Onrebate.com, Tiger Direct Rebate Scam, $75 in rebates never received, with no explanation available Boca Raton, Florida

In late October of 2005 I ordered some computer parts from Tiger Direct, a company I had done happy business with prior. Their prices, once rebates were factored, were the best available for the parts I needed. I also briefly noticed that they guaranteed their rebates now as well. I made the order, for a graphics card, a memory DIMM, and a hard drive.

The memory had 2 rebates available, for $30 and $10 respectively. The hard drive had a $45 rebate. Upon receipt of the order, I filled out the rebate information with Tiger Direct's partner Onrebate.com and mailed them the materials requested. As with every rebate I ever send, I triple checked the materials to make sure all requirements were met.

It is also important to mention here that I had alerted a coworker to the deal I was getting and he decided to order the same hard drive and memory within a day or so of me. We actually even prepared the rebate info together at work and I not only triple checked mine but his as well. Both were mailed within the same week, before the deadlines for postmarkings.

In mid December, I received an email from OnRebate.com that one of the 3 rebate requests I had made had been approved and then another email that said it had been mailed. This was the $10 memory rebate (Rebate Offer: PNY-1686) I received and cashed the check. I then never received any correspondence what-so-ever from Onrebate.com or Tiger Direct in regards to the 2 other rebates I had filed. My coworker received all 3 rebate checks without incident.

In January emailed a request for info on these rebates and was sent a reply with links to the tracking numbers. It correctly stated that the $10 memory rebate had been approved and mailed, but for the other 2 simply had an "X" next to "Payment Processed" I wasn't sure what this meant and so I called the telephone number and while on hold was informed that the telephone support staff had no more information then what was available on the website. I hung up, concerned.

Now it has been 6 months and still no word and most importantly, no $75. Very concerned, I recently did some searching online for other customer's experience's with Tiger Direct and Onrebate.com in regards to rebates and was horrified to see complaint after complaint on message boards and websites such as this. I am now under the assumption that I have been taken advantage of. I routinely purchase products with rebates and have not once had a problem until now. When I went back to see about Tiger Direct's rebate guarantee, and it stipulated all kinds of extra measures like sending the rebate materials via certified mail. Having never encountered a situation where I felt it had been necessary, I did not even photocopy my rebate materials despite the fact I had a copier at home and at work. I obviously was too trusting and will never make the same mistake again.

Considering not only that I had triple checked the rebate materials for errors/omissions, but that I had triple checked 2 people's exact same materials and he got his rebates and I did not, I must suspect foul business here. Add to that the fact that I never even received an email or notification of any kind that my rebates had been rejected and for what reason, I am extremely upset over this. I am entitled to that $75, without needing to jump through special hoops or spend 2 hours reporting this. Also I find it very peculiar that I received 1 rebate check but not the other 2. And finally, I recently added another $600 of components to my PC and was too nervous to order the products from Tiger Direct again, even though they definitely had the lowest prices. I have been recommending to my coworkers and friends that they do not do business with Tiger Direct or any other company that uses Onrebate.com to handle their rebates.

I have included the assorted details of my order and rebates below:

Tiger Invoice #: Will provide upon contact
Tiger Order Date: 10/25/05
Ship Date: 10/26/05

Ordered:

1x P450-6600 - XFX GeForce 6600 / 256MB DDR / AGP 8X / Dual DVI / TV Out / Video Card - $124.99

1x P56-3906 - PNY 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory - $49.99

1x TSD-300M TD - Maxtor / DiamondMax 10 / 300GB / 7200 / 16MB / SATA-150 / OEM / Refurbished Hard Drive - $134.99

P/H: $8.99
Total: $318.96

Rebates offered, completed, and mailed:

MAXTOR HD

Rebate Description: $45 MIR on Maxtor / DiamondMax 10 / 300GB SATA-150 HD
Rebate Offer: MX-1665
Rebate Award: $45
Tracking Number: will provide upon contact

- For Purchases between 10/12/2005 and 10/31/2005
- Maximum 1 per household
- Postmark by 11/25/2005

User applied for OnRebate 11/12/2005 5:34:58 PM

Email was sent for Confirmation 11/12/2005 5:34:58 PM

Email was confirmed by the user 11/12/2005 5:37:46 PM

Printed out the rebate registration, awaiting receipt of documentation 11/12/2005 5:37:46 PM

"X" Payment Processed

----------------------------------

PNY MEMORY #1

Rebate Description: $30. MIR on PNY 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz
Rebate Offer: PNY-1685
Rebate Award: $30
Tracking Number: will provide upon contact

- For Purchases between 10/24/2005 and 10/30/2005
- Maximum 1 per household
- Postmark by 11/25/2005

User applied for OnRebate 11/12/2005 5:21:40 PM

Email was sent for Confirmation 11/12/2005 5:21:40 PM

Email was confirmed by the user 11/12/2005 5:24:02 PM

Printed out the rebate registration, awaiting receipt of documentation 11/12/2005 5:24:02 PM

"X" Payment Processed

------------------------------

PNY MEMORY #2 (PAID)

Rebate Description: MANUFACTURER $10 BONUS MIR on PNY 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz
Rebate Offer: PNY-1686
Rebate Award: $10
Tracking Number: will provide upon contact

-For Purchases between 10/24/2005 and 10/30/2005
-Maximum 1 per household
-Postmark by 11/25/2005

User applied for OnRebate 11/12/2005 5:28:27 PM

Email was sent for Confirmation 11/12/2005 5:28:27 PM

Email was confirmed by the user 11/12/2005 5:31:51 PM

Printed out the rebate registration, awaiting receipt of documentation 11/12/2005 5:31:51 PM

The Rebate was accepted 12/13/2005 12:50:54 PM

"X" Payment Processed 12/16/2005 3:05:20 PM

If this issue is not resolved, I intend to file it with the Florida State Attorney General's Office, in addition the Florida BBB, and the Executive Vice President of Tiger Direct who's contact info I have obtained from another consumer group.

Please be very very wary of dealing with these companies, if it happened to me, it can happen to you.

thank you

Charles
Boston, Massachusetts
U.S.A.

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