I have just discovered the same problem with MachSpeed. This is the very first time ever that a rebate that I send in got declined. I purchased my 1 GB SD card from eCost.com back in January. I followed the rebate instructions from their website and their rebate forms to the letter. Like most of you, I've experienced the same problem with the Serial Number.
Their original instruction was very suspicious as I can barely read the laser etched number on the back of the chip. They've demanded more items than a typical company offering rebates. I've complied and sent in everything except for the chip. Over three months later (mid May), I decided to look up the rebate form to contact them. I discovered that there isn't a 1-800 rebate number to call and talk to a live person like most reputable companies.
Instead, I got only a lousy website that I had to post a ticket to ask for my rebate status. There was never once a courtesy call or an e-mail or a card in the slow mail system to let me know that they've declined my rebate because the S/N was incorrect.
Well, I got a response from a fictitious person name "Mindy". She told me that my rebate was declined and proceed to give me new instructions on how to look up the S/N number. It turns out that there was two type of chips, each one with a different color label (orange and blue). Mine was blue so I supposed to have read the S/N from a sticker on the clear protective casing. I did and gave her the number.
She told me that she'll take it to the supervisor and see what she can do for me. That was a week ago and I haven't heard back from her since. I've since posted another three messages without avail.in the past, if one of my rebates had missing or incomplete information, other companies would send me a note to allow me sending in more proofs. Those companies would try to make me a satisfy customer - not like MachSpeed.
At this point in time, I'd figured that my $35 rebate will never materialize. My only conclusion is that this company is not doing business in good faith. If you look at their chips, they're actually made by Toshiba. They simply slap on their own labels and then start this "huge" rebate scam by selling "their" products at deep rebate discounts through various online companies.
I just came back to — today and searched for the word "MachSpeed" only to find none. Evidently, — must've found out about this problem through the numerous consumers/purchasers and decided to not carry MachSpeed products anymore. I will contact them tomorrow to confirm.
Other first-time (and last-time) buyers have experienced the same thing with MachSpeed, through different online sellers. Search the Internet for the words "MachSpeed Rebate Scams" and you'll see numerous websites with people posting similar stories.
I think the best way to fend off these crooks is to broadcast this message widely to the Internet communities so that no one else would have to go through this again. If there is a way to shut down this lousy company, let me know.
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