aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South

Monday, November 26, 2007

Newegg.com Rebate scam!

UPDATE: Newegg has issued the rebate and sent it via UPS. I will have received it within the 10 business days I stipulated. Further, they have offered $30 towards my next order. Now I have to tell the BBB how satisfied I am. I will wait to get the rebate and verification of the $30 before responding to the BBB. Newegg has clearly resolved my situation. But they have not changed my conviction that we need some serious rebate regulation!

Today, Cyber Monday of all days, is 6 months to the day after I purchased my 32” flat panel HD display. You may recall how pleased I was that after a $50 mail-in rebate the $500 price even included shipping.

Here’s what the Newegg Rebate Status website says about the rebate I’m still waiting for today:

I have emailed them repeatedly and documented prior visits to the rebate status website here, here and here.

On Thanksgiving Day, 10 days after my last email enquiry, they finally replied, “We did not receive an original UPC symbol or proof-of-purchase tab with your request.”

Well, of course, they did!

I copied the code and documented the purchase of the extra postage and the larger envelope required to send it in. Color me suspicious, but this rebate abuse is a scheme to scam people out of their money. Why didn’t they contact me when they discovered the UPC code was missing? Why does the website to this very second say that my order is being processed?

I sincerely believe that these rebate abuses cry out for investigative attention and appropriate state and/or federal legislation. At a minimum, companies offering rebates should be required to clearly state who is offering the rebate (manufacturer or retailer?), how to contact the appropriate party, and how long until the rebate will be received. And they should pay a penalty when a rebate is late.

If any such laws are in place now, I have yet to find them!

I have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau; I will follow up with the state of Georgia and the Federal Trade Commission. I am confident that I am not the only consumer to have had this experience.

I wonder how many of us are willing to go through all that it takes to recover the rebate? In the extended entry I have copied their letter to me, my complaint to the Better Business Bureau and my last reply to Newegg. 

This is the email I received on Thanksgiving Day:

Dear NewEgg Consumer:

Thank you for your inquiry regarding the status of your rebate.  We regret to inform you that our records indicate you are not eligible for this rebate because:

* N - We did not receive an original UPC symbol or proof-of-purchase tab with your request.

Although we are not able to process your rebate for submission number 90669979 at this point in time, we may be able to resubmit your request for processing if additional qualifying information is provided.

In order for us to process your rebate request we will need you supply a copy of the product UPC barcode.  The UPC barcode is usually located on the bottom or back of the box or packaging that your product came in. It is a barcode with a 12-digit number beneath it and will appear in the format of:

0 12345 12345 0

If you are able to provide us with copies of your UPC barcode, you may fax them to the number at the end of this email or mail them to us at:

Mailing Address:

Canada:
Customer Service Department
PO Box 979
Fonthill, ON L0S 1E0

USA:
Customer Service Department
PO Box 52901
Phoenix, AZ 85072

If you wish, you can also send your documents via email as an attachment only.  Acceptable forms of attachments include .jpg, .gif, .pdf.  Unfortunately, we cannot accept documents that are embedded within your email.

Please include the following information with your fax, mail or email:

- Email address
- Complete name
- Complete address, including zip / postal code
- Item purchased
- Amount of rebate
- Daytime phone number

If you include your email address on the cover page of your fax we will inform you when your documents have been received and processed.  Your documents will be processed as quickly as possible however we ask that you please allow 5 business days to view the revised status of your rebate on our web site.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions or concerns and we will be happy to assist you.  When responding please be sure to include the past email and your submission number with your reply to prevent any delays in assisting you with your request.

Thank you for contacting NewEgg.com.

Customer Contact Center
Phone: 1-866-722-4211
Fax: 1-480-606-4313
http://newegg.rebatestatus.com
mailto:customer.service@cs.rebatestatus.com

This is the complaint I filed with the Better Business Bureau of Southland, Inc. on Thanksgiving Day (authored with the generous help of my mother-in-law equivalent, Thanks Linda!):

Please find below the details of the complaint you entered on the web: [...]

