Your Mail in Rebate May Be In Jeopardy

yeah, what probably happened is that the company was expecting fewer people to fill out rebates since people always forget, but since the current financial crisis people are going to be pretty damn careful to not forget those so go figure that they're going to be running short on cash.
 
I know that much negative is said about MIR's but I think that its overplayed. Not to say that aren't problems, but as soon as a company doesn't make good on an offer all they have bought themselves is trouble. I'm not as good about MIR as a I should be but if $10 or more is at stake I send it in. I've sent in dozens over the last few years for all sorts of products and I have never had a problem.

My last big payout came from the "he GTX 280 was way over priced on release" deal from XFX. I bought three at release and got back $120 for each for a total of $360 so I was happy.

Bottom line, if a MIR is the make or break deal on a purchase, then maybe you should look elsewhere. Companies don't want to put themselves on the chopping block for offering MIR's that don't get offered, and let's all make a New Year's resolution to send on all of our MIR's!
 
One funny experience I had with MIR's was when office max had a $50 MIR for the Xbox 360. I snagged that deal right away, and began the MIR process. About three days later, I saw an amazing deal that best buy was doing, buy hdtv + xbox 360 + halo 3 and get basically half off the hdtv and a $100 gift card. I returned my 360 to office max and lived happily ever after with my best buy 360.

About six months later I got a $50 check from office max...
 
pxc said:
I think I found all the addresses CPG uses (some might be outdated):

Phoenix, AZ
Scottsdale, AZ
Tempe, AZ
Niagra Falls, NY
Tampa, FL

If your rebate form tells you to check status on rebatestatus.com, that's CPG.

I just checked my outstanding rebates and I have one to CPG. :mad: It's an Antec rebate. I had sent in 6 rebates to CPG in the last year and 5 were paid quickly. I'm going to need to call about the Antec rebate tomorrow. That just about kills any future Antec deals for me.
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Crap. Went through my rebates and still have one for Antec as well:mad:
 
After reading about CPG and not keeping up with what money came from what vendor, it sounds similar to the deal with the AIG bailout party.
The company gets money from the vendor (the US government in AIGs case) and then they go on an 'executive retreat' afterward.
All of a sudden there is no more money and now they're screaming they need more money.

Yeah, sounds real similar to me. :rolleyes:

and now for a shot at getting back on topic:
I personally don't care for the whole mail in rebate process. You pay a jacked up price for an item and the company sits on your money for two months to let it grow interest. After enough interest has accrued then you get a check in the mail.
Why not just mark the item to the lower price to begin with. I figure it's all about gathering information. You send in your real information so they can compile a list which then gets sold to third party companies and your email and snail mail gets swamped with garbage.
I'd rather just shop around to find "x" item for the lower price to begin with.
 
The real question that needs to be answered here is:

What did CPG do with the cash that was paid to them? :confused:

If I were a company that paid CPG to manage rebates then I would most CERTAINLY want to see the records of all the people who bought my company's product and were guarenteed a refund.

If CPG could not provide the records of those who requested a refund then legal measures would be taken to see where the money went. Resistance is futile.
 
Just got this in my inbox:
Dear Valued Customer,

This is an official email from TRENDnet.

Please note that a mail-in-rebate check that was recently mailed to you by a 3rd party company, on behalf of TRENDnet, will BOUNCE if you try to cash this check. This issue came to our attention today and we are taking immediate action to ensure that you receive your mail-in-rebate refund.

Why will your mail-in-rebate check bounce?

Please note that a 3rd party rebate processing company (legally we cannot disclose the company name at this point) was contracted to issue you your mail-in-rebate check. This 3rd party company is experiencing financial difficulties and the funds provided to them, by TRENDnet, are no longer available. We apologize for any inconvenience, delay or confusion this may cause. We are doing everything in our power to rectify the situation immediately.

We are taking immediate corrective actions to change our mail-in-rebate provider to ensure that this never happens again. We are committed to ensure that you receive your refund in a timely manner and that you will have full confidence in TRENDnet running into the future.

How to get your mail-in-rebate:

1. Don't cash the mail-in-rebate check you have received (it will bounce)
2. If you have not yet received the check, remember not to cash it once you do get it in the mail
3. Make a photocopy of the check for your records
4. Mail the original check to TRENDnet headquarters along with a printout of this email.

Mail the check to: (for your reference: our headquarter address can be confirmed on our website at
TRENDnet
Mail-In-Rebate Check Rectification
20675 Manhattan Place
Torrance, CA 90501 USA

5. TRENDnet will immediately mail back to you a new check that you can cash at any time

Additional Questions:

Please email ______ if you have any questions or concerns about the process or your mail-in-rebate check.

Rest assured that we are doing everything in our power to correct this unfortunate occurrence immediately.

We apologize again for any inconvenience.

Sincerely,
TRENDnet
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So.. I deposited said check like 2 weeks ago, I wonder if I'm in the green.
 
panfist said:
If mail in rebates ever were such a sure thing, then why don't they just offer the item for a lower price in the first place? If company x has to give the money to a company like CPG to hold in escrow...the money is out of their bank account already. What's the advantage for company x?
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As mentioned in another post, outsourcing this reduces overhead for the company.

