Connecticut Rebate Law

[Modeps]

for once, the connecticut DCP (department of consumer protection) actually does some work. While this isnt quite a 'hot deal' per se, it can work quite well in your favor, if you live in CT of course.

I've pasted the entire section below for easy reading. Basically what it says is that companies dealing in CT cannot advertise the rebated price of a product in larger print than the actual price, unless they plan to give you the rebate at the register. Best Buy does this all the time, they dont think when they write their in store deal signs, and thus, you can take advantage... here's an example:

I walked into Best Buy and there was a 'deal table' to the right... the sign read in large letters "100pk 80 min CDRs - $9.99" (in very small print, "After $20 mail in rebate"). I grabbed a package, asked for a manager, explained that I would like to purchase the CDs for 9.99, then read him the law. He said "ok", so I actually ended up making $10 after the mail in rebate came back.

A friend of mine used this very law to force a very reputable online retailer to give him 5 e-machines, for free.

Use it well my friends.

TSec. 42-110b-19. Advertising "free," "reduced," "discount," "below cost,"
or a rebate

It shall be an unfair or deceptive act or practice to:

(a) Advertise any merchandise or service as free by the use of the word
"free" or any other terms of similar import when the merchandise or service
is not, in fact, free (see § (d) below). Failure to disclose any and all
terms, conditions and obligations required of the consumer shall be a
violation of these regulations.

(b) Advertise the price of merchandise or service as a reduced or sale
price, or compare the price to a previous price unless the advertised price
is lower than the actual, bona fide price for which the merchandise or
service was offered to the public on a regular basis by the advertiser, for
a reasonably substantial period of time prior to the advertisement or as a
discount price, unless the advertised price is lower than. the price being
charged for the same merchandise or service by other sellers in the area;
provided, however, in the case of a new product, if the advertised price is
less than the price which the advertiser, in good faith, expects to charge
after termination of the introductory sale, there is no violation of this
subsection. The actual price after the sale shall be evidence of the
advertiser's good faith expectations.

(c) Advertise the price of any merchandise as below cost, unless the price
is, in fact, below the cost for which the merchandise was purchased and
prepared for sale by the advertiser.

(d) Advertise merchandise or service as free or the price of merchandise or
a service as a discount, reduced, or sale price if receipt of such
merchandise or service is contingent upon the purchase of other merchandise
or service at a price which is higher than the actual, bona fide price at
which the merchandise or service was offered to the public on a regular
basis by the advertiser for a reasonably substantial period of time prior
to the advertisement, or at a price which is substantially higher than the
price being charged for the same merchandise or service by other sellers in
the area; provided, however, in the case of a new product, if the
advertised price is less than the price which the advertiser, in good
faith, expects to charge after termination of the introductory sale, there
is no violation of this subsection. The actual price after the sale shall
be evidence of the advertiser's good faith expectations.

(e) Advertise the availability of a manufacturer's rebate by displaying the
net price of the advertised item in the advertisement, unless the amount of
the manufacturer's rebate is provided to the consumer by the retailer at
the time of purchase of the advertised item. A retailer will not be
required to provide the purchaser of an advertised item with the amount of
the manufacturer's rebate if the rebate advertises that a manufacturer's
rebate is available without stating the net price of the item. For the
purpose of this subsection, "net price" means the ultimate price paid by a
consumer after he redeems the manufacturer's rebate offered for the
advertised item.

 

[thawolfman]

You have link to the law itself?

 

[darkamulets]

anything in FL

 

[Modeps]

Welp, here's the thing about that... CT doesnt keep their laws on the webiste up to date, and when I did a little search for it, i came up empty... so i put a call into the DCP and was read word for word what I said above. There's a link here: http://www.state.ct.us/dcp/Tips/Rebates.htm that points the the DCP's Rebate Tip page, the bottom has the proof of the law.

 

[blahblah99]

Yes, now we just need to wait for those damn republicans to turn this into a national law... but I guess that's not going to happen since they only like to help out rich people. Hot deal nonetheless.

 

[joeski]

Only rich people pay taxes. That is anyone making $28,000/year. Let's give more tax breaks to people who pay $0 taxes :disgust:

 

[Modeps]

Originally posted by: blahblah99
Yes, now we just need to wait for those damn republicans to turn this into a national law... but I guess that's not going to happen since they only like to help out rich people. Hot deal nonetheless.

