I needed a new laptop computer. Office Depot opened a store in Williamsburg. Large signs in the computer section enticed buyers to the HP Pavilion Entertainment Notebook with a huge $250 rebate. I thought what a great deal! The assistant on the floor and the cashier told me to send my receipt, UPC code, barcode etc. from the box to the address on the rebate form.
Oh, they forgot to say that you have exactly 45 days so if you are two days late, you lose the entire $250 rebate offer. Everything else was explained except the short time to redeem the rebate. Surely, I thought, the manager could give me some kind of help to still get the rebate. Afterall, I was only 24 days late. Most reputable stores have a longer period for the rebate.
No. The manager said that even if he begged the rebate center, they wouldn't give you the rebate.
Wait a minute. It was my rebate. I'm only a few days late.
Don't you want to keep me as a customer buying cameras, printers, etc? Afterall, I have everything to prove that I bought the computer during the rebate offer time. $250 is a lot of money.
I called the manager from rebate. He said everything is i print on the form. oops. Its faded and hard to see the small fine print. Thats how we do business.
Well, I just thought you might like to know how office depot does business. They bait you with a computer rebate, fail to tell you the short time to submit the paperwork, then gloat with joy over winning your $250 rebate -- along with all the other people who also complained about this. The store manager said that I wasn't the only customer coming late for their huge rebate -- that was now going to be denied.
Office Depot-- "Bad Business Wins my $250." But your bad business is a dirty scam similar to bait and switch. If the customer was always right, you would make good on your offer for a rebate even if it was day 46 or 47 when you noticed that a short period of time was offered to redeem your money back.
Scam. Scam. Scam.
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