Comments on: $200 Rebate on Visor Prism

CompUSA is offering a TWO HUNDRED DOLLAR rebate on the Handspring Visor Prism. Buy your new Prism at CompUSA between January 13th and January 20th, then send a copy of the receipt, the completed rebate form, and the UPC code from the product package, postmarked by February 3rd, and you'll get a check for $200 in a few weeks.

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This is what the rebate form says:

jzaring @ 1/17/2001 2:07:11 PM #

$200 Mail-In Rebate
Offer good 1/13/01 through 1/20/01
Purchase Handspring Visor Prism
(sku#278176)
for a $200 Mail-In-Rebate

on back . . .

To receive your $200 Rebate:
1. Purchase Handspiring Visor Prism (sku#278176)
2. Product must be purchased between January 13, 2001 and January 20, 2001 at CompUSA
3. Fill in all requested information on this rebate form.
4. Mail this completed form along with a copy of your dated sales receipt and the original UPC Code from the product package.

Question . . .

Has anyone verified the sku#?

RE: This is what the rebate form says:

Ed @ 1/17/2001 2:17:19 PM #

I just went to the CompUSA site and looked up that SKU and it is the one for the Prism.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product%5Fcode=278176

---
Plenipotentiary
Palm Infocenter

It does sound unbeliveable....

GregGaub @ 1/17/2001 2:12:40 PM #

At our PUG meeting last night, a gentleman who was at CompUSA that afternoon saw the rebate coupon, and snagged a whole pad of them to bring to the meeting. I have one, which I scanned and placed on-line at the following URL (which I wrote "SAMPLE" on, in case CompUSA gets pissed at me).
http://flux.snapbag.com/temp/coupon.jpg

My advice is to call your local CompUSA, ask if they have any Prisms left, then ask if they'll hold it for you till you get there. hehe. Get your butt over there and find the coupon, then go get the Prism. If I had the $250 to spare, I'd run out and get one myself. But by the time I can afford a new unit, this sale will be over... and there will probably be that new thing from Palm as well. ;-)
-Greg

RE: It does sound unbeliveable....

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/17/2001 3:46:45 PM #

I think i'll wait for that new 'Palm Thing' aswell. This is tempting though.....

RE: It does sound unbeliveable....

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/17/2001 4:22:03 PM #

Did you notice that the form is for a "Mindspring Rebate?"

RE: It does sound unbeliveable....

CharFeld @ 1/18/2001 10:24:00 AM #

What "New Palm Thing"? When will it be available?

RE: It does sound unbeliveable....

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/18/2001 4:24:35 PM #

it is a rebate. so you can easily get screwed on this if it was a mistake. i dont have $450 i can tie up right now so for those of you getting involved, make sure you photocopy the info you sent. ive got a feeling there will be alot of "we never recieved anything from you" responses from them in a few weeks.

Something fishy?

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/17/2001 2:58:52 PM #

Hmm, rebates are usually offered on items that don't sell well. Guess this means that the Prism isn't doing so good. Doesn't surprise me one bit. Handspring was crazy to charge $450 for the Prism while Palm is only charging $329 for the IIIc. And at $450, consumers are probably going to be tempted by a Pocket PC that offers more functionality than the Prism. The MiniJam and Soundsgood are running around $270, which added to $450 comes to $720...ouch!

Re: Prism Rebate

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/17/2001 3:58:25 PM #

I just called my local (Cleveland) CompUSA...I have been contemplating buying a Prism and thought this deal was too good to be true, IT IS! The manager told me the rebates are not valid...they were mistyped and the deal was for $200 rebate when you buy Visor Prism, an Omnisky, and subscribe to the OmniSky service!!!
He told me that one person at their store bought the Prism and tried to turn in the rebate and was told it was invalid. He will not be getting $200 dollars back and the stores natinonwide have pulled the rebates and they won't be honored!

