Office Depot advertized a promotion for an eMachines computer bundle on the Friday after Thanksgiving (Black Friday, November 25). The computer cost $700 (too much), but with a $50 eMachines rebate and a $250 Office Depot rebate it was a deal.
This promotion - as many others that day - was clearly a Christmas gifting promotion.
I bought the bundle as a Christmas gift for my wife. I checked out with a handfull of sales and rebate receipts for the bundle plus other stuff I bought. I looked at one of the rebate receipts and saw that I had time after Christmas to submit the rebates. (As will be seen, it is important to look at EVERY receipt.)
I did not do anything about sending in the rebates until Christmas, because doing so would require defacing the gift boxes (thereby not allowing return of the merchandise if rejected by my wife). Plus, what kind of gift has the box cut up?
I mailed in the eMachines rebate December 26.
Today I received the news that I had not submitted the rebate within 30 days of purchase. I missed the deadline by one lousy day. (Nevermind that the 30th day - December 25th - was Sunday and a Holiday, so couldn't be mailed that day. Even the IRS gives you the extra day!)
Worse, yet, was the requirement to postmark the Office Depot rebate by 12/17. I didn't even try. I called Office Depot to bitch about that and see about returning the computer. Office Depot doesn't allow returns of computers after 14 days.
I'm convinced - and contend - that Office Depot and eMachines conspired to design their promotion so that it was impossible to purchase certain high-end Christmas gifts on Black Friday and submit the rebates after the gifts are opened on Christmas without missing the deadline.
Other items I bought at Office Depot that day had rebate requirements as follows: Received by 12/31; postmarked by 1/14; postmarked by 1/14; postmarked by 12/31; postmarked by 12/31 - all reasonable for Christmas gifts. The most expensive of these items was $60.
Do I feel ripped off by Office Depot and eMachines? You bet - to the tune of $300.00. Bah humbug to them.
P.S. It's interesting to note that they can take all the time they want - 58 days in this case - to tell you that you missed a 30-day deadline by one day.
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