Make it so, Arnold.
From David Lazarus's article
"Rebate check is not in the mail" in the LA times.
"My feeling is that if a retailer or manufacturer is willing to cut the price on a particular product, it should do so at the point of sale. Anything else smacks of sneakiness.
State Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) has another approach. His legislation, AB 1673, would give retailers a choice: Either they advertise a product at the higher, pre-rebate price to avoid any confusion, or they immediately honor the rebate at the cash register, rather than make customers go through the trouble (and uncertainty) of the mail-in process.
Feuer's bill was approved by the Legislature and is now on the governor's desk, awaiting a thumbs up or thumbs down from the big guy.
"Too many people are enticed into a store by advertisements that don't clearly reflect what they're going to have to go through to get that price," Feuer told me. "There's no question that the difficulties inherent in the rebate process are intentional. It's done on purpose."
Not surprisingly, business interests are fighting Feuer's bill.
"Legitimate frustration about the rebate process is being imposed on retailers, who aren't the problem, rather than manufacturers, who are the problem," said Pamela Williams, vice president of the California Retailers Assn.
Denise Davis, a spokeswoman for the California Chamber of Commerce, said AB 1673, if passed into law, would lead to elimination of rebates.
That might not be such a bad thing. I'm hearing that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is leaning toward signing the bill. It would be the right call."