Wayne and Erika Pfeiler

Back in November last year, I ordered a USB memory drive from Buy.com for about $40. There was also a manufacturer rebate from Kington for $25, which would have made the thing a good price at $15. It took a little over a week to ship to me, but then in early December I got the memory drive and mailed in all the required information to the rebate center. I waited around and finally I found out they denied my claim.

They said that my "Purchase date on sales receipt does not fall within program dates". This was totally untrue, so I called the customer support line and asked why. After explaining everything to the girl on the phone, we decided that perhaps the rebate-checker people only read the ship date on my invoice. And since Buy.com took about a week to send the thing to me after I ordered it, the shipping invoice date was after the rebate period. However, the rebate states that the purchase date must be in the certain period, and it was, so I'm entitled to the rebate. The girl on the phone said I have to send in the needed documentation again, but to a different address. So I did that back in late January.

Now it's mid February, and I still don't have a my rebate. The online status hasn't changed since I sent in the re-request two weeks ago. Today I called to ask about it and after waiting 12 minutes on hold, the girl on the phone simply responded with "give it more time... at least a week". So now it's been 3 months since I ordered the thing. That's 1/4 a year that the company has been able to play with my money (interest-free) and not do anything. This feels a little like that movie Rainmaker where the corrupt insurance company's policy is to deny all first claims, and hope people don't try again. Granted, my $25 isn't much, but how many people are they doing this to?

next time I'll just look for a low price without rebates.