[aageneral] Get Your Reabates!

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Get Your Rebates! (c)2004-5 - David B. Catt - all rights
reserved

Why rebates? Why not just temporary reduced the price like a
sale? I am sure you have asked yourself this question many
times.

The answer is quite simple really. Some companies offering a
rebate do not want to give you anything. They just want to
lure you like a fish to bait. The bait is an imaginary price
you will pay for the product. The ad usually shows in BIG
numbers this price and the actual price in tiny numbers.
Once you get their product home, they hope you will happy
with the price you think you paid and forget about it.

Did you remember to pick up a rebate form? They hope not.
Would you go back to get one - probably not. Some places are
printing out the rebate form with your sales receipt
(applause!). Some companies put the rebate form in with
product. Watch the rebate expiration date. Sometimes a
product will sit on the shelf too long and the enclosed
rebate will have expired.

Ok, you have the rebate form. READ IT! Read all of it -
normal print, fine print, front and back. Look at offer
expiration and "purchased between" dates. I got burned once
buying an advertised rebate product a few days before the
rebate actually started. What you are required to send? My
favorite is the original sales receipt. What if you have
purchased two items with rebates? What is the processing
time and a point of contact should you not receive your
rebate check within that period? I suggest putting the
contact on the calendar on the last day as a reminder. If
the rebate does not have a phone number contact you stand a
chance of getting burned. I have on three separate
occasions. I suggest you go to the rebate center at the
store and picking up rebate form and read it before making
the purchase.

Test the product before removing any required item off the
packaging. Most places won't accept returns without complete
packaging. Carefully print your information on the rebate
form. If the company can't read (or mis-reads) your
information, you are not going to receive anything. I would
suggest putting a return address label on the form instead
of printing. Always cross out your credit card and number!
Gather all the items that you are required to send in and
make a COPY for your records. Write on your copy the date
you mailed the rebate and the processing time and point of
contact.

Fast forward >>. If the date is one week past the maximum
processing time stated and you have not received your rebate
check, call the point of contact. Some companies hope you
will forget about the rebate and do not process the rebate
unless called. I just received a rebate that was three weeks
overdue after calling to check on it four days earlier. The
person tried to tell me that I would have to wait 60 days
from the date they presumably issued the check to file a
claim (more time to forget). I mentioned a possible :-(
action I could take and suddenly there is a check in the
mailbox. You decide!

About the author David Catt is president of CTS
Innovations, Inc. manufacturer of the Stand Ready ™ brand
Inverted Bottle Holder and he is the author of the "Idea to
Product Primer" e-book. For more information, visit
www.standready. mail to: standready@gmail.com

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