Rebate Trouble
In general, I have good luck with rebates. I send them in, and a few months later, the rebate company sends me a check. Every once in a while, though, things don't work out so smoothly.
One of the first rebates I ever did was for a FAR mouse at CompUSA, back when I was a freshman in YU. I bought the mouse in CA, when I was home on vacation. I sent in the form, but the rebate never came. Back then, rebates rarely listed a phone number on the form, and this was no exception. So I figured I'd call the store to complain, but from NY, that'd be long distance. Instead, I called a local NY branch of the store, complained to the manager there, and he promised that I'd get my $10 check shortly. And indeed I did.
In my more recent burst of rebate activity, there have a few rebates here and there that needed prodding. Occasionally the rebate house will deny a rebate for one reason or another (usually a mistake on their part), but generally a phone call (and sometimes a faxed resubmission) solve the problem.
However, I recently ran into a nasty problem with a Sakar/iConcepts rebate. On FW, they are well known for their highly problematic rebates, primarily because they absolutely require the original UPC ... and therefore do not allow any resubmissions!
So after waiting several months for my $5 check for a surge protector, I called the rebate company, and their number was disconnected. I called OM (where I had bought the item) and they gave me a new number for the place. When I called, they claimed to have never received it. I offered to resubmit, they said only with original UPC, I raised heck, they didn't care, but gave me a phone number for Sakar/iConcepts. I called them, but never got a call back. So I called OM again, and left many messages for the one rebate person who works there. No calls back. So I sent an email to omxrebates@officemax.com, got no response, so I sent one the next day, and so on. I think I sent just 2 or 3 before I got a response. "I have entered your rebate for the surge protector. You will receive the rebate in approx. 15 days."
BTW, I didn't go through all this effort for just one rebate - there was another rebate, from OM directly, but being processed by the same rebate company. Oddly enough, for this rebate, it was on a typical OM multi-item rebate form, and I did get the money for the other 2 items for which I had filed rebates on the exact same form! OM said they'll reissue a check for this item.