Amana Refrigerator Rebate Woes

Last summer, my wife and were in the market for a new refrigerator.  We didn't *want* to buy a refrigerator - our Maytag one went out after only 3 years of use . . . and repairing it would have cost more than getting a new one.  We really weren't excited to buy yet another major appliance, as we had just replaced our 3-year-old Maytag washer just 2 months earlier.  Coincidentally (or not), my parents' refrigerator (Maytag) died at about the same time, and just weeks before that, their dryer (care to guess which brand?) also bit the dust.

Needless to say - Maytag wasn't very high on our list of potential products.

After consulting with Consumer Reports, we decided to get an Amana.  Now, yes - Amana *is* owned by Maytag - but all the reports that we had read mentioned that they were among the most reliable.

We purchased our new refrigerator on July 25, 2006.  At the time, Amana was running a promotion - the "Amana Bottom Feeder Freezer Summer Rebate Offer".  With the purchase of our refrigerator, we would get a $100.00 rebate . . . at least, that was the idea.  Although we sent in the rebate the day after the purchase, 3 months later, we still had not received confirmation.  A quick call to the Parago Rebate Processing Center (the company which Amana contracted to handle the rebates) turned up that they "hadn't received our rebate information" - and basically, we were S.O.L.

Well, 100 bucks is enough to get you motivated - so we called the store where we made the purchase.  The Amana rep at the store called the rebate processing company and "magically" our rebate showed up the following day.  We started tracking it at http://www.rebatetrack.com/promocenter/parago/trackdetails.html?track_number=209141794

It was received 10/27/2006 - nearly 7 months ago . . . and 3 months after the initial purchase.  However, we were hopeful because the tracking site said that the rebate is "valid and scheduled for final processing."

Come the end of February, we realized we still didn't have our rebate.  A quick call on February 22nd turned up an apology, and we were promised to receive a check within the next 15 business days - by March 15th.  Well, still nothing by the 19th of March, we called again, and were told that they were "unsure of why the delay was happening."  Our rebate was "expedited" for a second time - "Please allow 7 business days to receive your check."

March 30th - Spoke to the supervisor, and were told that they were going to expedite it one more time . . . and they gave us another 14-day window.

OK - a summary for those who are keeping score:

• July 25, 2006 - Purchased refrigerator


• July 26, 2006 - Sent in rebate (expecting standard 90-day turnaround)


• October 26, 2006 - Called rebate fulfillment company to find that our rebate "never arrived"


• October 27, 2006 - Rebate "magically" shows up on fulfillment tracking website - marked as "valid"


• February 22, 2007 - Told that we would be "expedited" and would get rebate in 14 business days


• March 15, 2007 - Told that we would be "expedited" and would get rebate in 7 business days


• March 20, 2007 - Told that we would be "expedited" and would get rebate in 14 business days

April 20, 2007 -

Today we called again - this time we wanted a real answer.  We were sick of being "expedited" - and wanted to know what was going on.  This time, we asked to be routed directly to a supervisor.  Our first supervisor was Jeff.  He told us that there had been "overwhelming response to the rebate" and they were "aware of the problem" - but they were unable to give us a timetable for the receipt of our money.  Now - isn't that a step *backwards*???

We asked to be escalated to *his* supervisor - and ended up speaking with Oscar at Parago, who reiterated the "overwhelming response" line.  He also refused to give an expected date for when we would get our check.  He also promised to forward our information to *his* supervisor . . . moving on up the chain.

Now, we hold no fault with Parago - they are merely the fulfillment company for Amana - so we asked Oscar for any contact information for someone at Amana.  He informed us that he did not have that information.  Feeling that we had hit a dead end, we tried to push for more information.  He indicated that "per company policy" he was not allowed to verbalize the reason for the delay himself.  So my wife (who is wonderful and has spent hours of time trying to track down this issue) tried to "guess" at the reason.  What follows is more-or-less how it went down:

Brenda: "Is your company a contractor for Amana?"
Oscar: "Yes"
B: "So your company acts as a contractor for Amana - is it the fault of your company for failing to fulfill your obligations to your customer, or is it the fault of Amana for not providing sufficient funds to satisfy the rebates?"
O: "As a matter of company policy, I am not allowed to verbalize to you the exact nature of the problem, but I can tell you that you are on the right track."
B: "So you're telling me that Amana has not provided the money to send to their customers."
O: "You've guessed correctly."

WHAT?????!!!! Amana doesn't have the money to pay their obligations?  That is ridiculous!  I don't know what is going on - but that is not right.  I wonder if Whirlpool knew about this situation when they were merging with Maytag/Amana.  I wonder if Whirlpool is the *cause* of all this.  Has anyone else had a similar problem with Amana/Maytag/Whirlpool?  Is there anyone out there who might be able to shed a little light on what might be going on?  Please post a comment and fill us in . . .

All told, we still don't have our money.  Ironically, we received in the mail an invitation to extend our warranty with Amana . . . since we are nearing the 1 YEAR MARK of owning our refrigerator.

I wonder if I should send it in . . .