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Report: #192920

Complaint Review: OnRebate - Tiger Direct - Boca Raton, Miami Florida

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  • Reported By: Pensacola Florida
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  • OnRebate - Tiger Direct 120 East Palmetto Park Road Boca Raton, Miami, Florida U.S.A.

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After some trials and errors, including a number of previous complaints and warnings about how OnRebate tries to cheat TigerDirect customers from getting their rebates, I thought I finally knew the ins and outs of getting my rebate through the mill. Remember, rebates are yours by right as a condition of sale, and you have a just greviance if the rebator does not give you back the money that was a condition of that sale.

But they finally have come up with a gem of a way to do it that even got me. This one got me so mad that I filed a complaint with the Attorney General's office in the State of Florida (if you look for it, you can find where you can file your own onling complaint as well - maybe that will have some effect on them). In fact, I filed it twice, since they give two different places where they do business in the state of Florida.

What they did before, was to ask you to cut out the barcode from the hard drive proof of purchase and put it on the rebate form. But for this particular hard drive offer from Seagate, Seagate instead asked for, in small type, that you send back the whole proof of purchase. OnRebate also indicated that the barcode is on the proof of purchase, which is the Seagate document, and showed you a thumbnail-sized picture of the document, but said nothing about sending in the whole eocument - instead, indicated where the barcode should go.

Now by past practice, I've done what they have asked about cutting out and gluing the barcode onto the rebate form, but this time they gigged me for it, denying my rebate because I did not send back the whole document. What I did instead. to try and satisfy two conflicting demands, was to include a full size copy of the Seagate document as well. But that did not satisfy them.

So now they have me, because they have the barcode portion glued to the rebate form, but tell me I have to send in the whole original, which obviously I cannot do, since I only have what is left after the barcode was cut away. And they also claim that I failed to send in a copy of the invoice, when I took great care to include all that stuff in putting together the letter, even having to use two stamps to cover postage.

I'm not giving up on this, and I am asking you not to give up either. I forced the issue and complained before, and once it gets up to a supervisor's level, you can usually force them to settle, because, don't forget,
the rebate is something you are entitled to, and their company cannot stand for close scrutiny of its business practices, or it could lose its business license.

But if they give you any hassle or grief, make it a point to file a complaint on them with someone like the Attorney General or the Chamber of Commerce, wherever they advertise that they are doing business. Because if they make it hard on you, they are also making it hard on everyone else, and we have to band together to fight back.

We can force them to play by our rules, which is the law, and not by their arbitrary rules which are intended to prevent people from getting their own money back.

Beware of their shoddy tricks to separate you from some of that money as you go through the rebate process itself. If they offer to send you a check, be aware that they can claim later that they sent it, and you can have a devil of a time getting another one out of them.

Don't be taken in by their efforts to "rush"
your payment to you by paying them some amount of money either. That's just a gimick to get you to reduce your rebate by some amount of money which they will just pocket. It isn't worth it, and you can wait another two months to get the full amount (which honestly they don't need so have, but it is a way to keep your money for four or five months while they earn interest on it).

I wish there were a way to force them to pay interest to you for the time that they keep your money in their accounts, but unless some lawyer can find a law that forces them to do that, you probably can't.

Don't be taken in by their suggestions to put your rebate into a charity, such as for Katrina Relief, or anything like that. These people are not motivated by generosity or eagerness to do good, and I would not trust them for any so-called charity donations. In all likelihood, most of that money sticks to their fingers, and very little of it goes to the cause they promote. It's just another way to hold onto the money and make it work for them, earning interest, as long as possible.

I suggest telling them to pay the money back to your PayPal account. That way you have an independent validation that they money was actually paid out for your rebate. It may not be on hand to help pay your bill, but you can reuse it with PayPal later, and at least you know where it is.

Donald
Pensacola, Florida
U.S.A.

Click here to read other Rip Off Reports on Tiger Direct

Click here to read The *EDitorial: The Marketing Rebate Rip Off ...Manufactures invent reasons why not to pay the consumer

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 05/23/2006 12:40 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/onrebate-tiger-direct/boca-raton-miami-florida-33432/onrebate-tigerdirect-getting-better-at-cheating-customers-on-rebates-ripoff-boca-raton-192920. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
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#6 Author of original report

They Make It Really Tough, But Success!

AUTHOR: Donald - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, June 02, 2006

I got another e-mail from OnRebate to confirm that my rebate has now been approved. This is after 3 rejections from them initially. The last one only required that I send another copy of the invoice and another copy of the Rebate Form, filled out and with my signature.

