Letter to Dawn Percha, VP of Sales, and Lisa Miller, VP of Operations:
To Whom It May Concern:
On 6/2/05, I placed an order with monarchcomputer.com for a Logitech MX1000 Laser Cordless Mouse for $49.00. There was a rebate form for $10 off via mail. I filled it out and followed instructions exactly as stated on the rebate form. I have copies of all rebate submissions (attached to this email in PDF format). Your company, the Express Group, handled the rebate. I used your online tracking system for at least 12 weeks after my submission and found no record of my submission.
I called on October 31 and was escalated to a supervisor/manager. He explained that I was not able to retrieve status on my rebate via the online tracking system because my last name was incorrectly input into the system. As you can see from the attached rebate submission, this was an error on your company's partnot mine. I used the incorrect spelling of my last name in the tracking system to retrieve status again. This pulled up my records, stating, "Your check has been processed on 10/4/05 and will be mailed in 1-3 business days of the processing date."
Since it was already October 31well beyond the date the check was supposedly processedand I hadn't yet received the check, I asked the manager/supervisor to re-send the check with the corrected spelling of my last name. The manager/supervisor told me that I would have to wait at least 90 days from the date the check was processed before they could issue another check, because it was necessary to ensure the sent check did not clear before they sent another one. I protested this vehemently, but the manager/supervisor insisted there was nothing that could be done until I called back 90 days from the date the check was processed.
I waited, very patiently I might add, until today (Jan 27) to call them back. I spoke with Amy, whose ID is 1134, and she refused to let me speak with a supervisor. She explained that outside of 90 days from the date the original check is issued, the case is closed and there is nothing that can be done. This is stated nowhere in the fine print or otherwise on the original rebate form (attached). I had no reason not to believe what was told to me on 10/31, and my concession to your company was waiting an additional 90 days to receive my rebate check. Now your company refuses to hold up its end of the deal. This comes across as extremely unethical and illegal business practice.By refusing to address my concerns and fraudulently convincing me to wait beyond a 90 day window which was not explained to me in writing or otherwise, your company is trying to avoid its legal obligation to send the check which I am long over due. It is business practices such as these which cause me to lose faith in the rebate system, and make me believe that mail-in rebates should not be legal in this country when the businesses whose responsibility it is to fulfill them cannot act dutifully in upholding their end of the deal. Unless this is resolved expeditiously within the next 30 days, I will notify your client, Logitech, of my experience and will refuse to purchase any products from your clients who offer rebates through your service. I will also contact the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Michigan State Attorney General's office.
I am requesting an official letter of apology and an explanation of what changes will be made internally at the Express Group to mitigate these problems in the future, and a check for $11.00 ($10.00 plus interest) from the Express Group, sent via FedEx Priority overnight delivery.
The money is trivial to me. What is important to me is to have my faith restored in consumer protectionotherwise I will never buy products which require mail-in rebates through your company again.
This settlement is fair, since I have waited over six months and invested hours of my time to resolve this. Similarly, your company has also wasted too much money by paying telephone representatives to struggle with me over this problem.
Tyler
Austin, Texas
U.S.A.
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