OK everyone- so I saw a good deal on ram from Tiger Direct - 1gb $100 then $40 rebate. Cool.
Well, it turns out that somehow the rebate process has been greatly improved: instead of just mailing in the typical form, upc core, and receipt, I had to do all of this online stuff - registering and entering, etc., with something called "onsite."
I thought it was an online submission versus mail-in. I thought, how cool. They took my order number, etc.
Then, at the end of this process, they tell me I have successfully registered. And the next step is - you guessed it - print out the form, mail it in with the upc code and the receipt. Wow.

Here is the good part, though: if I want to pay a $4.50 fee, they can instantly submit my rebate to my paypal.

So the good old days of rebates are officially over. Now, I bet I will be peppered with junk mail daily because I "registered" with I-don't know-who, some serivce called "onsite" or something.

Rebates had been great for a while there. I actually received every one I submitted, starting back in 1996 when I started messign with computers. Not any more.

Does this bug anyone else? Has anyone esle done this? Do yuo get a bunch of email because you registered?

I've done this before with Seagate rebates. I don't think I've ever gotten any spam based on registering online.

I would be leary of Tiger Direct rebates anyway. They've had serious issues in the past.

What about manufactuer rebates (like logitech rebates, etc.) on TigerDirect.com? Those are still okay right? Cause they're handled by the manufactuers; not some third-party rebate center like onrebate.com.

I just got a message saying that everything is in order and the rebate is getting mailed.

So far, I have not seen junk mail from this. Hopefully it will all work out well.

I suggest you use a disposable email account like hotmail or yahoo for business transactions to avoid spamming your personal email acounts.

Also rebates can be a huge scam. This is heavily investigated by the federal trade commisson because of the excessive fraud.

But what about rebates that are promoted by the manufactuer? Are those just fake rebates; scams used by online stores?

Yes! i just received the onrebate. it tool abt a month may 8 to jun 10.

like i said, very similar to the old days, but with the extra steps.

i have been getting a lot more junk email this past month (like 8/day versus zero), but I don't know where these spammers have gotten my email.

vcboy: as far as rebates from oter places, I would just search techspot or the web for "rebate" and whatever else, like "tigerdirect." the scams will show up.

And do make sure that the company is a legit and/or well known one, as well as an extra precaution of if you are using the online registration forms that it is not being phished..

Okie Dokie

Thanks guys!

Update: CompUSA has started doing online rebates, with a site called erebate: the process is actually easier on us than the old mail-in style.

I just got a hard drive with a rebate. Instructions came with the receipt. I went to the erebate website, entered specific info from the receipt (time of purchase, etc.), and submitted. I didn't have to mail anything in.

They say they wait 21 days because you might decide to return the item. I will see how quick it goes, and how much spam I get from 'joining' erebate, but registering and applying for the rebate was very easy.