I'm pretty sure that other states ARE trying to get this into law as well. You may want to check into your own state to see.

 

[Bilybobjef]

What about in their print advertisements. I see the larger print for the price after rebate on those all the time or does this apply to only the in store signs?

 

[Modeps]

Originally posted by: Bilybobjef
What about in their print advertisements. I see the larger print for the price after rebate on those all the time or does this apply to only the in store signs?

That falls under the same category. It's deceptive advertising. There can be no question as to how much the person pays at the register.

 

[Hummercash]

OMFG, I LIVE IN CT!!! This rawx.

i can't wait for tomorrow's paper so i can search through the ads for something to try this on!!!


.//chris

 

[MontyBurns]

This is all well and good in theory, but you're still at the mercy of the store manager. If they tell you to take a hike, you don't have much recourse. I suppose you could contact the attorney general, but that's not going to get you that item from this week's ads.

 

[TheFishingGeek]

Anyone know if Oregon does law-matching?

 

[PullMyFinger]

Originally posted by: MontyBurns
This is all well and good in theory, but you're still at the mercy of the store manager. If they tell you to take a hike, you don't have much recourse. I suppose you could contact the attorney general, but that's not going to get you that item from this week's ads.

True, but just wait till the smart ass know it all store manager gets a response from the attorney gereral's office regarding that one person who was turned away. My guess is his/her butt will be severely puckered.:Q If just 5% of the buying public would follow through on this, you would see an immediate change in deceptive advertising.

Good find Intake77, as a fellow CT resident it's nice to see that Richard Blumenthal is actually supporting the buying public. I've gone round and round with family and friends about how advertisers call something "free" and then in fine print state that you have to make a major purchase first. Free means free, period. Nowadays, the only way most sales would be truthful and honest is if they stated "at no additional cost", rather than "free".

 

[stso]

I wanna move

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: joeski
Only rich people pay taxes. That is anyone making $28,000/year. Let's give more tax breaks to people who pay $0 taxes :disgust:

try thinking your statement thru then apply it to all the visa'd immigrant workers who pay and upon returning to their country of origin..get all their SS tax back ..follow that train right to Dubya's plan to allow Mexican nationals to collect on the U.S. SS system ..try not to scream to loudly

 

[optoman]

Damn, this would almost be worth the hour drive from where I live in MA. I would love a law like this here. I could see going into a Compusa or Staples and walking out with alot of free stuff.

 

[richardycc]

I live in MA too. maybe I should do all my shopping in CT now.

rich

 

[ianbergman]

this might be the first time i ever wished i lived in CT...

 

[ETan]

wonder if there are similar laws in Pennsylvania?

 

[Loman]

Only rich people pay taxes. That is anyone making $28,000/year. Let's give more tax breaks to people who pay $0 taxes

I see someone else listened to Rush Limbaugh on Friday afternoon while stuck in the snow storm.

 

[Mrdzone]

hahaha i go to school in CT going back monday this is gonna be SWEEET

 

[blahblah99]

Stores can fix this problem by making the after rebate price smaller than the actual price paid at the cashier if people start to complain.

What I'd REALLY like to see is for customers to pay the after rebate price and have the store do all the rebate processing on their end. Why can't they do this in the first place? I think its because rebate companies can't get away with a missing rebate when a big corporation/store requests the rebates, but they can do it to a few individuals.

I personally vowed not to buy anything with a rebate attached to it unless its a good "out the door" price.

 

[dethman]

Originally posted by: ianbergman
this might be the first time i ever wished i lived in CT...

LOL

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Whoa, I live in Connecticut and never knew about this. Best Buy, CompUSA and Circuit City all advertise the after-rebate price in giant letters while putting the "after $xx.xx rebate..." in letters that require an electron microscope to read. Why do I get the feeling that Sunday I'm going to be seeing a lot of you at the local electronics stores arguing with the managers. I tend to sleep late on Sundays, so please leave me a few of the best deals, but make sure the managers are already educated as to the laws so that I don't have to do it myself

 

[gaucho20]

I'll be there too. Best buy is going to be hurtin!