The Rebate Process

Jumping Through Rebate Hoops

When I purchased a new power supply last month, I was excited at the great deal I had found. It was $19.99 after a $20 rebate for 400 Watts. I've filled out plenty of rebates before, and generally had positive results. While they are an extra step, it's usually worth it to me to get the product at a great price.

I had previously glanced at the rebate, and had seen that I had 30 days to fill it out. As it involved cutting the UPC from the box, which would reduce my chance of returning the item, I waited for a couple of days. Thankfully, the power supply works great. When I sat down today to send off the rebate, I noticed that the form was only in fact just a listing to the rebate web site, OnRebate.

When I went to the OnRebate site, I then selected the power supply manufacturer, Ultra, but figured out that every product they sell must have been on a rebate at some point, but I couldn't find mine. Ditto for going by the product category as there were tons of power supplies, but mine proved elusive. When I entered the code provided on the rebate form, the correct product did turn up.

Next, I had to enter my address, and an invoice number from my receipt. I was offered the chance to trade my twenty bucks of cash for a $25 gift certificate. Had it been for Microcenter, or something other electronics related, I might have been enticed. However, the only gift card was for FTD of all places. Definite pass on the gift card, and show me the money. I could choose either a check, or PayPal. On either, if I chose the rapid option, I would get it in 3 to 5 days, for a fee of $2.50. Choosing the standard option would get me the full Andrew Jackson...in a camel like 8 to 10 weeks!

When I finished my choices, I next was told to wait for an email. That took about 10 minutes to arrive (maybe it got routed through Nepal or Antarctica...). I had to confirm my email address. After I did that, I had to print out a form. This rebate form had my name and address printed on it. They wanted me to tape my UPC to it, then I had to send it in by the 30 day deadline.

I must say, that this is simply too many steps to get this rebate. If it had been for less than $10, I probably would have simply moved on, and figured it was not worth it. I think that is their goal. I'm sure many folks just give up and don't complete the process. The next time I go to purchase something with a rebate, and see this OnRebate web site, I'm going to ask myself if this is really worth it, or if I should just order it from NewEgg.

--Jonas