Prism Rebate Appears Real

Ed @ 1/17/2001 4:46:03 PM #

I just called CompUSA's national sales support line and a very nice woman there quoted me the Visor Prism at $249 after a $200 rebate.

---
Plenipotentiary
Palm Infocenter

$200 Rebate Is Genuine

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/17/2001 4:52:22 PM #

Just so you know... the Omnisky rebate is a different deal, and is a $250 rebate. The $200 rebate coupon clearly states that the qualifications are the rebate form, a dated receipt and the original UPC code from the box.

For what it's worth, I have never had satisfactory results from phoning a CompUSA store. In this case, I had to lead the salesperson by the hand to the rebate board and show him the coupon, to which he replied "I'll be darned! Maybe I'll sell a few this week!" There is no better guarantee of getting service than to be physically there and in their face.

RE: Re: Prism Rebate

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/18/2001 10:58:08 AM #

I'm looking at the CA Civil Code, while the lights are still on, and it's quite clear:

CALIFORNIA CODES
BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS CODE
SECTION 17530-17539.6

17537.11. (a) It is unlawful for any person to offer a coupon that is in any manner untrue or misleading.

(c) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Coupon" includes any coupon, certificate, document, discount,or similar matter that purports to entitle the user of the coupon to obtain goods or services for free or for a special or reduced price.

Your state's law is probably similar. I'd say they have to honor the coupon. So ignore the "manager", buy a Prism, if they still have any, and get your hands on the coupon. Since the rebate is so controversial, I wouldn't rely on a copy, but would try to get my hands on the real mccoy. If your local store "pulled" the coupons, try EBay. Someone has them for auction - worth a few bucks if just for the convenience, IMHO.

RE: Re: Prism Rebate

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/18/2001 11:05:14 PM #

Sorry, but if they misprinted it and it's out there, they have to honor it by law.

Not really...

fleegle @ 1/19/2001 9:21:06 AM #

All the store has to do is post a notice at the store stating there was an error in the printing and the coupon will not be honored.

Remember the misprinted ad at Office Depot a couple of months ago? The ad said the PPK was selling for $9.99 instead of $99.99. I went to the store and posted by the door was a note correcting the error.

AFIAK, the stores aren't liable if it was a printing error.

My question though is how many "printing errors" can they get away with before it becomes false advertising?

RE: Re: Prism Rebate

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/19/2001 10:52:48 AM #

Fleegle - generally merchants are not required to honor misprinted prices, and they do what you
suggested. But that's BEFORE the sale closes. Once the sale is closed, the merchant certainly
can't refuse to honor a published discount purchased in good faith by the buyer.

On the good faith issue - I really don't think this is a mistake. Bungled advertising, yes, but not a
mistake. When the Palm Vc (or whatever) and the color Sony Clie hit the stores next month, what
do you suppose will happen to the prices of the Palm IIIc (currently available for $329) and the Prism?
The Vc and the color Clie are both much smaller units and supposedly offer other improvements.
I'm not surprised that somebody is trying to get rid of their Prisms (which I suspect never sold well,
just like the Palm IIIc) in advance of this.

Given this, I'm hard pressed to understand the response of CompUSA's corporate offices and stores,
some of which say this is a mistake - to the extent of pulling the rebate coupon - and some of which
say it is valid and will be honored. Surely they can make an official statement and either pull the coupons
or not pull them. Asleep at the switch?

RE: Re: Prism Rebate

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/19/2001 6:45:10 PM #

O.K. Here is my story regarding the Prism Rebate,I thought I should post it to the group.

I too was tempted by the prospect of the rebate and went to a local(St.Louis) Comp-USA on Wed. and got the rebate form as described and a new Prism.

As a result of following these discussions I became anxious as to the status of the rebate so I called the Comp-USA 800 Customer service number.I was told that they were fully aware of the rebate and that it would not be honered by them but that instead I was to contact the store manager where I purchased and that "He would take care of me." I was unable to get any feel for what this meant but was assured that there was some policy already in place for handling this.

