NewEgg.com/PayPal - Bogus Promotion?

This morning (Cyber Monday, 11/26) I received an e-mail from NewEgg.com offering me a 20% rebate (up to a total of $50 off) on any order if I used my PayPal account. The e-mail stated the promotion was good through 11/26; the fine print in the offer terms and conditions was even more generous with an end date of 11/28.

This evening at around 10 PM CST, I went back to the e-mail to place an order for a new Hanns-G monitor; however when I got to the PayPal rebate part, a huge banner stating "OFFER ENDED" had been placed over the promo!

If it's 10 PM in Houston, it's 8 PM in at NewEgg's California headquarters. Either way, I followed the rules by attempting to place an order on 11/26 and was told (to paraphrase the Soup Nazi on Seinfeld), "No discount for you!":mad

I have already fired off a polite (but firm) e-mail to NewEgg about this and am waiting for their response. Given the e-mail's stated terms, I expect them to honor the PayPal promo or give me a discount equal to it on the monitor I want.

Over the past few years, I have purchased from NewEgg almost exclusively for both IT and personal needs, but this experience has left me with a very bad taste for their business practices.

Has anyone else had an issue with attempting to use the PayPal promo at NewEgg? If so, please share. If enough of us complain, NewEgg and PayPal might get the message and honor what they advertise.:boxing

 

With the amount of phished emails going around, have you considered that it might be a fake?

 

Not a technical issue...moving to the Lounge forum.

 

http://promotions.newegg.com/paypal/101607/index.html?CMP=OTC-PayPalHoliday07&ATT=PayPal&cm_mmc=OTC-PayPalHoliday07-_-PayPal-_-NA-_-NA

It was live this morning, but it was for a limited time only. You would have been safe purchasing early in the day before the 'limited' part kicked in.

 

The "limited" part was stated in that it expired at the end of either the 26th or 28th, depending on which page of the fine print one looks at. Either way, my attempt to purchase was within the date/time range stated.

I am still awaiting NewEgg.com's reply and will post it once it is received. Since I doubt that NewEgg or PayPal desire the attention a written complaint to the Attorneys General of Texas and California could produce, I am hoping for a quick resolution. :guns

 

2 Questions-

1- How much did you plan to buy?


2- Is it really worth the aggravation of what you are suggesting? Are you not sleeping at night?

There are plenty of bargains and NewEgg has a fantastic rep. Go kick a can and get over it.

Sorry folks, this post annoyed me.

Carry on.

 

Important update for anyone who did make a purchase using the 20% off PayPal promo on Monday, 11/26:
I spoke with a rep at PayPal last night. After doing some research, he informed me that NewEgg had signed up with PayPal to participate in the 20% rebate promotion but then backed out at the last minute.

Based on this statement, anyone who placed an order with NewEgg expecting a 20% PayPal rebate - even if it was placed before NewEgg posted the "Offer Ended" banner - should keep a close eye on their PayPal account to see if the rebate actually is issued and posts to their account by the end of January.

While $50 will not make or break me, there is the larger issue of retailers and/or manufacturers advertising rebates and attempting to not honor them.

When my decision to buy a product is based on the "after rebate" price, I am careful to read all the fine print, include everything required and keep a copy of everything submitted.

In the past year, I had two large ($50+) manufacturer rebates were initially declined with a statement that I forgot to include the UPC code (which I always tape to the rebate form). Only after sending copies of the original submission showing the UPC code was attached did I get the rebate money I deserved.

If retailers and/or manufacturers want us to buy based on rebates, they should be held accountable for honoring them. If you don't care and don't mind paying the pre-rebate price for your hardware and software, that's your right.

 

It looks like a lot of people got screwed...

If you placed an order at NewEgg.com expecting to get a 20% PayPal rebate, please read this:

It now appears there are hundreds (if not thousands) of people who placed PayPal orders with NewEgg.com on Cyber Monday (11/26) who may not get their 20% rebate. Don't believe it? Go to NewEgg.com's forums and check it out:

http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/default.aspx?GroupID=15

(Scroll down to Forum Statistics and click on the most popular posts. Remember: for every geek that rants and raves in a forum there are dozens of computer novices who don't.)

So far, my complaints to NewEgg have resulted in nothing more than a lame canned response blaming PayPal:

"We truly apologize for the inconveniences this may have caused you. Please kindly note that Paypal had allocated a set amount of money for the discount, however it has depleted before noon on 11/26/2007. Since the money amount has been depleted, the promotion has to be ended. The promotion is only valid when the amount has not been depleted. We apologize for being unable to assist you directly at this time"

As I noted in earlier in this thread, PayPal is, in turn, blaming NewEgg, claiming they "backed out of" the 20% promotion. Even more interesting is that - based on the comments at NewEgg's forum - people who did place orders are being given many different and/or ambiguous answers on whether their PayPal rebate will or will not be honored.

Up until this, I considered NewEgg one of the most reputible retailers online and used them for the majority of my personal and IT purchasing. Since the rebate was capped at $50 per person, NewEgg should have bit the bullet and honored the promotion for everyone who ordered (or attempted to order) on Cyber Monday. Regardless of who screwed up (NewEgg or PayPal), NewEgg will likely lose a lot more money due to p--sed off customers taking their business elsewhere in the future -- not to mention dealing with complaints made to the BBB and state Attorneys' General about how this was handled.