I figure I can offer some advice for anyone that wants to play the rebate game and come out a winner.

First, before you order something, make sure you check into the rebate process that will be required. If you can't find it, don't understand it, or feel you cannot meet the requitment of sending it in within the allowed time (which can be as little as a week), then don't assume that you are going to be able to get it. If you decide to go ahead, then print out the rebate form as soon as you find it and set it aside to use later.

Make sure you find the right rebate to send in,
since some venders offer multiple rebates for similar products, or rebate periods may be governed by different expiration dates. Some rebates are combination offers for a product, meaning that each may have its own rebate form, and the address indicated may differ for each one.

TigervDirect's rebate policy on each item is usually spelled out in a PDF document, meaning you will need Adope's Acrobat Reader to be able to read and print out the policy for later reference.

Second, You should print out your invoice as soon as you order, and go ahead and put it with the rebate form(s) that you should have already printed out.

Third, as soon as the order comes in, locate the packing slip and the barcode for the product. Sometimes they out the barcode label on the shipping box, sometimes they put it on the inside box, and somestimes it appears on the product. Also make note of the model number and the serial number. Don't throw any boxes or shipping material away until you get word that the rebate has been approved and that the product works. Keep all the paperwork together in one place.

Fourth, within three days of getting the order, get yourself a long envelope, stamps, a gluestick
or transparent tape, sissors, a pen, and get the printouts together to submit the rebate form. If you have a scanner attached to your computer, so much the better, since you can make copies of the documents and store them in your computer. if not, you may want to find a copier somewhere and make copies, because once the letter is sent, it can be hard to contest any claims of what they say you did not include. Be especially sure you make copies of the invoice and the barcode, since those are most often claimed to be missing, at least in my experience.

Fifth, go carefully over the Rebate Form and fill in all the blanks, such as name, address, phone number, zip code, whatever. Be especially careful to sign it where indicated, because that is another reason to refuse your rebate. They may ask for the model and serial number as well, which is why you made note of those items earlier. If you are submitting multiple rebates, do one completely before attempting the next, or you may screw up and get some things in the wrong envelope or accidently send a letter to the wrong address. These people do not permit even slight deviations in the way that they want you to do it. Make sure you use sufficient postage - since several pieced of paper are involved, possibly part of the package with the barcode on it, you want to make sure it gets to its destination.

And finally, if you get notified that they found something wrong and turn you down, get ready to make a stink. Your copies will now stand you in good stead, since you can resend almost everything that they claim you did not send the first time.

You can also do what I did - go public, file complaints, make sure they know just what you are doing when you do it. If someone investigates, they need to be able to say that they settled that claim, which means they can't turn you down and have it left like that. The way I see it, even though they can go so far in trying not to pay out rebates, they have no choice but to pay out if someone yanks their strings hard enough.

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#5 Author of original report

They Make It Really Tough, But Success!

AUTHOR: Donald - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, June 02, 2006

I got another e-mail from OnRebate to confirm that my rebate has now been approved. This is after 3 rejections from them initially. The last one only required that I send another copy of the invoice and another copy of the Rebate Form, filled out and with my signature.

I figure I can offer some advice for anyone that wants to play the rebate game and come out a winner.

First, before you order something, make sure you check into the rebate process that will be required. If you can't find it, don't understand it, or feel you cannot meet the requitment of sending it in within the allowed time (which can be as little as a week), then don't assume that you are going to be able to get it. If you decide to go ahead, then print out the rebate form as soon as you find it and set it aside to use later.

Make sure you find the right rebate to send in,
since some venders offer multiple rebates for similar products, or rebate periods may be governed by different expiration dates. Some rebates are combination offers for a product, meaning that each may have its own rebate form, and the address indicated may differ for each one.

TigervDirect's rebate policy on each item is usually spelled out in a PDF document, meaning you will need Adope's Acrobat Reader to be able to read and print out the policy for later reference.

Second, You should print out your invoice as soon as you order, and go ahead and put it with the rebate form(s) that you should have already printed out.

Third, as soon as the order comes in, locate the packing slip and the barcode for the product. Sometimes they out the barcode label on the shipping box, sometimes they put it on the inside box, and somestimes it appears on the product. Also make note of the model number and the serial number. Don't throw any boxes or shipping material away until you get word that the rebate has been approved and that the product works. Keep all the paperwork together in one place.