I called and naturally the Manager had no idea what I was talking anout but took my number promising a call-back.

To my amazement he did call back and we haggled back and forth and he finally said to come in with my receipt and he would take care of the rebate.

I went to the store(without the Prism)and the manager would not even see me but instructed the Customer Service clerk to return the Prism on paper and resell it to me for the rebate amount.

I actually walked out of the store with $212.00 and change in cash even though I had written a check for the Prism just 2 days ago.

To say I am surprised is an understatement as I actually got better service and instant satisfaction neither of which I expected.

So I throw this out there and suggest that politeness and assertiveness is what payed off. Or it just could be that they want to avoid the hassles this could bring.

I would think that the person responsible for the rebate form's creation is looking for a job now.

Good Luck
Ed Harris

Only Good on Prism and Omnisky Modem

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/17/2001 5:00:42 PM #

I just called CompUSA here in Cincinnati. I was informaed the rebate is good only for the Prism/Omnisky bundle. Actually, there is a $200.00 rebate on the Onmisky Modem and a $50.00 rebate on the Prism. Oh well...

IT IS FOR VISOR+OMNISKY THINMODEM BUNDLE, TRUST ME

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/17/2001 5:03:15 PM #

Called my local CompUSA in Philadelphia. The rebate is actually for $250 if you buy the Visor Prizm bundled with the Omnisky thinmoden springboard modules which by itself costs ~299. Therefore this is $250 off of $750. This is an offer I can afford to pass up, if you know what I mean.

Stuart Pomerantz

RE: IT IS FOR VISOR+OMNISKY THINMODEM BUNDLE, TRUST ME

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/18/2001 10:55:53 AM #

Not true. No Omnisky purchased is mentioned or apparently required. Read the coupon.

Okay, This is the facts.

Andrew @ 1/17/2001 9:10:41 PM #

If you brought your Omnisky Modem with the Holiday service plan (39.99 a month), after six months of continous paid service you will receive a $200.00 credit on your credit card statement.

RE: Okay, This is the facts.

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/18/2001 11:06:00 AM #

Your "facts" are true but unrelated to this deal which does NOT require an Omnisky purchase or contract, "mistake" or not. Maybe they're now claiming it's a "mistake" to wiggle out of a potentially large liability. The fact is, this purchase was induced by a false coupon, if they reneg, and that's a violation of the law, at least in CA.

So what's the deal?

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/18/2001 10:42:39 AM #

So, what's the deal? Has anyone actually used the rebate for the Prism (not the omnisky bundle)? If this is a legit offer I would definitely go for it, but I also don't feel like risking 450 bucks, only to find out that I can't get this rebate (which appears to me to be way too good to be true!).

I picked one up today

i_spock @ 1/18/2001 11:39:22 PM #

I checked out my local CompUSA today to see if they had the rebate forms. Knowing that there is no CDPD service, and therefore no OmniSky access in my area, I wondered if my store would have gotten any of the rebate coupons in the first place. They *did* have them, so I snagged a few of them (for coworkers, etc. just in case) and bought a Prism right away. The store clerk commented about how the $200 rebate was such a great deal, so obviously as far as they were concerned there was no mistake, and they knew that no OmniSky purchase was required.

RE: I picked one up today

fleegle @ 1/19/2001 9:33:50 AM #

Well, the big question is: Will you get the rebate?

Mail in the form and stuff and let us know in 6-8 weeks. I hope you do get it.

I'm not planning on buying anyway even thought it is very tempting.

I picked one up also

I.M. Anonymous @ 1/21/2001 10:05:41 AM #

I went into the Grand Rapids, MI store Friday and picked one up. There was no notice posted
anywhere and the coupons were still out. After they brought it out of locked storage, I made sure
the SKU matched on the box and the coupon. The person who took my money, had a badge on
that said "Chief Cashier" or something like that, also checked it and said it looked like quite a deal.

Steve Scherbinski