Dear Bargainista - #8

Update: Best Buy Canada Inc. (owner of Best Buy and Future Shop) has announced it's eliminating mail-in rebates and offering more instant rebates instead. Their decision isn't unique, Staples made a similar decision two years ago.

On the eve of another special sale from Future Shop, Peter from Vancouver writes:

Hi Bargainista!
Found your site because I was looking for the rebate conditions on the “Trendnet Wireless-G Router and Wireless-G USB 2.0 Adapter package”. I got the $15 rebate check, but didn't get the $30 one, instead got a letter from Trendnet saying “Purchase was made outside the qualifying period”. I didn’t think so... Made the purchase on Dec. 31, but can’t find proof either way.

Would you happen to have the rebate conditions stored in your archives somehow??

I have a copy of my rebate submissions, but not of the actual conditions. I’d like to get back to them if I AM entitled to the other rebate - which I think I am, but have no proof.

Thanks for looking into this and helping!
Peter
•••

Dear Readers,
I responded to Peter’s inquiry within minutes letting him know I needed some time to investigate. I’m happy to report a couple hours later he sent me the following reply:


Hi Eden,
Thanks for your reply. You’re welcome to publish my email (sorry I said hi instead of dear :-D).

To follow up, I called Future Shop, and they put me through to Trendnet, and they discovered it was a mistake, and a cheque will be on it's way. I’m quite impressed actually how helpful both Futureshop and the Trendnet rebate center were.

Cheers,
Peter

As a footnote to this story, I was pleased to learn this story ended up well for Peter.

It’s always a good idea to keep a copy of any documents you send to manufactures for rebates. That way, if you don’t receive your rebate cheque in the specified time or run into any problems, you’ll have a record you can use when following up.

Have a shopping tip you’d like to share? Leave a comment.

Cheers,
Eden

Dear Bargainista would love to hear from you too! Have a question about shopping, fashion or food? E-mail us.

Technorati tags: customer service, electronics, Future Shop, rebates, routers, shopping, Trendnet