Rebate trickery, again

Many consumer products, like cell phones, computers, and so on seem to come with some kind of a [tag]rebate[/tag]. Buy now and get $50 back, and so on. I don't quite understand the business or marketing intent of this scheme.

I just switched my whole kit and kaboodle cell phone business from Sprint to [tag]Cingular/AT&T[/tag]. And as encouragement I get $50 off on each of the phones, at least so they say.

What I actually get back

• A form that looks like a 1040 that has to be filled out in gory detail
• A requirement to cut out the [tag]UPC[/tag] bar code from the box
• Which I then have to place into an envelope, address and stamp and mail
• Weeks late, I receive a little orange debit card pre-loaded with $50…
• Which EXPIRES in 4 months
• Which needs to be 'activated', requiring a 10 minute phone call
• Which I then need to use when I purchase something. And who knows if that will work?

Hmm. What's going on here? Seems like they are hoping (or better, have calculated precisely) that a percentage of the eligible rebates never get collected. So they make it look like it's $50 off, but statistically it's more like $30.

Is this a good business practice? I suppose their statisticians and accountants say it is, but there's a real cost in brand loyalty and good will.

And it's not just [tag]AT&T[/tag] - everyone does it: Staples, HP in my personal recent experience, but lots and lots of others.

So the deal is: [tag]advertise[/tag] and promote a great offer and then place as many speedbumps and obstacles in your customer's way and hope that by inconveniencing your customers you recoup some of it.