I find most people who fail to get mail in rebates do not understand the rebate policy before buying. It's no different than someone buying a Vista CAPABLE machine and then complaining they can't play WOW at high frame rates with 2GB of RAM. It's not MS's fault, nor is it HP's fault, it's the consumer for buying blind.
Most consumers, are like those people who always expect the city to place signs to protect them instead of using logic and common sense to know that ice is slippery on a sidewalk in winter.
Consumers think that if the big bold print state you save $50.00 then they will indeed save $50.00 but that's not how marketing works.
You need to read the fine print and make sure you can meet deadlines, that the offer is available to you in your state/country etc.
I see offers ALL the time for free this and free that, for contest etc. but then in the fine print, "for US residents only". So while the product is still available in Canada, the freebie or rebate isn't.
I'm not suggesting it's just Americans that do this at all, it happens worldwide. Face it, most consumers are just plain stupid and easily lead, that's how people sell and market products to todays society.
I've said several times how this is used to sell music in the USA. a label/band will produce REALLY low quality, demo quality, music and release it as a new CD in the US and it sells simply due to marketing. It seems people have a fear of NOT having it and they will simply buy anything produced regardless of quality. Seriously, I've seen TERRIBLE quality bed track produced and sold by US labels. Sometimes a band runs out of money and they decide to home engineer a CD and release it, it is marketed as some great grass roots product without high production, and people gobble it up as if it's some cool medium. Look at all teh touring acts in teh mid 90's. They got away with sayign hwo cool it was to play without pyro an ig stage props. Some even toured without a band, just accoustic (or the more trendy name UNPLUGGED). Fans were all parrotign quotes used by promoters to sell tickets, "it's so much mroe down to earth, it's more natural and has mroe feeling to it" In short, the labels stopped paying for tour producers, expensive and timely pyro testing and fire permits for each stadium, all to recover what they thought was a market loss to downloads and they just sent the bands on tour. Oooh, it's so much more earthy feeling! Yeah, Motley Crue without a stage and effects is definitely grounded. :D
One of the complaints here against rebates was finding out it was mailed in too late or the offer is no longer available, how could you NOT know that at the point of sale? How is that an issue for the rebate company to resolve for you?
Trade law ensures such details are made available at the store, if not printed clearly on the packaging itself.
Over complicated processes? I've seen and created a hell of a lot of rebate programs and none of them have been overly complicated. I set out terms for retailers to get THEIR rebates all the time and most will try and get something they have missed out on due to their own negligence, low sales volume etc. "you didn't TELL us!" That's not my job, I gave you a document which you signed and accepted as a legal contract. It is written in plain English but you have to atop and actually read the terms an dconditions.
You are right in that most people simply don' bother and the provider saves a lot that way, but any rebate must be available.
I see the same people complain about advertising too. "I didn't see that anywhere!" "Er, it's right here on the box" "but the print is too small, how am I supposed to know that?"
Print must be above a minimum size, which is based on the average person's sight. If it is too small to understand, you should have someone in the store explain it to you. If you can't get answers, and the savings is your reason for buying, then go get it somewhere else.
seriously, its the same BS complaints as we see all the time with people saying Vista is crap, however they didn't research it for their needs, computers won't run Vista (again due to a lack of consumer research) etc.
It's as if they expect the store to always tell them of any limitations or qualifications before making a purchase. People always seem to want to blame someone else for their own mistakes and they fail to accept responsibility for making an unresearched purchase.
Rant over:
"Excuse me, sir? I think there's been a mistake. I know it's detention, but...um...I don't think I belong in here..."
