The Kingston Random Rebate

Ok, everyone hates rebates. They are pure evil. Companies do everything in their power to prevent you from getting your rebate.

But my friends at Kingston have come up with a new twist on the rebate war. I purchased a 512MB flash drive for $27, with a $27 rebate. I promptly sent in all of the paperwork. The claim was denied, after 5 weeks, because they lost one of the items I sent in. I sent the item in again. 4 weeks later, I called to check in. They said it was approved, and they are sending me a check for $9. I said "Excuse me, the rebate is for $27". Apparently their thorough analysis concluded that my paperwork qualified for $9. As annoyed as I was when rebates were just evil - now I need to further cope with the fact that they are evil AND arbitrary.

All I can envision is a room full of monkeys wearing little Kingston hats, throwing darts at a board to determine an amount to send for my rebate. Or some intern sitting at a desk, crossing out numbers and writing smaller ones until a supervisor nods yes.

Another day, another reason to hate rebates.