Dick Van Dyke rebate outrage! (1 Viewer)

[Arnie G]

I avoid mail in rebates since there is no guarantee you will get the money.

 

[nolesrule]

Quote:
i always have a problem with best buy 's way of giving a gift card as an incentive for a purchase. it lowers the price of the product the am't of the gift card.

It also lowers the amount of the sales tax you have to pay because you pay for the gift card and get a reduction in price on the merchandise. Gift card purchases are non-taxable.

 

[NeilO]

What upsetting news. I guess I will also be getting this letter later. Checking the photocopies of my receipt and rebate certificates:

My receipt also shows the two Dick Van Dyke sets plus the $20 Gift Cert. At the bottom of the receipt it show the gift cert getting charged up to $20.

On the rebate certificates it says "to obtain your rebate by mail (no in-store redemption)"

I also don't think anyone suspected that the Best Buy offer would invalidate the rebate. The advertising definitely wasn't clear on this.

Neil

 

[TheLongshot]

Well, what could also be very misleading is the fact that Best Buy prints out the rebate forms with the receipt. If you got a gift card and a rebate form, I do think you have a bone of contention. I personally would find that very misleading, since I'm assuming since I have a rebate form, that I should get a rebate.

Jason

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I don't think the problem is with Best Buy -- he got what he was promised from them.

If store A and manufacturer B are each offering separate incentives on product C, then they should CLEARLY inform the customer that both are not valid. The customer should not be expected to assume that the two are in any way related. In this case, selling an item with a rebate sticker on it while recording the gift card as a completely separate purchase is misleading to say the least.

In the past, when having to argue over mail-in rebates (and who hasn't), I have found that the best thing to do is simply call the rebate customer service number and ask to speak with a supervisor. Often, they will provide satisfaction.

 

[Malcolm R]

You could also contact your state's Attorney General and/or Office of Consumer Affairs to file a complaint, or at least see if what they did was illegal advertising of some sort.

I see the Best Buy gift card offers as a "bonus" out of BB's pocket to induce you to make additional purchases from their stores. This should have no bearing on any manufacturer rebates to the consumer who purchases their product.

I have much the same problem with manufacturers coupons that say "do not double." What business is it of the manufacturer if a grocery store wants to double coupons? The "double" amount comes from the store's profit, it does not get charged back to the manufacturer. They're still only reimbursing the face value plus handling of their coupon. The "double" is the store's effort to entice people to shop in their store and make additional purchases of non-coupon items at full price. It's no concern of the product manufacturer whether a store wants to double or not.

 

[Chris Huereca]

I just got my letter. Here is how it looks in my opinion. I purchased two qualifying items from Best Buy. I paid a price to the retailer for these items. Image Entertainment is receiving payment from Best Buy for both items. Best Buy gives me a $20.00 credit towards future merchandise in their store for buying both items from them instead of their competitors. Best Buy now prints up a completely separate "Rebate Receipt" to send to the manufacturer for their promotion since I have now obviously purchased both sets. I have not received a cash equivalent rebate from the manufacturer.
If Best Buy was receiving a cost reduction for the two promotional items why would a special separate rebate receipt be generated in addition to the in store promotion? When an instant in store promotion voids a manufacturer promotion, it has historically been made clear. At Best Buy specifically, if you ever even try to combine things that are conflicting promotions, the computer locks it out. I see it at my local store all the time. This fiasco will cause me to question (and possibly pass) each promotion in the future. Now I wonder what they will do because of all the complaints I expect them to get (including mine).

 

[John Thomas]

I just finished reading the Ebay ripoff thread in the AHL and can't help but draw some comparisons to this one. What if they (Image) technically are correct yet misleading the public? You should've read closer.

I wanted to interject this to see what others who are involved in both threads had to say.

 

[Jeff D]

Quote:
From the terms and conditions listed by Image for its rebate: "This offer is not valid with any other rebate."
Since when is a gift card a rebate? It ties you to a future purchase to a single store. *unless you live in CA and then you have special laws that may allow you to get out of this limitation.*

But, a rebate is a rebate and a gift card as an incentive to buy a product isn't a rebate.

I don't remember seeing anything in the BB ad that stated the GC was a rebate or that it nullified the rebate.