Wheresatom said:
Because if company x sells 10,000 units because of the mail in rebate lure, but only 5,000 customers remember to fill out the forms and mail them in, they get to keep the money from the other half that only bought the product based on the rebate.

I am not sure what the real numbers/percentages are, but I figure a good portion of people buy something with full intentions of mailing in, and forget or loose something.

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Thats the advantage for company x to participate in the MIR charade, but not why they outsource it. I have a few clients that do this sort of thing for a variety of industries, including, but not limited to, insurance (all types), class action lawsuits and bankruptcies.

My clients basically hold money in escrow (and can't use it for operations) to pay claims on behalf of their customers. My clients get paid on a per-transaction basis rather than on a commission/windfall basis (i.e. if someone doesn't cash the checks, my client doesn't keep the profit - they actually have to track it down and make sure the claiment receives his/her entitlement). My clients also make money on the escrow balance in the accounts, but its not their main source of income. There are generally rather strict controls around how the funds are handled and disbursed, so this story will be rather epic once it breaks.

My clients also set the amount required to be on hand for escrow purposes and require funding before sending checks to the claiments. For example, my client who pays on insurance claims requires all large dollar amount payments (i.e. over 25k) must be prefunded prior to the check being issued. They also do a periodic true up of the escrow account - lets say it was based on an expected volume of 100k/month, but really, they were doing 150k/month - on the next periodic review of reserve, the escrow requirement would certainly go up.
 
MIRs suck, period. As has been said, they're nothing but short-term investments in the company that you get no return on, and may not even get back. Pre-ordering games that aren't out yet is similar. You're making a short-term investment that the company benefits from, over and above the game purchase because of the time involved, but you don't get anything in return for helping them make that gain. And you thought it was cool that you already bought that game, before it's even finished. All you did was give the company an interest-free loan, but they still made money on it. You're so generous. :p
 
darkpaw said:
That one is easier, the longer they hold on to the money the more interest they can draw off of it!
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Yes, but doing that may well be breaking your local consumer laws. I looked into this once some years back and the consumer law for Ontario stated that the rebate must be made to the customer within 6 weeks. That's probably why the rebate forms usually say allow six weeks to get your rebate. More often they take three months regardless of local consumer laws. I once had a rebate from Diamond that took almost one year to get back to me. The law was definitely broken in that situation. Screw rebates. I never buy anything based on a rebate and wish NCIX would stop making it look like they are giving customers a good deal by subtracting the rebate from the sale price. All stores should be legally made to only advertise pre-rebate price since there is no guarantee you will even get the rebate.
 
I got burned on a MIR for Kingston RAM. That was the first and last rebate I bothered with.

MIR's are like insurance, if they pay out 80% of the time, and fight you 20% of the time, their profits skyrocket. If you plot insurance compainies' profits vs time, you can pinpoint exactly when this happened for each company.

And to those willing to do all sorts of free clerical work (copying, calling, writing, etc.) just to get money you're already owed, give me a tell and I can hook you up with all sorts of work to do for free.
 
Well I sent one in for some Goodyear tires a couple weeks ago. :D

I'll be sending in an Asus rebate shortly.
 
Is there a list of retailers or products that have rebates serviced by these clowns? It would be nice to know before making future purchases.
 
After being stiffed 4x's on rebates, I've gave up on them. (2 times from CompUSA, 1 from AT&T cellular, and 1 from WD) And I followed the directions to the letter!

I can see how this company went bankrupt. The way it works is Suplier X expects 50% of the people to ask for rebates. So they supply the rebate company with 55% of the expected rebate total. If >55% of customers ask for the rebate, then the rebate company looses money.

With the economy going down the crapper the way it is, everyone is watching their pennies.
 
berzerker said:
Is there a list of retailers or products that have rebates serviced by these clowns? It would be nice to know before making future purchases.
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That info is business classified for obvious competitive reasons.
 
some of you give up too easily. If you keep proof of upc and receipt, they can't dispute your rebate.

i've always received all of my rebates.

but I've never dealt with no-name manufacturers like K-world??
just big names.

i always keep a digicam pic proof of upc's, rebate forms, receipts, in case they neglect to process my rebate.
they process my rebate manually after emailing them the proof.


but in light of this story, these companies should do rebates in-house to keep a better eye out for their money.
 
lgestle said:
Crap. Went through my rebates and still have one for Antec as well:mad:
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You might want to check the status. CPG got back to me today with:

Dear Antec Consumer:

Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding the status of your rebate. We regret to inform you that we have been unable to locate your rebate submission in our system. Although we were not able to locate your record in our system we may still be able to assist you with obtaining your rebate if you are able to provide copies of your submission information. If you have retained copies of your rebate form, receipt and UPC code, you may call us at the number posted at the end of this email to have the missing record created.
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Time to resubmit it. :rolleyes:
 
I always knew that these rebate processors are crooks/thieves.

