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XBox 360 Rebate: Not All It's Cracked Up To Be
- Sunday, 04 October 2009
SPECIAL NOTE: Yes, I do know how normal rebates work! The way this one works isn't unlike other ones...which is half the problem here! It should've been handled differently. Jesus, people!
So I have decided to fire up my 360 so I can give some impressions about the Forza 3 demo (which is coming soon). I signed into XBL, and the first thing that stares at me when I turned to the "Inside Xbox" tab is a panel that says "$50 Mail In Rebate". Why would this advertise something to me when I don't qualify? Maybe to get to new owners, perhaps? Well, that didn't cross my mind because it said "tell your friends" (no "aka, tell the 360 owners", though). So I click it to see what it's about. Three panels of scrollable text follows.
The first is just some mambo jumbo about the system and what it offers (which hasn't been much this year, sorry to say). The third is just for the rebate's sponsor (Netflix). The second panel, though, is what caught me. It said I MAY be eligible for the rebate, and to follow the steps to get this rebate. Well, the rebate is only for those that purchased the console from September 22, 2009 to October 5, 2009, so I'm definitely not eligible, but I decide to research this anyway.
Yes, I knew there was a catch. Not only do you have to purchase the system within a certain time frame, but the time it will take you to actually get this check in the mail, according to a website that the second panel told you to go? 6 to 8 weeks!
Ah, f*ck me!
You have to go to the website https://microsoftxbox10555.young-america.com (the “com” is cut off on the system's page because of the small panels being too small to list the entire address and Microsoft doesn't believe in word wrapping web addresses, apparently) and enter an 8-digit promo code. Obviously, I don't have one to test stuff out (if anyone recently purchased one and is wanting to let me know how it turned out, please e-mail me), but I click on the left sidebar link “Frequently Asked Questions”, and here's where I saw the time it would take me. This is available for anyone, but you'd be surprised about how often people don't look at the specifics of these things or don't seem to care about them when they in fact should care and look at them. In this, it states:
How long will it take to get my rebate check? After submitting your mail-in rebate, it may take 6 to 8 weeks to receive your rebate check. You can confirm the status of a Microsoft rebate online at http://rebatestatus.microsoft.young-america.com/lookupbystreetnumberzipcode.asp. For additional help, call 1-800-622-4445 and a Microsoft representative will assist you.
Keep in mind that this is a check, too. One that you would have to cash (no direct deposit). Now, I was not expecting them to just give you an envelope with a 50 dollar bill in it. That would just be dumb. But to not even offer anyone a way for them to direct deposit something into a bank account (there are ways they can ensure your privacy, after all), or to use a Paypal account (which isn't hard at ALL) is just annoying. May be the safest way, but it's still inconvenient if you are left with such as the only option. If you don't have a bank account, then this gets even more complex. Not to mention that the check could get lost in the mail along the way, and could take even longer to get to you.
We don't know what kind of assistance MS would give you with this rebate. Keep in mind that this is standard practice for ALL Microsoft product rebates, not just the 360 (there are two other rebates listed, the Office and Server ones, that are currently in progress on the site). And...why couldn't this have been done over the 360 system? We HAVE to go to a site on our PCs (remember that the 360 still doesn't have a web browser despite the other two systems having one and Microsoft owning Internet Explorer). Not too big of a deal, but it's something that they could've done to make it a bit less tedious.
Now, since this is probably done electronically (the form stuff, that is), it might be a shorter time because they don't have to wait for a form to come to them. However, those who have done this are advised to contact Neocrisis or comment to tell us their experiences.
Then comes the timeline. To me, this is too short of a time to have a rebate, and is telling of just what they were trying to do with this rebate plan. Sept. 22nd to Oct. 5th (better do this urgently if you haven't yet). It's fair to say that their only goal here was to try to steal the thunder from the steamrolling Sony and the PS3 Slim. You could've probably saw that just from the fact that they were offering the rebate, but could they have at LEAST made it a little less obvious that they were doing this to one up the PS3?
I mean, they were trying to say the 100 buck price drop timing was just a “coincidence” (yeah, bullshit, Microsoft), and now this timing, when the PS3 Slim is still doing extremely well in a month that was slow in big software releases (thus no real system sellers for either system this month. That'll change in October, most definitely). Microsoft is certainly showing that they are somewhat concerned about their position right now.
Or perhaps they need to wait 6 to 8 weeks for 2009 to just END!
