American Eagle-Independence Ammo Rebate: PIA

Speedo66 said:

I'm really a frugal, make that a cheap, SOB. lol

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Join the crowd. I'll tear UPC from lots of boxes for $25 rebate.

Hope you got a good deal on the purchase, the rebate makes it sweeter.

If you have to turn in the UPC off the boxes then you can't cheat and do it more than once. Sad that we have to resort to this today.

I sent the UPC off the carton. They got the receipt that says I bought the whole carton. Shouldn't be a problem. Also got an email from them stating that my rebate is in the works.

That's how it works. The more people who think it's a hassle and don't claim the rebate they are entitled to, the more frequent and better rebates there are. Manufacturers have made clear that they wouldn't be able to give instant discounts as big as their rebates. For those used to the process, it isn't a hassle or time consuming, it's just another thing to do while the radio is playing. But surprisingly a whole bunch of people are terrible at complying with the simple instructions, and those that do pay attention reap the benefits. I'm perfectly happy with how things are.

I finished cutting out the AE UPC code's a few hours ago. Rebates on ammo have done wonders for my ammo stock. I dare say more than half of my ammo (and all of my "good" pistol ammo) had a rebate on it.

MillennialGunslinger said:

That's how it works. The more people who think it's a hassle and don't claim the rebate they are entitled to, the more frequent and better rebates there are. Manufacturers have made clear that they wouldn't be able to give instant discounts as big as their rebates. For those used to the process, it isn't a hassle or time consuming, it's just another thing to do while the radio is playing. But surprisingly a whole bunch of people are terrible at complying with the simple instructions, and those that do pay attention reap the benefits. I'm perfectly happy with how things are.

I finished cutting out the AE UPC code's a few hours ago. Rebates on ammo have done wonders for my ammo stock. I dare say more than half of my ammo (and all of my "good" pistol ammo) had a rebate on it.

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Most rebates aren't handled by the company that is selling the product. It's a contractor that gets paid to handle rebates. The fact is most people can't follow rebate instructions. Rebaters know this so when you call about your rebate that never came they say they didn't get it or it wasn't filled out properly. It's more effective for sales than normal advertising. Basically cheap advertising.

I don't depend on rebates because half the time they're more trouble than they're worth. I guess it depends on how much time you want to spend chasing down a rebate. When, not if, you ever get hung up on $25 rebate you will understand how this works.

CoalTrain49 said:

Most rebates aren't handled by the company that is selling the product. It's a contractor that gets paid to handle rebates

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True. I always end up sending them to the same address (different po box) in some city somewhere (I don't remember where right now). Especially the rebates on electronics. Those all seem to be handled by the same company. They actually advertise their services on what amount of rebates they reject. However I don't believe they lie to reject rebates, or at least not on purpose. Out of hundreds if not over a thousand of dollars in rebates in the last decade I've only not received one 25$ rebate. Enough people fill out the rebate wrong to make lying unnecessary.

Something I'd suspect even less people know is something similar happens with store coupons (think 2$ off insoles at walmart). They send the bags of clipped coupons to a company which sorts and counts everything in exchange for a cut of the coupon amount.

Random tip for rebates you won't find anywhere. USPS is especially stringent on items shipped to "rebate companies". They will send back that envelope with 20 upc codes which weighs 1.6 Oz insteads of 1 Oz (which would be perfectly fine sent anywhere else). Or even worse, if you send that 100$ rebate as a USPS First Class Package in a thin envelope just for the tracking, they will send it back because it isn't thin or heavy enough and First Class Letters don't qualify for tracking (toss in a fat pebble, and the package would be acceptable). Effectively they reject it because you overpaid.

Anyway, I just received my 75$ Rebate from Smith and Wesson a few days past, meaning that my new Shield 9mm cost me less than 300$. So yup, I love rebates and I'm hard pressed to take seriously someone who says that the 20 minutes tops time it takes to take care of it isn't worth the hassle. I just fill in the form, leave it in my mailbox to be picked up the next day, and don't think about it until 2-3 months later I receive a check. Rinse and repeat.

Rebates are designed with the express purpose of being difficult.

RPRNY said:

Rebates are designed with the express purpose of being difficult.

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In that case they're doing a piss-poor job of it, if all it takes is a pen, scissors, a stamped envelope and 15 minutes to take care of it.

Perhaps it would be fairer to say that they are designed to sound difficult to fulfill. Nowadays I think they're just living on the reputation. These days you can fill them out online, track progress online, complain via email, and even see scanned documents of whatever you send in (proving that you really did forget to sign the form after all). If you somehow screw up they give you a second chance and extend the deadline. And if you're in a hurry they'll even send you a prepaid credit card in half the time pretty frequently.

Speedo66 said:

I just finished the paperwork for the $1/box rebate from Am. Eagle/Indep. .223 ammo, what a PIA!

Rather than have you send in the product code from the carton, you have to send it in from each individual box. So 25 little pieces of paper have to come off the boxes for each carton of 500 and be submitted. I succeeded in gently tracing the outline of each code panel with a sharp knife tip so I wouldn't ruin each box. It then peeled off the box without cutting through.

It's a nice rebate, $25 for the carton, but please, make it a little easier. I wonder if it's to discourage people from submitting the rebate? I thought about it, but I'm really a frugal, make that a cheap, SOB. lol

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Glad I wasn't the only one. Tough to get off but worth the money. I did the same thing. Hard to peel off. A little heat from the wife's hair drier helped loosen up the adhesive