Rebatin'

The day before yesterday I took my beloved car to the "doc". That is, I took it in to have her oil changed, her tires "rotated" (they are no longer actually rotated, you know, just switched back to front). There  was a "special" from General Motors for this service; you get a $10 rebate in the form of a debit card. Seems ok to me. I never turn down a reasonable bargain.

I used to hate rebates. You had to mail in your receipt (or, sometimes, just a copy would do), along with a form that was available at the retailor, and then you waited... and waited... and waited... sometimes in vain. When you got tired of waiting and you kept a copy of the rebate form or instructions, you called the toll free number to inquire about that rebate. You were assured it was being processed (or told that the "check is in the mail") or some such and you went back to waiting. More often than not, I suspect, people gave up on ever getting said rebate.

But that's all changed. Now we get "instant rebates" (the rebate is calculated right there at the register or while you are checking out online... but the tax, if any, is calculated on the price before rebate). Even when you have to wait for it to be mailed to you, you no longer have to mail in all that stuff, just fill out the submission form online. Right?

Except, apparently, with this GM rebate. With this one, you go online and fill out the submission form, but then you print it out and mail it in before you begin waiting for that rebate card to arrive. It's a bit retro...

I went through the online process, filled in all the required boxes (including the VIN # and the invoice number), and then clicked on the "Print" button. The print failed. Perhaps I ran out of ink (though the printer reports I have ink), perhaps there was a glitch; the end result was a blank piece of paper. "No problem," I think to myself, "there's a `Reprint my form' button on this page I was sent to after submitting the form." But it seems I must have something, the "submission ID", which was no longer available of course. So I called the toll-free help number. A pleasant young lady tried to help me after I explained about the printer failure. Her suggestion? Start all over and fill out a new form.

I declined... angrily. And informed her I would avoid all GM service centers in the future. I don't think she really cared, though, because I don't think she works for GM but for some company that handles rebates for various and sundry companies. I then shot off an email to the company that owned the local dealership complaining about the process and the "hoops" I had to jump through for this alleged rebate. And wondered why I had to fill in a form online and then mail it in? Why couldn't they just accept the form online?

I received an email (two actually) from an employee of the company. We talked on the phone. A nice chat and he offered to find some way to compensate me for my frustration.

I am to meet with him today. We shall see, shan't we?