I didn't take part in this, but often there are cases where there are double rebates, one by the manufacturer and the other by the retailer. How is Joe Consumer to know they are one in the same? In this case they don't.

Artisan should fulfill the rebate and take it up with the retailer for screwing up. It's not the customer's fault for the retailer screwing up. If the retailer and the manufacturer has some deal then that's for them to resolve. The consumer should write the State Atty General for the state they live in. It would be helpful if anyone still had the ad around. (what are the chances of that?)

The consumer should not be held responsible. There are laws to protect the consumer from this kind of crap.

 

[MartinTeller]

Since when is a gift card a rebate? It ties you to a future purchase to a single store.

a rebate is a rebate and a gift card as an incentive to buy a product isn't a rebate.

These were my thoughts exactly as I read through this thread. A rebate is CURRENCY. A gift card means that Best Buy gets you to come back to their store and spend more money there. Gift card is not a rebate.

It doesn't happen often, but this time I agree with george.

 

[Dick White]

I'm with George and others who blame this on Image. I was steaming when I got the letter, since I made my purchase decision based on the price after the gift card and the rebate. And it's quite a stretch to consider the gift card from Best Buy as a rebate that has anything to do with the terms from Image. If it were not too late, I would return them. I don't expect any results, but Image will get an appropriate letter from me.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

And if the "not valid with any other rebate" language is hidden on the inside of the package, while the $20 rebate is advertised on the outside, that smacks to me of fraudulent advertising. Shrink-wrap licenses aren't valid, so why should shrink-wrap rebate exclusions?

 

[Bill Cowmeadow]

I have seen the flyers with the large yellow 'Free $20.00 Gift card' with this purchase, but never had reason to buy anything with that offer. The word 'Free' does not imply conditions, and for either party to hide behind fine print voodoo to avoid their advertised responsibility is quite frankly, illegal.

George, I think you should print out this thread and mail it to your State Attny General, and see what they think.

Best of luck

Bill

 

[Paul Drake]

My letter came today (12/29).

I have sent a note to Image via their website. I'll give them the courtesy of waiting to see how they reply....

Yes, I can see how Best Buy should shoulder some of the blame for this, however Image is the one that made the deal with them to offer the gift cards in lieu of the rebate (forgetting to inform the consumer in the process), and they need to accept responsibility for their part in this situation.

Image is also the company who is going to suffer if sales of the remaining seasons suffer because of bad feelings stemming from the way this was handled. I would think they have a vested interest in keeping their customers happy.

 

[Moe Dickstein]

Got My Letter

has anyone gone to best buy and complained? any results? any word from image?

 

[Joseph S]

A gift card is not a rebate and neither is a "20 instant off" with the purchase of "fill in the blank."

Image Ent is clearly at fault here and should rectify the issue immediately. Report this to your Attorney General to report this fraud. Maybe next time they'll make sure to provide alternate packaging to Best Buy and state the non-qualification on the external packaging so that people don't get sucked into this.

 

[george kaplan]

I did indeed send them an email the day I got it. And despite my anger, it was a very polite letter. So far, I have gotten no reply, but I wasn't really expecting one over the holidays. If they don't respond by the end of next week, that will be unprofessional.

 

[Paul Drake]

I got a phone call from Image responding to my note to them.

The gentleman on the phone had a terrible cold so it was a bit of a struggle to talk to him (bless him for trying though). I received an apology for the confusion and an explanation of the deal Image cut with Best Buy. He noted that I wasn't the only person confused by this.

No rebate coming my way, but I will give Image kudos for their quick and very personal response. The $20 gift card will be used to purchase Season Three at Worst Buy. Seasons 4 and 5 will be purchased elsewhere.

On the positive side, the gentleman did indicate that Image was actively considering rebates for the remaining sets, but noted that nothing was decided yet. I personally would settle for reduced MSRPs on the remaining sets.

Has anyone else heard back from Image yet?

 

[george kaplan]

They said the would be calling me, and I took that as a bad sign, as it appears it is. This means that basically they're saying screw us. Well, that's fine, I will be polite and explain to them that I will be buying no more of their product because of this (except used). Their loss.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Yep. I will live without seasons 3-5. Image can pound sand.