Man, rebates are such a scam. You know, like when you buy something and it says "$50 off with mail-in rebate!" Why can't they just take $50 off the price? Because of course, they're counting on the fact that a lot of people will not bother to do the rebate. Or, they'll do it wrong because they didn't send an original receipt (like when I bought two things that had rebates at the same time, so I did not have two original receipts).
Or, like the case of one of Chris's Quicken rebate (there were FOUR), they send you the rebate check in what looks like some kind of throw-away mail, and you don't even notice it's a check.
My latest one from Comcast is the best. When we signed up for high-speed Internet, they said "It's $50 to install, but you'll get that back." Okay.
Well, two months after installation, they sent me a rebate coupon in the mail. With an envelope to mail it back to them. What an incredible waste of resources and people's time. Imagine how much time it takes to send me this thing, only for me to immediately drop it back in the mail for them to process. Grrrr.
Some similar feelings, from Slate.
