I can't complain about this thread, if some found it educational, then it was worth it.
Nowhere does it say they reject legitimate claims, only that their competitive advantage is that they have sophisticated means of eliminating duplicates in rebate replies. Nothing illegal or immoral about that.
How do you think rebates work anyway? Do you foolishly think that the stores launch rebate programs expecting that every single person buying that product is going to send it in?
Rebates are a form of what's called "PRICE DISCRIMINATION". It's an economic concept that states that a market achieves its greatest efficiency when each buyer pays the highest price they are willing to pay. If a product retails for $50 with a $20 rebate, then there are really 2 prices and two classes of users:
1. Those who pay $50 because they don't send in the rebate and
2. Those who pay $30 because they DO send in the rebate.
Rebates have some other benefits, such as driving traffic into the store, increasing your time in the store (Looking for the damn rebate slips!), buying more product while in the store, trying and introducing you to products you wouldn't have tried otherwise, etc.