After a while they will be trying to push on a string.

Really, if they wanted to boost the economy, they could freeze the price of gasoline or oil for a month.

Maybe outlaw rebate and switch, or rebate and catch.

I avoid rebated products like the plague.

Better yet, eliminate the INCOME TAX MORONS!!! That would really boost things.

Oh, by-the-way, Taxing me and taking my money, then turning around and giving me back the money that was mine to begin with; is NOT a Stimulus Package.

It's call Pseudo Relief, you know, it sounds like the real deal, but it ain't.

How about regulating FEEs.

Those damn things have been spreading like Smallpox.

It's been floating around for far too long without a cure.

I agree. Obviously consumer spending isn't increasing and last month thousands of jobs were cut.
Speaking of fees, just look at all the surcharges on your telephone bill or cell phone bill. I wish they'd call them what they are...tax. When you pay a toll on the highway, it's a road tax, isn't it?
Rebates - although I hate them too, I've saved a lot of money. The ones for $10 aren't worth it unless you can claim them online. It's been a while, but I got a lot back for my laptop package in 2005. It was for a free printer, wireless router, and a carrying case. It took a lot of follow up, but I got over $600 in rebate checks. Obviously, they are hoping people will forget or give up trying.
Now some places use rebate cards instead of sending a check. Those are a pain! I got two $50 mastercards from AT&T when I bought my cell phone last summer. The easiest thing to do is to just pay your cell phone bill when you get them.

I think most people are now reluctant to by rebated products.

I know I am.

They've got that bad taste of sneaky, dirty, rotten deal in their minds when they go shopping.

I know I do.

Now the rebates don't sell products anymore and many are not buying the ridiculous sales pitch.

I know I not.

A message for you marketing morons, "Here's novel idea. Instead of giving out fake discounts, how about you actually reduce the price of your cheesy wares. Maybe people would actually buy it."

I know I would.

But that just it, they don't want to lower their price, because that would cause a rare and often never seen economic event, Deflation.

I know more than you think I know.

You know?

Just a note here, Jade. Don't always blame the stores or the salespeople. The rebates are usually from the manufacturer. I've mentioned this before, but many years ago I sold cars and someone would get upset if there was a special lease deal or cash back offer one month and it wasn't available the next month when they finally decided to buy. I'm not saying the dealers don't make money, but those rebates come directly from GM, Ford, etc. Once I sold some furniture to a woman who absolutely loved me. I gave her a very fair price, but people always want the cheapest price on the planet. Anyway, I made the mistake of giving her my home number and months later after I didn't even have a job because the store closed, she calls me up and yells at me because she found the stuff for less. I said "maybe they manufacturer is having a close-out and is offering the stores a discount they're passing onto you." I won't take up a lot of space on your blog, but sometimes a person would come back a year later to check out the price on an item he purchased. So, although I am 100% in agreement with you, and rebates have been a pet peeve of mine for years, after being in retail I became a little more sympathetic toward the people (customer service, sales) who are only working slobs like the rest of us.

Nothing on you justxploring, but that's just an adolescent type of excuse the stores use to explain their own in action. Put childishly simple, "Don't blame me, I didn't do it." Well, I don't care if you didn't DO IT. You promote it and approve it when you advertize it. Shifting the blame back to some manufacture is just one more reason why I avoid rebated products. The fact is, the retail stores are our front line in defending against sneaky, rotten manufactures who use this often misleading rebate and switch tactic to make their product price look better than what it really is.

Well, since this is your blog, I won't argue with you too much. However, if a store sell groceries and someone uses a coupon from the manufacturer that expired last year, you don't get paid for it. It's not the store's fault. Anyway, I mainly ordered high-end furniture as a designer, so I had nothing to do with rebates. I sold cars for a short time, but I never ripped off anyone.

