Ready, Aye, Ready

Link: http://blogs.nimblebrain.net/index.php/2009/02/28/why-i-dislike-rebates-59?blog=5

In the post from a few weeks ago, I commented on why I dislike mail-in rebates. The cheque for the rebate that sparked the comment arrived in the other day, two and a half months after sending in the form. Now I have another item to add to the list:

They invariably forget to rebate the tax too.

When you buy an item for, say, $100 with a $25 rebate, you get charged tax on the full amount. In Alberta that's 7%, so it's a $107 bill at the cash register. If you only get the $25 back, you're being shortchanged to the tune of $1.75. It's not a lot to be sure, but you get the multiplication factor back in action again. I don't know who gets to keep that money, whether it's the government, the vendor or the rebate operator, but it shouldn't be any of them.