Well,
I originally expected to have a big sale on this kind of items and therefore just bet for one in this case. Sure enough, there were plenty of them during the last Black friday. (see Yuhong's post in this section).
on the eve of Black Friday, I bought one 16GB at Frys for $30 (no rebate needed).
Then YuHong posted another sale at BuyDig for $60 with $60 rebate (3x4GB), by the time I saw that, the next day, they bump the price up to $75 for 3x4GB with $60 rebate. I bought three. That was still cheap (after price change from $60 to $75) and I couldn't resist that. (I still don't have a high resolution camera to consume them all).
Now, I am exhausted with too many of them. Ahhhh... I will need to return the 16BG one to Frys.
In general, I have had no problem with rebates. I must have accumulated a stack of rebate claims as thick as 2 inches over the years (I keep them because the receipts are part of them). From times to times, I forgot to file them (but still find a way to go around it and get the money). In all, one must keep his/her rebate forms in a safe location and go through them periodically to ensure they are not forgotten through the crack (i.e. which one has been cashed, which one is not yet received). Some small companies may play the trick of holding them unprocessed (like saying we can't locate them when I called). Then you will have to re-submit it. However, most big companies really hire the rebate houses to handle the rebate job for them (they normally are in El Paso Texas, or White Bear Lake).
Some companies would go one step beyond, asking you to write the sales-receipt order number on the rebate form (not a usual step) and then most of us will overlook it and will then lose the money. But I only have seen it a few times over the years (yeah, they are processed by the dealers with addresses in the City of Industry or San Jose).
As for this Lexar Memory rebate sale, the rebate house is located in White Bear Lake area. That is, it is one of the major rebate centers (i.e. hired by Lexar to handle them). So your rebate should be safe. Just be sure you follow the 1-2-3 rule correctly: (1) fill out completely the rebate form (2) attach original UPC bar code (3) Send a copy of the receipt.
It's a pain to handle them and I am still crossing my fingers every time I deal with big rebate check ( $50 and above). However, if the company is one step in front of the bankruptcy court, then you and I will have to kiss good bye to our $$$. (
just don't take a knife like MongXu has suggested
).
BTW, I've bought two all-in-one office laser photocopy machines during this black Friday. One for $45 after $140 rebate, one for $70 without rebate (I can't imagine they can be so cheap, the same price as the small and troublesome ink jet printers) and more....
Aya, I will be very busy working for my own rebate-process center. So good luck to you all and me as well. We are all the "Rebate Slaves"