I'm getting used to mail-in rebates. You know what I'm talking about. You buy a product from Best Buy or Future Shop or some other electronic goods store and you pay one price but with the manufacturer's mail-in rebate you can save $15, $40, $70 or whatever.
I now have the process down pat. I cut out the proof of purchase from the box, photo copy my bill and complete the mail-in rebate form I got from the store. Then, I throw this all in an envelope, add a stamp and wait 6-8 weeks for a cheque to arrive in the mail.
This is the only time I ever find myself sending something via snail mail. Sure, I send Taryn's grandmother the odd Blue Jays update this way, but that's about it. When I'm dropping my mail-in rebate envelope into the mailbox, I'm always a little weary.
For example, lets say the mail-in rebate is for $70. $70 is a substantial chunk of change for a poor bastard like me. They demand the original proof of purchase, so I've got one shot at this. I have to drop this package in the mail and hope it goes through the entire process without being misplaced or destroyed along the way. I have to trust that everything works out and in a little under two months there will be a cheque in my mailbox. It always seems like a gamble to me. There has to be a better way to handle these manufacture rebates. Ideally, they wouldn't make you fork over this coin in the first place just to make you jump through hoops to get it back. Can't this process be handled on the Internet? These are software or hardware manufacturers. I would think their organizations would be technically savvy enough to find a way.
For now, when I drop that envelope in the mail box I say three Our Father's and three Hail Mary's that everything will work out okay. As Lisa said to Bart, "Prayer...the last refuge of a scoundrel".
