RSSDell Does Away with Desktop Rebates
By Ed Oswald | Published November 21, 2006, 2:57 PM
Dell said Tuesday that it would be eliminating rebates from its Dimension desktops and services in an effort to simplify pricing for consumers. The move means that the company would no longer use mail-in rebates on any of its products.
"Customers are seeing the final price they are paying for a computer system is as low as it's ever been from Dell and easier to understand," Home and Business vice president Rocky Mountain said. "We believe this pricing simplification will contribute to a better, no hassle experience for Dell customers."
Rebates are often maligned both by the consumers and the media for their often-complicated application processes and slow response times. Several companies have also been the subject of federal investigations for misleading consumers and failing to mail out rebate checks.
The move is also part of a larger effort to streamline the entire discount process. Whereas in the past Dell may have offered as many as 50 different discounts per product line, it now offers fewer than 10 and customers have responded positively, Mountain said.
Additionally, it is part of an initiative to improve the overall customer experience from the company. Recently, Dell hired new technicians as well as expanding its call center in Ottawa, Canada. 50,000 hours of training has been provided across its network of technicians to better serve buyers, the company disclosed.
States love rebates and tend to ignore complaints. Sales tax is charged on the FULL price rather than the final price.
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|Rebates are a dodge, they are specific about their terms which more often than not require defacing the original package (cut out upc symbol), as well as sending in the ORIGINAL reciepts on some, which then get denied because the user forgot to put some number on the form or the address isn't totally right in some stupid fashion...
Rebates should be illegal. You are giving the companies "interest free loans" by them floating your money until they are forced to give up the rebate.
Plus, here's another thought:
They didn't wait for my money at the register, so why should I wait 8 to 16 weeks for a rebate check?
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|Rebates should be outlawed. We will kill fewer trees and generate lower amounts of waste paper too. Up front "real" pricing makes it easier to buy things from a store...
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|Rebates are awful. Of course, Dell was good about sending the checks. However, if you can make it cheaper up front, more people will buy your product...
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|Took me almost 2 years to get one out of Dell, and I'm an Authorized Reseller...
Good move, Dell.
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|Yeah, I like this move. Rebates suck for the majority of consumers. I prefer the upfront price.
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|they like rebates because many people forget to send them in, thus they dont need to give them money back, or people seee it as too much of a hassle and dont send them in.
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