Staples, Glastonbury, CT - haven't yet received 3 Netgear product purchase rebates

# 6 for July 17, 2003

Complaints.com received the following on July 16, 2003:

From:

RE: Staples, Glastonbury, CT - haven't yet received 3 Netgear product purchase rebates

Bought 3 Netgear products in 12/02 - each had a rebate - total rebates were worth $70.00. I mailed in the receipts and bar codes on 1/3/03, as the time limit was 15 days, I believe. April rolled around and I still had not heard anything, so I checked the Staples rebate site and it said "awaiting paperwork". So I contacted customer service and they asked me to fax everything over to them (luckily I had made copies of everything). I faxed everything over and was told to allow 6 weeks for processing.

June rolls around and by this time it is 8 weeks, so I emailed them again. The site still said "awaiting paperwork", so I immediately refaxed the information and then called customer service directly. Their computers were down, so they could not help me. I emailed them at that point and received a response - "sorry the promotion is over so we cannot pay you" is basically what they said. Unbelievable.

I can MAYBE see that the receipts got lost in the mail - MAYBE - but who is responsible for not picking up the faxes? Certainly not me. It is not my fault that Staples was delayed in their processing - yes, I know it is only $70.00, how many consumers have they cheated out of this money? If this gets posted on the site, I would like to provide contact information for the Better Business Bureau that serves Miami, in which the Staples Rebate Center is located:

BBB

2924 N. Austrailian Ave

West Palm Beach, FL 33407

Phone (561) 842-1918

Fax (561) 845-8234

Email: Email User

web: www.bbbsoutheastflorida.org

I am certainly contacting them as well as the local news stations to see if I can get Staples to be reported for a local Consumer Watch.