OK, so this isn't as much money as the zillions being raked up by the sleazy Wall Streeters, but it's the sort of thing that directly affects more people. It's also the sort of stuff that make me angry at the business world and more willing to entertain the thought that a communist revolution might not be such a bad thing. :)
I recently purchased a new laptop, partly on the basis of a $70 rebate offer. Well, I'm out of date. The last time I did this, after a long wait, I finally got a check, which I then deposited in my account to finally realize my savings. But that's too honest for the sleaze merchants in the business world who want to appear to give you a good deal while still keeping as much money as possible.
See below the fold for more
What happened was that I recieved not a check, but rather a "gift card." It pretty much works like a VISA/Mastercard. OK you say, what's the matter with that?
Well, a couple of things:
- You might as well not bother to use it for anything you think you might have to return, because checking the balance is a pain -- you can only do that online or calling an 800 number an "enjoying" a session in phonemail hell/conversation with a robot. So if you return stuff, you have to spend a lot of effort keeping track of the balance. Oh, and if you charge at a restaurant, they automatically deduct extra for tips and tax, further making it hard for you to keep track of the balance.
- No cash access from ATMs
- If you exceed the prepaid amount, you can't add more. If you don't know what the balance is, and you try to charge for more than you have, the card is declined, but the merchant can't find out what the balance is so you can bay that with something else.
- The thing as an expiration date, if you haven't spent the money, too bad, it's gone.
It seems to me that the whole setup is expressly designed to maximize the number of people who leave a small balance after the card expires. So I have a $70 balance, they're hoping that maybe I spend $64.85 and don't bother going to the trouble of cleaning out the last $5.15, which is a pain in the neck to do. That way they claim they gave me a $70 rebate, but they actually get to keep $5.15 of it. Add that up for hundreds of thousands/millions of customers, and it starts to add up. The principle works kind of like the "Disney Dollar" concept.
Thus we need a crusading AG like Mr., Cuomo seems to be in the mold of the late lamented Eliot Spitzer, and take on these guys. It's a very simple reform. Sure, they will counter that cutting checks costs them money. I understand, but there's a simple solution. In most cases the customer has paid with a credit card. So why can't the rebate simply be credited back into that card account? How hard is that? And if a person paid by check, it could be credited to the checking account, and if they paid by cash, then the customer could specify a bank account to where they want to rebate to go.
So go get 'em Andrew! Do something to prevent the angry consumers of America from losing all repsect for the business world!