OnRebate.com
Ripoff, deceitful business practices, deliberate loophole policies

I recently purchased my first home and was very excited to buy my first television to put in it. I'd done a lot of research about televisions, specifically, as I wanted one medium sized LCD TV for the home, but was on a strict budget. The best deal I could find was on TigerDirect.com based on the fact that they were promoting a manufacturer's rebate through onrebate.com.

I telephoned in my order to be certain I requested all the necessary rebate material so as to fill it out immediately upon receipt. Here's where it starts to get CONFUSING. While I was having the tv shipped to my work (so someone would always be available to sign for the box), my credit card at that time billed to my old home address. However, within the period of time it took to receive the tv and cut out all the necessaries in order to make copies and jump through the rebate hoops, I was officially in my new home and my credit card billing had, thus, switched addresses, as well.

I hope you're following me here because this is the part where this company, onrebate.com, DELIBERATELY tries to create LOOPHOLES IN THEIR POLICIES so that they will not have to pay out the rebate. Onrebate.com purports to be an online based rebate system, making the whole process easier. You can complete your rebate online, right? WRONG!!!

Once you fill out all the information online, the final screen prompts you to print everything as you have to finish filling it out and mail it in anyway. Now, I must mention here that never once did I receive an error message where information I entered didn't match up or wasn't accepted by the system. You know what I'm talking about, don't you? If you are asked to type your e-mail twice on a website to confirm it's accuracy, the page will show an error often with red text or an asterisk pointing out the mistake you must correct. This didn't happen. I finished everything online, on the printed out paper, packaged it and sent it in well within the alloted time.

So, OVER TWO WEEKS LATER, I receive a generic e-mail telling me my rebate had been rejected by onrebate.com because I had multiple addresses that did not match from the purchase to the rebate form. This e-mail offered a reply e-mail address to which I immediately wrote stating the reasons why I would like this justified, but received no reply. The official end date on the rebate was the 27th. I had waited one week from the time of submission of my reply e-mail making it the 25th and then decided I needed to call so that my window did not close.

I reached an automated system that offered no help and took a while to get a representative on the phone. The woman I got was extremely unfriendly and unapologetic about the situation saying there was nothing anyone could do—I was simply not going to receive my rebate. I asked her why the online forms didn't point out this error or why I hadn't been contacted by someone to correct it. This was obvious, though. Onrebate.com uses these DECEITFUL PRACTICES so as to avoid paying out rebates to which consumers are fairly entitled.

When I finally could go nowhere but in circles with this representative, I asked for a supervisor or manager so I could request my rebate materials back (obviously I couldn't pursue the issue with the manufacturer without them) and register a complaint. However, the woman told me no one could help me and threw my call into voicemail. I have not received a telephone call back.

My advice to anyone who might be considering purchasing an item that has a rebate that must be processed through onrebate.com is to consider the cost of the item without the rebate. This company will try and swindle you out of the rebate amount so DO NOT purchase based on the discounted price. Also, feel free to contact me if you have any questions about my POOR EXPERIENCE with onrebate.com

Julie
Antioch, Tennessee
U.S.A.

Company: OnRebate.com
Country: USA
State: Florida
City: Boca Raton
Address: 120 East Palmetto Park Road

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