UPDATE: Apparently, in the second panel, there IS a code for me to use, and it DOES bring me to a form that I have to fill out, but I would also have to mail in the UPC code if I was eligible (and print out the form that I made and mail it with the UPC thing. It's NOT electronic, just making you think it IS). Postmark must be by Nov. 20th of this year, by the way, not that it matters if you didn't buy the system beyond the short time frame.
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LevelHead wrote:This is very much like any rebate. There is a time frame and you mail it away. Sometimes you get an instant rebate at the store and other times you have to mail for it? What's the big deal?i think main issue is not the time
its the process that is crappy and may not even work
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2009-10-04 14:54:42 |68.6.211.xxx| selits
What sort of idiot would buy something with a mail in rebate and not know or expect it to take awhile? OH MY GOD... I COULD GET AN EXTRA $50 OFF BUT IT TAKES TIME.. THIS SUCKS!
Pointless article.
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2009-10-04 18:57:29 |219.203.96.xxx| UltraSonySocialist - Our plan is working!
Normally we do not tell of the success stories that our Sony Socialist Republic has, but this is an exception. We have infiltrated their HQ and successfully sabotaged their rebate system. This is only the beginning of our numerous covert campaigns. We will always succeed!
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2009-10-04 19:08:21 |76.187.92.xxx| anyo
A question that I would have to pose is "Why would Microsoft think to scroll the rebate ad on the 360?" It says to tell your friends, but if your friends already have 360s, then the rebate is moot all around. I personally think this rebate should have been a form that was packaged or distributed with 360s when they are sold in the store.
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2009-10-05 04:09:55 |Publisher| darkpower
Yeah, that was my first thought when I saw that. I was like "I already have one, so why should I care?" Kind of dropped the ball big time with that referral thing.
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2009-10-04 19:43:28 |76.202.149.xxx| Darkie - OOOOOO K
The only thing I got from this pointless article was that for some odd reason, the author has a deep seeded hate for Microsoft. When have you ever seen a rebate that wasn't a pain in the a*s, and took 6 to 8 weeks to get your money? They all say that, whether it takes that long or not. Waste of time reading this tripe.
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2009-10-04 19:52:39 |24.99.69.xxx| THWIP71 - The author, Justin D. .....
...is a f*cking moron. That is all.
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2009-10-05 00:02:55 |66.214.76.xxx| Playe1r - Seriously?
I completely agree this article is pointless complaining. Infact when I saw the add on the 360, I immediately pa*sed the info to a friend on the fence between PS3 and 360 since the price drops- and the extra $50.00 off made the diff!!!
............Dumb waste of news space.
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2009-10-05 01:51:41 |24.147.166.xxx| Khan - Psp-Go Flop
REbate was to flop Psp-Go and all sony social republic of china fans including me like to see psp-go flop as sony didn`t learnt a thing from ps3.it wasn`t sellind ps3 cuz of high price and now slap $250 on psp that has no umd and small screen means less cost to manufacture and now a days everyone knows HD are way too cheap .Ps3 has blu ray to boast they introduce new tech so they spent money in reseach but what new they did with psp go? apart from controlling all our cash directly to their accounts killing middle men as retailors (bestbuy,gamestop....etc)
Sony (china) you die SLOWLY with love from USA
( democratic)
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2009-10-05 02:13:23 |Publisher| darkpower
Let's get the simple stuff out of the way: I've always had it in for mail-in rebates. I've always thought they were an unstable way to get some more sales out of an expensive product. One of the reasons is because they take a long time to get it, and there is no guarantee in getting them anytime when you expect them because it has to go through the postal service, and they have had their problems recently.
I stand behind this article 100%. You would be surprised at the amount of people that don't read fine print, or look at the details, or even care. This is why someone needs to spell everything out for them. If they didn't have that, they would be lost. If you're saying me and this article is stupid, then how would you describe the millions of people who would never read the fine print? Smart? You're the stupid ones for not thinking like a fanboy.
And no, I do not have a "hatred" for Microsoft. I am a fan of Windows, and I was in the minority that didn't think there was anything wrong with Vista. So you can get off my balls about that. Thing is, their strategies don't make any damn bit of sense, and their fanboys continue to let them get away with a TON of shit because they have a deep seeded hatred for Sony. I wish they would focus more on their own system instead of trying to beat the competition. Doing your own thing and only worrying about your own a*s is HOW you beat the competition. They had that with Achievements, but that's about all they had that was new. And now they are using this "rebate" tactic.
It's exactly like HipHopGamer said a year ago: Microsoft seems to only be able to answer a momentum shift to Sony by doing a price cut on their 360. Don't call me stupid for making it clear about the fine print and that their timing made it too obvious that this was a ploy (and that there was no other option despite them being able to offer privacy protection. Don't give me that bullshit that it would be stupid to offer direct deposit or some other option, because that would make you look stupid).
