Laptop rebate update:

Last Tuesday, July 19, remember that I submitted an on-line plea to the rebate department of Office Depot explaining how we sent in the one rebate envelope without the required copy of the UPC and receipt.

The website said to expect a response within 72 hours. I had submitted a form a few weeks before that as soon as I realized the mistake and they did get back to me in less than 72 hours.

After four days of not hearing anything I took that as a good sign. If it were a slam-dunk-we-got-your-money-screw-you response I would expect that right away. I figured they had to get some approvals from managers and they were going to get it straightened out before they responded to me.

I checked the on-line status of my rebate every day, but it never changed from the big red "RESUBMIT".

So today, almost two weeks and not hearing anything, I thought I had better give them a call. I was dreading it. I just knew I was going to get frustrated because it was going to be a minimum wage person on the other side, reading from a script, telling me to send in the copy of the UPC and receipt that I did not have, and I was going to have to resign myself to the fact that the "bargain" laptop was going to cost me $660 instead of $500.

She asked for my name, ZIP code, and first letter of my first name. She asked if I was calling about the $160 rebate. "Yes". "You need to resubmit the UPC…"

I politely interrupted and asked if the system shows they received any correspondence from me on July 19 about this. "No."

I tried my best to explain the complicated series of events as simply as I could, with a special emphasis on talking slowly and not sounding rude, angry, accusing, etc., and then after I laid out the facts requested that they please approve the rebate because they already received and verified the UPC and receipt from the other offer.

I got it all out there, and then it was time to wait and see what my fate would be. "Can you please hold?" "Not a problem. Thank you very much for your help."

This was unexpected. No script telling me sorry I'm out of luck? OK, this seemed promising.

After a minute or two she came back on and said she confirmed they received the UPC and receipt for the related offer, so she was going to go ahead and approve this offer as well and I should get my check in eight to twelve weeks. Yippee!

After I hung up I went back out to the rebate status website and re-checked my status. It had already changed from a red "RESUBMIT" to a nice soothing green "Qualified".

This is my official endorsement of Office Depot, and declaration that they will always be the first choice for my office supply needs. They should be your first choice too.