Why Can't I Spend My Holiday Money How I Want

[Rodger D. Johnson]

I'm going off topic about a run-in I had with AT&T. A few days ago, I listened to a podcast from a financial planner who talked about the uber-consumerism of Americans. His sage advice was to stop using credit cards and live on a budget within the means of our income.

While that's good advice, and a goal I've been working toward for the past year, I was confronted with an particularly troublesome problem. I upgraded my cell phone through AT&T and got a hefty rebate. But the rebate came in a gift card. I wasn't upset until AT&T told me that my gift card could only be used for purchases.

I had planned to take that rebate and put it back into my savings account. I didn't, nor do I want to spend the money. There's two things I thought about doing. First, I thought about going to an AT&T store and purchase merchandise that totaled the amount on the card, then immediately return it for a CASH refunds. While I didn't do that, in my discussion with an AT&T representative, I described that scenario. The representative told that returned merchandise could only be credited back to my rebate card. My second option was to got to my bank and have the money taken off of the card. Sorry, apparently I can't do that either.

Now wait a minute. That's money is mine, right? And I should have the right to use it, or not use it as in my case, with no strings attached, right? It's MY money. That's my beef with some rebate programs. I want MY money -- no strings attached. Is that too much to ask? Does anyone else feel that way?

There's another point I'd like to make about the "rebate" card I can only use to purchase more merchandise. It fuels the incessant consumerism some of us are trying to curb. I'm not saying that spending is bad, but that spending MY money -- rebate dollars or not -- should be at my discretion, not AT&T's.

Nuff said.

[Rodger D. Johnson]

I've been reading a lot from Seth Godin -- and others. The rebates are nothing more than bate. And, unfortunately, I took it this time. I'm not so much frustrated with getting a VISA rebate card as I am with the strings attached. Rebates with strings attached feed our consumerism and tempts a consumeristic appetite that's satisfied, or at least is trying to find contentment with the things he (me) has.

I got my Blackberry, but she I would have gotten an iPhone -- see there's that appetite again. I need a gronola bar.

[Cissi Sherlock]

Oh, Roger!

that reminds me of a lasy that I owrked with at the old Airport named Geraldine Blakley. She is the womand whose pink house John Mellancamp wrote about.

Geraldine did the same as you one year with a cell phone company and was awaiting a rebate. Instead, she receive a nice letter (which I did see with my own eyes) from the phone company (and, I believe it was AT&T) that her rebate of $80.00 had been donated to a worthy cause.

she hit the roof!!!

Her mantra was the same as yours. Basically, she said that the rebate was her money and she should be free to spend it as she pleased. She even had me draft a letter for her to the company about getting her money back so that she could spend it the way she please and if she did not authorize a donation, they could not make a donation WITH HER MONEY.

Unfortunately, I don't remember the outcome, but I do remember the hair raised on the back of her neck because they chose to dictate how she spent her own money.

[Steve Stuck]

It isn't necessarily your money in the respect that they are offering you discount on your purchase plan. I understand your frustration because I thought I was going to get a delivery fee just knocked off a bill but then found out that I was getting a VISA card that I could come back and shop at the store. I think this is the latest trend to get people back into their stores.

The best way to stop these practices is exactly what you are doing and getting the word out. Word of mouth of this practice can hurt them the worse.

I follow consumer advocate Clark Howard on these issues and you can visit his website @ clarkhoward.com. He gives really good advice on these situations and many others.

[Shelly Arens]

I agree 100%! Recently I stopped in the AT&T Mobility store (formerly Cingular) to get my free upgraded phone that I was eligible for last year, when I renewed my 2 year contract. Because I didn't get the phone at the time I renewed my contract, they said that I can get the new phone but my contract will extend from the time I get the new phone for 2 years. I've had it with contracts for phones, satellite TV service, etc. They're UTILITIES for crying out loud and I refuse to get locked into a contract term for a utility service moving forward. I'll just use the old, reliable, outdated phone I currently have until next year, when the contract expires and shop for a monthly service that doesn't require a contract.