The afternoon before I left to go on my vacation, I decided I needed an SD card for my camera which would hold more photos, so I stopped by Fry's Electronics. I found they had the Polaroid 16 GB SDHC Class 4 Flash Memory Card for $39.99 with a $15 rebate. It would end up costing me $28.71 after tax, and $1.80 per GB. Sweet.
I knew it was a gamble since things were going to be a little crazy for the next two weeks; getting ready to leave that night, being out of state, coming back and trying to get caught up.
So last night I was vegging out for a few minutes, not even thinking about writing a blog post or doing anything at all. Something kept nagging at me, and I sat there thinking for a few minutes, and then it hit me! The rebate!! Oh!! I didn't want to lose fifteen dollars because I forgot to send in a rebate!
I started looking for the receipt first… oh boy, not in my purse in that pocket where I usually keep receipts, not in that pile on my desk, not in that other pile, not in that box. Darn! I had just about exhausted all the places I could look when I found it! YES!
I told Mr. A I found the receipt, now I just had to locate the packaging. Oh dear… where could that be. And then, I found it on my dresser!! AWESOME!
But then… OH NO. The receipt says EXP DATE 9/02/10. OH NO. I think I just lost fifteen dollars.
I went in and told Mr. A that I think I just messed up and forgot to send in a fifteen dollar rebate. He says, “You bought it before we left on vacation? It has been pretty hectic since then. Don't stress about it.”
Then I went to ask AJ if he's done any Fry's Electronic rebates. I showed him the receipt and he got this big grin on his face, you know the one that clearly means he's thinking, “Mom messed up and didn't send in a rebate, wowee!!” He gleefully told me the rebate had to be postmarked by that date.
It sure seemed that way.
I went back into our bedroom and I told Mr. A I just felt terrible about losing fifteen dollars. Then I decided to just have a look-see at the actual rebate form.
I went to the website on the receipt… and… YES!! It says it must be postmarked within 30 days of the purchase! So I have more than enough time to get it in and get my fifteen dollars back.
Fry's Electronics receipts are kind of confusing the way they show the expiration date; usually there is more information like there is on the rebate form itself, which says “Offer Valid for Purchase Dates August 17, 2010 to September 2, 2010”. But since the receipt simply said EXP DATE 9/2/10 without any additional information. It really looked as if my time was up, although that didn't seem right. I'm glad I didn't give up that easily.
Whew!
I'm usually very good at getting rebates turned in. What about you? Any near misses?
Wow, you are a good story teller…I didn’t know returning rebates could get me on the edge of my seat!
Yeah, I’m similar to you when it comes to rebates. I NEED to return the rebate right away otherwise I’ll often forget. The only hard thing about sending in the rebate immediately is that, depending on the product, I like to at least try out a product. So it’s kind of a Catch 22 sometimes…if I want to try out the product, I might forget to send in the rebate (since I can’t return the product once I’ve cut out the code from the box). Probably a good way is to set some kind of reminder in those cases.
[Reply]
Mrs. Accountability Reply:
September 11th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
Andrew, lol, thanks! I guess I’ll go ahead and enter my story into the Carnival of Money Stories. 🙂 That’s a good point you bring up in not wanting to get the rebate until you know if you’re actually keeping the product. I need a system for setting up reminders at home. I use Outlook at work, and I thought Google would send me a reminder but the reminder I thought I set up never appeared so either I did it wrong, or there is no such thing. Thanks for visiting and commenting!
[Reply]
Andrew Reply:
September 11th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
@Mrs. Accountability, agreed. I need to find a good reminder system because some of the ones I use now fail me all the time! Keep up the great work on the blog!
[Reply]
Mrs. Accountability Reply:
September 11th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Andrew, Outlook works fairly well for me at work, when I don’t ignore it. It’s gotten to the point where my non-computer using supervisor asks me to put reminders in for her! She sticks to an appointment book and wall calendar most of the time, but for really important things that she can’t forget, she depends on my Outlook. LOL. But I am loathe to use Outlook at home. Do let me know if you find one that you like and I’ll check it out, and I’ll do the same.
Andrew Reply:
September 11th, 2010 at 2:42 pm
@Andrew, Sounds like a plan!
Glad you didn’t lose the rebate. I think they make it confusing on purpose. It probably meant it has to be “bought” by 9/02, the rebate offer expires on that day and you have another 30 days to send in the paperwork. I like staples for this sole reason, no paperwork – easy rebates submitted online. I am very bad with rebates and I have bad luck with them as well I guess. Even if I send them on time they always got lost in the mail or something. My husband is very good at it, so after missing a $75 rebate for my kitchen aid mixed (the check is still in the mail after 9 months 🙁 ) I have given up and now I make my husband handle the rebates.
[Reply]
Mrs. Accountability Reply:
September 11th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Suba, I agree with you. I think they are counting on people buying products and not doing the rebates, and for the ones that will do the rebate make us jump through as many hoops as they possibly can. OH OUCH on missing that $75 rebate, that would have just about killed me!!
[Reply]
On a somewhat related note…
Our office bought a shredder from Staples 18 months ago. Recently it has chosen to work only intermittently, of course just after we recycled the packaging. Fortunately, our bookkeeper still had the original invoice with the order number and model. While looking online for a replacement model I noticed they still sell our shredder and it comes with a 2 year limited warranty. I called Staples and explained the situation. The customer service agent arranged for someone to come pick up the old shredder and deliver a new one the next day.
This is the second time I have had a wonderful customer service experience with Staples.
Office Depot, not so much, after using my extended warranty I purchased with my laptop and not being satisfied with the result and having new issues after the “repair” I took the computer into the store in hopes of getting better service. The managers response? To wave at the current selection of laptops and tell me I was lucky I bought mine when I did that all they carry now is made in China and is junk.
I wish I were kidding.
Sorry for the long comment, but you have mentioned your business and wanted to let you know in case you are planning a future purchase.
[Reply]
Mrs. Accountability Reply:
September 11th, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Kathryn, thanks for suggestion, I do use Staples sometimes, and I love their rebate system. Soooo much easier. That’s good to know they are concerned with customer satisfaction, thank you.
[Reply]
I am absolutely terrible with rebates! I just started doing them (once I got the ‘coupon’ing down pretty well!) The second rebate I actually sent in was postmarked 2 days late to Schick razor and STILL received the $9 check in the mail.
I was so disappointed when I found out I had missed the postmark date because I held onto it for a week and was complaining to my husband and he said “send it in anyway, what can you lose 44 cents?” Afterall it was a razor we would have bought regardless of the rebate. I mailed it and about a month later we received the check in the mail. What a nice BONUS!
Definitely worth the 44 cent gamble of going ahead and mailing in the receipt!!
I agree with Andrew- great storytelling!!
[Reply]