Mail-In Rebates

[rockfan4]

Anyone use them? Frustrated by them?

Here in the midwest, Menards has been running a 11% rebate promotion for what seems like 3 or 4 years now. You buy your stuff, clip off the bottom of the receipt, fill out a form and mail it it. Five or six weeks later, you get a post card with your rebate. There's no online submission other than the form you need to use is available as a pdf on their website. It always costs you a stamp. Between losing the receipt, having a receipt that is less than it's worth to fill out, and losing the form once you get it back, I wonder what their actual redemption rate is.

I can't find the rebate that I know we got about a month ago, but I did find a $5 and something one from May of 22 that fell out of the drawer and down to the bottom of the cabinet. It's frustrating.

[stevej37]

Frustrated here.

The worst of the Menards Rebates is the 'final mailing date'.
I like to collect a few and mail them all at once instead of mailing a one dollar rebate alone.

They only allow about 3 weeks before it expires.

[stevej37]

Filling in the Rebate Form with all the boxes for each letter is a hassle.....so, I asked the lady at the customer service desk if I could make copies of one that I had filled out. (and use the copies for future mailings)

She answered..."No...any copies are thrown out"

[JackDidley]

Originally Posted by stevej37

Filling in the Rebate Form with all the boxes for each letter is a hassle.....so, I asked the lady at the customer service desk if I could make copies of one that I had filled out. (and use the copies for future mailings)

She answered..."No...any copies are thrown out"

I used to have the form saved as a template on my computer. I could type in the info and print it. They accepted that. Unfortunately I have reinstalled my OS and no longer have it and I am too lazy to figure out how I saved it.
You can print one from here.
https://www.menards.com/main/rebate-form.html

[wilnj]

Not Menards but I’ve used them before, typically national auto parts chains love them.

I’m sure the marketing idea is that you’ll select a particular product because of the rebate and not bother or forget to file the rebate request.

Even an online submission doesn’t guarantee results. One of the more frustrating was an online contact lens seller that took 6 month just to acknowledge my rebate request but that was $100 so I kept after them.

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by JackDidley

I used to have the form saved as a template on my computer. I could type in the info and print it. They accepted that. Unfortunately I have reinstalled my OS and no longer have it and I am too lazy to figure out how I saved it.
You can print one from here.
https://www.menards.com/main/rebate-form.html

Thanks for that link. I clicked on it and it showed the form all filled out with my info...including my email address. (from cookies on my computer?)
I printed it off and it's perfect.
I'll save that link for any more forms after I use this one.

[JackDidley]

Originally Posted by stevej37

Thanks for that link. I clicked on it and it showed the form all filled out with my info...including my email address. (from cookies on my computer?)
I printed it off and it's perfect.
I'll save that link for any more forms after I use this one.

I saved it also. I hate writing in the little boxes.

[rockfan4]

I found my missing form. They're stuck together with the rubber snot or whatever, I always open them so the rebate is facing up, the form was stuck to a receipt for something.

As far as the online ones go, a couple years ago Valvoline was offering a pretty good one - $20 or $25. I submitted that one online, nothing. Found the old email acknowledgment, replied to it, got a "Ope, sorry" reply and a check about 2 weeks later.

Now, anyone had any issues with the AC Delco batteries Menards sells? I put one in my pickup a few years ago after the Exide that was in it died, no issues. The only reason the Exide died was the pandemic, and I didn't drive the pickup for a good 6 months or more, and it wouldn't take a charge on the charger. Less than a year old, Menards gave me the AC Delco one, no charge. No, wait, it was charged, but it didn't cost me anything.

[rwest]

If you read the instructions at the top, you can put an address label on it too, just have to write in your email.

I just use one of those return address labels that get sent from insurance companies or questionable charities.

I have sent a few receipts that were a little past their send by date and they still honored them- I’m sure that they don’t want to piss off customers, especially since the rebate is just store credit and many people will go in because of their several dollar rebate and buy a lot more.

[stevej37]

[QUOTE=rwest;12067637]If you read the instructions at the top, you can put an address label on it too, just have to write in your email.


I normally ignore the email part....it's almost impossible to get the @ in the small box.

[911 Rod]

I worked at a marking company and we did rebates for clients.
Redemption was around 20%, but people bought stuff because of the rebate.

[WSH]

It's called slippage
Manufacturers & retailers count on the consumer forgetting/losing the rebate and thus not having to pay

Consumers buy for the "discount" and then don't redeem....win/win for the mfr/retailer