Don't sound taps yet for the mail-in rebate. It isn't dead, but has taken a couple of bad blows this year and doesn't appear very healthy.
Dell Inc., the No. 1 computer seller in the world, announced last week that it would gradually and greatly reduce the use of mail-in rebates starting in August. This followed similar moves by electronic retailing giants OfficeMax Inc. and Best Buy Co. to also do away with mail-in rebates.
We can only hope this ubiquitous form of discounting disappears entirely in favor of instant rebates that are honored at the cash register.
Mail-in rebates started becoming popular with electronics manufacturers and retailers in the late '90s. For cost-conscious consumers, they are a good way to save money, sometimes even hundreds of dollars. But if you've bought electronics in the last seven or eight years, you know what a hassle mail-in rebates can be.
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To take advantage of a mail-in rebate, a consumer often has to cut UPC symbols off boxes, fill out long forms, save original receipts and then mail that to the manufacturer within weeks of buying the product. Then you cross your fingers, hope you did everything right and that you get a small check in eight to 12 weeks.
If you buy a computer system, you might have mail-in rebates for the computer, the printer, the software and other peripherals. One could spend an afternoon filling out rebate forms, cutting UPC symbols and putting it all in the appropriate envelope.
So it comes at no surprise to us that consumers seem to have had enough of mail-in rebates. Now manufacturers are responding by curtailing their use of these rebates.
"Our customers tell us quite frequently what we do well and what we don't do well. One of the things that causes them frustration is mail-in rebates," said Mike Maher, a spokesman for Dell. "We would agree that a reduction in mail-in rebates is good for consumers."
Instead of mail-in rebates, Dell and OfficeMax are moving toward instant rebates that are taken at the cash register. This is good news not only for those members of our community who faithfully redeem their rebates, but for those who don't. Now everyone will get the savings.
The not-so-secret secret about mail-in rebates is that many people don't redeem them — either out of laziness, because they don't want the hassle, or simply because the savings don't matter to them. Those non-redemptions translate into extra profits for companies.
Maher said Dell's redemption rate on mail-in rebates is 80 percent. That's a good number, but it still means 20 percent of customers who were eligible for a rebate ignored money they were entitled to.
"If you don't get the price that's advertised, that amounts to a bait-and-switch promotion," said Gail Hillebrand, senior attorney for Consumers Union, the nonprofit organization that publishes Consumer Reports magazine.
The only difference is that consumers cheat themselves by not redeeming the rebate.
Consumers Union is also applauding the move away from mail-in rebates.
"A move toward giving rebates right at the cash register or giving no rebates at all is good for consumers," Hillebrand said. "Either way, you pay the price that is advertised."
We hope that other manufacturers and retailers follow the examples of Dell, OfficeMax and Best Buy to do away with mail-in rebates. There are other ways to give consumers the opportunity to save without making them jump through hoops.
We also hope this development is permanent. We don't mind the comebacks of bell bottoms, hippie blouses and leggings, but we'd hate to see mail-in rebates do the same.