Or only a small percentage, anyway. Rebates are strictly marketing hype. Never depend on one; make getting it a hobby, not a frustration. Personally I avoid rebates all together unless the rebate is on an item where the full price already beats the competition for the same exact product; then I don't care so much. But if it takes a rebate to beat it; they can go rub rock salt; I'll buy the other one every time. Better to NEVER buy a rebated item but I'm not rich enough to do it 100%.
Lowes isn't any better. There are just as many complaints about people not getting rebates from Lowes as from HD. I'm lucky, the last time I did one of those gift card things from each one, I got it, but it certainly isn't anything I'd ever count on.
Our only local Ace closed about 3 years ago because of their restrictive hours, they just couldn't keep their doors open like Lowes and HD can. Even the really local home improvement place succumbed last year because they were only open 10am-7pm Monday-Saturday.
Mon, May 21, 2007, 1:17am (EDT+4) snipped-for-privacy@NOSPAM.verizon.net (Brian=A0Henderson) doth claimeth: Lowes isn't any better.
Damn all sure is. Every few yars my well contrler goes. First time went to a plumbing supply company, expensie.was many moons back. Second time, went to HD, closer. About 2 well contrllers, period, neither even close ti what needed. Check Lowes, about 8 varites, several of each, ad exactly what needed. Tried HD first next ime too, same results. So yeah,Lwes IS Beter. Oh yeah, when I asked ere tey were at HD I was pointed to the wrong section. At Lowes the guy I asked walked me right to them, then looked for, and found, the esact model I needed. Oh yeah, the local Ace doesn't carry well controllers.
JOAT What is life without challenge and a constant stream of new humiliations?
- Peter Egan
There was a time, at least well into the 70s, when the supermarkets in metro Cleveland were open from 8am-6pm, Monday-Saturday, closed Sunday.
It was in the union contract.
Don't remember how the contract got changed, but last time I was there, they were open 24/7.
When I worked as a kid in a hardware store, we were open 8am-6pm, M,T,TH,F, 8am-9pm Saturday, 8am-12noon, Wed, closed Sunday, and we had longer hours than the department stores.
Somehow, we survived.
Lew
Lew
Many of the stores, like Northern Tools, 84 Lumber, Harbor Freight, Ace Hardware are closed at 7pm Friday, the time I have a load of cash in my pocket to spend. I guess it is unfortunate for the stores that I can easily shop online and forget about store hours and filling up with a tank of gas. Having some open hours past 7pm for at least one day a week helps. Our local mall does not have extended Christmas shopping hours, making Internet shopping more easy. Union or not, I like 24/7 stores.
Its all dependent on smart management. We have a hardware store near by that has been around for a very long time. Within 7 or 8 miles are 5 or 6 Home Depots and Lowe's. The hardware store has a staff of 7 to 8 employees at any given time that on you like a duck on a June bug when you step inside the store and all know exactly where every thing is. If your item will not fit inside a bag they carry the purchase out to your car or truck. Prices are cheaper than the Borg's for the exact same items. They are growing and have been growing for years. It's all about service.
Several years most all stores except grocery stores were closed on Sunday because of the "Blue Law" in Texas.
I would return the item to the store and when asked what the problem is, tell them they defaulted on the rebate.
Chuck
You'd never do it today though. When the competition is open 24/7, you need to be as well, especially since they can almost certainly beat your prices.
Personally, I'd love to find good lumber places open 24/7, you wouldn't believe how many times I run out of something at 11pm or so and have to stop for the night.
You have to remember that 84 Lumber is really a contractor supplier that is open to the public, their primary customer are contractors who buy *TONS* of lumber for building houses. They only sell to the general public to make extra money.
I had a friend who managed an 84 Lumber, he was nice enough to give me one of their really nice, warm jackets with my name embroidered on it when an employee of the same name quit. :)
LOL, I like this idea best of all. But you'd probably get some clerk who would not bat an eye and I'd be out a planer.
All things being equal, I'd buy the same planer gain. There actually was no rebate when I bought, it came two days after I purchased. So I had them re-issue the sales receipt so I could claim the rebate. (The manager okayed the change).
Blue laws in Pennsylvania had major league baseball stopping a game played on Sunday afternoon by 5:00PM or something close to that time, for many years.
Lew
The local NBC TV station is on the rampage.
They have consumer reporter who has taken on the poor service provided by Home Depot sub contractors.
The reporter is very good at digging out information.
Should be fun.
Stay tuned.
Lew
Man, I remember that. And you couldn't necessarily buy just *anything* from the grocery store either, some merchandise was "not available on Sunday".
When I first moved to Dallas from Colorado, I needed to do some shopping, so one weekend, after church I headed down to one of the malls, expecting it to open at noon. At about 12:20, I slunk away hoping noone had seen me :-(
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough +--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
When we first moved to Chicagoland in the early '70s, the grocery stores were open reasonable hours (9-9, or something like that) but you couldn't buy fresh meat after 6 P.M. even if it was already cut and wrapped (they'd pull the packages in from the shelves at 6). I don't know how long it had been that way, but it did get changed a few years after we got there.
On the other hand, by the time we left Chicagoland in the late '90s, we had lobby hours at the bank seven days a week. It was only 10-4 on Saturdays and noon to 2 or something like that on Sundays, but we could get inside service until 6 or 7 every day of the week. Similarly, drive through hours were seven days, and during the week they were open until 7 or 8 P.M. I don't remember the weekend hours, but they were commensurately long.
When we got down to Florida in '99, we found that if we didn't get to the bank M-F we didn't get inside. And forget drive-through on the weekends, too. It's starting to improve with limited lobby (and drive-in) hours on Saturday, but the lobby still closes at 4 P.M during the week--still nowhere near Illinois.
Of course back in the day ('50s and '60s) banks were closed altogether on Wednesdays as well as the weekend. I think that may have been all over. It was certainly true in NY and FL. Not for nothing did they used to call it "bankers hours."
I've never had a problem getting any of the rebates that I remembered to send in.
Chris
You're fortunate. It was like pulling hen's teeth to get my $80 rebate from Samsung. At first they denied it saying that I did not make the purchase in the date range allowed for the rebate, but I had proof (the invoice) that I had made the purchase 3 days before the last allowed day. I had to fax in my receipt, resubmit the rebate, and wait another 2 months. In effect, they "used" my $80 for 5 months interest free, plus they sold an LCD to me.
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Try =
800-793-3768 Press # at each prompt, ignoring messages.Smitty ##################################################
Looks like Home Depot is trying to "Stonewall" their subcontractor issues.
Since the NBC-TV station is ultimately owned by General Electric, things could get very interesting, since VERY deep pockets are involved.
Don't be surprised if investigative reports about Home Depot don't start showing up in your market, if NBC is there.
Should be fun.
Stay tuned.
Lew
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