This has pissed me off ever since Krissa patiently explained it to me a couple of years ago, and I still have a hard time understanding why it still exists.
I'm talking about mail-in rebates in America.
I have a stalwart yet faltering cellphone that Krissa palmed off on me when I arrived two and a half years ago. It's the longest I've ever had a cellphone, but I'm still not particularly fond of it - the predictive text messaging dictionary never remembers my swearwords, no matter how many times I program them in, and the sound it makes when the battery dies (the battery lasts anything from 13 to 36 hours) is a plaintive tone sound like a death-knell. No matter how hard it is to hear the phone actually ringing in the depths of my bag, the death-knell is heard for miles.
So with my two and a half years of reasonably on-time billpaying behind me, T-Mobile are looking to hook me into another two years, and they're offering a large array of phones - some free, some reasonably priced, others way too much money. But what I hate is that the Razr (not a phone I'd consider getting, because Krissa's not fond of hers) costs $99.99 up front, but you get a $50 mail-in rebate so it only really costs $49.99.
I am precisely the sort of person this rather shady business tactic is targetted at.
I have $100, but also a giant heap of reluctance to part with said $100. I like it.
It is my friend.
In addition to $100 I have a swiftly-settling case of forgetfulness and apathy, which means there's a very good chance that after the two week waiting period I will forget to mail in the rebate slip, or I'll be distracted from the lunchtime errand by something else and end up not bothered, or every single day I will intend to send it in until it's too late...all of which means I'll have paid $100 for a $50 phone.
Which is ridiculous.
T-mobile and all the companies that use this fucking irritating tactic to lure in customers are coaxing, wheedling, teasing you with your money. They're standing in front of you with a hoop wafting your own money around in the breeze on the other side, saying, "Come on! Come on! All you have to do is jump! Jump little doggy, jump!"
I have a hard time understanding why the little doggy that is the American buying public hasn't turned round and bitten the hoop-bearing companies on the arse.
If you're going to offer a good price, offer a good price. Don't put a system in place that means you'll make more money off some customers through their own inaction...what message does that send to your customers? I admit if anyone can look at the telecommunications industry and not see the universal message of "We're trying to make money out of you any which way, fools" they must be a bit stupid, but spelling it out?
Please.
Can anyone tell me the accepted "reason" the companies give for offering mail-in rebates?
Er, also...hi. Almost left it a month between posts there. Sorry about that.
I had forgotten about this from when I bought my last new phone from Cingular, but what they do is even more shady. The rebate comes in the form of a "promotion card," which is not a check you can deposit, but is sort of a Visa card that you can spend in some stores. I recently found the one from my last cell phone purchase, long since expired, god knows how much money left on it.
And why do they do it? They promise the money to everyone, but if you don't spend it or even ask for it, they get to keep your money. I wonder what percentage of people actually get and spend their rebates?
I sort of figured they did it to get as much money as possible, I just wondered if there was a marketed reason companies give, like 'Mail-in rebates are a way for us to give you a better price than we are legally allowed to give in-store' or 'Mail-in rebates help support the USPS' or 'Our Customer Services Department really love getting mail, and our accounts department love writing checks'
?
The voucher rebate is a terrible scheme! For shame.
nothing like a good rant to get you back into blogging. good to have you back!
They've started doing similar here.. but it's claim-back vouchers or some such nonsense. Same premise though, they are relying on people forgetting about them.
Shoddy way to run a business.
Never understood it either. It's one of those insanities you get used to if you are used to it (i.e. Americans) but appears ludicrous if you are an outsider.
Also I know I would always forget to mail in a rebate. I would pay $50 to avoid admin.
Goodness! You are playing about inside of my life! I have just received my Razr phone, and am so entirely unlikely to remember to send in the rebate thingy, that I shall most certainly end up having paid an extra $50. The given reason? No clue. The real reason? To make money off disorganized dolts like me.
Rebates are from Hades. As our most wireless service providers. If I could get away with yarn and a set of aluminum cans, I would be a happy girl.