Fourth, within three days of getting the order, get yourself a long envelope, stamps, a gluestick
or transparent tape, sissors, a pen, and get the printouts together to submit the rebate form. If you have a scanner attached to your computer, so much the better, since you can make copies of the documents and store them in your computer. if not, you may want to find a copier somewhere and make copies, because once the letter is sent, it can be hard to contest any claims of what they say you did not include. Be especially sure you make copies of the invoice and the barcode, since those are most often claimed to be missing, at least in my experience.

Fifth, go carefully over the Rebate Form and fill in all the blanks, such as name, address, phone number, zip code, whatever. Be especially careful to sign it where indicated, because that is another reason to refuse your rebate. They may ask for the model and serial number as well, which is why you made note of those items earlier. If you are submitting multiple rebates, do one completely before attempting the next, or you may screw up and get some things in the wrong envelope or accidently send a letter to the wrong address. These people do not permit even slight deviations in the way that they want you to do it. Make sure you use sufficient postage - since several pieced of paper are involved, possibly part of the package with the barcode on it, you want to make sure it gets to its destination.

And finally, if you get notified that they found something wrong and turn you down, get ready to make a stink. Your copies will now stand you in good stead, since you can resend almost everything that they claim you did not send the first time.

You can also do what I did - go public, file complaints, make sure they know just what you are doing when you do it. If someone investigates, they need to be able to say that they settled that claim, which means they can't turn you down and have it left like that. The way I see it, even though they can go so far in trying not to pay out rebates, they have no choice but to pay out if someone yanks their strings hard enough.

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#4 Author of original report

They Make It Really Tough, But Success!

AUTHOR: Donald - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, June 02, 2006

I got another e-mail from OnRebate to confirm that my rebate has now been approved. This is after 3 rejections from them initially. The last one only required that I send another copy of the invoice and another copy of the Rebate Form, filled out and with my signature.

I figure I can offer some advice for anyone that wants to play the rebate game and come out a winner.

First, before you order something, make sure you check into the rebate process that will be required. If you can't find it, don't understand it, or feel you cannot meet the requitment of sending it in within the allowed time (which can be as little as a week), then don't assume that you are going to be able to get it. If you decide to go ahead, then print out the rebate form as soon as you find it and set it aside to use later.

Make sure you find the right rebate to send in,
since some venders offer multiple rebates for similar products, or rebate periods may be governed by different expiration dates. Some rebates are combination offers for a product, meaning that each may have its own rebate form, and the address indicated may differ for each one.

TigervDirect's rebate policy on each item is usually spelled out in a PDF document, meaning you will need Adope's Acrobat Reader to be able to read and print out the policy for later reference.

Second, You should print out your invoice as soon as you order, and go ahead and put it with the rebate form(s) that you should have already printed out.

Third, as soon as the order comes in, locate the packing slip and the barcode for the product. Sometimes they out the barcode label on the shipping box, sometimes they put it on the inside box, and somestimes it appears on the product. Also make note of the model number and the serial number. Don't throw any boxes or shipping material away until you get word that the rebate has been approved and that the product works. Keep all the paperwork together in one place.

Fourth, within three days of getting the order, get yourself a long envelope, stamps, a gluestick
or transparent tape, sissors, a pen, and get the printouts together to submit the rebate form. If you have a scanner attached to your computer, so much the better, since you can make copies of the documents and store them in your computer. if not, you may want to find a copier somewhere and make copies, because once the letter is sent, it can be hard to contest any claims of what they say you did not include. Be especially sure you make copies of the invoice and the barcode, since those are most often claimed to be missing, at least in my experience.

Fifth, go carefully over the Rebate Form and fill in all the blanks, such as name, address, phone number, zip code, whatever. Be especially careful to sign it where indicated, because that is another reason to refuse your rebate. They may ask for the model and serial number as well, which is why you made note of those items earlier. If you are submitting multiple rebates, do one completely before attempting the next, or you may screw up and get some things in the wrong envelope or accidently send a letter to the wrong address. These people do not permit even slight deviations in the way that they want you to do it. Make sure you use sufficient postage - since several pieced of paper are involved, possibly part of the package with the barcode on it, you want to make sure it gets to its destination.

And finally, if you get notified that they found something wrong and turn you down, get ready to make a stink. Your copies will now stand you in good stead, since you can resend almost everything that they claim you did not send the first time.

