Action: Another cautionary rebate tale

I purchased a computer from Dell Computer Corp. in early March. I completed and mailed in a rebate request for $100 as per the instructions. Since the rebate form said it would take eight to 10 weeks to process this request, I did not start calling Dell until the third week of May. At that time, I was told that my rebate request did not process until March 22, and the process time would be 10 weeks from that date.

I called back again the end of May, and I have been calling every few days since then. I was told that a check had been cut for my $100 the first week of June, but the rebate center said it had no idea when that check would be mailed to me.

It is now 14 weeks since the date that Dell said it processed my rebate request and 16 weeks after I mailed it in. When I try to get a status of my rebate online, it says there is no request in my name. The recording at the Dell rebate center says my request is expired. I am attaching the paperwork I submitted to Dell. The rebate center phone number is toll-free 1-877-776-6910, but I don't think you will get any help there. All I got was the brush-off.

Action was able to help me before on a similar matter, and I hope that it can do so again. Lois Kessler

Response: In your words: "After I wrote to you (on June 24), I had the check in hand by July 2, and someone from the rebate center called me to let me now it had been mailed.

"The date on the check that Dell mailed to me was May 22, and it was only good for two months. If you had not helped me, I don't believe that Dell would have ever mailed this check to me or they would have mailed it after it was no longer valid. Thank you so very much."

Rebates have long topped the list of complaints that Action receives. According to a June 11 story in the Wall Street Journal, "(t)o move merchandise in the tight economy, companies have spun themselves into a rebating frenzy." But, as the headline states, rebates are getting harder to collect.

Historically, consumers only collect on about 5 percent of rebate offers. Not surprisingly, the greater the value of the rebate, the higher the rate of claims. Often, however, getting the rebate is contingent upon complying with a long list of terms, often buried in the fine print on the backs of the rebate forms. Compounding the problem is the fact that many companies do not handle rebate requests themselves, instead turning them over to fulfillment houses. Try tracking down problem rebates in such cases!

The Wall Street Journal reports that state and federal regulators are beginning to crack down on misleading rebate offers. In Florida, the attorney general has riled a complaint against CompuServe for failing to fulfill $400 rebate requests from customers who had signed up for three years of Internet service. The Federal Trade Commission has also taken action against several electronics firms, including Memteck and UMAX Technologies.

Manufacturers have long used rebate offers to entice consumers to buy their products. Action has always urged readers to not make purchases based on rebate offers, but recognizes that rebate offers approaching or surpassing $100 can be hard to resist.

Here is a repeat of Action's tips on getting rebates:

First, make sure you send in the offer by the expiration date. It won't do you any good to buy a product in the hope of getting a rebate if the offer has expired. Pay attention to the wording of the rebate. We have encountered rebate requests that were denied because they were to be mailed on, not by a specific date.

Keep meticulous records. Make a copy of everything you send and make a note of the date you mail your request.

Keep the box or carton your purchase came in until you get your rebate in case you get a card back requesting something you neglected to send in. Before you pitch the box, however, make sure you won't need it if you have to return the product for exchange or repairs.

If you don't get the rebate within the specified time, write to the manufacturer, enclosing a copy of everything you sent in. (The manufacturer's address is generally on the product.)

Do not write to the rebate company. Special post office boxes are often set up to handle rebates, and once the offer expires, they are closed.

Finally, if you have a problem collecting a rebate, let the appropriate regulators know. Under the Federal Trade Commission's Mail or Telephone Merchandise Rule, companies are required to send rebates within the time promised or within 30 days. Although the FTC does not become involved in individual consumer problems, it does look for patterns of possible violations.

Complaints may be made by writing to: Consumer Response Center, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20580; or by calling toll-free 1-877-382-4357. Complaints may also be filed online at the FTC's Web site, www.ftc.gov.

Within Florida, complaints may be made by calling the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services at toll-free 1-800-435-7352 or through its Web site, www.800helpfla.com.

-- Action solves problems and gets answers for you. If you have a question, or your own attempts to resolve a consumer complaint have failed, write Times Action, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or call your Action number, (727) 893-8171, or, outside of Pinellas, toll-free 1-800-333-7505, ext. 8171, to leave a recorded request.

Requests will be accepted only by mail or voice mail; calls cannot be returned. We will not be responsible for personal documents, so please send only photocopies. If your complaint concerns merchandise ordered by mail, we need copies of both sides of your canceled check.

We may require additional information or prefer to reply by mail; therefore, readers must provide a full mailing address, including ZIP code. Names of letter writers will not be omitted except in unusual circumstances. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

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