Model Name: Olevia 332H HD LCD TV

Summary Line: REBATE unpaid after 5 months: purchase on 5/29, rebate mailed on 6/9. They say no original UPC code. Delaying tactic! I sent original AND second copy.

Complaint Description: I certainly DID send the original UPC code. After they said they didn’t get it I sent copy. Still no rebate.

I have also documented this entire experience - from the original purchase through contacting them within the first 30 days for the status of the rebate and following on the website for the next four months, contacting them again and finally their email saying they have not received original UPC.

I am very distrustful of the “loss” of the original cardboard UPC. It required additional postage (also documented) and an expanded envelope to send - how could they get my request and NOT the UPC? They lost it. I suspect purposefully. I get NO compensation for waiting five months; they sit with cash and hope that by now I’ve lost everything.

They maintain a website for rebate stutus (newegg.rebatestatus.com) which TO THIS MINUTE says there is no problem with my rebate. I am notified by email ONLY AFTER I CONTACT THEM A SECOND TIME.

I find it further suspicious and am concerned that you never contacted me, I had to contact you FOUR MONTHS after submitting the rebate. The “loss” of the original UPC code was not indicated on the website; throughout there was no indication of any problem at all.

Resolution Sought: Fulfill my legitimate rebate request and provide reasonable compensation for all of the time and trouble it has taken to get it fulfilled. I would also like it to have published on their offers the maximum length a rebate will take. I could not find anywhere where they promise to fulfill rebate requests in a timely or even reasonable manner.

Date Problem Started: 06/22/2007

Date of Transaction: 05/29/2007

Amount in Dispute: $50.00

Invoice Number: 26095136

Complaint Type: Refund Promised

Product or Service: online computer/electronics ordering

If you have any questions regarding your complaint, please contact the Complaint Dept. at (909) 825-7280.

Thank you, Complaint Dept. BBB of the Southland, Inc.

This is the email letter I authored and sent moments ago with attachment jpegs of the rebate form, upc code, and the image above from the rebate status website:

To Whom It May Concern:

I purchased an Olevia 332H HD LCD TV on 5/27/2007 at the newegg.com website (Invoice Number: 26095136).  My decision to purchase this product was based upon your offer of a mail-in rebate of $50.  My purchase of this product constituted my acceptance of that offer, creating a binding and enforceable contract between us.

I have performed my obligations under the contract.  I paid the full purchase price and then completed and mailed the rebate form you provided.  I included all information requested in order to process my rebate, but to date I have not received a check in the amount of $50.

In fact, I contacted the company via email on June 22, 2007 and visited the rebate status website regularly. Beginning in September I documented my visits to that website on 9/4/2007, 10/2/2007 and 10/20/2007. To this minute that site says, “We have received your submission and it is being processed.”

There is no word there about a missing UPC code. Instead - on Thanksgiving day and 10 days after I sent another email about not receiving the rebate - you inform me that you did not receive the UPC code and ask that I send a copy. Well, you did receive the UPC code; a generous reading of the facts today, a full six months after I made my purchase, suggests that you lost it.

I have a copy of the UPC code, along with the dated and time-stamped receipt for the extra postage and the larger envelope required to send it. I respectfully request that you process payment and mail the rebate amount to me at the address indicated within 10 business days.  For your convenience I have re-attached all the information originally sent.

In addition, I would like reasonable compensation for the delay, the time it took me to document and repeatedly contact you, and to recover any good will possible. I have already filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau of the Southland, Inc. If I do not receive payment in full and satisfactory compensation for this oversight by December 10, 2007 I will file further complaint reports with the Federal Trade Commission, the Georgia Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs and the Attorney General’s Office. 

Georgia has a consumer complaint and customer service initiative underway now. If this kind of rebate experience is shared by other consumers, it cries out for investigative attention and appropriate legislation. In the meantime, I am forwarding them a copy of this letter to encourage your compliance.

Thank you for your prompt attention to and resolution of this matter.

Sincerely,

Joe Windish