Complaint Review: T-Mobile - Young America Minnesota

I am in the rebate business and know most of the larger fulfillment houses (Young America, Parago, ArrowHead, etc.). I can honestly say that none of the aformentioned have any diabolical plan or hidden agenda to intentionally cheat the consumers. The reality is...millions upon millons of rebates are being sent to P.O. Boxes and YES- a number of them simply do get lost. Now, that's not to say the rebate industry is not without its dirty laundry. There was a time when it was the Wild West and many unscrupulous houses came & went causing serious injury to the credibility of this marketing tool. In any event, there is such a large microscope on all the fulfillment companies these days that none (large ones at least) would be so stupid as to take a chance and damage their reputation. But going back to your dilemma...the old adage is true that the squeaky wheel does get the oil. If you HONESTLY did follow the rules and know in your heart of hearts that you're entitled to your rebate, my advice would be to call T-Mobile's customer service and say you want to cancel the service because you never got the rebate. These calls ARE tracked and reported as part of the cost of the promotion. Every cellular carrier has what is known as a "Churn Prevention Department" which is designed to deal with customers that want to cancel their service. I can practically guarantee that they will at a minimum extend to you $30 in "service credit," more if you really ham it up. Now, that should be considered compensation for your "pain and suffering." The rebate fulfillment house must STILL pony up your rebate, and when you do get through to the rebate fulfillment center's representative tell them you've called T-Mobile's Office of the CEO to complain. Be sure however to specify you are complaining about not receiving your rebate, and avoid the diatribes of referring to the fulfillment houses as "those rotten dirty crooks" which will instantly lower your credibility. There IS a procedure with every fulfillment house to deal with lost mail, and no fulfillment house wants to risk complaint escalation to C-Level management. That being said however...it's only fair to look at the problem from the manufacturer & fulfillment house's perspective. Do you have any idea how many people call in to complain about rebates they never actually submitted and demand payment for the same reason you are? There are well-established statistical percentages that indicate how many of these cases are likely (fractions of a % point), and the Actual Calls received by unscrupulous consumers who never bothered to play by the rules (double-digit % points). So CLEARLY, a majority of those calls are either scam artists or people unwilling to accept accountability for failing to follow instructions. Good luck with your rebate quest...hopefully it will have a happy ending. Alexander p.s. As an aside...rebates are also prevalent in France, where a much lower % of "scam artists" attempt to play the "lost in mail" card. Cleary the culture and mentality of the people are an ingredient.

I don't know why companies use Young America. I shudder everytime I see their name. It seems that their entire reason for being is to deny rebates. There must be a reason that these companies use YA. I'd sure like to know it. I wonder if these companies even know how badly the rebates are being handled by this company. It makes them all look bad. BTW, it's not just the cell phone companies that use YA. I've tried to get rebates through them for printers, tv's and even a rather expensive coffee maker/grinder. It is a huge nightmare. I've gotten to the point that I won't buy anything with a rebate attached. If the manufacturer wants to give me a rebate then make it an instant in store rebate, forget all the other nonsense.