Pricegrabber also uses rebatestatus to process their review rebates, and they recently took down all the $5 review offers.
 
Dugg, because this is quite unfortunate for those who got caught up in this mess. but i have a feeling the OEMs will take care of their customers.
 
I can't stand rebates. It's nice if the check comes in but they're a pain the ass. I bought a 24" monitor and got a free printer (after rebate) from Fry's some time ago. I filled everything out verbatim, made photo copies, etc. Samsung sends me a slip saying that it was for the wrong item blah blah. So I called them and they said "oh, ok... we'll get your $40 right to you." I had to correct them and say no it's $50. "Oh, so it is." Then the free printer - said I sent in the wrong bar code. I emailed them my copy and they apologized and said the check was on the way.

Both were simply trying to get out of paying the money when it was clear I did everything right.
 
I just sent in a rebate from Microcenter for a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 OC MAXCORE 896MB. The rebate company who is handling the payment sent me an email telling me that my that my rebate was invalid because the UPC did not match the rebate form.

I shot back and told them.............. Microcenter printed out a rebate slip when I was at the register when the card was rung up. I will now report you to the Council of Better Business, Return the video card to Microcenter, and report you to BFGs customer service department.

Those MFers replied back with a "Your rebate is now valid, please expect a check from us in 6-8 weeks"

This is absolutely the last time I will ever deal with rebates again. Now Live Cash. That was easy and painless............. or even Staples Easy Rebates. That is a more acceptable method. I usually only mess with them when the price is already a steal.......... and it wouldn't hurt to get a little back later.
 
I deposited a check someone wrote to once that bouced. The check was from a different bank than mine, and I deposited it in my bank. My bank charged me like $10 for depositing a check that bounced. I was pissed. Their response to my complaint was that it's in the written agreement that I signed when I started the account.
 
Pixelated said:
Well there's already a relatively long list of complaints at RipOffReprt.com. Check it out.

http://www.ripoffreport.com/searchresults.asp?q1=ALL&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0&submit2=Search!&q5=Continental+Promotion+
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What's up with the defensive rebuttals on all of those reports? Did the company hire someone to full-time give excuses for missing rebates?


AceGoober said:
The real question that needs to be answered here is:

What did CPG do with the cash that was paid to them? :confused:

If I were a company that paid CPG to manage rebates then I would most CERTAINLY want to see the records of all the people who bought my company's product and were guarenteed a refund.

If CPG could not provide the records of those who requested a refund then legal measures would be taken to see where the money went. Resistance is futile.
Click to expand...

Exactly. That's what I read it to mean. CPG was given the money, it disappeared (hmm), and now CPG asking the company offering the rebate to pay the same money again so customers aren't screwed. Sound a little like blackmail to anyone?
 
I hate MIR and think they are a consumer rip off as the companies offering know a percent will not be cashed in, sort of getting something for nothing.....
Perhaps this will put a stop to the whole practice!

Good riddance
 
After over 10 years of good rebate experience, suddenly starting in June I was denied on 4 separate rebates...2 were computer related the other two were Home Depot and Sears. I have always crossed every t and dotted every i literally to the letter and was rejected because I didn't submit the receipt on both. I have a copy of each and every package I send out and everything was there just like I submitted. Resubmitted the copy packages and the results were the same. Fuck 'em...no more rebates
 
Here's a good one about Trendnet. I picked up one of their usb nic adapters thinking that it had a MIR which was boldly advertised by a company (~Microcenter~) as having a MIR for 12 bucks. Turns out I didn't read the fine print and that the MIR time had past 3 weeks(!) before I bought it. But it was still being advertised as having a rebate?! So remember kids check those dates.:)
 
I cleared about $4000 in rebates last year. Some were online-only (Staples, Rite-Aid, Walgreens), but most were mail-in, and I'd say about 20% needed followup (either phone-in or resubmission). I got stiffed on about $200 worth even after resubmission but there was enough double-dipping that I still made out like a bandit. The trick is gaming the system..

As for continental- their main site is http://www.rebatestatus.com/. Most of their rebates are submitted to Tampa or Phoenix. Companies that use Continental are Logitech, Trendnet, Kensington, Hewlett Packard, Crucial, AVG, Nero, Panda AV, Smith Micro/Allume (VMWare fusion, Stuffit), and Advance Auto Parts. (At least, rebates I've submitted in the past 18 months, according to my tracker spreadsheet).

More info on rebate companies is available here.
 
screwing over thousands of customers is the best way for the mail in rebate scam to just die already, so i hope no companies pay up again.
 
I try to not support the whole MIR thing - instead, I buy what I want when it's on sale w/ no MIR. But, if there's just a ridiculous offer w/ a MIR, I'd probably take it.
 
Are we sure that CPG isn't trying to get the companies to give them money to match the percentage of rebates submitted? Say a company gave CPG $100,000 for rebates, and customer submitted $300,000 worth of rebates? Who normally would be on the hook for that?
 
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