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2009-10-05 02:14:08 |Publisher| darkpower
...anything wrong with Vista. So you can get off my balls about that. Thing is, their strategies don't make any damn bit of sense, and their fanboys continue to let them get away with a TON of shit because they have a deep seeded hatred for Sony. I wish they would focus more on their own system instead of trying to beat the competition. Doing your own thing and only worrying about your own a*s is HOW you beat the competition. They had that with Achievements, but that's about all they had that was new. And now they are using this "rebate" tactic.
It's exactly like HipHopGamer said a year ago: Microsoft seems to only be able to answer a momentum shift to Sony by doing a price cut on their 360. Don't call me stupid for making it clear about the fine print and that their timing made it too obvious that this was a ploy (and that there was no other option despite them being able to offer privacy protection. Don't give me that bullshit that it would be stupid to offer direct deposit or some other option, because that would make you look stupid).
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2009-10-05 02:14:35 |Publisher| darkpower
...deposit or some other option, because that would make you look stupid).
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2009-10-05 02:20:08 |24.22.169.xxx| scott
Direct deposit? I've never seen a rebate offer direct deposit, even with other rebates that have you enter it online. I had a $100 rebate on new car tires I got last year were I had to enter it online and the only thing that was offered was a check.
All of this is standard stuff for getting a rebate. They always state about 6-8 weeks, I've got rebates back sooner that what they have said.
Same with the time frame, while the 360 rebate is rather short, rebate offers always have to list some type of enter date and how long its good for.
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2009-10-05 04:08:14 |Publisher| darkpower
They should've had more options, though. Like I pointed out above, Paypal is another option, and like someone else pointed out, so would be being able to tell MS to use it for the Gold XBL membership or XBL points or whatever. There is ALWAYS another, faster option.
And why the mail-in rebate? The instant rebate would've done them a bit more good.
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2009-10-05 04:41:32 |70.118.253.xxx| Mark Weiner
Justin, you're an idiot. You might as well have made an article whining about ALL mail in rebates, not just 360's mail in rebate. Every single mail in rebate on the planet works like this.
God how come every "journalist" on these gaming websites are such nubs.
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2009-10-05 05:29:13 |Publisher| darkpower
Well, man, if you really think you can do better, than get a web address and go for it. Nothing's stopping you.
No gaming manufacturer in recent history has done this, and with the way Microsoft was trying to use this to steal Sony's thunder, obviously (as you probably failed to see), they should've had a HELL of a lot better way to have them save 50 dollars than a rebate that not many know how it would work (trust me, they won't. They'll just see "$249" and not even see that "after mail in rebate" thing in small lettering like some stores try to do). Maybe you should examine the situation better, Mark, before calling me an idiot and thinking that everyone would just KNOW that because they "know" how mail-ins work.
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2009-10-05 06:56:26 |24.98.103.xxx| Mike - Nice article about all mail in rebates
I thought this would be something wrong with the 360's mail in rebate offering. Instead I read a rant that relates to every single mail in rebate ever offered.
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2009-10-05 07:27:45 |208.47.211.xxx| rudebuay - LOL... What an a*s .... Ignorant bliss at it's fi
What an TOOL... I am amazed that this site allows their employees (if there really are any) to write such childish articles displaying ignorance and then reply in such a vulgar way to their readers. Clearly this is not written by an educated, professional person. This is not a shot at mail-in-rebates as the author keeps repeating in his replies. to quote "Let's get the simple stuff out of the way: I've always had it in for mail-in rebates. I've always thought they were an unstable way to get some more sales out of an expensive product."
I call this article BUllSHIT not even worthy of wiping my a*s with.
We need more educated, professional people to write articles, it seems any idiot with an ide can be a writer these days; as a matter of fact I wouldn't be surprised that a dumba*s wet behind the ears idot wrote this article.
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2009-10-05 10:27:18 |24.138.28.xxx| Ronnie Coleman - oh no
a limited time offer on a mail in rebate for a piece of hardware that was also recently dropped in price?
Geez, stop complaining you whiny b*tch.
This did for them exactly what Microsoft was wanting. I get linked to this page from another site, and even before I clicked the link, I knew it was just a silly rant, but I needed to leave a comment.Stop writing garbage you f*ck.
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This is very much like any rebate. There is a time frame and you mail it away. Sometimes you get an instant rebate at the store and other times you have to mail for it? What's the big deal?