StaplesRebate Update 4/17/02 10:30pm*$30 Rebate*WARM 24/10/40 LITE-ON or MITSUMI from Staples for ~$31 after PM and MIR

[EDiT]

<< Has anyone who got a Lite-on had a package with the sticker "New Buffer Underrun Technology?" Or is that pretty much a sign that it is the Mitsumi drive instead? I'm debating whether or not to open the shrink wrap, as (I think I do anyway ) I much prefer the Lite-on drive.

Anyone else have a sure way of telling before opening? >>



My lite-on didn't say that.

 

[tajdtj]

Help, anyone save the $30 rebate, they seemed to pull it today. I checked and it was there when I ordered, if you have it email me at tajdtj@hotmail.com
Thanks

 

[Lemondrop]

<< Has anyone who got a Lite-on had a package with the sticker "New Buffer Underrun Technology?" Or is that pretty much a sign that it is the Mitsumi drive instead? I'm debating whether or not to open the shrink wrap, as (I think I do anyway ) I much prefer the Lite-on drive.

Anyone else have a sure way of telling before opening? >>



Thats what the box says on my Mitsumi drive . It's a sticker stuck ontop of the older label for the Lite-on Id guess .

 

[noah16]

<<Struck out in Durham, NC>>

I got it to work at the one off of Franklin Street (by Southern Season). The manager there's name is Keith, and if you act very confident and have all your paper work together, he's a pretty good guy. Also when I went day before yesterday, there were still 5 drives left. I'd give you a scan of my receipt, but my scanner's broken.

 

[aldamon]

Thanks noah, I'll give that a shot!

 

[Riprorin]

None at my local Staples so they ordered it for me from web site. Should arrive tomorrow.

Any idea if I'll get the Lite-On or the Mitsumi?

Which one's better anyway?

 

[Crank]

I went in last Saturday to buy the burner and a Logitech Cordless keyboard for my fiancee's laptop.
Anyway, they said they wouldn't PM Sam's club because it's not open to the public. I was very polite and showed them a scan of a receipt from a Staples that did do the PM, still no dice. I took the burner anyway and was going to try to cook up some way I could PM with Amex Blue.
Blue said no go on PM'ing a store receipt - must be an ad, soooooo, I went back to Staples today after seeing the Victorville, CA receipt. Either there was a new manager there, or he just decided to give in, because they PM'd the drive, so I got out of the store with the drive for $61.61 (with my CA tax).
I didn't try to use a coupon because I'd used a $20 off $40 the previous Saturday, and the lovely customer service lady didn't realize she should've taken it off my receipt - Woot! (don't even know what that means, but I see it here all the time )

Anyway, I'll send a scan of my receipt to noahch@mail.com because he said he'd host them. I also made a scan of the rebate form I'd printed - don't know if it'll turn out o.k., but I'll send it too.

The lesson - if at first you don't succeed, go back and hope you get a different manager!

Good luck to all.

 

[im2smrt4u]

<< Woot! (don't even know what that means, but I see it here all the time ) >>



No, no, no! It's w00t! Note the zeros instead of o's. It makes all the difference!

Anyway, its good to know my receipt was helpful...

im2smrt4u

 

[Vette73]

Just a little FYI for the people that got the mitsumi 4809te. It has 16mb Cache, most already knew that. But it RE-Writes at 12X not 10x.
And the R1.0c looks like it is the newwest Firmware. So this drive should be good to go out of the box.

I got the Mitsume and thought about flea-baying it, but with the 12X re-write is going to make me keep it.

Good deal.

 

[Vette73]

Also forgot to add. This site mitsumicdr has some info on Mitsumi drives.

 

[chrisjor]

Thereare rebate forms at store, ask for one. It does seem that they are hiding the 30 rebate now. The 30 rebate is good until 1/12. The 20 rebate goes until 1/31. You are entitled to the 30.00 rebate if you bought at this time, make them give it to you!!!

Lite On drives say Smart Burn and are in B&M only. If yours has a sticker and came from delivery, it is Mitsumi. I have noticed that there are no Lite On drives in the 3 Staples stores in Cincinnati that I shop at, all they have is Mitsumi. Its funny, I can tell how many people are working this deal.......stores are getting exchanges or returns as the Lite Ons are dissapearing and people are exchanging delivery orders.

The Office Depot on Ridge Road (Cincy) has two Pacific Digital Lite On drives in their case. They are full price (149.99) and have no rebates. If you buy one and retun a Mitsumi you got from Staples you could have a Lite On. Though there is no harm in doing that, it is borderline ethical, I am not specifically advocating this idea.

 

[fekker]

I have the rebate form that I printed out (knew that was a good idea when I saw it) scanned in tif format. If you would like it PM me or send me a email at spudsdude@hotmail.com

 

[Riprorin]

I got a free computer for the kids for opening an account with e-trade a couple of years ago.

It had a 40x Lite-On CD drive which crapped out in fairly short order.

I sent it to back to them and they sent me another one which also didn't work.

Based on this experince, I'm a little skeptical about Lite-On drives.

Is their reliability so-so or is my experience unique?

 

[PaducahPhil]

Well, there's something funny going on here, and some people might be pushing the limits of Staples PM policy.

