ITEM PRICING - MAIL IN REBATES - CHEATING MICHIGAN RESIDENTS

I accumulated 175, 630 PNC Bank Points (April 2007 - lost some) they are good for
48 months. I had to call their Manilla, Philippines call center to redeem them as cash - it took 36 minutes...

I redeemed 170,000+ points for $344.00....

What do you think?? - which are good programs and which are not - when I looked to buy something with them a year ago - the items for purchase were at MSRP (it seemed) and not a good buy...is it better to take cash???...............

Also - The non Item Pricing Law is cheating customers - stores are failing to post visible prices and those that are posted on shelves are too small for seniors or people wearing glasses to see...and stores are just not posting prices on items, leaving customers to lug item up to the cashiers.

Younkers in Lansing had at least 4 items with no price visible and their pricing kiosk was malfunctioning. Now four items don't sound like a lot - but I didn't check for more.

CVS has one price scanner - requiring you to lug any item across the store to it....they also have clearance items with no prices and computer prices, that dont tell you what the previous price was - so you dont know what the amount of savings are for an item.

Staples has a clearance shelf and table where some items are item priced and others that are not - and sometimes the price and computer price don't match up - leaving the buyer at the mercy of the store clerk to give a price.

There is a serious lack of price scanners in stores...and lack of enforcement to make stores comply - now consumers are at the mercy of stores - and their computers, which often are updated properly. Consumers are getting cheated.............................

Mail in Rebates - are cheating Michigan residents out of millions and millions of dollars - because of the extensive requirements that are needed to redeem the rebate: original receipt (what if you want to return item?), original or copied sales receipt, rebate form, etc...and you have to pay to mail it in...and then it may get lost in the mail or at the rebate center, and unless you are very very organized - you may never know that you didn't get a rebate.

Stores should be required by law - to issue the rebates at the cashier....that way customers get their rebates instantly, no muss no fuss...and if item is returned - the customer gets what he/she paid for item.

Contact your state legislator and tell them of your concerns and tell the store manager - you are upset with these failures to protect the consumer and register a complaint with the company via their websites...

We need to say: We deserve better - we deserve to be protected.