OfficeMax Steps into the Present

Office supply superstore OfficeMax recently announced that it is doing away with mail-in rebates.

Citing overwhelming customer dissatisfaction with its mail-in rebate system, OfficeMax said it will eliminate the program beginning this weekend.

After a year of working with suppliers to implement the change, the office products retailer decided to do away with mail-in rebates in favor of in-store discounts.

The decision was the culmination of almost uniformly negative feedback regarding the lengthy and often-frustrating process of mailing in a rebate form and proof of purchase, followed by weeks of waiting for a check, a company spokesman said on Friday.

This should surprise no one. Mail-in rebates might have seemed acceptable when every purchase required a physical trip to the store, but now they're an arcane and frustrating throwback. There's just something ludicrous about ordering things online or shopping around for the best price on the web, and then having to photocopy receipts and fill out forms to get money back.

I imagine OfficeMax was noticing that many consumers (including me) would actually choose a retailer where the total price was slightly higher - but was the price that actually was charged at the register.

It's no secret that rebates are designed around less-than-100% fulfillment. Sure, you can advertise a lower price, knowing that a large portion of your customers won't fill out the form, and the real discount will be less. But it leaves your customers feeling like you're playing games with them.

OfficeMax has taken a step toward transparent, simple pricing and purchasing. It's a smart move.