Senator calls for rebate regulations

Sen. Charles Schumer of New York has called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate rebate offerings and to regulate rebate more strongly.

Schumer asked for the following rules on rebates, according to Promo magazine:

• Companies must provide consumers at least 30 days to redeem their rebates and must fulfill the terms of the rebate within the same amount of time required of consumers but it should not exceed 60 days.
• Companies must take steps to send the rebate check in a manner which identifies the piece of mail as the expected rebate check.
• Companies must accept copies of receipts, not just originals.
• Companies cannot require consumers to write identifying information on the rebate form unless the receipt does not identify the purchased product.
• Companies offering rebates may not require information that is not necessary to process the rebate, including information other than name, address and phone number.
• Companies must provide telephone numbers or contact information for rebate inquiries so consumers are able check on the status of their rebates.