A blog dedicated to the researchers who dyed a captured chimp's fur pink, then released it. The other chimps promptly tore it to pieces.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

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.

9 Comments:

  • At 6:06 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Currently experiencing Office Depot Rebate Fraud. Purchased a Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000 on 10/01/06. Advertised for $19.99. Of course I had to pay $29.99 at the register and file a $10 rebate. I filled out all paper work, documented and copied everything everything because I have dealt with Office Depot Fraud before and mailed it to YOUNG AMERICA, MN.
    Well they have used a new fraud on me. Since I had documented the mailing and they couldn't claim they did not receive it on time they simple processed it under a totally different expired rebate offer. They processed the rebate for a HP Notebook computer. It is amazing the creativeness of the Fraud these criminals will commit.
    After 3 communications to the Rebate Office via e-mail with a response for each one that it was received they refused to respond to me even though their web site promises response within 48 hours (Further Fraud). Finally after I threatened a law suit they replied to my an e-mail to fill in the information requested. Apparently the people in the rebate office can not read English because every bit of information they requested was on the e-mail they replied to. This is just furthering their fraud. I will file complaints with Florida Attorney General and FTC. Please write your attorney general. Maybe we can get them to sue Office Depot like they did with CompUsa. Office Depot Must be Sued. Please Help. Please take the time to file complaints, it is the only way to stop their criminal behavior

     
  • At 7:31 PM, Blogger AmartyaPatil said…

    Biggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
    Ripoffs. Office depot means ripoff. Many my rebates have stuck for a long time. worst company. seriously don't buy any product.

     
  • At 7:33 PM, Blogger AmartyaPatil said…

    bigggggggggggggg ripoff. I have so many rebates with them for a long time and didn't get money for it. worst company and service. DON'T buy products from office depot.

     
  • At 1:44 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I submitted a $150 rebate on an HP laptop back in late November. Now it's February and it's still stuck on Required Validation Period. I contacted them twice and got the same copy/paste response each time saying it'll be a little while longer. I'll never trust an Office Depot rebate ever again.

     
  • At 3:31 PM, Blogger Unknown said…

    Call up their corporate office in FL. They will take care of it. A similar thing happened to me. You'll have to be willing to accept a gift card though, but perhaps it'll be more than your original rebate.

    You people here must be rebate n00bs. If you buy anything with a rebate you must be prepared for a battle. It isn't 100% officedepot's fault. When you call the rebate center your aren't calling OfficeDepot, you are calling some crappy little place in the middle-of-no-where USA. If rebates piss you off don't use them, or just shop at staples where they have the easy rebate system, which is quite fast and nice. Rebates there take at most 2 months, but usually only 30 days.

     
  • At 12:41 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Office depot......big fraud in rebates. I purchased $100 OfficeDepot.com Hanns-G 19" LCD Monitors and submitted rebates in time 1st they routed the rebates through RebatesHq, 2ndly reabates Hq posted my rebated after repeated calling, 3rdly there was no way to email them as Hanns-G company dose not figure in there system.

    4thly even after acknoledging the reciept of the rebate form on 10/31/2006 the rebate is not sent so far.

    Office depot never responded to email sent to them.
    Office depot customer service hang the phone on your face when inquired.

    Worst of all the monitor purchased is not returnable. Hight of the illegal trade practice in free USA. Are there any legal system to monitor such organised frauds?

     
  • At 7:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I purchased a printer on 06/13/06 from Officer Depot in Alexandria, VA. and I had to fill out 2 rebate forms to get total of $100 check, one for $25 and the other one for $75. On 07/01/06, 08/07/06 and 08/16/ 06, I received e-mails stating that “you will receive another email when we have shipped your check”. So, I’ve been waiting for my rebate checks to come and I forgot about the whole thing. Today on 04/02/07, I was going through my old paper works and found out that I never received any rebate checks from Office Depot’s rebate center. I contacted the rebate center and spoke with a customer service lady but she replied to me that I was too late for the call and there is nothing she could do for me. Why is that too late for my rebate checks? I just want my rebates that were promised to me when I purchased my printer. Why does that matter how I made a late call to get my rebate checks. I did follow all of the instructions and used my money to send out those rebate forms in the mail. After all it is my money, isn’t it? I hope this is not a scam so they don’t have to pay people. I also spoke with Mr. Patrick (supervisor) his ID# 53812 and I could not understand what in the hell he was trying to say to me at all. Actually, He made me more upset, lol… I e-mail this matter to their customer service, so I guess I have to wait and see what they are going to do. Damn, I hate waiting for rebate checks because I will forget about it. I think that the Best Buy is going the right direction with getting away with rebate BS. By the way I filed a complain on Federal Trade Commission’s web site and also Ripoffreport.com.

     
  • At 10:41 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Office Depot ripped me for $200 on a Notebook /Printer "package" received the HP rebates, after re-submitting. Didn't get the $200 for Office Depot.This was a purchase October 2006. Screw them and HP too.

     
  • At 4:25 AM, Blogger Realist said…

    The funny part to me is the occasional toady willing to serve as an unpaid bootlicker to the establishment power structure. (Like the guy who just commented above) I guess some people just enjoy sucking the dicks of their corporate masters so much they'll even do it for free.

     

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