Three years after we first covered this story, getting Time Warner to honor your rebate request is still like pulling teeth.

One of the most frequent complaints we hear about Time Warner Cable is the company’s unwillingness to honor its rebate offers.

In the last five years, Stop the Cap! has received at least 50 complaints from consumers who were told they qualified for $200-300 in rebates, only to never receive them. A story from Raleigh’s WTVD-TV this week illustrates the problem has not gone away.

Alex Dydula was convinced to give up 15 years of satellite television to sign up with Time Warner Cable. The company’s ongoing $300 Visa card rebate offer sweetened the deal.

Except he never got the gift card, just a Time Warner Cable runaround:

“You qualify for a $300 Visa card, all you have to do is wait for the redemption code to come in the mail,” Alex said he was told by a rep.

Alex says he followed the instructions that the rep gave him in order to get the $300.00 Visa card.

“We waited for the redemption code, it never came,” Alex said.

With no redemption code, Alex went online and did an online chat with a TWC rep and through the chat was informed how to register for the reward. Alex also called Visa.

“‘Yeah you qualify, you should get this. I’ll take care of it for you,'” he said.

Alex kept waiting.

“Only to get a call back from the Visa rewards folks to say ‘you don’t qualify. You don’t have the right package, the wrong codes are in the system. I don’t care, I can’t do anything,'” he said he was told by a rep who handles the reward program.

Stop the Cap! has reported on Time Warner’s rebate offers since 2013, and the company has done little to address the concerns of customers who felt cheated out of the rebate for reasons that seem to shift with the desert sands:

• You are ineligible
• The promotion is over
• The agent wasn’t authorized to offer us the promotion
• There is no record of the offer

Just a sample of Time Warner’s terms and conditions.

The rules for Time Warner’s rebate programs are byzantine and missing even one of them, or negotiating certain discounts or service credits that cut the cost of your package can invalidate the offer. But the only way you find out is after your submission is rejected and the rebate program has ended.

1. Time Warner Cable customers qualified for a rebate must first wait for a “rebate redemption code” to arrive, typically two weeks after installing or upgrading service. But most customers complaining about rebate problems report they never received the code. You may be able to find it from Time Warner’s rebate website.
2. With code in hand, customers are qualified to register for the reward on the company’s rebate website. But since Time Warner requires the rebate to be submitted within 30 days of installation, that two-week wait for a “redemption code” may leave customers with as little as 14 days to register.
3. Customers are then required to maintain and pay on time for cable service for at least three months. Even one late payment can invalidate the rebate.
4. After 90 days of service and on time payments, the company will start processing the rebate application, which takes an extra 1-2 months.
5. The rebate card should arrive in your mailbox within 14 days after mailing.

This year, promotions vary depending on your location and the conditions under which you were offered a rebate. We have learned there are rebate programs for “win-back” promotions that convince customers not to switch to another provider, but only under certain conditions. It is easy for customers to apply for the wrong rebate. For example, a current customer will not qualify if they fill out a rebate form intended for customers just signing up for the first time. Other rebate offers apply only in selected geographic areas.

For instance, a $300 rebate offer targeting broadband-only customers who agree to buy a Triple Play bundle of services at $89 or higher is only valid if they are in California, New York City, the Hudson Valley or New Jersey.

If you are not disqualified already, there are many other ways to run afoul of the offer:

• Existing customers with any level of video service are not eligible;
• You must prove you had/have video service with another provider or you are not eligible;
• Online only video services are not eligible;
• Customers who don’t maintain fully paid-up service for at least 90 days are not eligible;
• Customers who don’t register for the rebate within 30 days of installation are not eligible;
• Customer names and addresses must exactly match with both the old provider and Time Warner or you are not eligible;
• Customers complain more than 60 days after of the end of the promotion about missing rebate cards or eligibility problems will not be considered.

If you do not use the card quickly, service fees kick in after five months, except the terms and conditions note that some cards may be pre-activated as much as two months before they were mailed, giving you only 90 days to spend the money before a $2.50 monthly service fee begins. Replacement fees also apply if the card fails to work, is lost or stolen. We recommend immediately using the card at a grocery store for a few weeks or buy something like Amazon gift cards, which do not expire and carry no service fees. The longer you leave the card lying around, the higher the chance you will forget about it or find it depleted by arbitrary service fees.

A very active thread on Time Warner Cable’s discussion forum features more than five pages of complaints about missing rebates.

If you are affected by a missing or rejected rebate, the easiest way to resolve it is to ask Time Warner Cable to convert it into a $300 service credit instead. The alternative is waiting as Time Warner officials tell the third-party rebate processor to override a rebate rejection, which can cause delays lasting weeks. Getting $300 off your cable bill is much easier and faster. You can appeal directly to the Office of the President of Time Warner Cable by filling out this contact form or filing a complaint against your nearest Time Warner Cable office with the Better Business Bureau. Your goal is to speak to a senior customer specialist authorized to grant your $300 credit request. Either method should work.

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WTVD Raleigh NC Time Warner Cable deal gives Raleigh man the runaround 4-8-16.flv[/flv]

An “I-Team” reporter for WTVD-TV helps a Raleigh man get the $300 rebate he was originally promised by Time Warner Cable. (2:08)