Verizon drops mail-in rebate on Pre Plus, Pixi Plus 39
As rumored at BGR yesterday, today Verizon has dropped the mail-in rebate on the Palm Pre Plus and the Palm Pixi Plus. The price for the Pre Plus is $149.99 with a new two-year contract, the Pixi Plus clocks in at $79.99. Wireless Week reports that a Verizon spokeswoman said they were responding to consumer demand: "there was 'a brief period where we tested mail-in rebates on some phones. We have found that online customers expect instant rebates and since this is a very competitive arena in which to do business, we responded accordingly.'"
Whether this is a response to poor initial sales on Verizon or just a sign that Veriozn is doing right by getting rid of a source of annoyance for customers is an open question - but either way we're pleased to see the mail-in rebate go away.
Thanks to everybody who sent this in!
39 Comments
I hate mail in rebates with a passion.
Lmao Tell me about it
2 spelling errors... Mail in Rebates are a pain.
Great, I just sent mine in the mail today #%!!!*#@%!!!
Yeah... I sent mine in yesterday. Rebates should be instant.
lmfao the bitches at VzW make life difficult -_____-"
good thing I'm with sprint. YEAH BEEEYOTCH!!
lmfao the bitches at VzW make life difficult -_____-"
good thing I'm with sprint. YEAH BEEEYOTCH!!
Curious.. but isn't Sprint still offering mail in rebates on the Pre/Pixi?
If you bought a Pre from Sprint/Sprint Store... you had a mail-in rebate.
If you bought from Best Buy or other online retailer than you may not have.
About time...
I mailed my Pre+ rebate in a couple weeks ago, received confirmation that they'll be sending it within 30 days... Small price to pay to get your device from a store instantly, but kind of a hassle.
Glad they got rid of it for future customers!
so does this mean they have this instant deduction plus the BOGO deals?
bummer!! I just mailed in mine too :(
Did you get a answer on this?
I hate these promotions, instant rebates, cash-back, etc.
why not just give the best prrice and leave it at that?
$149 is not really an attractive price.
$50 is.
The rebate just clouds the water.
I hate these promotions, instant rebates, cash-back, etc.
why not just give the best prrice and leave it at that?
$249 is not really an attractive price.
$150 is (assuming $99 rebate)
The rebate just clouds the water.
i hope this drives demand for pre even more
Correct me if I'm wrong, but dropping these rebates cuts into Palm's bottom dollar. It will probably help sales, but I wonder by how much?
It shouldn't cut into Palm's bottom dollar because Verizon buys the phones from Palm at a set price. You could argue that it cuts into Verizon's profits, but they're prolly better off moving units, then hoping people will forget to send rebates in the mail.
I guess what I'm asking is, the check received back, is it endorsed by Palm or Verizon? My guess would be Palm, correct?
No, Palm has no say in how Verizon sells their phones. Palm simply manufactures the phones, and Verizon/Sprint orders a batch at a time from Palm. When a carrier's stock runs low, they simply put in another order to Palm for another batch.
Rebates and other sales promotions are created and endorsed by the carrier (or 3rd party retailer) only. It's the carrier's hope that the customers forget to send in the rebate form. However, even if they lose $$ on the rebate, they'll still make money by tying someone in to a contract for 2+ years. So either way it's a win-win for the carrier.
Therefore, rebates have no direct impact on Palm's revenues.
Manufacturers set pricing based on units. I think it's $549 per unit for the Pre that VZW pays. You get a discount ($249?)by paying >=$39/mth PLUS (equals +/-$960 for 2yr contract) and that nifty unlimited Data plan they require, @ >= $29/mth (without corporate discounts). That alone is $360 or so per year (x2=720) which more than offsets the difference that VZW appears to "eat" when selling us phones. Agent stores aren't even getting that and have to pay full price (ergo: they LOSE money selling it). That's why lots of non corporate stores aren't advertising the Pre so much. Yet monthly plans seem to be inching down...not :)
It's odd that phones cheap "with contract" used to be illegal where I grew up for this reason. But marketing (and shopping out of state) won out and the law was repealed. Seems people gladly pay more over time even if it only seems to be less. And well..a phone with no service is useless...right?
As for rebates, it's said that 50-60% never get sent in. No wonder companies love them.