1.) I took the scanned Sam's receipt into the local Staples (I am in the Bay Area).
Lady there was very nice about calling Sam's in Illinois about the deal and she stated the Sam's Club store drone said they did not have that drive (which we all knew they were sold out from previous posts: Duh !).

Here's a cautionary note on so people don't get embarrassed taking one of the scanned receipts into the local Staples:

2.) Went back w/ the scanned Staples receipt (which does not show the line referencing the reason for the PM and giving the ~$58 discount amount) and a higher level manager called the Victorville store and talked to his counterpart there. When he got off the phone he said something to the effect that the receipt was doctored, that it is missing a line detailing the discount and that he would not honor the PM. In fact, if you look at the 2 scans, one does have an extra line of detail the other is lacking.


HOWEVER this manager did offer me the drive for $30 off, which prolly ain't too bad all things considered.

3.) If you read the Staples PM policy some folks here are getting PM'ed when they shouldn't:
Staples says they won't PM clearance, or it the item is not in stock, or if the customer is ugly and has bad breath (just checking to see if you're still w/ me here ). And if any of these are true, they ain't obligated to PM by their own rules.
BUT some folks who SHOULD be PM'ed are not getting what's due. Guess it all works out in the wash ?

Phil

 

[im2smrt4u]

Hmmm...that is true, it does not have the pricematch reason or discount on the receipt, but I did not doctor it at all. Beats me why the discount isn't listed, but I sure didn't remove it...I would take a picture, but I don't have a digicam...

im2smrt4u

 

[PaducahPhil]

im2smrt4u:

Sorry, I DID NOT mean to suggest you doctored the receipt:
I just wanted to let folks know that they might get some heat at Staples' BM, if, as the guy I deal with stated, the stores are telling each other there's a problem w/ the receipt.

I just wanted to save some folks the possible headache that could happen.

Lemme say that I VERY much appreciate Tanner and all y'all who've put so much heart and soul into this deal.

It's right neighborly, just like we do things in Paducah, KY !

Phil

 

[im2smrt4u]

No problem Phil, I just don't understand why the guy that approved the pricematch (the top manager) would deny the accuracy of the receipt...maybe he doesn't want another Staples fiasco like the $99 Clie that got out of hand...

im2smrt4u

 

[PaducahPhil]

I dunno know: the Staples store I was in has a photocopy of a supposedly altered $10 discount coupon posted at every register, so they are obviously running scared of supposed counterfeits.

Staples non-PM PM policy has been detailed in these pages many times: maybe they are just getting more aggressive w/ their policing policies and it all comes down to knee-jerk reactions.


??

 

[im2smrt4u]

Altered coupon??? I don't suppose it was from UPromise? I would link, but I would probably get in trouble!

im2smrt4u

 

[PaducahPhil]

Don't know where the coupon was lifted from: as noted I was already standing there w/ what was allegedly an altered coupon, so I didn't spend much time on the issue

 

[im2smrt4u]

Oh well, I still think the manager was talking out of his ass though!

im2smrt4u

 

[Tanner]

I'm going to be in DIRE need of that Staples $30 off rebate as I told my wife that I could do this for $30...and I don't think that the $20 is going to cut it!


let's go TEAMWORK! hehehehe...little peptalk get it up on here?


I sure hope that SOMEONE has it!


God Bless!


Tanner

 

[metapy]

I have posted a PDF of my rebate form on my site. This is a scan of the form that I completed online I have removed my return address which had a Transaction ID. I am not sure that the form will work without the transaction ID, so...

USE THIS FORM AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Receipt and Rebate

Hope this helps though.

P.S. The return address goes where it normally would on this form and the Transaction ID was the last line there.

 

[Crank]

Regarding Staples and their claim of a doctored receipt - this is stupid. This is exactly what they did with the infamous $99 Sony Clie deal - hey at least that butt goblin 'ScamPolice' hasn't poked his ugly mug in here to try and scare people.....yet.
Anyway, all of their recipts have a bar code/uniqe number, or something which allows them to access the transaction from their computer terminal.
Ever taken anything back to Staples? First thing they do is scan your receipt so they can make the proper changes in their inventory/accounting system. If a manager suspects fraud, all he has to do is see what the Staples system has to say. If the system matches the receipt, then there should be no problem......unless he suspects an inside job! :Q

Regarding Staples getting more stringent on their PM policy - that's fine with me. I was initially turned down for the PM, (it was for the wrong reason), but I was pretty sure the drive was a clearance item, so I was polite about it, and had no problems.
But if they're going to get more stringent, I wish it would work both ways. I think just about all of us have been turned down for a legitimate PM before, and it's so irritating and frustrating having one of their idiot managers basically tell you 'I won't PM because I don't want to.'

Anyway, sorry to ramble on.....Staples is still ten times better than Beast Buy....hate that store :frown:

Edit: Hmmm... maybe I'm wrong about staples receipts. I know other companies do this, but I'd swear that when I did get approved for the PM the CSR scanned my receipt. I KNOW she looked it up in the computer some how....
Also, notice how many receipts show Amex as the method of payment now!?!?! Go BVG!

 

[villagepeople]

Thanks !
It worked for me, as Staples matched the price.