Suggestion: Ban Tigerdirect + McAfee Bundle Rebate

I would support this rule.

As much as I hate them and want them to disappear, I don't think a ban is appropriate. As odd and unlikely as this may be, someone out there might want to use the antivirus - in which case, said deal would be hot for said individual.

The onus of making sure a deal is hot is neither on RFD nor the OP; the reader should be taking the time to comb through the details of a deal before hitting that final checkout/confirmation button. As readers and/or potential OPs, what we can do is try to include your quote every time a TD MIR deal is posted, to make sure people are aware of the conditions.

aeba7 wrote: ↑As much as I hate them and want them to disappear, I don't think a ban is appropriate. As odd and unlikely as this may be, someone out there might want to use the antivirus - in which case, said deal would be hot for said individual.

The onus of making sure a deal is hot is neither on RFD nor the OP; the reader should be taking the time to comb through the details of a deal before hitting that final checkout/confirmation button. As readers and/or potential OPs, what we can do is try to include your quote every time a TD MIR deal is posted, to make sure people are aware of the conditions.

I'd argue there is at least a bit of an onus on RFD to make sure the deals are legit.

Suppose I make a hot deal post for an iPad at $10 and the terms are that after 100 people send me their $10 I will randomly pick one to receive the iPad. It's not so much an available deal as a gaming scheme in which luck determines who wins and who loses.

I would argue the Tiger Direct rebate "deals" are essentially the same... schemes in which some people actually get the deal but many do not.

Until rules that favour protecting RFD members against predatory rebate "deals" are implemented, the next best option is educating other members about these bad propositions each time they are posted.

We vet the deals for our front page but leave it largely to the community to take care of the deals posted to the forum. Unless I'm mistaken someone who actually goes through all the steps of this deal will end up getting it in the end. It isn't your typical deal where you'd receive the discount immediately but it's not a scam as far I know. If it got to the point where Hot Deals was flooded with these types of offers we would definitely do something about it.

TomRFD wrote: ↑Unless I'm mistaken someone who actually goes through all the steps of this deal will end up getting it in the end. It isn't your typical deal where you'd receive the discount immediately but it's not a scam as far I know.

Sorry to be the one to tell you, but yes you are mistaken. These rebate deals deny or "lose" valid rebates on a large scale.

When States' attorney's investigated, they found rebate houses would systematically deny valid rebates in the hope and knowledge that many customers would just give up during the course of fighting for their rebate. It's a tactic called "breakage". I can confirm this first hand, as can scores of other forum members who've been ripped off by rebate schemes. And several of the retailers who still offer mail in rebates have been found to have direct corporate connection to the rebate processing shell front companies.

That's one reason Best Buy / Future Shop banned these practices.

The mail in rebate offers often features "fast" processing scam that is effectively a usurious loan against your rebate money, and they sell your identity to payment card companies, which is not clearly disclosed.

A review of your own site would reveal literally thousands of consumer complaints regarding these rebates over the years. They are essentially a game of chance but with unpublished odds.

There's a reason veteran members jump on these threads and warn others not to be victimized. But it would be better if RFD took ethical responsibility and stopped condoning these rebate schemes.

TomRFD wrote:If it got to the point where Hot Deals was flooded with these types of offers we would definitely do something about it.

Again I would refer you to your own site. These dubious rebate promotions are frequent and incessant in your "Hot Deals" forum. I can't imagine how much more of them it would take to qualify as "flooded", but some would say it's already there.

I agree 100% about those "deals" being misleading and predatory. It's too bad RFD seems to care more about that referral revenue than its own users.

teamomega369 wrote: ↑I agree 100% about those "deals" being misleading and predatory. It's too bad RFD seems to care more about that referral revenue than its own users.

I would draw a parallel to a company selling a product with a known defect rate of 25-75%. The fact that some buyers receive a working product doesn't justify those that don't. Personally I don't agree with TomRFD's rationale: that (some) customers eventually get their rebate.

How many get their rebate and how many don't? Unlike lotteries, where the odds of failure are published and regulated, with Tiger Direct rebates, the odds are secret.

To me the decision to continuing promoting these offers may come down to what is the higher priority for RFD. Is it:
a) providing valuable information for consumers
or
b) providing a marketing platform for retailers

I'm sure both are of some importance to RFD, but ultimately priorities have to be set. RFD may well have decided that retailers and advertisers are more important because of the direct revenue, and that the content and social momentum that the members and consumers provide is less important. As members, we might not like that, but it could their corporate rationale and it's a decision they have a right to make.

Some people may remember this: RFD used to have weekly NCIX threads - because NCIX actually had good deals back then. Over time, the deals became so cold that these threads were no longer being made. I would argue that over time, with enough people warning others of these rebate scams and with enough angry people (who didn't get their rebates), that TD rebate deals will stop being posted.

I think it would be best in the long run to let e-nature take its course and let more people get scammed. As harsh as this sounds, it teaches people to be more critical of the deals they're getting involved with, people will eventually stop posting TD deals, and it may actually force TD to abandon the system. Learning the hard way, is sometimes the best way to learn.