Well, I'll be dipped in shit.

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I got my fucking $80 from Office Depot. Will wonders never cease?

Of course there's no explanation of why it took over six months to get my rebate, but I guess I should count my blessings. And cash the check before it expires.

Office Depot's response

Thank you for contacting Office Depot regarding your rebate. Your item has not yet shipped. We apologize for the delay, but we do ask that you allow more time for processing. You can check the status of your request at any time from this site. You may also contact us by phone at 1-866-541-0284 if you have any further questions.

Thank you again for visiting Office Depots Rebate Center and have a great day!

Fuckers. Anybody want to bet I never see my $80 or hear another word from these fuckwads?

Looks like the A-List server is down

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It would appear that the server where the paid blogs are hosted is having problems this morning. Attempts to visit Tbogg, Atrios, Digby, or other popular blogs get a "HTTP 500 Internal Server Error" while us smallfry appear to be working fine.

The part I liked best was the "Click here for status info" link that led to this:

Another "No shit?" message informing you of the obvious.

Office Depot = Ripoffs

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It used to be BestBuy that always advertised "too good to be true" prices made possible by mail-in rebates, but I guess people finally wised up about them and stopped buying. BB did away with the mail-in rebate scam, and currently make their money with the old stand-bys, bait-and-switch and worthless "service contracts." These days it seems to be Office Depot who's the king of unfulfilled rebate promises, at least in my experience.

Back at the beginning of July, I bought a 160 gb external USB hard drive from my local OD. It was fairly pricey at $139, but featured an $80 mail-in rebate that got it down to $59. (plus ten bucks or so tax on the before-rebate price) I promptly sent off the rebate form with the requested copy of the sales slip and UPC code. They let you track your rebate online, and sure enough, within a few weeks, my rebate showed up on the website.

And sat there. And sat there. And sat there, showing the status as "required validation period" whatever the fuck that means. (it's the stage after "verification" and before "issuing a check") Now, this had been sent in about the tenth of July, so along about October, I got tired of waiting for the "required validation period" to run its course and filled out an online WTF form. No response, and yes, I was indeed polite when I filled out the form. (sure, I was thinking "fucking morons!" but I don't think they heard me)

Got to be December and still no check, so this time I filled out the form and called the customer service number. The ESLAN person I spoke with told me I'd have my check in "four to six weeks" which, unfortunately, was what I'd been told back in July. But I got an e-mail response to the form assuring me my check would be mailed in three weeks, so I let it go.

So now it's motherfucking JANUARY and these thieving lowlife sons-of-bitches STILL haven't coughed up my goddamn $80. I don't even want to think about what would happen to ME if I ripped them off for $80, but it's perfectly okay for them to fuck me. Anyway, I went to the online form again and was NOT polite this time, as in, "Where the FUCK is my check, you goddamn thieves?" I'll let you know what - if anything - they have to say in response.

In the meantime, I'd suggest taking any company's promises of rebates with a grain of salt, no matter who's making them. Mail-in rebates are just another scam to fuck the consumer, and in today's GOP-driven business world, companies can and will simply screw you and walk away laughing. They make their money the new-fashioned way - by fucking people over with the help of their crooked pals in public office.

Democrats show signs of having testicles

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Democrats To Start Without GOP Input

But instead of allowing Republicans to fully participate in deliberations,
as promised after the Democratic victory in the Nov. 7 midterm elections, Democrats now say they will use House rules to prevent the opposition from offering alternative measures, assuring speedy passage of the bills and allowing their party to trumpet early victories.

And this is a problem in exactly what way? Isn't this what we voted for last November?

I think it's great, and about time. The fact that beltway whores are whining about incivility and broken promises is just icing on the cake.