This past July I ordered a Soyo 17" LCD monitor from Tiger Direct. It had a $70 rebate. Tiger no longer has this monitor available but it is the 17" version of this monitor .........

Soyo 19" LCD monitor

Having done this dance before, I removed all three UPC codes from the box and sent these with my claim for the $70.

I was notified that my rebate had been denied due to not sending the correct UPC Bar Code.

Hmmmmmmmm

I have no other bar code on the box to remit.

I call to discuss this matter and ask them to direct me to the place on the box where the correct UPC Bar Code is located. The direct me to a place on the box that has a UPC Bar Code removed and sent to them. I told them they are holding that Bar Code in their hands , soooo it can not be remitted.

Its still not acceptable. They admit to having three UPC Bar Codes from said box within their possession and that none of of the Bar Codes are the correct Bar Code to qualify for my $70 rebate.

I ask them if I can send them the box and they say thats not acceptable proof of purchase.

I have no recourse except to lay back and enjoy getting raped.

Tiger Direct stole my $70 and laughed about it to my face. I will never purchase any item ever again from Tiger Direct. I would also not recommend them to anyone else ....... but if you so decide, I would steer clear of any item that has a rebate offer attached.

Live and learn.

I had the same exact thing happen to me with a purchase of kingston memory from fry's. They claimed it was the wrong barcode. I just wish that there was a state or federal agence that dealt with this kind of thing because it is obviouslly fraud. The worst I have ever seen them do is make them pay the rebates when someone sues. Thats not going to stop them (they still get away with it on other rebates so they still come out ahead). They need to start making these rebate houses accountable, either criminally (as it is fraud), or through inflated damages like maybe a triple payout if they get caught fraudulently denying rebates or something. Untill I see them do something to change the way the rebate houses do buisness, i'm not doing it. There are so many things advertised with huge rebates this holliday season (and in general), I'm just not playing along any more. If the up front price ins't good, I'm not buying it.

I hate rebates too but i only buy with rebates at Staples and BB. I bought a notebook at BB a few weeks ago with a $150 BB rebate and they can be done online like Staples. So i filled it out on BB's site which was painless and got my $150 check in 1 1/2 weeks. Staples usually takes 6-8 weeks or so.

I used to go to Fry's in So.Cali and they had more crap returned than any place i've ever seen. Lines of people with returns. I bought a few things there like cans of compressed air, some cables, Vid card but none had rebates. I bought a BTC combo drive 5 yrs ago (which i didn't know any better as i never knew of this site then) and took it back cause it would not burn CD's and had to stand in line for an hour or so to return it. They had returned stuff laying everywhere. The shelves are full of taped up boxes of stuff they want to resale of items that were returned.

i've bought tons of stuff through tiger direct, and i've never had a problem with rebates.

i'd blame onrebate.com (isn't that who handles their rebates?) and not the company itself. It's possible they aren't aware that the company they use is mishandling rebates in this manner. Maybe if you alert Tiger Direct customer service to the issue as well as the company handling the rebate you'll get somewhere.

reasonsnotrules,

I tried that avenue also. The primary problem at Tiger Direct is communicating with anyone who has the authority to help. I tried email, I tried phone, I even used the product review feature to get this in front of anybody.

No luck.

And its my belief that onrebate.com is in some way related to Tiger Direct. I think it may be the same ownership.

Also, it does no good to go to forums like this and direct my complaint toward onrebate.com. Onrebate can't be punished in any way, Tiger Direct is vulnerable to word of mouth. It would behoove Tiger Direct to be more responsive to customer complaints about rebates and who processes rebates offerec on products they sell.

Make Tiger hurt and maybe they will use their influence to clean this crap up.

Soyo is also responsible, but contacting Soyo is like me getting into speak to President Bush about the war in Iraq. In fact, I think Soyo may actually be the culprit here. BTW, I'm not happy with the monitor either, it has poor defintion for a LCD monitor.

I will no longer buy from Tiger Direct or any Soyo products. Onrebate.com gets off scott free.

