Sears $50 Rebate Update (No Gift Cards)

At least you got your rebate! I am still waiting after 7 months now. Sears played the bait and switch game! I bought a dishwasher with the initial offer of having a free delivery and a $75 rebate. Sears used a third party company in which I had to pay them directly $150 which then disqualified me for any rebate. BAD MISTAKE! I will not shop at Sears again!

My name is Shayne with the Sears Escalations Team. Please allow me to apologize on behalf of Sears for the trouble that was encountered by all when trying to get their $50 rebate. Here at Sears, we value each and every customer that we have. It is not our intensions to mislead our customers in any way and we are very sorry that this has happened. Here at Sears Cares we are a single point of contact for our customers and our case managers work an issue from the beginning to the end when we get a resolution that best suits our customers and Sears. I would like to ask each and every one of you to contact our office via email at searscares@searshc.com and we will have a case manager contact you directly within 24 hours of receipt of the email. In the email, please provide a contact phone number and we will call you directly. Also, in your email, please reference this web site, for reference to were you heard about us, and we do look forward to talking to you soon. Thank you, Shayne W. Senior Case Manager Sears Cares

hey guys, I just called the rebate center and talked to David, He said you CAN use a gift card. His exact words were "it doesn't matter how you pay" So hopefully he is correct. I am going to try it!

I also called the rebate 800#. I spoke w/ a man named Peter employee # 2471. He stated that I would be able to use the GC for the purchse of the clothes and receive the rebate.

I called the toll free number on the sears rebate and spoke to William and he said the rebate will be rejected if the merchandise was purchased with a G.C. I called sears where I made my husband go to buy the clothes, and spoke to the manager of the men's clothing dept., told him the story and he read it again to me and even he couldn't believe it, so I said you need to speak to a higher up, said he was sending a memo to the district manager about it, that's at Merrillville, IN. Southlake Mall. Said I would be bring the clothing back if it's rejected, and canceling my credit card also.

I just finished a live chat with Sears........even their own people read the verbage on the rebate form to allow for the use of gift cards.......of course the department in charge of the rebates stated no to the use of gift cards.............classic bait and switch....... Here is the live chat with Sears: Please wait for a Sears Customer Service Representative to respond. This chat may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance purposes. Your average wait is 2 seconds. Thank you for holding. You are now chatting with Lonna S. How may I help you? You: Hi: I am going shopping this weekend with my Sears gift card and buying some men's items. Lonna S: Great, how can I assist you today? You: I am hearing conflicting stories as to whether or not Sears Rebates will be honoring the rebate going on for purchasing men's clothing if a gift card is used. You: I need to confirm one way or the other. You: Although, I figure since the Sears gift card is purchased with cash that it should be honored for the rebate. Lonna S: Let me check this for you Lonna S: Your Sears gift card does not appear on the exclusions in the details for the rebate Lonna S: If you go to the main Sears.com page, you will see the DAD rules ad that has the Spend $50, get $50 on men's clothing. click on the details and you will be able to read the terms and exclusions/ You: Yes, I understand that. However, I am being told that some people are calling into Sears and being told that the rebate will NOT be honored for a gift card, that it is considered the same as a rewards certificate which is prohibited int the verbage. You: Could you please speak to somebody in rebates to confirm one way or the other. Lonna S: I'll be right with you. Lonna S: I spoke to my supervisor and she also read the exclusions, the only merchandise listed is the Land's End merchandise does not qualify for the rebate. Lonna S: If the merchandise is bought then returned to the store, the rebate is voided You: Okay, I appreciate your help, but I did not ask for anyone to read the terms and exclusions again. I have read them myself. I agree that a gift card should be allowed. What I am asking you to do is to contact the department in charge of the rebate and ask them directly please. Lonna S: I am calling the number now, it is 866-433-3008 Lonna S: I am on hold Lonna S: I am glad you asked me to call You: Why? Lonna S: The gift card will not qualify for the rebate. If you use the gift card for the purchase the rebate would be denied. The only methods that qualify for the rebate are cash or credit card. You: Okay, did they say why, cause a gift card is purchased with cash, so it would seem like the same thing. Lonna S: No, the associate only said that the payment methods of cash or credit card qualify for the rebate, that if you paid for your purchase with a gift card it would be declined. You: Okay, please let the powers that be at Sears know that this is a classic bait and switch, and that I, one among many I am sure, will no longer patronize Sears when they are using such deceptive practices.

You know, I had an issue with KMart not too long ago with their Shop Your Way Rewards program. They were punishing people for using coupons. When you would use the coupon, they would subtract the coupon twice before figuring up your rewards. So, if you paid $10 after using a $2 coupon, you only earned rewards on $8, not the $10 that came out of your pocket. What's with them and punishing people for using other things that are considered money?!? I like your final comment though, I had a similar one when I was dealing with KMart, "There's smart, and then there's KMart smart" yep, that about sums it up!

I'll let you know what happens with this, I printed the form yesterday and it does not say 'gift cards', so i will fight this. Received the gift cards for a birthday present and used them for this. My hubby not going to be a happy camper about this! Watch out- ha!