The Bitching Thread

[enkoujin]

Mail-in-rebates (MIR) - specifically, the most recent types of mail-in-rebates.

I purchased an ASUS product today that has a mail-in-rebate sale. I thought it was innocent enough until I realized the ingenuity involved with MIRs. It brings price discrimination to a whole new level. It tricks the consumer into thinking that a product is on sale, which encourages greater sales. You have to pay full price for an item you might not have otherwise bought if there wasn't a special going on. Then, the consumer has to take the time to register for the rebate online, print off the form, copy the receipt, and cut out the UPC, pay postage, and wait for a few weeks (excluding first-class shipping) to get what was offered a month ago.

Meanwhile, the retailer benefits from making a sale on a regular-priced item (full taxes too!), and the manufacturers count on the laziness of consumers to not send in the MIR. When I considered all the work involved for the $10 MIR, I thought I was wasting a lot of my time and effort, but my pride didn't allow the system to game me.

But then, it did.

The MIR I'll be getting back is through an Amex gift card instead of a check (no other choice)... I thought this was ridiculous. These MIRs are like a chain reaction - the expenditures for these products create more expenditures when you get a rebate. Now I'll have this extra piece of flimsy plastic to engage in more transactions where companies can make more money off of my purchases. Can't I just get a check and save my money that I was supposed to be promised in the transaction? What happened to the concept of saving money? Isn't that one of the main reasons why the economy turned to shit in 2008?

tl;dr:The capitalist system gamed me today through MIRs and I don't like it.

EDIT: Just realized that MIRs can be abused by company refunds with original receipts, inflation creeps up to you while you're waiting to get your money back, and the manufacturers have my personal information. They are truly one of the most underrated evils of our markets and I'm pledging to boycott all products with MIRs in the future.