New law in good old RI does away with mail-in rebates, chaos ensues during Pepsi sale

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http://www.turnto10.com/money/9719568/detail.html

CRANSTON, R.I. -- A promotion for free Pepsi has created a shortage in Rhode Island.

A Sunday advertising circular is promoting free Pepsi 12-packs and 2-liter bottles, if you mail in a rebate form.

However, a new Rhode Island law is limiting how stores handle rebates in advertisements such as the circular Pepsi distributed.

According to the law, if the ad includes a net price that is based on a rebate, then the rebate must be given at the time of purchase.

That means if the advertised price includes a rebate, then a consumer gets the rebate at the cash register.

Both Shaw's and Stop & Shop are running the circular ads, creating the shortage.

NBC 10's Consumer Unit traveled to the Shaw's Supermarket in Barrington, which was honoring the ad. As soon as a Pepsi truck driver delivered a shipment of 12-packs, they were flying off the shelves.

At a Stop & Shop in Cranston, the Consumer Unit noticed that all of the shelves were empty of 2-liter Pepsi bottles.

A Pepsi spokesperson told NBC 10 that, "By the time the company became aware of the new law, it was too late to change two ads that our customers had planned to run this week. All future ads have been revised."

The spokesperson also said the Rhode Island production facility is working at capacity to try and produce enough soda to meet the demand.
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fucking OWNED. Finally my state of RI does something right for a change!

For those too lazy to click on the link, it was 4/$10 on Pepsi (a decent deal to begin with), or free with mail-in rebate.
 
Hahaha, fantastic. When I was getting my new phone at the Verizon store near the Warwick Mall, I was planning on using the new no-mail-in-rebates law, but I didn't have to.
 
Yeah, it's nuts. The Shaw's I work at is pure pandemonium this week, we run out of carriages every single day. I was told that we went through 8 trailers full of Pepsi yesterday before they wouldn't send anymore, and we still had crowds of people looking for the soda.

Edit: I didn't know about the law, though. That'd explain why they're all going crazy. I was thinking to myself how rare it is that a mail-in rebate actually goes through for me, and the rest of CAG. ;)
 
So, are they limiting how many of these each customer can get, or are people up in RI basically building houses out of Pepsi 12-packs? :p
 
[quote name='argyle']So, are they limiting how many of these each customer can get, or are people up in RI basically building houses out of Pepsi 12-packs? :p[/QUOTE]

Looking at the ad in the link, it says "Limit 4," but people can obviously come back the next day and buy more, or simply go to another register.
 
Yeah..awesome. Businesses will have to spend more money on different advertisements in that area, further driving up prices. Hooray!
 
I think that they should do away with mail in rebates all together. They fucking suck the company is going to give me the money in 6 weeks. So why just not do it when I buy the fucking product. I actually know why I just wanted to rant. Mail in rebates are still around because only 20% of the people that get a product with a mir turn them in. That 20% includes people that get their mail in rebate's rejected as well.
 
Companies do MIRs because the redemption rate is pathetic, in the 10-30% range overall, I believe. They get suck--er, people to buy their product 'thinking' about the post-MIR price, but most people either don't bother, don't comply right, or don't remember about the rebate.
I'm a capitalist, I like companies to make money because that helps more people than it hurts, but I also believe in honest capitalism, and MIRs are definitely on the shady side [of course depending on the company and their rebate redemption outfit]. That said, there have been too many pro-company, anti-consumer laws recently [Check 21 being one of the biggest]. So Kudos to RI for supporting the consumer.
 
[quote name='WeaponX2099']If I was close, I would go to RI to by everything with a rebate. Does the law work with cars?[/quote]
Have you ever seen a car with a mail in rebate?
 
[quote name='dtcarson']Companies do MIRs because the redemption rate is pathetic, in the 10-30% range overall, I believe. They get suck--er, people to buy their product 'thinking' about the post-MIR price, but most people either don't bother, don't comply right, or don't remember about the rebate.
I'm a capitalist, I like companies to make money because that helps more people than it hurts, but I also believe in honest capitalism, and MIRs are definitely on the shady side [of course depending on the company and their rebate redemption outfit]. That said, there have been too many pro-company, anti-consumer laws recently [Check 21 being one of the biggest]. So Kudos to RI for supporting the consumer.[/quote]

I remember I was due a $75 rebate from an Officemax purchase and they claimed they never got it. I was pissed. They claimed they didn't receive it. At least I learned a good lesson, always use DC or some sort of tracking for everything.

I ALWAYS mail rebates when they are offered. I don't know why someone wouldn't.

Good job Rhode Island! :applause:
 
[quote name='GuilewasNK']I remember I was due a $75 rebate from an Officemax purchase and they claimed they never got it. I was pissed. They claimed they didn't receive it. At least I learned a good lesson, always use DC or some sort of tracking for everything.

I ALWAYS mail rebates when they are offered. I don't know why someone wouldn't.

Good job Rhode Island! :applause:[/QUOTE]

Absolutely. Track it, copy it, DC if possible, follow the rules to the letter and beyond, and don't be afraid to call call call once that 'rebate in 8-12 weeks' period has started. It can be a lot of work, and that's if someone even remembers to do it. I know I have gotten rebate checks for stuff I forgot I had bought [dollar or two grocery rebates, on stuff I would have bought anyway.]
 
Yeah, I was actually shocked when I got a $500 MIR from Dell back very quickly. :lol: Companies really seem out to scerew you bad. My boyfriend got a $300 cell phone because he was promised a good rebate, but got fucked up the ass because the company handling the rebate supposedly "went out of business." Bullshit.
 
I'd be like, "And that's my problem how? I mailed it to DELL rebate, I bought a DELL, it's your subcontract, it's your problem." [replace 'dell' with the cell phone company.]
I did get my Dell rebate pretty quickly as well, I think they're good about it. They've moved awaay from MIRs, I think.
My folks ordered a computer, and after they bought it, they got a sales call to upgrade the warranty for 119 with a 100 rebate. My dad said "We don't have a printer", and they took the 100 off right then for him. Some companies do it right.
 
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