This is more a rant about working at Young America, in a Canadian facility. Read on if you'd like general knowledge about my former place of employment.
As a former employee with Young America (Canadian office, mind you) I can vouch for a large portion of the complaints against Cingular/Verizon/T-Mobil, etc. I dealt with cell phone rebates while employed at YA. However, as much as I needed the money, I've ultimately decided it was too much a demoralizing job at any wage for anyone to live with. I'm not going to repeat what was said in earlier posts, I'll overlap likely when I list these suggestions/comments though.
1. Read your rebate form closely. If it says 10-12 weeks, go by that information-not by the information provided by whomever sold you your cell phone/other electronic productthey're just trying to push you to buy it when they use the rebate as a big selling perk. Before calling to complain about something that can possibly be your own fault, make sure you know your information, have it documented, keep copies, etc. I say possibly' for this reason... Read on.
2. Either YA or the companies we represented were in some cases fraudulent. I have no proof of this other than from what legitimate-sounding people have told me. Generally, watch you back when sending in rebates and know what kinds of recourse you have. KEEP COPIES of everything.
3. Send in rebate submissions individually. Plain and simple. YA wont process your multiple rebates if you send them together in the mail. Only YA is allowed to save money on postage in this case (i.E. Bulk mail). Strange how it could take a maximum of 40 days (guidelines followed by my former facility) to get your rebate. Yet if you get an unqualified letter in the mail? That's sent out first class and usually received within a few days. Just some food for thought.
4. Don't bitch at the people you're phoning, even if you're THAT furious with whatever company you're calling аbout: YA employees are NOT the people you're really mad at. At YA, they're sub-contracted by companies wanting us to do their rebate work.
A good portion of the time, the initial company offering the rebate through YA is at fault for misrepresentation or misguiding 'fine print' that they're intentionally hoping you'll miss when you read it over. However, it is my theory that employees at the facility where I worked were merely employees to allow annoyed people to vent about how they've been screwed over by a big corporationwe weren't rebate customer service reps (whatever that would envelop).
As a side note: funny how Canada and the US have made deals' regarding employment. Ontario has a relatively high unemployment rate, so, rich US corporation Young America expands to Canada at a minimal cost to do the dirty work' of the American people. As well, did we tell consumers that we were Canadian? Of course not, that would've annoyed the Americans even further. We lived near' Minnesota.
Finally, 5. Avoid rebates altogether. Rebates are a marketing scheme that lead one to believe that they're getting money back eventually, when it's never that simple. Sure you'll find a good deal when including a rebate. But think of the effort you're going through to get that rebate. It's really not worth itso buy from a different company who offers a relatively similar cost without any rebate BS included in the long run. As well, when you cut out that UPC from your cell phone box, or any other product, you often void your warranty through that manufacturer. Your only recourse in that case, should something go wrong with your product, is to take it up with the retailer where you purchased iteven then, it's at their complete discretion as to how they want to deal with your case.
That's all I have to say about YA and its Canadian division. If you're considering employment with YA, don't. Unless you've got no heart or no soul, then don't contribute to the problem of rebates. The more that people lobby against corporations like YA and TCA/wheresmyrebate.com, the quicker they'll go down.
People have to realize that rebates are not discounts, they're psychological hassles we can't understand until we're affected by the true duration they incur.
Jeff
Thunder Bay, Ontario
Canada
0 comments