dazzlerdaz

They just rely on people NOT bothering

snowboardboy

Exactly! So what have we learnt? Let's all make sure we charge back and put these robbers out of business!

YYZlover

I'm swedish with a UK laptop in Canada. I just switch the settings to make the keyboard operate as a swedish keyboard. The only difference is that I don't see the difference in the keyboards. Has taught me to somewhat touch type, which isn't a bad thing.

stepnek

If the saving was immediate at the point of sale instead of a mail in rebate it would also mean that the sales tax would be applied to the discounted price rather than the full price.

kidmeup

i have just bought my lappy over and bought the canadian lead for $12 that plugs into the power pack.
me personally wouldnt buy a dell,leave them alone IMHO,but i dont want to start a free for all on which is good/bad.
i bought an IBM lenovo and i would buy another 10.
if you are going to buy back in the UK please check out
www.laptopsdirect.co.uk
i cant recommend them enough

hope you choose wisely and good luck

BristolUK

Presumably the company has to pass the tax on however much it is though. So it's not to their advantage to collect more or less tax is it? Unless there's some loophole where they can collect more tax on the higher price and then only hand over the tax on the lower price.

snowboardboy

I was more concerned with the V difference and charging times. For example if I buy a UK laptop will it take twice as long to charge in Canada? If I buy a Canadian laptop will I need a step down in the UK?

stepnek

The point I was making is that it's to the customer's disadvantage which is what irks me about mail in rebates compared to an immediate discount. If the discount was given at the store at the time of purchase then the customer would benefit from paying a little less tax.

If an item is bought for $200 with a mail in rebate of $50 then the customer still pays the tax on the full $200. If the $50 discount was applied at the point of sale then tax would only apply to $150.

G77

No, the adaptors are the same wherever you buy the laptop, just the lead that plugs into the power pack is different. They will all take an input of 100-240V and output 16V typically.

BristolUK

Sure, I understood that.

I was just thinking that the store doesn't gain either way so why do something clearly disadvantageous to their customer if it makes no difference to the store?

The rebate must go unclaimed sufficiently for it to be worth their while. But why not then make all rebates the 'mail in' kind if it's such a money maker for them?

They might gain from unclaimed rebates but then they waste admin costs on rebates that could be given at point of sale.

snowboardboy

but is it the store or the supplier who offer the rebate discount?

BristolUK

I must admit I haven't noticed. Chances are it's some sort of agency dealing with it anyway.

Steve_P

Any mail in rebates I have had (some paid some didn't) have been run by an agency for the manufacturer.

I try to avoid them these days.

Southcote

I have a UK laptop that works fine in Canada with an adaptor. Does anyone know if I can just cut off the UK plug and put a Canadian one on it ? I'm not electrician but I can't see that it would really make any difference

deanjp32

if it works fine as does mine then why bother going to the bother of cutting off the plug etc etc