Rebate woes...

[dgriffin]

Buy a Bundle, Get a Bundle ... maybe.

This past September I bought a powerbook and an iPod, trying to take advantage of the "Buy a Bundle, Get a Bundle" promotional savings of $200. Unfortunately, as I navigated through the Apple Store for Education website placing the order (the first time I've placed an order there with a rebate), I was unsure if it was an instant rebate or a rebate that required submitting the UPC codes, invoice, etc. I do not recall seeing any directions for getting the actual rebate. The final total said that it did not include any rebates, but I thought the invoice might reflect the savings.

Well, as many of you Apple veterans are aware, I needed to go to a different page outside of the "Checkout" series of pages, and download a rebate form. This rebate form needed to be filled out and returned within 30 days of receipt of the last shipped item. By the time I learned that I needed this separate form, and due to extenuating circumstances, I missed the deadline. A rebate center representative I spoke to indicated that I was out of luck.

My question is this: Has anyone else had problems with redeeming rebates from Apple in general, and/or this particular promotion?

I messed up and I missed out; and yet, I feel duped. I added the iPod to my purchase specifically because of the $200 rebate promotion. I went through the ordering process, reading each page carefully, in order to make sure I would not mess up (after all, it was a $3000+ transaction). A link on the shopping cart page asked if wanted to check out any promotions, which led me to a list of promotions. I checked the box to add the iPod and then I checked out. I do not recall any indication on the pages I visited that I needed to take an additional step outside of the ordering transaction to receive the rebate. And I now wonder why I needed to take that extra step, when it was Apple that offered the rebate, I bought the two necessary Apple products, and I bought them directly from Apple.

There is a "bait and switch" feel to this whole episode, which leads me to the question I asked above. Did I just mess up and should I just accept it as a missed opportunity? or, was the setup of the promotion advertising, the Apple Store ordering process, and the rebate information (purposely?) misleading?

I can not personally think of a reason why anyone who was eligible for the rebate and who purchased the products from Apple required for the Apple promotional rebate, would choose not to take the $200 savings. Therefore, it would be helpful to know the percentage of orders which met the rebate criteria, but were not issued, as an indication of whether or not the process was misleading. Any help or comments on this issue would be appreciated.

[guapagirl]

dunno mate, my pal bought a laptop and got an ipod free as an educational customer but: A, it was in the uk and B, he did it over the phone, as £2500 was too much to risk for him over the phone. He got everything ok and didn't have to go through the palaver you did. I think Apple are being a bit tight an churlish not giving you your rebate, but then I think their customer services suck (not that I'd admit it to PC mates ).