...I just meant a sign in the store. If there's a sign that says $34.95 or $59.95 or whatever, that's the price you should have paid when you leave the store, regardless of whether "after rebate" appears in small type or big type. Never mind all the complicated instructions about what you have to send in and what has to be an original and what can be a copy, and, by the way, you have to go to Kinko's to make copies of everything, and so forth.

And that's all before they start telling you that you made a mistake or they never got what you sent them (which I've been told more than once -- the Post Office appears to be negligent with mailed-in rebate forms). And even after they receive your material and approve it, they say the rebate check will be sent in 10 to 12 weeks. (According to the allrebates website, that's how long I have to wait for my $40 rebate on ZoneAlarm, which I purchased at Fry's in mid-December.) Ten to 12 weeks??!! You get a refund from the IRS quicker than that. What can possibly require 10 to 12 weeks to cut a check and mail it to you after they've approved your rebate?

I understand that the seller is trying to differentiate between buyers who are price conscious and will pursue the rebate -- they get the lower price -- and buyers who either don't care or correctly figure that it's usually not worth the time and trouble -- they pay the higher price.

But even for those who are price motivated, the system is rigged against them. That's the annoying part. Sellers frequently make it difficult to get the rebate, which makes the whole enterprise a kind of bait and switch. Put up a sign that promotes the after-rebate price, but arrange it so that only a minority of buyers actually pay that price.

That should be illegal, and that's why there should be legislation that all rebates be must given at the cash register.