posted 05-16-2014 12:00 PM ET (US)        

From time to time in advertisements of products related to boating, particularly it seems with some electronic products, and as I recall often in advertisements from West Marine, I have seen some disclaimer or qualification that the rebate does not apply to residents of Michigan. I am curious why Michigan has been, apparently, singled out for exclusion from some rebate offers.

My present hypothesis for this unusual situation is no more than a wild guess that there might be some law in place in Michigan that somehow affects these offers.

It is often the case that the process of providing the rebate is not controlled or administered or done by the actual company making the offer. For example, if Lowrance says there is a rebate on one of its products, the fulfillment of the rebate is not done by Lowrance but by a third party, a rebate company. If you send in all the required evidence for qualification of eligibility, and you never get a rebate, Lowrance will probably not be held accountable in most states, but I get the feeling perhaps they could be accountable in Michigan. Or perhaps the retailer, like West Marine, will be accountable.

A ten-year-old discussion on this topic that I found on the archives of the internet suggests there is such a Michigan law, and offers this:

quote:

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Section 445.356.6 of the ACT 449 of 1976 states:

(1) A person shall not knowingly make, publish, disseminate, circulate, or place before the public an advertisement which contains a statement or representation which is untrue, deceptive, or misleading.

(2) The failure to sell goods, merchandise, commodities, or services in the manner advertised, or the refusal to sell at the price at which it was advertised, or in accordance with other terms and conditions of the advertisement creates a rebuttable presumption of an intent to violate this act.

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(There was a hyperlink to the law itself, but the link is now redirected to a generic page.)

The discussion suggests that since a retailer will not be in control of the rebate process, they cannot assure that the advertised price will be the actual price at which something will be sold, that is, they cannot guarantee a buyer will get the rebate.

If you are interested in why I bring this up (and historically there seems to an ineluctable urge for readers to want to know the state of my mind when I post an article) it's because there is a rather attractive rebate offer being made at the moment by West Marine on a NAVICO chart plotter.

The rebate form is found at

http:/ / newcontent. westmarine. com/ documents/ pdfs/ rebates/ 04%2007% 2014-06%2030%2014%20Simrad%20Summer%20Savings%20MFTR%20Mail-In%20Rebate% 20Form%20Final. pdf

In the fine print it says, of course, "Void where prohibited, taxed or restricted by law."

The offer of the rebate is made on this webpage:

http://www.westmarine.com/network-displays/ simrad--nss8-chartplotter-fishfinder-combo--12626420

I don't see anything in this offer that disqualifies Michigan residents. This a break from the past, where I have seen such notices. Perhaps the change is because there is no mention of a final price which includes the rebate reduction. West Marine is not advertising the price with the rebate figured in. They just mention "Rebate available" and leave it to the consumer to do the math, that is, take off an extra $200 from the price.

I invite any informed commentary about this. Heck, even uninformed commentary is welcomed.