well I'm glad you got all your rebates. I got my $150 software rebate on the night of the post after submitting it 5 months ago and dealing with multiple tiers of Indian BPO management. at least admit that the hoops can be a pain in the ass and not just as simple as putting an envelope in the mail. http://www.consumeraffairs.com/consumerism/rebate_madness01.html Memorex is cited in this article. I think they were one of the companies that never sent my rebate despite jumping through their hoops. Expect problems with McAfee also.
You post is complete fantasy. You should be ashamed of yourself. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/04/b...9128400&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=all Rebates are carefully designed to be denied on various technicalities... Several months into the future... When most people have forgotten or cannot be bothered. It's a borderline form of fraud... certainly dishonest... And should be outlawed by Congress.
Your original post is not about a specific incident... It's a claim made BY YOU... That deposit stealing happens to traders that make good money for their firm. YOUR claim is most likely FALSE... But it has led to an interesting thread nonetheless.
First of all my post isnt fantasy - you threw out a misleading (and apparently incorrect) statistic and I questioned it. Second, the link you provided only bolsters my suspicions about your numbers - did you even read it? In case you are reading impaired, if 40% are never redeemed that means that the 60% are redeemed - which means you previous post about 40% payout is "pure fantasy". The very next line also elaborates "People either don't turn them in or don't fill them out correctly". I notice you failed to address my question about what percent are never even turned in. You can't blame the rebate processors for those that are never submitted. Third, I think rebate processors are pure scum but like ES I have had very few problems getting my rebates although I do take the time to make sure I fill them out correctly and photocopy them before I send just in case they try to pull a fast one. In most cases I'm sure its either people don't both to fill them out or they can't follow simple instructions.
Yes HoundDogOne, I've learned a lot about electronics rebates by asking a totally unrelated question, which is great, because i had no idea about this apparently hotly debated rebates issue... My first post started off like this: "A number of prop firms are accused of not paying their traders on these boards..." I did not make this claim, but was referring to the claims that others have made here. If a specific example is needed to justify the need to ask the question, it can be found here amongst other places: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78028 Again, I'm not saying this actually happens, I'm just saying I don't see the motivation to steal a deposit *IF* it does happen as has been claimed. You've raised an interesting question actually: Other than Worldco, if someone PERSONALLY knows of at least one person who lost his deposit with a prop firm and never got it back, please tell us about it, that way we'll know if this actually happens or if it's just a figment of some people's fertile imagination...
Great advice....and it works, because I had the exact situation mentioned. Took 6 weeks of constant letters and phone calls, but I finally got my money back. The NASD was a bit helpful, but I took the initiative to investigate the principal of the Prop firm and discovered his NASD license had not been renewed recently. Once I had that on him, the money came within 2 weeks.
. You have never had to call the Phillippines and speak with someone who barely speaks English, is extremely rude and has no employee number and does not provide a last name. This person is clueless like his managers that have no idea why the rebate was not approved. Being cautious and making photocopies would be useless when there is no accountability and the TUI takes 20 minutes to reach possibly the correct department. ***After spending lots of time trying to speak with someone who could help me, I finally reached someone who was ready to issue my check. I spelled out my address painfully slow maybe 5 times before he got it right. He keeps on wanting to send it to the town of "Prive." If I didn't listen carefully, I would have missed his mistaken address and the check would have never come.****
Rebate scam idea of the week: offer something at a good price when the rebate is factored and then over charge pre-rebate. Pocket the difference. I paid $157 for McAfee Internet Security Suite Wireless Network Edition 2006 (junk) in July or August. I was promised a $150 rebate. Why not charge $207, offer a $200 rebate and pocket the difference when the new edition is released and the wholesale cost is $10?
You see... a third party rebate processor like onrebate.com structures their contract like this: When somebody successfully jumps through the hoops they bill their client...the retailer...they get the money...now on onrebates terms and conditions...it states you get your checks within 8-10 weeks...but most do not get their rebate checks within 17 weeks IF AT ALL...cause onrebate makes the interest on the float...also be careful ..the checks are sometimes little postcards..looking like ads...they hope you do not cash them... The damage is done to the end user...the retailer gets a bad reputation... Companies like this should be closed by the atty general... To make matters worse onrebate offers to send you the rebate earlier than normal at a discount...they get to pocket that too! I simply no longer make my rebate purchases through Tiger Direct as they use onrebate..
Its been done and in a big way : CyberRebates.com - a company created during the heady dot-com days that only sold things that were free after rebate. Seemed too good to be true...over time the item's "prices" kept increasing until you were paying some ungodly amount of money up front to buy some stupid little thing with the promise that you would get all you money back when the rebate was paid (some people were actually making money because the charges were being put through on credit cards that give reward points) Of course the rest is history, for those that didn't live through it, it turned out to be a giant Ponzi scheme and when they could find enough suckers to buy new stuff to pay the past rebates owed they simply closed up shop, declared chapter 11 and left many people hanging, some with thousands (!) in unpaid rebates.