I'm sick and tired of MIR's.

[ikazippy]

Almost everything now is MIR. You see an ad in the paper or online for something with the low price highlighted in red 38pt. font. So you must be thinking "wow this looks pretty good" only to find out the price quoted (if you read the black 2pt font) is after mir.

I'm tired of waiting 8 weeks, 9 weeks etc, etc for $20. I'm still waiting for my Symantec $30 upgrade rebate I submitted in early March.

I'm the consumer, why should I be left holding the bag? Let the big bad retailer wait for the $20, they can afford it. Give me the discount instantly, let the retailer wait like they do with coupons. How stupid would it be if you went to your local supermarket and had to copy your receipt and mail in your receipt with your grocery coupons?

Please, give me the best price at purchase. I beg of you, please.

• the very low return rate of rebates (especially small rebates) IS the reason why they are so popular among manufacturers: they simply know not all consumers will claim the rebates.
• using rebates, companies are able to make you believe their product is very low priced or even free, but since so few people claim them, companies still make a lot more money than if they had offered a traditional price reduction.
• Fulfillment companies even suggest that manufacturers make the task of claiming a rebate as complex as possible so that consumers forget a detail (such as including a UCP code from the box, circling or underscoring the price on the invoice, etc). Of course, if something is forgotten, the rebate "can't be processed" and the company saves even more.
• in fact, "offering" mail-in rebates has proved so profitable to manufacturers that even retailers are using them, which makes no sense at first glance: they would just have to announce a price reduction... But why would they, when they can offer it as a mail-in rebate and count on your laziness?

http://cellphones.about.com/library/bl_rebates.htm

is it really all that hard waiting for a MIR? i always find it nice to get a MIR when i forget about it. just my 2 cents

[ikazippy]

It's not a question of it being hard. It's a question of getting the best price at the point of purchase. Most rebates are usually for one household or one address. What if you buy two items? You have to use another name or address in order to receive both rebates. That's not right IMO.

Originally posted by ikazippy
It's not a question of it being hard. It's a question of getting the best price at the point of purchase. Most rebates are usually for one household or one address. What if you buy two items? You have to use another name or address in order to receive both rebates. That's not right IMO.

you have neighbors right? ask them to borrow there address. simple

[Emc2]

Great info. GZ. The consumer has to realize that business cares more about money than consumer patience. If a business's main concern was not money, then most of the time it would flop. If you're not lazy, then be patient. It all adds up in the end. Like taxes I guess, but I believe that the only reason the gov't needs to withhold the money is to make sure people actually pay them.

[ikazippy]

I'm not going to ask my neighbors to use their address for a $20 check.

You like the MIR, I don't. We have a difference of opinion here. That's fine.

Emc2 is right, obviously business does care more about money and that's capitalism, but I have my freedom of choice and unless I can avoid it, I buy from dealers like newegg.com where I get the best prices.

[jman01pa]

Originally posted by ikazippy
obviously business does care more about money and that's capitalism, but I have my freedom of choice and unless I can avoid it, I buy from dealers like newegg.com where I get the best prices.

You have your freedom of choice. So instead of buying from and supporting your local businesses you choose to find the lowest seller somewhere else. This seller can buy in a very large volume allowing him to sell at a very low profit. The local business trying to compete lowers his standards. They buy substandard product. Hires low paid employees and then you complain because their service is bad. Eventually they shut down and another Walmart moves in.... What is wrong here?

Capitalism: An economic system in which the means of production and distribution are privately or corporately owned and development is proportionate to the accumulation and reinvestment of profits gained in a free market

[EndobioticChaos]

I'm with ikazippy on this one... MIRs suck. There's just no two ways about it. And when you figure in the cost they have for processing the rebates, just how much money do they make anyhow? Not nearly enough to warrent all this hassle. Also you can guarantee they'll lose at least a few sales here and there. If you have just $80 and no credit, there's no way you can buy that HDD for $120, even if it is just $70 after rebate.

[ikazippy]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jman01pa
[B]


You have your freedom of choice. So instead of buying from and supporting your local businesses you choose to find the lowest seller somewhere else. This seller can buy in a very large volume allowing him to sell at a very low profit. The local business trying to compete lowers his standards. They buy substandard product. Hires low paid employees and then you complain because their service is bad. Eventually they shut down and another Walmart moves in.... What is wrong here?


I'm entitled to save as much money as I can just as the manufacturer is entitled to make as much money as they can.

[jman01pa]

Im not really dogging you. I do the same. But alot of these even larger companies are getting scared over the cheap prices brought on by net sales and are trying to entice us with whatever marketing schemes they can come up with. I dont like MIR's either. I will use them if I cant find a better price but would rather not mess with them. Unfortunately I have fallen victim to not sending in the rebates a few times myself. Usally just the 5 dollar ones in all.

J