I hate the damn things. I still haven't sent mine in. I hope it didn't expire :(
NOW sprint lowers the pre price???????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?????? I will buy it the day it is $99.99
The sprint pre has been available for a fair amount of time from various retailers for $79.99
But only for new customers!
I bought my Pre Plus online and the rebate was instant and the phones came next day free shipping. Then I took it to the local Verizon store to have my contacts transferred, free too. Worth waiting a day to not shell out more upfront then hassle with the rebate. They should sell more now.
Is Sprint still pimping rebates on the WebOS phones? Because now would be a good time to stop.
I really think the MIR should go the way of the DoDo. I can not count the number of times I ha e cut off UPCs mailed them with the rebate receipt and waited....and waited...and waited. Only to get a lettet saying they need the original UPCs.
They can drop the price down all they want to but if the Verizon sales people are going to discourage anyone walking in their store from buying the Pre and steer them towards the Droid I don't think it is going to make in difference.
Just to let you all know, not only have they done away with the mail in rebates, they are giving all new line in the New England are an extra $50 off. This is only for New lines and you still can get the second one free. This means 2 pixi's for $29.99 or 2 pre's for $99.99, and the touchstones are also buy one get one free.
Thank you, even if I'm not with Verizon. More companies that can the mail-in rebate, the better. I'd actually prefer a phoned in rebate, though. Put an automated service number on every phone you ship, so after you activate it, you can phone in that one time for that serial number, punch it in, and get it credited to your account on your first month's bill. The major thing about instant rebates is that vendors never give you as much back because it's like if they had 100% of their customers mailing in their rebates...which I'd be shocked if even 50% of customers of any product actually mailed in to get their rebates anymore. So the vendor can afford to make that mail in rebate much larger, usually, to entice people into buying the product. If you make it a phone in, there'll generally be enough flakes out there that'll miss out so that the rebate will remain reasonably substantial.
LOL I whined to like every rep I talked to about the rebate (last upgrade - never got it) And since the BOGO is really buy 1 get one for a $100 with a $100 rebate on each phone - I was reluctant to do it. But ultimately, my lack of patience and want of new toys - made me get one. Now of course they drop the rebate LOL.... oh well... :)
REBATES ARE ONE OF THE GREATEST SCAMS IN THE HISTORY OF BUSINESS. I read several years ago that the reason companies do rebates, is because just over 40% of those purchasers never sent in their rebate request. EXTRA CASH!
Anyway, I got my Pre Plus and my wife a Pixi Plus for the wonderful price of $free.99. I love my Pre and comparing it to my last phone (iphone 3G) tons better.
Let's just hope Palm can keep their butt out of bankruptcy.
Just a tip Palm, don't release your next phone on the only phone network that is loosing 550,000 customers a quarter. Might want to do it with Verizon or AT&T. Just a tip you idiots.
I don't know what a veriozn is. Seriously, re-read the last paragraph!
FWIW, when there's a disparity between online pricing (instant rebates) versus in-store pricing (mail in rebates), you can usually drop the bomb in-store that "I'm just going to buy this online because the rebates is instant." That is usually met with a very quick "Oh, let me talk to my manager I bet we can take care of that" counter.
When I bought my Pre Plus (and the wife's Pixi Plus), this is the exact way I did it. Online the rebates were instant and the activation fees were free, so when the Verizon rep greeted us in the store I simply said that I wanted to play with the phone to be sure I wanted it before buying it online since it was a better deal, instant rebates and activation fees and all that.
"Oh let me talk to my manager."
We got both our phones with instant rebates and no activation fees.
Smart play by someone who clearly does their homework.
If more people took that ONE step consumers wouldn't be so much at the mercy of the telcos and would have more power/choices.
.....that being said, this smells like VZ laying the ground work to sweet talk Palm into an exclusivity deal of some sort for the next round.
Theres a typo in the last paragraph,
Whether this is a response to poor initial sales on Verizon or just a sign that --->>[[[Veriozn]]]
Um, I already said that! Look about three posts above.
So is the Buy a Pre get a Pre Free offer still on? I just saw the Ad on TV today.
always buy online or get online deal at store. check out the phone at the store if you like it and they dont want to match the online deal go home and order online.
BESMART