8/29 Staples finally received my rebate submission, a month after I mailed it.
According to their status on the website, the UPC i sent in is invalid for the rebate offer!
I don't see how that can be as I sent it in the day I received the drive, and there was no other drive to mix it up with!
Anyhow, I called their rebate CSR # and got it resolved.
For info, the UPC # that I sent in was 751921026333, according to their system, the appropriate one for this rebate is 751921 026422
Notice its only the last 3 digits that have changed. I suspect either maxtor puts out more than 1 UPC for this product (depending which drive is actually inside the box), or who ever entered the info into their database in the first place had the wrong information.
ymmv, but if its the latter thats the case, then they'll have thousands of upset customers. (which would hopefully raise a flag that something is wrong)