They are AWARE of it, it's all negotiated in the deal.....As I have said before ,when we all quit hitting ourself's on the thumb just maybe Sales will return to just a price off sale.
Hootal

can you contact BBB or somebody?
u can give me negative review on resellerratings.com
Tiger Direct sucks

TigerDirect and Soyo is probably the worst combination I can think of. I filed a claim with the California State Attorney General's office a few years ago (sorry, I don't have the info on how to do it now) against Soyo. After about a year and a half, I did get my rebate. I have had 2 or 3 issues with TigerDirect rebates and will NEVER buy from them again. Their CSR's have an "attitude". For people who purchase large numbers of computer components like myself, the best online vendors are Newegg, Zipzoomfly Mwave, etc.

They are aware of it, infact the rebate houses usally guarentee what percentages of rebates will get claimed. Thats why they deny rebates. It's not that they deny all rebates, they just want to stay below the percentage they quoted or they will have to eat all the additional rebate amounts.

The BBB doesn't have the autority to do anything though it might warn a few people away in the future (though how many check with the BBB to see if a store has complaints before they buy). Trashing the store on reseller ratings sounds like an exelent idea to me. Thats something that some people do actually check and that can directlly effect their buisness if enough people report. Unfortunatlly that probably only applies to online orders, not local retail sales.
The state attorney General's office (the one for whatever state you live in) can actually do something, but again, you are going to have to go through a big hassle and the most you are going to get is your rebate. If enough people file about a particular items rebate, they may investigate and they may make them pay out denyed rebates, but that was my earlier point. There is no criminal action against them for it. They may wind up having to pay out some or all the denyed rebates for that product, but taking into account the other 1000 items they screwed people for the rebates on, and the fact that they may only have to pay a few more rebates out (those that file) if there are not a lot of complaints, the rebate houses are still winning reguardless. If it's a big rebate though, at least you can get your rebate. If it is a small rebate, is it really worth all the trouble of filing and waiting a year (and they know some of us think like that)?
If anything, we need to start contacting local polititions (the smaller ones are easier to actually contact, but if nothing else, a letter). If laws could change that would hold them more accountable and or have a punishment, it might make them think twice. Till then, I'll beware of rebates, except maybe ones like staples easy rebates. At least with them you have some recourse through the store. Be aware that not all staples rebates are like this though.

I think a law should be passed to make the seller resposible for the rebate
ie you submit all pertinent detail to vendor maybe a few days after the return date is gone by and the seller would immediately pay you the rabate
the vendor would be responsible for their own re-imbursement

Not sure how an online would work, but maybe some neutral non-profit collector could be set up in the same manner

I'm somewhat certain that some states actually don't allow mail-in rebates for the precise reason that they can be denied. I don't recall which retailer it was, but one of the inserts in the local paper here actually said that the mail-in rebate would be instantly fulfilled in Connecticut (I think). So perhaps the approach is to lobby state lawmakers to make mail-in rebates illegal. If it worked for one state, and the Supreme Court hasn't taken it up, it's probably good everywhere else.

It already irritated me enough today that I had to pay sales tax on an online Christmas gift simply because the recipient was in another state.

resellerratings.com has been helpful to me with some companies but some others just don't care. Tiger has a pretty low rating there so I doubt they care too much. They ripped me off on a Plextor rebate before.

It can also be helpful to dispute the charge with your credit card issuer. That gives the retailer a strong incentive to fix the problem, as they will lose the money if your CC issuer sides with you. (Not all of them do. If yours won't, close your account with them and go elsewhere.)

Let this be a lesson, people: every time you send out a rebate, make sure to photocopy EVERYTHING you send, and keep it. Lots of rebate houses will invalidate large swaths of rebates for not including UPC, etc. just to screw people over and improve their bottom line.

Tiger Direct has a horrible record with rebates, FWIW... I wouldn't have ordered from them in the first place.

dispute the amount of the rebate on your credit card and see where it goes

Soyo is the absolute worst about rebates. I am taking them to small claims court for my rebates. I have emails from soyo showing where they say my rebates are valid and the check is in the mail, then 3 months later, I get email stating that they never received my email. I will never buy another soyo product ever. They practice fradulent business practices concerning their rebates.

