by Larraine Bishop

Created on: July 31, 2008

The following is how I successfully tracked a cell phone rebate check without any hassles. Our family had three cell phones that needed to be upgraded. Our cell phone batteries needed replacing and it was more economical to upgrade the phones than pay for new batteries. The deal was a sweet one. The company upgraded all three cell phones for free and also offered a $150.00 rebate. In spite of my doubts of ever receiving the $150.00 rebate, I decided to take the chance. Here are the steps that helped me receive the money without a problem.

1. The first thing I made sure of was obtaining a viable telephone number that matched the rebate address. In this case it was printed on the rebate form along with the address. This was really important in tracking the rebate check from the time I submitted the paperwork until the check came in the mail. If contact information is listed separate from the rebate form, make a copy of this and put it in with your copy of the paperwork.

2. I courteously told the gentleman at the local store that was offering us the rebate that I would only consider the offer if he helped me with the paperwork before I sent it in. This was to make sure the rebate form was filled out correctly and I had included the proper UPC codes and other things like a copy of the receipt for the upgrade and a copy of our contract. He was willing to help and this proved invaluable when I had some questions in the middle of the process. I also read the fine print of the offer and asked questions when I did not understand the terms. This took minutes since I did not have to take a lot of time trying to figure it out myself.

3. I recorded the name, date, time, phone number or location, and subject of conversation of each encounter with each person during this process.

4. This is how I set up the paperwork for mailing:

A. I followed the instructions on the rebate form completely. If the form asked for an original piece of paperwork, I sent the original.

B. I put myself in the place of the person opening up the form and tried to make it as easy as possible for them to process my request.

C. I laid out the paperwork to be submitted, lightly taping all small pieces of paper requested on one side only of one or more 8.5-inch X 11-inch blank paper(s). I printed my name and phone number on the top of each blank paper as it appeared on the rebate form in case the papers became separated. This kept small pieces from being lost in processing. If the instructions were to not use

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>