Mail-in Rebates are Stupid
I don’t understand why mail-in rebates exist. Why not give you the rebate up front, when you purchase a product? I suppose the asinine reasoning is that the process and time required to mail-in a rebate is so frustrating that many consumers will simply choose to forgo this idiotic exercise. But, I wonder how much money is spent paying for someone to open up all these rebate forms, verify everything was sent in correctly, and process a rebate check. Seems like a waste to me. We live in the 21st century, where computer and robots can process all of this garbage up front. If companies are so insistent on making you WAIT for a rebate, why not just give you a rebate electronically 8 weeks after you purchase something. Actually, that’s also absurd. Anyway, here’s what I have to fill out to get my $50 contact lenses rebate:
- Get an eye exam (duh…)
- Purchase the required number of boxes of contact lenses (obviously)
- Attach the following: Dated sales receipt – Please CIRCLE LENS PURCHASE AND DATE OF LENS PURCHASE ON RECEIPT. (capitalization for emphasis)
- Cut out two (2), four (4), eight (8), twelve (12), or twenty-four (24) end panels with prescription information (varies by purchase quantity and product). (why do they need to put the # in parenthesis?)
- Mail everything to some random P.O. Box and wait 6-8 weeks.
WHY??????
Google’s image shows reveals that others agree with this sentiment. Here are three of my favorites:
update with the progress of your rebate! i just got my $10 back for my toothbrush… one reason why mail-in rebates are okay is that by the time you get them, it’s like free money because you forgot you already factored the rebate into the purchase price.
Word. Did you do the contacts thing? I think I lost my form.
Oh, thanks, Nelson. Forgot about the toothbrush thing too. I don’t think I ever filled any of that stuff out either. I wonder if I still have it.
agreed. rebates feel very old-school.