XGBox/MGE Scam Strikes Again, Staples Packaging Woes, And My Completed Bracket (And My Sister’s Bracket Too!)
Blog entries in three consecutive days (and five of six)???
It’s as if I were in training for the IMBC!
Quick-hitters:
- Yay! The weather looks good this weekend! It better be, because this weekend will be the first UngsungBBQ of the year!
Hopefully I’ll be able to squeeze in a few minutes—between March Madness, naturally—to actually cook :P.
(Then again, that’s why I invited my mom over!)
- So I finally decided to start using my CVS dryer sheets today.
(In other words, my sister told me to stay away from her Bounce sheets.)
I’m glad to report that they didn’t make my clothes smell too offensive. Unfortunately, my hands—several hours later, mind you!—still smell of the sheets.
Maybe I should go rub my hands in some mud or something.
- If you’ll recall, D-Day for my XGBox/MGE Company rebate fiasco was this past Friday. On Monday, I sent these clowns this email:
I was told that my rebate checks were going to be mailed out on 3/14. Have the checks been mailed out yet?
Here was their reply:
Unfortunately, we were unable to get the checks mailed out within the timeframe offered in the previous email. They won’t be sent out until the end of this month. Sorry about this unexpected delay.
Shocker!
But wait! An individual from a forum I frequent got this reply from XGBox, dated March 13th, regarding his rebate status:
Both of the checks have gotten printed. We will get them mailed by next week. Thanks for waiting.
I guess they were able to print out the checks, but they could not get them out in the mail! How long does it take to print an envelope, insert a check, lick the seal, stamp the envelope, and drop off the rebates in a mail box?
I’ll set the over/under on the date of the actual mailing of the check to be 9/1/08 and I’ll gladly take the over (later than 9/1/08).
(On a positive note, I got this email from rebatestatus.com regarding my invalid Acronis True Image 11 Home rebate:
Thank you for your inquiry regarding your rebate. Your rebate was resubmitted on 03/13/08 and is currently being reviewed. Your new submission number is xxxxxxxxx. Please allow 6-8 weeks for processing.
Hopefully this means my rebate will be validated.)
- I got two packages from Staples today.
Package #1 was a box about twice the size of its contents. Package #2 was a box that barely fit its contents.
Package #1 had its contents surrounded by those cushioning air bags (for the most part). Package #2 had no cushioning, unless you count the little plastic bag containing one pack of pen refills or the packing slip itself.
The contents of package #1 were packed snugly—a feat not to be overlooked with regards to Staples packages! The contents of package #2 were rattling around the box.
One package contained a CD case, a small software box, and a pack of pen refills. One box contained a Seagate 500GB SATA/300 Hard Drive and the same pack of pen refills. Care to guess which package is which?
I know that retail-boxed HDDs are already well-packed, but couldn’t Staples spare a slightly larger box and an air bag or three? They’ll tightly pack a box of software, but not a hard drive?
Well done, Staples.
- As promised, here is my completed bracket. A summary:
Sweet 16: UNC v WSU, L’ville v Tenn, Kansas v Vandy, USC v G’town, Memphis v Pitt, Stan v Texas, UCLA v UConn, Xavier v Duke.
Elite 8: UNC v Tenn, Kansas v G’town, Pitt v Texas, UCLA v Xavier
Final Four: UNC v G’town, Texas v UCLA
Championship: G’town v UCLA
Winner: UCLA 74, G’town 67.
(Tangent: This might smell of a classic example of the Ung-hex. However, I didn’t pick UCLA to win last year or the year before, so I decided to try something different this year :P).
And just for kicks, here is my sister’s completed bracket. Anyone wanna wager on who will do better this year? I’ll set the odds accordingly:
Odds on who scores more points in this year’s pick’em:
Me +200
My sister -220
Happy March Madness!
You aren’t the only one that has been ripped off by MGE (parent company of XGbox). I also sent in two rebates totalling $51 (middle of last year). MGE verified that they were valid. They never sent the checks. Each inquiry that I made was followed by an email from them, always postponing the checks. I did a web search (that’s how I found your blog). There are many posts about MGE not paying rebates, and each one has the same stalling replies from MGE. MGE claims that they have had so many rebate requests, and that’s responsible for the delay. If they have had so many rebate requests, that means that they have sold many, many thousands of their products. Obviously, they never intend to send rebates to anyone. Their total illegal take due to never sending the checks out must be in the millions of dollars. I classify them as thieves. They have made the rebate offers fraudently. BTW, I purchased the XGbox from Buy.com……they didn’t help any after I sent them an email requesting them to exert pressure on MGE,as they were obviously one of MGE’s best customers..
Norm,
Much thanks for your comment. I wouldn’t call XG/MGE thieves, though; thieves don’t string you around with promises of what is rightfully yours.
And I am not surprised that Buy.com wasn’t willing to help you out. They once advertised an item with a rebate that was not valid on said product; I had purchased the item, attempted to cancel that same day, and they completely ignored my cancellation request. Worse, they wouldn’t pay my return shipping! For the record, I also bought my XGBox product from Buy.com, and I didn’t even bother trying to contact Buy.com for help.
Again, thanks for sharing your story.