I agree with cnlson. Contact your credit card company. I've been told that they can pull the price paid back out of the companies account if you are having problems like this, then it,s between your CC company and Tiger Direct. Also a mention of contacting the Federal Trade Commision might help.

Yo-

For the rebates over $50 - I send them by insured mail - for the amount of the rebate - with delivery receipt - making sure to have copies of what I have sent-

The rebate companies are smarter than to be charged with mail fraud - and I always get my rebates-

Mike

bigmike, you are just too smart for these A Holes, eh?

@bigmike7
even tho there is proof a company received the letter, they can always argue the proper material ie UPC code was missing or not included as per the above poster

I guess when a company resorts to actual dishonesty, then more drastic measures need to be devised to deal with them

I think even online companies can can make the rebate instant ie remove the UPC and mail in a copy of the receipt to the rebate house on behalf of the buyer
if a person returns the item deduct the cost of rebate

When rebates are denied on a wholesale level, as we all know they are, this is fraud no matter how you look at it. The rebate houses are violating the terms of the contract. They SHOULD be charged criminaly. Perhaps someone with more ambition than I should start an online patition to clean up these dirty dealers, and also contact news programs like 60 minutes and nightline to try and get them to pick up the story.

Thread arfter thread is created about getting burned on rebates, and savy shoppers are all to well aware that this is commonplace, yet all we're doing is bitching to one another about it and nothing is getting done!

Mike, sending your rebates in insured for the amount of the rebate is a good thought, but why should you have to pay not only tax on the rebate amount, but the additional service charges from the post office? Also, there is one flaw in your plan reguarding mail-fraud as being a charge to lodge against them. It's NOT considered MAIL FRAUD! In order for it to constitute mail fraud, the defendant in such a case must have MAILED you something SOLICITING THE MONEY you were defrauded of. I've recently tried this reguarding another matten in which I paid for goods not received via US mail, adn PAYED with a US Postal Money Order!

Given the X-Mas season being upon us, there are ALOT of shoppers buying rebate items, so this might make a hot story for a news program in the next 4-8 weeks as peoples valid rebates start being denied at increadible rates. Having someone like CBS News purchase like, 40 rebate items and document all the rebates sent in, then the number of rebate denials and airing that on public television is SURE to put a fire under the asses of people from the FTC and others to finaly DO SOMETHING about this CRIMINAL ACT.

I just left a message for the "CBS Shame On You," staff reguarding this. I can't seem to find a contact phone number for like, the 60 Minutes desk. perhaps one of you can. I think it'd make an EXCELENT STORY!

JD

I was going to buy some SD cards from Tiger Direct since they were a good price AFTER the rebates but if you cannot get help with Tiger Direct directly when they advertise on their websight that they guarantee their rebates, then it is 'not worth taking the chance' on whether or not you will get your rebate.

I can tell you if you want something done maybe the Wall Street Journal Online would investigate. They contacted me before regarding something I wrote about webstores that have customer feedback but censor it to use it as a marketing tool.

Having copies was no help to me. OnRebate.com doesn't deny having the UPC Bar Codes I sent them, they readily admit to having all three. They claim the UPC Codes are not the correct code. Having copys of what they call " incorrect " codes is pretty worthless.

On contesting the charge with my credit card company, I might try that approach. Though I would guess too much time has passed.

I just won't purchase from Tiger Direct or Soyo and hope others won't also. And I will make this post on as many message boards as possible.

Some places I do not order from no matter what the price- Tiger Direct, Smartbargains, Ecost, and some others. They are sleazy, usually screw you on shipping/handling, and screw you again on rebates. I have had success with Ecost and Smartbargains, but decided why risk buying at those places when there are other places that treat me as a customer instead of marketing target- places like Newegg, Outpost, and some of the chains. Sure those places send ads my way, but they don't send ads every 2 hours and I do not have to read ALL the fine print to make sure I am not being charged extra for something.
The point is- some places are fairly honest and upfront from the start and some places try and hide the ACTUAL cost from the customer until they get to the last page of ordering an item. Life is too short to deal with some people and businesses.