On March 19 I purchased a new Cuisinart coffee maker through from an Amazon.com with a $10 rebate. The coffee maker was received on March 25, and the same day I completed the requisite rebate form, cut the UPC from the box, and sent it, along with the original sales invoice to the address for Cuisinart Rebates in Douglas, AZ, aka Promotion Fulfillment Center, a division of Blue Monde LLC, with the website Rewardsbymail.com.
After waiting three and a half months, I checked the website and find my rebate was denied. I sent them an e-mail and all they could tell me was that it was invalid. Nobody could tell me why it was invalid, but that it just was invalid. Nobody contacted me by e-mail or phone, although they had both contacts on the rebate form. Why do they want those contacts? Probably to sell the names and numbers like most do for profit! A Shalonda stated they must have sent me a postcard but I sure never received anything.
Frankly, I think these rebate companies process the rebates and stick the money in their own pockets OR they make a profit by denying the rebate and get a bigger cut from the manufacturer when they don't give anything back. That makes so much sense it's nauseating.
To compound things even more, several contacts with Cuisinart, a division of Conair (sounds like the people who transport prisoners, huh?) were to no avail. They could do absolutely nothing and told me to contact the rebate company. WTF? I told them I already did that and they were no help. The next contact was to tell me that they considered every customer a pleased customer and were sorry I wasn't one of them. LOLOL. What a bunch of morons. Certainly I'm not pleased. You just screwed me out of ten bucks.
It's not the ten dollars that really matters. That's a couple of salads at Jack-in-the Box for God's sake or a couple of Carl's Jr. Burgers. It's the principle. A manufacturer lures you into purchasing their product by offering you a rebate and then, after you do so, they renege on the rebate and you find you paid more than you were willing to pay in the first place. In this instance, I settled for the black chrome model rather than the Stainless Steel because the rebate made it such a good deal. Whoops...bit by the rebate vampires again. Gawd, an imported product besides.
I'm boycotting Cuisinart and Conair. Plus, I'm suggesting we send a message to manufacturers:
Don't buy products with a rebate. There is absolutely no reason they can't do like Costco and give you an "instant rebate" at the point of sale. Let the merchant hassle with the manufacturer if they want your business.
If enough people say no to rebates, prices will either drop, or instant rebates will become the norm, and put these rebate scams out of business.
JUST SAY NO TO REBATES!
