Re: [Leica] Rebates

["Craig Roberts" <croberts@zoomtel.com>]

John,

You're oh so right.  I hate rebates, too...both as a customer and as a
vendor.  If it were up to me, our company would offer just the incentive you
prefer: lower prices at the register.  Those who make policy, however, do
not share my thinking.  The truth is:

1) Retailers love rebates because (they firmly believe) rebates attract more
buyers than lowered prices do.  Many consumers view rebates as "something
for nothing" while lowered prices strike some people as an act of
desperation in the face of market share loss or even a sign of  ill
intentions ("...they must have cheapened the M6, otherwise, why did they
lower the price?...unless they're going out of business and trying to dump
'em!").   Lowered prices are also a hassle to retailers logistically
(re-pricing physically and electronically, adjusting margins, etc).  Rebates
relieve storekeepers of many burdens (taken on by the manufacturers), yet
the store traffic benefits from the attraction of rebates.  So, many
retailers pressure manufacturers into offering rebates.

2) Manufacturers aren't entirely innocent.  In the end, companies are far
more concerned about their bottom lines than our convenience.
Manufacturers'  bean counters love rebates because, in reality, only a third
of all customers entitled to a rebate actually go to the massive trouble of
applying for them.  That, John, is the real reason it's made to be such a
hassle.  (Some cynics also believe payment delays...in some cases... are
calculated, too, since only a fraction of rebate applicants pursue the
process to the end).

If more customers entitled to a rebate actually sent in the paperwork and
addressed a strong complaint about the inconvenience to both the
manufacturer AND the retailer...then dogged both mercilessly until the money
was delivered...rebates would vanish almost overnight.

This is why I'll never be elected to the Board of Directors.

Craig
Boston








- ----- Original Message -----
From: "John Coan" <jcoan@alumni.duke.edu>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2000 1:21 PM
Subject: Re: [Leica] Rebates


> Craig,
>
> Can I editorialize here for just a minute?
>
> OK, thanks.
>
>  It is such a hassle to 1. Find the rebate certificate -- often in a rack
in the
> front of the store like Best Buy. 2. Send your original sales receipt.
What if
> you need it in the future? 3. Often deface the package to cut out the UPC
> symbol.  4. Put all this in a envelope, spend postage money.  5.  Wait
forever.
> And if you didn't make a copy you have nothing to dispute not getting the
> rebate.
>
> I HATE rebates!  If you want to spur sales, why don't you just reduce the
> price?  Sure, I do them because I would be a fool not to.  But I still
resent
> having to jump through all these hoops to get a lower price when the
purpose of
> the price reduction is to move merchandise.
>
> John
>
> Craig Roberts wrote:
>
> > Dan wrote:  "...a nice way to get float on their money."
> >
> > True...but it may not be to Leitz's benefit.
> >
> > I'm the marketing manager at a high tech company which offers rebates to
> > buyers of certain products.  We are constantly receiving customer
complaints
> > about delayed rebates.  Why?  Because our rebate funds are dispersed by
a
> > third party...as they are in many companies -- Leitz included,
perhaps --
> > and that's the source of problems.  We have switched rebate handlers
three
> > times with similar results.  We'd handle the rebates ourselves, but the
> > processing is simply too unwieldy for an understaffed firm.  Maybe Leitz
is
> > in a similar situation.
> >
> > Craig
> > Boston