What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? ND
I was wondering if the following would be considered false advertising: A local company offered a rebate program on a space heater. The $550 unit was offered with a $500 rebate. The rebate program required that each customer had to submit Cenex gas receipts each month totaling more than $25 per month. Each customer would then receive a check for $25 each month after submission for 20 months. The total returned would be $500. Therefore the unit would only cost each purchaser $50. Because $50 sounded like a reasonable amount to pay for the unit, considering the rebate, my family agreed to purchase the unit. I sent in receipts but did not receive any money back. I contacted the company in charge of dispersing the rebate checks. This is the response I received on June 3, 2009:
Dear Customer,
I apologize for the inconvenience, it appears that you have been placed on a
report to have your February 2009 gift card shipped out within the next couple of
weeks directly from our office in Mesa, Arizona.
Your March claim has been received and processed as valid it does take 8-12 weeks
from the postmark date to receive your gift card.
Your April claim has been received and is still being processed. For further
assistance please feel free to email or call us at 480-455-5192.
Sincerely,
Your Friendly Claim Your Gas Team
FOR MORE DETAILS ON OUR REDEMPTION PROGRAM PLEASE VISIT:
Fuel, Gas, Grocery, and Retail Loyalty Redemption Certificates
and also our FAQ at
Fuel, Gas, Grocery, and Retail Loyalty Redemption Certificates
I continued to send in my receipts. I did not receive anything in June, so in July I contacted the company that sold the heaters, Vacuum Express. I explained that I had not received any of the rebates that were promised when I bought the heater. The company told me that the company in charge of sending out the rebate, had gone out of business, so we would not be able to collect. I asked if I would be able to return the heater. They said that they would not except any returns on this item because the company had lost too much money when they purchased the rate program from the "Claim you gas" company. They said that several customers were upset and they were dealing with numerous complaints. They took down my name and said that they would contact me in about six weeks to let me know how they would resolve the issue. They did not contact me. I went to their Vacuum Express the following November to ask if they had made a decision on how to resolve the issue. The employee handed me a letter-- which had a ridiculous list of options.
1) a replacement voucher (the employee stated that this was not worth anything)
2) return the heater minus a 30% restocking fee if the heater was in new condition(the employee stated that we would not be able to return our heater--as they were not accepting returns)
3) $150 gift card to Vacuum Express toward the purchase of a service, vacuum bags, or vacuum belts
4) a stainless steel 1" HVAC furnace filter with a lifetime warranty, which retails for $199
5) or $75 cash with the original receipt-- copies would not be accepted. They said that they had too many customers that had purchased the heater and would not be able to look up any receipts.
All of these options aren't even close to the initial advertisement. Would this rebate program be considered false advertising? Do I have any legal grounds to recover any of my investment
I was wondering if the following would be considered false advertising: A local company offered a rebate program on a space heater. The $550 unit was offered with a $500 rebate. The rebate program required that each customer had to submit Cenex gas receipts each month totaling more than $25 per month. Each customer would then receive a check for $25 each month after submission for 20 months. The total returned would be $500. Therefore the unit would only cost each purchaser $50. Because $50 sounded like a reasonable amount to pay for the unit, considering the rebate, my family agreed to purchase the unit. I sent in receipts but did not receive any money back. I contacted the company in charge of dispersing the rebate checks. This is the response I received on June 3, 2009:
Dear Customer,
I apologize for the inconvenience, it appears that you have been placed on a
report to have your February 2009 gift card shipped out within the next couple of
weeks directly from our office in Mesa, Arizona.
Your March claim has been received and processed as valid it does take 8-12 weeks
from the postmark date to receive your gift card.
Your April claim has been received and is still being processed. For further
assistance please feel free to email or call us at 480-455-5192.
Sincerely,
Your Friendly Claim Your Gas Team
FOR MORE DETAILS ON OUR REDEMPTION PROGRAM PLEASE VISIT:
Fuel, Gas, Grocery, and Retail Loyalty Redemption Certificates
and also our FAQ at
Fuel, Gas, Grocery, and Retail Loyalty Redemption Certificates
I continued to send in my receipts. I did not receive anything in June, so in July I contacted the company that sold the heaters, Vacuum Express. I explained that I had not received any of the rebates that were promised when I bought the heater. The company told me that the company in charge of sending out the rebate, had gone out of business, so we would not be able to collect. I asked if I would be able to return the heater. They said that they would not except any returns on this item because the company had lost too much money when they purchased the rate program from the "Claim you gas" company. They said that several customers were upset and they were dealing with numerous complaints. They took down my name and said that they would contact me in about six weeks to let me know how they would resolve the issue. They did not contact me. I went to their Vacuum Express the following November to ask if they had made a decision on how to resolve the issue. The employee handed me a letter-- which had a ridiculous list of options.
1) a replacement voucher (the employee stated that this was not worth anything)
2) return the heater minus a 30% restocking fee if the heater was in new condition(the employee stated that we would not be able to return our heater--as they were not accepting returns)
3) $150 gift card to Vacuum Express toward the purchase of a service, vacuum bags, or vacuum belts
4) a stainless steel 1" HVAC furnace filter with a lifetime warranty, which retails for $199
5) or $75 cash with the original receipt-- copies would not be accepted. They said that they had too many customers that had purchased the heater and would not be able to look up any receipts.
All of these options aren't even close to the initial advertisement. Would this rebate program be considered false advertising? Do I have any legal grounds to recover any of my investment