in 20 customers actually claims the rebate, and then it's made easier and now two in 20 do it, that's going to affect the numbers," said Carol Baroudi, a retail technology analyst with the research firm Baroudi Bloor. |
Well, I'm all for it, it saves a lot of resources and can also give us a fighting chance at following through with the process. Now, if there were only a way to ensure you will get it via the snail mail. Still needs some work there I guess.
Source: Myway AP News
