Although I’ve never seen anything formal written about it, I’ve always assumed that manufacturer’s rebates are deliberately designed to minimize the rate of redemption.  The manufacturer forces you to work for it: gathering up the two feet of receipts from Best Buy, ruining the chance to reuse the packaging by cutting the UPC off the box, digging around for some identifying code from the product itself.

This seemed to be the case when I bought a Series 2 TiVo last month.  But for $150 back, I was intent on outwitting the system.  Imagine by surprise and delight when I received a tracking confirmation email from TiVo, directing me to this site.  It shows my rebate status with elegant simplicity.  Once again, TiVo hits it out of the park.

Misha Cornes