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I am wondering what everyone`s take is on this. I recently purchased 2 sets of software through Amazon. It`s Dragon Naturally Speaking Standard 9 (by Nuance) - one for me and one for my SIL for Christmas (an aspiring author who lives down in PA). Anyway, I bought 2 because Amazon/Nuance was offering a $40 rebate of of the $79.95 price. Now I have the products, and I`m reading the fine print and it says "One rebate per family or address". This wasn`t obvious one the Amazon page. It`s the fine print on the rebate form which was in a PDF file - that was not easy to find in the first place.

Anyway, why shouldn`t I be able to get the rebate on both if I buy two? What`s the difference? I`m pretty annoyed with this and emailed Nuance. I am fully prepared to mail one of the software boxes back to Amazon if need be. I haven`t opened anything yet.

Any idea why they do this, and is it even legal?

Chris~~Any idea why they do this, and is it even legal?]

Why do they do this? For exactly what happened with you, to create sales at your expense.  See how effective it is? You fell for it. People looking to buy something jump at the lowest price without regard or consideration for why it`s the lowest price. In your example you`re thinking $79.95 less $40 rebate will equal $39.95 ea, after rebate...right?  Wrong, anyone who has ever navigated the hellhole of rebate land knows that there can only be one rebate per family/address...  it`s not one rebate per item, and yes it`s prefectly legal.  Next time you jump at the lowest price, or truthfully next time you buy anything, think before you give away your money. Ask questions, and then ask more questions.

As an example, this is my first post/reply on StartupNation. So I had to sign up. It took me 20 minutes to explore all around the site to insure that clicking on Submit was not going to cost me anything now or later. Sure it says right on the page FREE, but I`ve found that nothing in life is free, so I`m a sceptic when I see those words.

Thanks for your answer. I have used rebates before and never ran into this. I bought 2 Nextel phones for my husband and I and we got rebates on both, so the "one family/address" isn`t always the case. I`ve also used rebates for single items in the past and always got my check - albeit several weeks later.

The price everywhere else was $79.99 as well, but I purchase from Amazon all of the time and felt comfortable buying from them. The rebate was a bonus.

Anyway, I will be returning one title to Amazon if I don`t hear from Nuance. I can afford both, but it`s the principle of it all.

From my experience, the "one per family" is pretty common. The other thing I find a lot is the fine print telling you the date by which you have to submit something. And the "something" is so damn complicated, confusing, and messed up, they`re counting on you to just not bother. It`s all legal.

Another big thing is to keep a "rebate folder" for each individual rebate you go after, and keep EVERYTHING in that folder! A member of a local PC group (retired older person) just wrote an article about his own experiences with rebates. Being retired, he finds it to be something of a game.

After having done everything according to the rules, he figures approximately 25% of his rebates don`t show up. When he follows up on it, he gets told he didn`t do some nitpicking thing. But because he has a record of every single thing he`s done, dated and everything, he usually wins in the end. But that`s been almost a year later, in a few cases.

I never buy anything with a rebate, unless I would buy it at full price. Then, if I really want the aggravation, I`ll see about the rebate.

Believe it or not, rebate programs used to be much worse than they are now.

After fielding tons of complaints a few years back, several states opened cases investigating misleading and/or fraudulent rebate programs, which led to a bit of reform regarding the way rebates are processed, including rejections.

The "one per address" policy is considered a standard, and exists primarily to keep unscrupulous folks (resellers, etc.) from taking advantage of what should be an end-consumer promotion. Other rebate mechanisms help with this too (cutting the UPC code from the packaging keeps a product from being resold or returned, or at least it should). In fact, I normally expect only a single rebate for a given product & am usually surprised if that rebate supports multiple quantities/purchases.

I think rebate programs as a whole are best summed up by retail employees themselves. While chatting with an electronics store salesguy on the evening of Black Friday a couple of weeks ago, I happened to ask him how the crowds had been that morning. His reply?

Lines around the block! And for no deals at all. All we had were rebate deals. And those aren`t deals.

Ditto on the rebate folder here. As a minimum, you want to keep a photocopy of everything you send. And for those who are crazy record-keeping freaks: a spreadsheet of dates, amounts & other relevant info might help you sleep at night.

And just like everything else you do as a small business owner...you gotta take a long hard look at how much chasing rebates can actually cost you in both time & energy, the two most precious commodities you have.

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Christopher Rue MCSE, MCSAM / Black Warrior Technology, LLC / Solutions That Build Your Business

Thanks for your insight everyone.

That`s interesting. I`ve never had a problem with a rebate. I`ve kept track of them and always gotten them back. Of course, I don`t buy tons of rebate stuff, so perhaps I`m just getting lucky.

In any case, Chris - I think you got a raw deal, and I would certainly be annoyed.


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entreprenerd... I guess you got your answer. Yes. It`s legal.

I hope your post draws attention to this ongoing, potentially tricky, path of getting a good deal. Isn`t Safeway and Albertson`s (large grocery store chains) using rebates too? When they do it, you have to have a "club card" or some other trick to "count you as their customer."

Hey, I am into the rebate stuff. But I agree, the smarter the less respectable retailers become, the more I have to watch out. To be honest, I am often not as smart as the retailer. Therefore, I have gotten caught too. I have sent in the proper documentation, and rarely receive my rebate even 6 months later.

I am starting to see "rebate" as just a catch phrase to catch extra "ON SALE NOW" type shoppers. I know my wife loves a sale. Until I started keeping track of the costs of foods and typical monthly purchases. I found, in many many cases (yes I types two "many" on purpose) everyone eventually sells for a great price. It`s about taking (buying) the right opportunity. Costco (don`t mean to badmouth StartupNation`s connection) doesn`t even have the best prices and that`s supposed to be a wholesale, or just slightly above wholesale, price. I can often get the same cost for products on an individual price as I do by the case in Costco. I think it falls under the Buyer Beware catch phrase.

Sorry to hear about your frustration entreprenerd.


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Vincent Wilcox (a.k.a. KRAKR)
Drummer
My band: Letters Make Words

I recently bought internet service and a cable modem package.  I had 3 seperate rebates to fill out.  Each asking for original UPC from cable modem.  Well, that`s where they get ya.  Obviously I could only provide one original.  I was denied $80 in rebates.  I will stay away from rebates whenever possible. I learned my lesson the hard way.  Some companies are just slimy. 

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Travis Tschepen
Hibachi Bros. LLC

--My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.--

MNGrillGuy~~Each asking for original UPC from cable modem. ]

Nothing a quick trip to Best Buy with a box cutter couldn`t fix....  not that I`d do it.