从BestBuy买的大硬盘，到现在也没有看到邮寄回来的支票！
Best Buy halts mail-in rebate program
Saturday, March 31, 2007 – 01:45 PM
By: Taiwo Lewis and 680News staff
Toronto – If you’ve ever bought a pricey electronic item with a mail-in rebate, comforting yourself with the idea that you’ll see some savings in the mail, only to forget about it weeks later, this is welcome news.
Canada’s largest consumer electronics retailer, Best Buy, is throwing away it’s mail-in rebate program and customers will now see savings instantly at the time of sale, according to a report in the Toronto Star.
Customers have complained rebates take too long to claim and that the deadlines are too short. The Star reported as many as half of all rebates are never claimed.
Best Buy spokeswoman, Lori Decou, told 680News the company has been phasing out its rebate program for over a year and instead have opted for “instant” savings at the register. The savings would be comparable to what the rebate would offer.
Some customers like this idea saying that they never bothered with rebates anyway. “(Rebates are) too much hassle…pay for it, whatever it costs, and be done,” one man told 680News.
Another person said she’s lost hundreds of dollars counting on the mail-in rebate.
Decou said Best Buy understands that customers want instant gratification.
“We believe, from listening to our customers that they are more willing to pay maybe a little bit more and not have the inconvenience of having to deal with mail-in rebate,” Decou told 680News.
Decou added industry competition will keep prices reasonable, even without the sales.
There are 47 Best Buy stores across Canada and the company operates another 121 under the Future Shop brand.
Best Buy puts stop to mail-in rebates
Value of discounts may fall as electronics retailer replaces unpopular, bothersome scheme with instant in-store savings
Mar 31, 2007 04:30 AM
Dana Flavelle
Business Writer
Canada’s largest consumer electronics specialty retailer says it is eliminating manufacturers’ mail-in rebates, long a thorn in the side of consumers.
Best Buy Canada Inc., which operates the Best Buy chain as well as Future Shop stores, said consumers would now get most rebates instantly at the cash register at the time of sale, much like any other price discount.
But consumers may also see the value of those discounts decline, other industry members cautioned, as manufacturers take into account the higher redemption rate instant rebates enjoy.
The move fulfills a promise Best Buy made two years ago, and follows a step to simpify rebate procedures by office products specialty retailer Staples Business Depot.
“In consumer electronics, rebates have been a significant part of how business gets done,” said Rick Lotman, vice-president of merchandising for Best Buy Canada. “We’ve had feedback that customers really don’t like them.”
Consumers have long complained rebates are time-consuming to claim, the deadlines to apply are too short, or the promised discount never comes.
As many as half of all rebates are never claimed, according to widely quoted statistics.
“A rebate is a good way to imply there’s a good savings on the product. Vendors would put them out there knowing not everyone would take advantage of them,” Lotman acknowledged.
The move to instant rebates could mean the value of those rebates decline or profits for manufacturers and retailers fall, or a bit of both, other industry members said.
“What the vendors will say is that you can have a $40 `instant’ rebate or a $50 `mail-in’ rebate because some customers don’t take advantage of the mail-in rebate,” said Pete Gibel, vice-president of merchandising for Staples. About two years ago, the specialty office supply retailer. moved to a system it calls Easy Rebate.
Instead of mailing in forms, and trying to figure out where on the box is the UPC code, all the information is printed on the receipt and can be claimed on Staples’ website.
People with no Internet access can still mail in the forms.
Redemption rates soared after the retailer moved to the easier system, Staples said.
Since then, many suppliers have also started offering instant rebates at the cash register, the retailer said.
Best Buy said consumers can expect to see prices remain low because the consumer electronics industry is so highly competitive. Instead of seeing fewer discounts, it could mean both retailers and suppliers take a hit on their bottom line. “I think you’re going to see us eat a little bit of it and the vendors eat a little bit of it,” Lotman said.
The manufacturers will realize some savings because rebates cost money to process.
Mail-in rebates are most commonly used to sell computer accessories, such as printers or hard-drives, as well as software.
One computer manufacturer, Hewlett-Packard Canada, said it uses rebates to encourage customers to buy more than one product at a time. Called “bundles,” the deal is structured so that someone buying a computer, for example, would be offered a rebate on the printer.
Best Buy said it hopes that eventually suppliers will agree to end the practice of using rebates to try to boost market share.
There are signs that’s already happening.
“It’s always been a very contentious area for consumers,” said Hewlett Packard spokesperson Mehboob Jaffer. “It’s something we’ve been working on for a while. We’d like to get to a point where it makes sense for us to provide price points that don’t have rebates associated with them to be competitive.”
Another factor in the changing landscape could be the increased role played in consumer electronics by Wal-Mart Canada Corp.
“We don’t believe in rebates because our everyday low-price approach means prices are at their best when products hit the sales floor,” Wal-Mart spokesperson Kevin Groh said.
Best Buy operates 47 stores across Canada under the Best Buy name and another 121 under the Future Shop banner.
