Cooper Vision Rebate

As one of many who wear tiny transparent bits of gel in front of my cornea, I don't like paying more than I have to. Contact lenses are relatively expensive as it is, and my optometrist recommended that I switch to a new brand that would keep my eyes a little more comfortable.

New brand of contacts? Better for my eyes? Whats the catch?

We'll, its more expensive. And you have to change them more frequently - every two weeks instead of once a month. But the manufacturer, Cooper Vision, wanted people to give them a chance, and so they offered a rebate as an incentive - $30 for the contacts, and $20 for the fact that this is the first Cooper Vision product I tried.

Packed up the form, the box tops, and mailed it -- the check will arrive within 6 to 8 weeks, right?

Fast forward about 6 weeks - I just received a postcard indicating that "Unfortunately, [they] could not honor [my] request due to the following reason: Invalid Box Top". Calling the number yielded the same result - something was apparently wrong with with the box tops I sent in.

I counted them a dozen times before I sealed the envelope to eliminate this exact problem. I called several more times, trying different buttons until I talked to a real person...

...And it turns out there was nothing wrong with my rebate form. The guy on the phone said he just needed to validate the form, and I was done. I'll receive the check in about 4 weeks.

That's nice. My question: if they got my form, and punched it in 2 weeks ago, why did they tell me it was invalid, and then fix it so easily? Was it fine, and they just throw up an extra barrier to see who they can get to ignore it? Or did I screw up, and the decided to just be nice to me?

Rebates are a great way to make people think that they are getting a better deal than they are. And by making people put together the forms, and collect the lids, they hope that people will forget, or get lazy. It seems likely that this was another attempt to make life trickier for those after their rebate has already been sent in.

Fifty bucks is great, but it almost doesn't seem worth it for the effort. Or maybe that's the point. Me, I live like a college student. Gimme.