[walter]

The Continental Promotion Group has gone bankrupt. Don't expect to get rebate checks from them and if you do get one, be careful, you might get charged for cashing a bad check. They have handled rebates for Pentax, Samsung, Canon, Adobe, and many other companies.

You can find some more info here

note: Pentax used The Express Group (they went bankrupt last year), but switched to The Continental Promotion Group in 2007. I don't know if Pentax has any current rebates or if they're still using CPG

[MRRiley]

Further proof that Pentax should just offer "instant rebates" in the store. This would even allow them to offer lower rebates, since most people would rather get a $25 instant rebate than a $50 rebate that takes 4 months to collect if you get it at all.

[reeftool]

I have stopped doing rebates as the last few I never got and I now consider it a waste of time and postage. I am also avoiding if at all possible any products that have advertised low prices that include a mail in rebate as I consider it a rip off. I did get my Pentax rebate last year and one from Adobe but got stuck by the others so now I shop for the lowest price without a rebate.

[k100d]

there is a financial advantage of offering mail-in rebates due to people not redeeming the rebate and the time delay in which the transaction takes place enables the company to earn investment income.

[MRRiley]

I understand that there is a financial advantage when mail-in-rebates are not submitted, but I believe that instant rebates generate more sales and those larger overall profits. Thats why I said a smaller instant rebate versus a larger mail-in... I'd imagine the rebate company takes out a good sized chunk too...

[Graham67]

It appears Pentax are dealing with theirs direct here in the UK:

http://www.pentax.co.uk/en/getDCMSFile.php?uid=fae9788ea19cef9919a273ca5f77b59a

Second page of this PDF.

[ftpaddict]

Ooh, that can't be good. Good thing there's no such thing as a rebate in most parts of Europe.

[slomojoe]

Bummer, they are handling my $20 rebate on Kensington Ultra II SD cards. Oh well... as long as the MS cashback thing doesn't fold before it pays!!

[navcom]

I understand that there is a financial advantage when mail-in-rebates are not submitted, but I believe that instant rebates generate more sales and those larger overall profits. Thats why I said a smaller instant rebate versus a larger mail-in... I'd imagine the rebate company takes out a good sized chunk too...

You are absolutely right. This has been my experience business-wise. There are several reasons to do a mail-in rebate campaign, such as making a product that has just had it's price raised appear cheaper or leverage the price on an less popular product....all the while knowing that less than 50% of people who will buy the product will actually try to collect the rebate.

But there are just as many reasons not to. One that is obvious is the risk of bad PR. People get irate when they don't get their money, and about 20% of those who send in rebates will run into some sort of problem or delay.

It is for this reason many retailers are banning rebates altogether...it's just not worth the hassle. I agree completely. As a businessman, I certainly don't want to make my customers "work" to get their money "back", for crying out loud! Think about that for a minute!

I also completely agree with reeftool here....if I see two products on the shelf, one has a mail-in rebate and the other costs a little more, I will just buy the one that costs a little more. The "mail-in rebate" advertisement next to a product is a complete turn-off. My time and stress level are worth something as well and I don't want to work and wait to get back money I could have just as easily kept to begin with.