Rogers, Admin Fees & Mail-in Rebates… Oh My!
Posted by Keelan on February 19th, 2007
The ‘back’ button on the side of my Blackberry stopped working a couple of weeks ago. The device still works, but navigation between screens using only the scroll wheel & menus was a becoming a little too cumbersome. Plus the same capability is now available in a much smaller package with a camera and MP3 player.
So this weekend, it was off to Rogers for the Blackberry Pearl.
Now, let me start off by saying I am an ultimate Rogers customer. My household has the following Rogers products:
- My Blackberry/mobile phone
- My wife’s mobile phone
- Hi-Speed Internet
- Three digital TV terminals (HD PVR, HD Digital, Digital)
All this works out to about $400 per month, or about $4800 per year. I would assume this ranks me high as an individual consumer for Rogers and they’d want to keep me happy or, at least, somewhat satisfied.
Back to my experience at the Rogers store on Saturday.
I walked in, went up to the first sales person I saw and said, “I want to buy a Blackberry Pearl.” So a pretty easy sale of one of their most expensive items.
As he was processing my purchase and linking the new device to my account, I was informed that there would be a $35 Administration Fee! He asked if I minded this.
I said, “Well, actually I do, but I’m guessing there is nothing you can do about it.” Big surprise, there wasn’t. I then asked what it was for. He said, “Administration.” Really, well in that case… by all means charge it…
I guess they couldn’t find $35 out of the $4800 I’m already giving them to handle ‘administration’ of my account.
I was then advised that the $250 I was paying for my new Pearl (based on a 3–year contract) was actually $300 less a $50 mail-in rebate. This required me to fill out a short-form, copy my receipt and send it in to Rogers. I did that today. It was a couple of minutes, but why?
When are companies going to stop with the damn mail-in rebate? Particularly when, like in this case, you are sending it to the seller (Rogers), not the manufacturer (Blackberry).
For the love of god, I was standing in your store making the purchase, just charge me the price less mail-in rebate and save us all the trouble.
If you (Rogers) then need to sort out something with Blackberry afterwards, use the ‘administration fee’ I paid and leave me out of it.
February 19th, 2007 » 3:56 pm
Keelan,
You handled that experience with more composure than most would, I suspect.
As far as I can tell, the reason companies offer rebates is because the remdemption rate is so low (or low enough that it’s still worth doing). It allows Rogers (et al) to appear to offer lower costs & discounts without actually doing that much harm to their profit margins. I don’t have the actual stats at hand. but I’m sure a few good searches would support my claims.
btw…was just talking to a friend who bought the Pearl with the same rebate program and he claims he never actually got the rebate….might want to keep an eye on that
February 19th, 2007 » 8:08 pm
The rebate’s usually a credit on your bill. So watch for it. I’ve heard Rogers kinda sucks at rebate fulfillment…I’m pretty sure I never got one a while back when I had the pre-Pearl. Like you, I’m a Rogers household. Two phones, TV and Internet.
I have to believe if you called to bitch, they’d waive the $35. What do they need to administer anyway. You just slap your existing card into the new Blackberry and away you go.
February 20th, 2007 » 9:30 am
Thanks. I will try to remember to watch and make sure I actually get the rebate.
March 5th, 2007 » 11:28 am
[...] A couple of weeks ago I posted about a less than positive experience I had with Rogers when purchasing a new Blackberry Pearl. [...]
March 9th, 2007 » 9:56 am
[...] A couple of weeks ago I posted about a less than positive experience I had when making a purchase from Rogers, including the hassle of the mail-in rebate process. [...]
March 17th, 2009 » 10:26 am
Hmm .. I upgraded to a Pearl at Christmas. First of all the salesperson told me it was free with the mail in rebate..then of course the rebate has never shown up on my bill. When I went back to the store they told me it was a 50.00 mail in rebate which meant I stll owed some money. OK …but guess what. They still are not acknowleding the 50.00 rebate and are now going to suspend my service if I do not pay.