O/T: Why does the comment box jump to the top of the list when I reply? I don't see the message I am replying to and therefore have to remember all the points of said commenter. Is it an Opera 10.10 thing? Or do other folks have the same problem now?

I pay taxes.

We all pay taxes.

In fact, many states (CA being the most notorious) charge sales taxes on all items based on the price before any discounts or rebates.

And, when I worked retail for VZW, people paid taxes on the amount of their purchase before mail-in-rebates.

The way I see it, If sears offered free shipping, and the shipping was $75 before taxes, and sears gave the OP a rebate of $75, then Sears was (unusually) correct.

Hope you can assist. I would like to escalate but I don't know how much time I can give this for $6.

Exactly. I know there's principle involved here, but how much time do you really want to spend fighting for $6.19? In addition to your time, over 5,000 people have now given their time reading about the loss of $6.

@oneliketadow: They are supposed to...

For most cases, this analogy will work just fine:

If you buy a $1000 TV from WalMart, but they give you $500 off at the register, you pay tax on the $500 only. But, if you pay $1000 and get a $500 rebate by mail, you pay tax on the $1000 and don't get any of it back.

The OP should just deal with it and move on.

If you look on Sears' Rebate Center page, they have dozens of rebates for "Free Delivery, up to $75 off" or "up to %10 off" or "Price paid for installation", etc. I don't think she read the rebate form carefully.

I ordered a fridge, it got back ordered for a few weeks. I had a $60 rebate on the delivery charge. I waited until the fridge had been delivered before filing the rebate.

OOPS

The rebate had already expired. What I should have done is send it in the same week I had bought the fridge.

So, the people they contract to do the rebates denied the rebate because I sent it in 2 days after the expiration. And they weren't willing to budge at all.

And what really grinds me is that a $60 rebate with the exact same terms (but a different ID# and date range) was going on. Not only that, but I've peeked in over the years and it seems that they continually have these rebates back to back.

That whole experience left a sour taste in my mouth and led me to go elsewhere for the rest of the appliances I've replaced (washer/dryer/dishwasher/stove). Their unwillingness to budge on a small $60 rebate (in fact, their whole FUBAR rebate system) lost them thousands in sales.

$6 tax, whatever. Especially considering it depends on the state for sales tax on deliveries.

If your "free delivery" ended up taking months, or was hundreds of dollars, I'd sympathize.

But there's probably a clause covering this in their delivery options.

This does vary by state, in mine there is no sales tax on delivery so I have always gotten the entire amount back.

Sales tax laws are insanely complicated on the business side.

The problem is that the rebate shell game is what most likely triggered the tax in the first place. Services get taxed (depending upon the state). If Sears just simply did not charge the delivery charge there would be nothing to tax. But I guess if they want to limit their "generosity" to below $75 they have to account for it somehow. Anyhow, tax does not go to Sears and so I don't think they should be responsible for paying it. Just my little opinion though.

Back in my day at Roebuck's Shack, delivery and the fees involved had little governance in the store. Kind of like the wild west, almost. Not sure if you want that garden tractor? We'll throw in free delivery. Not convinced about the 5-year service plan? ...Free delivery on that water heater.

Some of the horror stories of delivery were epic. I remember the daughter of a very famous local athlete had paid for a treadmill and delivery...and when it came, the clowns bringing it into her apartment somehow managed to knock over a huge jar of sand onto (and then into) the motor and belt of the treadmill. Instantly ruined. And the sand was from Normandy, France...from her Grandfather.

i would've gladly paid an extra $6 not to go thru all the hassle i went thru with that purchase.

Like those free bottles of pop you win under the pepsi/coke liners. You get the product "free" but you still have to pay any applicable deposits/enviro fees and local/state/provincial/country taxes on the original value of the product.

Reference: [www.ca.boe.gov]

Shipping $75
Discount -$75
Subtotal $0
Tax $0

As to where the tax goes...well, unless Sears is playing a game of tax evasion (unlikely), then it is being forwarded to whatever taxing authority they send collected tax too.

I've had delivery shenanigans with Sears in the past (as other commenters appears to have too). As such, I won't buy any more appliances from them...unless it's a smokin' deal, and I'm picking it up.

If they make a mistake on your bill, it's effectively the same thing. The charge and the associated tax should be removed immediately. Anytime something like that has happened (from other companies. I don't have Verizon) I've always received the full credit immediately.

This is different from the OP's issue though, which others have adequately explained.

I've heard of discounts by rebate, but delivery that's only free after rebate? Ridiculous.

@Sockatume: Except they are writing another check every month to the states. Doing an offset shouldn't be too hard.

Since when did people start expecting rebates on taxes?

Personally I like to read the fine print for any offers I partake in. For example this states it does not cover the tax... Pretty clear to me.

"Rebate value varies based on price paid for products less all discounts, coupons and reward certificates and does
not include tax."

Pretty straight forward.

I would suggest contacting them a few more times to get the rest of the money back if it's that important.