You can also do what I did - go public, file complaints, make sure they know just what you are doing when you do it. If someone investigates, they need to be able to say that they settled that claim, which means they can't turn you down and have it left like that. The way I see it, even though they can go so far in trying not to pay out rebates, they have no choice but to pay out if someone yanks their strings hard enough.

Respond to this report!
What's this?

#3 Author of original report

They Make It Really Tough, But Success!

AUTHOR: Donald - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, June 02, 2006

I got another e-mail from OnRebate to confirm that my rebate has now been approved. This is after 3 rejections from them initially. The last one only required that I send another copy of the invoice and another copy of the Rebate Form, filled out and with my signature.

I figure I can offer some advice for anyone that wants to play the rebate game and come out a winner.

First, before you order something, make sure you check into the rebate process that will be required. If you can't find it, don't understand it, or feel you cannot meet the requitment of sending it in within the allowed time (which can be as little as a week), then don't assume that you are going to be able to get it. If you decide to go ahead, then print out the rebate form as soon as you find it and set it aside to use later.

Make sure you find the right rebate to send in,
since some venders offer multiple rebates for similar products, or rebate periods may be governed by different expiration dates. Some rebates are combination offers for a product, meaning that each may have its own rebate form, and the address indicated may differ for each one.

TigervDirect's rebate policy on each item is usually spelled out in a PDF document, meaning you will need Adope's Acrobat Reader to be able to read and print out the policy for later reference.

Second, You should print out your invoice as soon as you order, and go ahead and put it with the rebate form(s) that you should have already printed out.

Third, as soon as the order comes in, locate the packing slip and the barcode for the product. Sometimes they out the barcode label on the shipping box, sometimes they put it on the inside box, and somestimes it appears on the product. Also make note of the model number and the serial number. Don't throw any boxes or shipping material away until you get word that the rebate has been approved and that the product works. Keep all the paperwork together in one place.

Fourth, within three days of getting the order, get yourself a long envelope, stamps, a gluestick
or transparent tape, sissors, a pen, and get the printouts together to submit the rebate form. If you have a scanner attached to your computer, so much the better, since you can make copies of the documents and store them in your computer. if not, you may want to find a copier somewhere and make copies, because once the letter is sent, it can be hard to contest any claims of what they say you did not include. Be especially sure you make copies of the invoice and the barcode, since those are most often claimed to be missing, at least in my experience.

Fifth, go carefully over the Rebate Form and fill in all the blanks, such as name, address, phone number, zip code, whatever. Be especially careful to sign it where indicated, because that is another reason to refuse your rebate. They may ask for the model and serial number as well, which is why you made note of those items earlier. If you are submitting multiple rebates, do one completely before attempting the next, or you may screw up and get some things in the wrong envelope or accidently send a letter to the wrong address. These people do not permit even slight deviations in the way that they want you to do it. Make sure you use sufficient postage - since several pieced of paper are involved, possibly part of the package with the barcode on it, you want to make sure it gets to its destination.

And finally, if you get notified that they found something wrong and turn you down, get ready to make a stink. Your copies will now stand you in good stead, since you can resend almost everything that they claim you did not send the first time.

You can also do what I did - go public, file complaints, make sure they know just what you are doing when you do it. If someone investigates, they need to be able to say that they settled that claim, which means they can't turn you down and have it left like that. The way I see it, even though they can go so far in trying not to pay out rebates, they have no choice but to pay out if someone yanks their strings hard enough.

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#2 Author of original report

Is This What It Takes To Get Their Attention?

AUTHOR: Donald - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, May 26, 2006

You read the Sincere Apology above, and I've now had another e-mail reducing their demand down to just another copy of the Invoice. Of course the first e-mail gave a P.O. Box number in Miami, and an 866 number to call them, but I called, and the phone was never answered.

But is this what it takes to get their attention or any response from them? All I know so far is that nothing happens until I file a Rip-Off Report, then they respond. That means a lot of people who don't know how to fight back are probably not getting their rebates. And that is not right.

I sent in the Invoice in, along with the another
rebate request (they wanted another copy, signed
and dated), and the Seagate document where I had
cut out the barcode, and another copy of the
packing list, and an extra copy of the Seagate
rebate document. It cost me a second stamp, but
I expect no more excuses from them for not granting the rebate. Whichever way it goes, I will let you know.

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#1 UPDATE Employee

Rebate Issue

AUTHOR: Nadina - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Thursday, May 25, 2006

Dear Donald.

We sincerely apologize for any frustration you have experienced.
Please send an email to nadina.urdanetaATonrebate.com and we will gladly work towards a satisfactory solution.

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