BTW, if a store has a real sale and then offers the same price after the sale is over, then that's the type of store you should criticize. Putting an ad in the paper "$799 this weekend only" doesn't mean "for the next 2 months or whenever you feel like it." A sale is to increase traffic. You are wrong if you think it's the same as cheating the public. Otherwise every place would always carry the same goods at the same prices and nobody would shop around. When I bought a GPS recently, it was a different price in every store and I finally got it online. You probably don't get angry at Walgreen's for having sales or if CVS has the same shampoo for 30 cents more. If they have a buy one/get one free day and then don't offer it 2 weeks later, you can't take advantage of it when you come back.   Period. Same with a sale on anything else. No matter what you sell, the manufacturer offers incentives to the retailer throughout the year. Those aisle end displays at the supermarket are often from the food processor like General Mills. You don't go back in 5 days and say "I didn't need 2 boxes of cereal last week, but I want them now!" So why pick on certain industries? I am so honest it hurts me (which is hard to write because it sort of negates my integrity) but sometimes inventory needs to be moved, a label is being changed, or a product is discontinued. It has nothing to do with bait and switch. Maybe sales are down and a store needs to sell at a loss just to move old stuff, which does happen. Regarding rebates, I never sold anything with rebates, but if I worked for Circuit City, Best Buy, Staples or Office Depot and HP had a special "free printer after rebate" it wouldn't be sneaky or rotten, to use your words. Every time I've ever mailed in a rebate, I've gotten the money back. Again, I don't like them either. I think I even wrote a blog on this subject because they're so annoying. If you blame the sales people or the customer service department, then I guess you are pointing the finger at everyone who works for every appliance store, cell phone company, every cable TV or satellite company, every department store, every hardware store, etc. Do you walk into a restaurant at 7PM that has an early bird special from 4 to 6 and complain that the food cost the same 2 hours ago, so you're being ripped off? LOL Same thing when you look at it. Marketing is marketing. Stores, restaurants, car dealers...whatever...all use advertising to attract customers. Some of it is deceptive too and, as a consumer, I complain the same as you. But the most important thing is that they treat you with honesty and respect. It's only bait & switch if they lie to you or fail to tell you the whole story. As a consumer advocate, it bothers me when greedy people burn unsuspecting buyers, which is why I stopped selling certain insurance products and walked out of a mortgage company. However, if in the end you get the product and services you were promised, it's a pain in the butt, but it's not being dishonest.

Oops - I said I wouldn't argue with you and I did. My bad. :-)

Sorry, I type really fast. I wish I could see my posts and edit them!

Nah, that's ok... blab away... I don't mind. Whether or not I agree with you, it's good to read another opinion.

Jade:
   I'm surprised no one has addressed the seemingly deliberate devaluation of the American dollar. As China's dollar becomes stronger and stronger in global markets, one would think this would be a priority in our government's efforts to stave off a looming economic collapse.
   About a year ago, I stated that gasoline would cost $4.50/ gallon by this summer (2008). We're well on our way to that figure (it was $3.48/ gallon yesterday) with no relief in sight. Since Indiana is the ONLY state in the entire country in which stealing gas is a felony, I anticipate a surge of complaints about overcrowded prisons here in the coming months. Now, to be fair, our lawmakers will emphasize that there is no discrimination inherent in this law; it applies equally to rich and poor alike.
   I don't advocate theft of any type but, realistically, who is more likely to be forced into taking a chance on getting away with it? My guess is that it will be the working-class 20-something who earns close to minimum wage and lives in a trailer park with his wife and three children. Those are the only elements necessary to guarantee an upcoming disaster because, sooner or later, one of those kids will fall off of a retaining wall and break his arm (or something). Dad must now spend what little remains of that week's paycheck to get junior fixed up. Monday morning rolls around and Dad needs gas to get to work to make the money to buy the food to feed the kids ... and so he pumps ten bucks' worth into his tank and drives away, only to find himself in handcuffs just minutes later. When he comes out on the other end, he's now a convicted felon who can't vote and will probably never get another job better than the one he lost over this mess.
   I admire the Fed's willingness to lower interest rates in their efforts to save American stockholders, but we may have reached the point where it will be largely ineffective for most of us. If the bank has already foreclosed on your home, why would you care about a quarter-point cut in the prime interest rate?
   As the prices of staple commodities continue to rise, we must either invest our disposable income in those vehicles or be left behind. Having that choice is obviously a luxury that the vast majority of us don't have the means to enjoy.
Jim

jim,
you make a good point about the dollar loosing value. it's one of the signs that a nation's economic power is faltering. the rate at which devalues is also important and seem to suggest the U.S. is not doing so great as an economic power. i guess when the dollars worth is only a penny to other monetary structures, then lawmakers, executives and corporate sponsors of the U.S. government will finally realize they need to REALLY do something about our economic power. none of this namby pamby stock money pumping, fake relief tax refunding, corporate welfare bail outing, rate cutting till we are paying them to take our money kind of band aid to the severed artery approach.