Rhode Island outlaws mail-in rebates

Rhode Island now requires that all rebates be credited by the retailer at the cash register, becoming the second state (after Connecticut) to do so.

Under the law, retailers advertising a manufacturer's rebate on any sale item must apply the rebate amount at the time of the sale and complete the rebate redemption process themselves, rather than requiring the consumer to do it.

The law prohibits retailers from advertising a "net," or final, price for an item that includes a payment from a manufacturer -- unless the retailer gives the buyer the amount of the manufacturer's payment at the time of the sale.

Further down in the article, I learned something I hadn't heard about before:

Separately, Massachusetts filed suit against Young America to demand that it submit to an audit of $43 million in uncashed rebate checks. Bay State officials claim the company kept that amount over seven years in return for charging its clients lower fees. The arrangement could be an incentive to deny legitimate rebate requests.

I've heard before stories that some rebate fulfillment services were using uncashed checks as a revenue source (I have no way of knowing if it's true), but I wasn't aware that any states had taken action on it.