Rebate = Scam

I've been in the retail electronics industry for several years, and have worked at all of the big places. Circuit City, CompUSA, Best Buy, etc. I'll probably be griping about stuff related to that fairly often on here. Here's a funny story I thought about when reading about CompUSA's settlement of a lawsuit regarding rebates. I sent in a rebate for a printer from CompUSA a while back, immediately after getting home, and followed all of the directions, etc. I've been doing this for a while, so I can jump through most of the requisite hoops blindfolded. Well, on February 21, I got a denial notice saying that I had missed the submission deadline. I knew that couldn't be right, since I mailed it off the day after buying it. So I called them, and the guy assured me that I had missed the deadline. I asked him when this deadline was, and he told me it was February 28th. I thought I must have misunderstood, so I asked him to repeat when it was. He did. I said, "So you're telling me that I missed the deadline of next week?" He got quiet for a minute, and then told me that it is obviously a mistake, and he can't imagine how that happend. Uh huh. And you wonder how they can afford to give you a printer for free that comes with $70 worth of ink. Bastards.

In related news, Best Buy apparently is phasing out rebates and giving lower prices instantly, but I doubt it's because they're nice guys or anything. I have a feeling they'll demand some kind of blood and/or organ donation in order to qualify for the "Instant Savings". Me? Unless I know they're selling it at a loss, I do my shopping on the wonderful world wide web. I prefer Newegg.

I remember looking for a stick of RAM for my Powerbook when I was working at Best Buy. I could get it about $30 cheaper online than I could at Best Buy AT COST. If I'd have been a retail customer coming in there, I would have dumped an extra $150 bucks down the tubes. Don't believe me? Click here and then here for a comparison. And don't forget to add tax to BB's price.

I'm telling you, Retail electronics will be dead before Gerald Ford is.