I'm officially boycotting Staples ***RANT***

Post by **VelvetGeorge** » Sat Oct 30, 2004 3:36 pm

I know it sounds silly, and it's not my normal motif. But they just piss me off too often.

I've made several purchases there over the last year and a half. A couple of them were several hundred dollars. I bought a copy machine, a printer, lot's of things.
They are a UPS drop off close to my shop, so I stop in with packages quite often.

Here's the problem. I buy products that are advertized as being a certain price after a mail in rebate (should have been my first clue). The catch is, they almost never honor the rebate.

Case in point: I bought a Hewlet Packard 3 in 1 printer/scanner thing. Advertized in the store and in the paper as whatever price (I forget, it's been so long. but under $200) with a $30 mail in rebate.
Bring it home, fill in the forms, cut out the UPC code, mail in all in.

5 weeks later I get a post card saying that the rebate in denied because I didn't purchase the item within the valid dates. Several, progressively more nasty emails later, I finally get them to confirm that the rebate was valid. I literally had to threaten to get a lawyer and organize a boycott!

6 more weeks pass and what do I get in the mail? A check for $30? Of course not. I got a Staples gift card that I have to use in the store.
That's not a cash rebate.

This is just one account of the 3 times now this has happened. Sorry to waste your time bitching about it, but it pisses me off. I have no doubt that they do this intentionally. And as a consumer I'm offended by their unscrupulous business practice. Where do I report this crap?

BTW didn't UPS buy Staples? This could get ugly.

***END RANT***

George

Necrovore · Post by **Necrovore** » Sat Oct 30, 2004 3:49 pm

George, Don't let it get too you too much yo will get yourself a nasty ulcer. I buy things the same way a lot of the time. I hate when you have multiple rebates on an item(my router and wireless card come to mind) which gives you an after rebate price of half what the original purchase price is. When you go through the trouble of sending the rebates in you might only get half of the rebates or like what happened to you. you are supposed to get a cash rebate, ie. a check and get a gift card. Fucking scammers. This is why I no longer shop at compusa and seriously debating either boycotting bestbuy or just going in there and going postal.

Country Boy Shane · Post by **Country Boy Shane** » Sat Oct 30, 2004 4:38 pm

Rebates have to be one of the most retarded sales tactics ever. Its amazing how long it takes to get the money back, and in your case you got it in the form of in store credit.... gay! My girlfriend got her laptop about a month ago and is still waiting for a $100 rebate from Hewlett Packard and the rebate is still not in her wallet yet. The rebate tactic is definitely being overused and pissing people off around the globe

5150loveeddie · Post by **5150loveeddie** » Sat Oct 30, 2004 4:45 pm

Hey, Same damn thing here. There's a store called "Futur Shop" here and every Saturday they advertize in one of Quebec major newspaper.....so I went and bought a Video program (Burn DVD.....) with a 150$ mail return, fill every paper work ...never got my money because I didn't use the proper ink color on there paper or something I couldn't beleive it. Fuck them, fuck Futur Shop....

Post by **VelvetGeorge** » Sat Oct 30, 2004 6:45 pm

I'm glad it pisses you guys off as much as it does me. But I'm more angered by the amount of rebate bullshit going on.

Are they now teaching the rebate scem technique in business 101 classes?

If you have to cheat people out of their rebates to be competitive then you shouldn't be in business in the first place.

George

OnTheFritz · Post by **OnTheFritz** » Sat Oct 30, 2004 7:14 pm

Good point George.
I think they count on the fact that people forget to mail them in, or do so past the specified date or whatever, and then don't have to honor em'.

I had a sound card with a rebate that you had to register the product on their website, which I promptly did. 6 to 8 weeks later I get a letter stating that I didn't register the item, so I was not eligible for said rebate. Bullshit.

That said, those instant rebates are great, but you don't see them often enough. Thats the way rebates should be.
If you have an Office Max nearby, check them out. I've had decent luck there.

Fritz

myker · Post by **myker** » Sat Oct 30, 2004 10:40 pm

i hate the part when you call to bitch about it and talk to machines and wait on hold for 2 hours. and they wonder why people send letter bombs and anthrax and shit...
i wont shop at sears, they can eat my ass!
mike..

OnTheFritz · Post by **OnTheFritz** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 12:56 am

5150loveeddie · Post by **5150loveeddie** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 1:32 am

myker wrote:i hate the part when you call to bitch about it and talk to machines and wait on hold for 2 hours. and they wonder why people send letter bombs and anthrax and shit...
i wont shop at sears, they can eat my ass!
mike..

Me too

Hassan Chop · Post by **Hassan Chop** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 5:59 am

Here's a tip: Ignore rebates. That's just a tactic to get you to voluntarily send them your name, address, yearly income, marital status, whatever. They then turn around and sell your information to junk mail distributors. If you see something on sale for a good price, but you have to mail in a card for a rebate, it's not a good price.

Kendall915 · Post by **Kendall915** » Wed Nov 03, 2004 5:26 pm

I hate rebates too... My main beef with them is if I buy an item at best buy, and do everything the rebate says, and get denied, I have to deal with the manufactuerer, best buy couldn't give a rats ass about it...

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I'm officially boycotting Staples RANT

I'm officially boycotting Staples RANT