Sprint To No Longer Offer Mail-In Rebates, Officially [Sprint Confirms Earlier Rumors, Company To Eliminate Mail-In Rebates In Favor Of "Instant Savings"]

Posted on TFTS by Kevin Schram on Saturday, 26. March 2011 under: Mobile/Cell Phones

Sprint will no longer be offering mail-in rebates! “Hey, does that mean they’re canceling rebates?” No! As opposed to forcing customers to go through the hassle of mailing in a rebate along with 500 different proofs of purchase, the company is moving to “instant savings” for phones they want to offer special rates on.

I wrote about this a few days ago when it was just rumored. But now, Sprint has confirmed it to website Phonescoop. Officially, it starts tomorrow, March 27, and officially, Sprint is treating it as a promotion – not a new feature. To me, it seems that this standard practice for carriers so they can cover their hides in case they want to cancel it at any time. Verizon did something similar with the “New Every Two” upgrade program they had for years. When they canceled it without warning just before getting the iPhone, they called it a “limited time promotion.”

Instant rebates are nothing new to the cell phone world. Best Buy has been handling rebates on behalf of the customers in the form of “instant rebates” and Verizon recently switched from mail-in rebates to instant ones on phones over $150. I think most of you will agree with me that rebates are a bit of a pain in the neck and it’s no secret that all companies (not just cell carriers) plan on some folks not jumping through the hoops to cash in all the rebates.

Sprint does have some awesome phones coming out, like the Nexus S 4G and HTC EVO 3D, etc. etc. So it’s a great time for them to eliminate mail-in rebates as a service to the customer.