anyone ever actually get a tire rebate?

In general, rebates have become an overt fraud. Based on the a couple I collected this year, the newest scam appears to be delaying acknowledging receipt of the paperwork for several months & then starting the 12 week clock after that. Just out and out fraud.

The ones on car tires that I have collected in the past couple of years (a Bridgestone and a Michelin), though, have paid up as advertised without any undue delays.

Oh, I must interject here -- Verizon makes it exceedingly easy to get your rebate paperwork done, and the actual rebate itself is very prompt.

Not automotive, but there is _someone_ out there doing it right.

I suspect that that's generally true of big-ticket rebates from big prominent companies. However, look closely at the rebate policies when making any purchasing decision largely on the basis of a rebate.

Speaking genericaly of consumer goods rather than specifically about tires, commonplace "gotchas" include very-short-fuse (usually postmark- driven) deadlines for how soon you have to claim the rebate, either versus the calendar or relative to the purchase date; and advertising collateral (neck hangers, flyers, posters...) that is left up *after* the rebate period has expired.

Fulfillment policies also vary in how rigorously they enforce the terms.

Don't count on the sales clerk to know these things -- read the fine print for yourself.

There are companies I simply don't do business with anymore for these reasons. Some give you every possible chance to fail, whereas others want to help you succeed. (And conversely, I reward cluefulness with ongoing loyalty; a company that has treated me well gets shortlisted or even automatically chosen the next time I need something in that category. )

Another widespread problem with rebates is that even when the terms are reasonable and the fulfillment policies sincere, the consumer puts the paperwork in a drawer and forgets about it.

I'm told that some 50% (dunno if that's by count or by dollar amount) of consumer rebates go unclaimed, due to a combination of these factors.

I think cell phones, etc. are a special case -- the custom of the field seems to be to offer the phone at an actual net price (after rebate) that is far lower than the (probably inflated) sticker price, usually in order to sell a service contract, which is where they really make their money. I am guessing that for business customers, and some personal purchases of additional or extra phones, the rebate does not apply.

--Joe

I've applied for only one tire rebate, on a 4-for-3 deal from Pep Boys (their house brand Definity tires, made by Cooper or Goodrich), and the check arrived in less than two months.

For the best information about rebates, check FatWallet.com's Deal Discussion forum, especially the "Rebate Company Information" thread:

I've made about 500 submissions and have been paid every time, in anywhere from 11-365 days, with an average of about 50-60 days. About five years ago, I'd have trouble with 20% of the submissions (trouble = more than 30 days late or a phone call or resubmission required), but now only about 5% of them go bad. The company that took 365 days, Continental Promotions Group, went bankrupt a few months ago. Generally, the big consumer products companies and oil companies tend to be the best at paying promptly. FatWallet can tell you which companies and processors are the best and worst.

Be sure to scan everything -- receipts, UPC, rebate forms (filled), rebate receipts, advertisement, submission envelope, and attach everything together with tape, glue or staples (never paperclips), print clearly and write your name, address, and the submission address and offer number on every piece of paper. You need to retain the original rebate form because rebate processing companies don't always have the same information on file (rebate form may say you can get 2 rebates, company's information say the limit is one). Submit only by regular mail, never by certified or registered mail because one person found that most such submissions were lost, and the processors insisted that the consumer resubmit. Check with the processing company a few weeks after mailing, even if they tell you to wait at least 8-10 weeks, and get the tracking number.

Phil wrote in news:hb3lje$23i$ snipped-for-privacy@aioe.org:

We got a rebate earlier in the year on some Yokohama Iceguard iG20's.

It took about six months of waiting (no action was required on our part), but we did get the rebate in the mail.

You got lucky. Last Verizon rebate I had, I had to print off the offer from their own website and fax it to them to prove that the offer actually existed. The Verizon rep insisted there was no such offer and dared me to prove it.

I suppose the odds are you will get the rebate. Me? Because of the hassle and bad experiences I gave up on rebates as a deciding factor of what I buy. But if I can apply online for the rebate and know it's verified and I think I might get the rebate and it comes with a purchase I'd already decided to buy then I'd go ahead and apply for the rebate. The whole rebate thing reminds me of playing the lottery. I was looking at a set of tires from

(free shipping) a while back but never got around to ordering them before the rebate offer on that brand expired. They still have some rebate offers on other brands. I've bought tires from this place before and was very satisfied.

Several years ago I got a $50 rebate from BF Goodrich. It went smoothly and fairly quickly. I've always gotten my rebates from Pep Boys. I never received my $30 rebate from Office Depot for a CD burner for my computer. I no longer buy anything from Office Depot that has a rebate.