Updated: March 10, 2009
“A better way forward” is the slogan that appears on the rebate form below Michelin's logo. Well, I feel that I'm experiencing a lot of "rolling resistance." Rebates are a scam.
You can quote me on this, “The first rule of any scam is to pay off the government.” As long as taxes are paid on the full amount, before rebates, the governments are being paid off to look the other way so that no legislation is brought in to control the slimy business practices of rebate companies and the companies that use them.
Read on.
Submitted two rebate forms to Michelin totaling $90. "Please allow 4-6 weeks to receive your rebate." That would be 2006-12-08.
Note that I've paid Michelin money for tires, paid tax on the full amount, and Michelin will give me my money back (but not the tax) sometime in the future. And this makes sense to Michelin Tire and all the other companies that inflict rebates scams on their customers. Truly amazing.
Received email confirmation that my rebate had been received. It took 6 weeks just to receive my rebate. I know it doesn't take that long for mail to go from Ottawa, Ontario to Montreal, Quebec, a two hour drive. They say, "Please allow 6-8 weeks for processing." That means it will be 12-14 weeks, not the 4-6 weeks they promised.
When I called the rebate center they said that I had to send the mail to Montreal and then they sent it to Minnesota. Who cares?! That's their problem, not mine.
I called the Michelin Customer Care center and spoke with Rene. He verified what the rebate period was but could only apologize for the delay. I asked him to call the rebate center and expedite the rebate but he was unable to get them to do so. I then followed up with this message using their customer service form on their web site:
Greetings,
This is a follow up to the phone call I had with your rep Rene on 2006-12-11 @ 10:42.
On October 27, 2006, I submitted two rebate claim forms for $50 and $40. The rebate form clearly states, "Please allow 4-6 weeks to receive your rebate." That would be December 8, 2006. On December 7, 2006, I received an email from the rebate center saying that my rebate forms had been received and to allow 6 weeks processing.
I called the rebate center at 866-360-2344 and they said it would be 6-8 weeks from the time I received the email, for a total of 12-14 weeks. That is 2-3.5 times the period stated on the rebate form.
While talking with Rene, I expressed my displeasure at this "error" and asked that he contact the rebate center and expedite the rebate. He called them but was not able to speed things up.
That is not acceptable. I entered into a contract with you by providing all the information requested by the date required. I expect you to honour your part of the contract and immediately send the $90 in rebates by courier.
Let me take this opportunity to express my distaste for the whole rebate scheme that you and many other retailers use. It forces customers to pay taxes on the full amount (which reduces the effective rebate value), makes us waste our time by jumping through hoops to meet the rebate requirements, and then makes us waste more time chasing you to get you to live up to your promises and fulfill your end of the contract.
I know why you use rebates instead of just giving the discount up front – it's because you know that many people will forget about the rebate, make mistakes in submitting documentation, fail to follow up when the rebate doesn't arrive, or are just fed up with the whole rebate scheme that they don't waste their time. All this puts money in your pocket while antagonizing your customers. I'm at a loss to understand why companies enjoy antagonizing their customers.
Do the right thing. Send my rebate immediately.
They promised a 48 hour turnaround on a reply:
Your mail has been sent
If you do not hear back from us within 48 hours, please call one of our consumer relations representatives at 1 888 871 4444.With the amount of experience I've had with companies that don't live up to their promises, I am 95% sure that I will not get a reply, or the reply will only make soothing noises. In either case, I might expect to see my rebate after 14 weeks, probably more. I should bill them for my time.
[Update: I never did get a reply. Is anyone surprised?]
My rebate cheques arrived in the mail, only 3 weeks late. I sure hope Santa withheld the payroll cheques for the Michelin employees who foisted this rebate scam on their customers for 3 weeks too.
Of course, they screwed up the rebate. They sent two $40 cheques. One of them should have been a $50 cheque as I bought the Latitute X-Ice tire that qualified for the $50 rebate. Geez, they can't even follow their own directions.
But, that's the norm for rebate companies. Screw around with people until they give up in frustration.
I once again used their contact form on their web site and sent them the following:
Greetings,
On December 7, 2006 I used this form to send you a message regarding the problem I was experiencing with getting your Fall promotion rebate in a timely manner. I have yet to receive a response.
However, I did receive my rebate cheques. Instead of the promised 4-6 weeks, they arrived in 9 weeks. There are two cheques of $40. However, one of those cheques should be $50 as I bought the Latitude X-Ice for my van.
Please reply stating that I will be receive the other $10 of my money that you owe me. Yes, it is my money, that's the whole problem with these rebate schemes. You take money that is rightfully ours, hold on to it for weeks, make us jump through hoops to get it back and generally hope we forget all about it.
If you haven't noticed by now, I haven't forgotten and will pursue this as long as it takes to get what is rightfully mine.
Well, this time I got a response. I guess if you show them that you won't let them steal your money, then they'll capitulate.
From: "Webtire, Michelin" <michelin.webtire@us.michelin.com>
Date: January 2, 2007 15:29:36 EST (CA)
Subject: Reply From Consumer RelationsX,
Thank you for your email. We appreciate the opportunity to serve you. [Let me know when you start – X]
We are sorry that you where mailed the wrong amount. We would recommend
calling 866-360-2344.If your questions have not been answered to your satisfaction, please call
me at 1-800-847-3435 (toll-free) between 8:30AM and 6:00PM Eastern Time
Monday through Friday.Sincerely,
Bobby
Michelin North America
Consumer RelationsSo it seems that Michelin "Consumer Relations" is useless. They won't do the legwork of dealing with the rebate company. No, they wash their hands of it once they've got your money and expect you to chase the rebate company yourself. So just what does Michelin Consumer Relations department do, really?
With the post-Christmas return to the fires at work, it took me awhile to get around to calling the number during hours they were open. I talked to Maya who asked me the size of the tires I bought. I thought that was bizarre because the rebate form only cares about the model of tires. But, whatever, I humoured her and she put me on hold several times as she checked something.
She said that the additional $10 of my money they're holding will be finally released. It's interesting that rebate companies are real sticklers about the consumer getting every 't' crossed and every 'i' dotted correctly or they reject the rebate and keep the money they stole from you, but if they screw up what happens? They just give you your money back that they were withholding from you. How is that fair? These people can't be held accountable, especially when companies like Michelin abandon their customers who bought their products in good faith, to the rebate scammers.
Rebates are the scummiest and slimiest of scams, and so are the companies that use them.
Wow! It took a month to receive the last part of my money that Michelin was holding. Let's see now … Michelin promises to give me my money back in no more than 6 weeks … that was 109 days ago or almost 16, count 'em, weeks.
I think that companies like Michelin must be in financial trouble if they have to get loans from their customers. I loaned Michelin $80 for 63 days, $10 for 109 days and earned 0 interest on my money. Assuming a measly 3.5% interest, then Michelin owes me $3.20. And how much would I bill them at my standard contract rates for the time they stole from me chasing those scammers?
Now $3.20 may not seem like much, but multiply that by the number of victims of this scam, add to that the people who give up in frustration and don't get any of their money back, and you realize that Michelin is making a killing. Then there's the countless hours wasted by people who chase their rebates. No doubt the boobs who thought up this scam will get bonuses, paid for by the victims.
Thanks a lot Michelin. You've earned all the respect you deserve.
Michelin Tire? No, more like "Tired of Michelin."