San Disk Sucks!!!!

San Disk Sucks!!!! And so does Best Buy and the whole rip-off rebate industry!!!!!!

I'm certainly not the only one who thinks so, check out this great site: Infoworld SanDisk Leaves Customers Sans Rebate

I love their observation that the makers of a memory product sure can't recall that customers are owed a rebate!

Anyhoo, got my check today. My check for $12, that is.

Now most NORMAL people would just say, well, at least I got something out of those bastards, and cash the check. Not me.

Face it, most normal people would have never sent in the rebate, let alone properly, let alone make copies and keep meticulous records and know what they were entitled to expect in return. And that’s exactly what they are banking on. The fact that some 50% of rebate offers go unclaimed. The fact that of those sent, only half will include the proper documentation. Or that half the people sent a little postcard rejecting their claim will not call to argue the point. “Emillio” said he was sending my $18. I want my $18 as promised by Best Buy. That amount is even printed on their receipt!

So I call again. “Martin” takes my call. He has an ever-so-slightly better command of the English language than Emillio. I explain I got a check for $12 and it should be for $18. He says that the amount was supposed to be $12. That’s all it is. I agree the check says “only good up to the amount of $12”, but that I have a receipt RIGHT HERE that says $18. Would you like me to fax it to you? Oh, no, I’ll send the rest out. How much?

Six dollars, I say, instantly regretting I didn’t try to argue it was a $180 rebate. Yes, yes, sending it out. I hear music in the background with a female vocalist who isn’t singing in English. I wonder if perhaps he is working from home, sounds almost like a TV at times.

So here’s my advice: Make a clerk explain every rebate to you and SHOW dates valid and amounts. Best Buy gets a kickback on imaginary rebates same as San Disk. It drives their sales with a perceived value that is very difficult to collect.

COPY everything you send in, along with dates.

CALL if you are not getting what is promised.

COMPLAIN to retailers that you don’t want mail in rebates. See if they will give you money off another product that is not offering one to prove consumers don’t trust mail-in.

DO NOT BUY if the rebate looks to restrictive – an example is Menard’s Hardware Stores – they frequently have “Free After Rebate” products – read the fine print – the rebate is only a store credit of some sort on another of the same product. Unless you are using 40 tubes of caulk a month, you most likely don’t want the rebate under those terms. Another scam is motor oil. To collect the rebate, you must send in each qt’s UPC in a limited time window. Most people don’t use 24 quarts of oil in 2 months, let alone feel like cutting out tiny barcodes from the base of plastic containers. Mailing it all in on one stamp won’t work, and they will refuse your extra postage due.