Microsoft - Incompetent or Thieves?

November of last year I bought Tax Cut and Microsoft Money Plus on a rebate promotion. Most companies have listened to their customers and taken the pain out of the rebate process. However, Microsoft, that old school dinosaur of the tech biz, has decided to continue trying to skim a little extra profit by ripping off customers on rebates. Below is my email to Bill Gates. It's pretty self-explanatory.

Dear Mr. Gates,

I’m sure this does not actually go to Bill Gates, but maybe it does go to the last person at Microsoft who actually cares about the company reputation. Over the past year I’ve become so irritated with the poor customer service at Microsoft that I have canceled my Microsoft Partnership, packaged up my Action Pack stuff for shipping, bought a couple of Macs, learned Ubuntu, and downloaded IBM Symphony for all my computers. However, I did make the mistake of not warning my wife against purchasing the Tax Cut/Money Plus promotion (with rebate). So, I meticulously copied my receipts, the box top, and the rebate form. I even took a picture of me putting it in the mail. I thought about wasting my own money and sending it registered. Do you know why? Because I correctly predicted that Microsoft would try to avoid paying the rebate, and now they have. This morning I checked at the MS/Young America site and sure enough, it said that they never received my rebate. Of course, as soon as I saw Young America I knew that my rebate would not be processed correctly, because I have dealt with this incompetent organization before. They must toss half of the mail they receive right in the trash. I think somebody needs to investigate Young America.

Microsoft has not only become a highly incompetent company, but nobody there seems to care. As long as the bottom line looks good, it’s okay to not know how to do anything right? Well hey, I think I’ll run my business that way. I’ll fire my employees and get rid of all of my customers except those who pay me to do nothing. Sounds good, huh? If that is the best Microsoft can do, please stop wasting my time and yours, and just go out of business.

As for my rebate, I probably won’t waste the time being accused of trying to rip off billionaire corporations by some smug idiot whose job it is to steal from me. I’ll just eat the rebate and remember to avoid buying anything from Microsoft and H&R Block. Of course, I’ll be letting Block and Staples (where I made the purchase) know why I’m not dealing with them anymore, too.