Seriously...

I woke this morning to a message from HP in my email inbox. Great news! I'm eligible for a rebate. Okay...why? Because apparently some of their ink cartridges for certain printers had slightly less ink than was indicated on the packaging. No big deal really what's a little less in a cartridge that already costs more than anything else I regularly replace in my life. Why would I be upset with that? All I have to do is get my receipt from anywhere from 4 months ago to 1 month ago and send that in with their rebate coupon. Just print out this coupon that is 2 pages long with half page colour images on each page (using up more of your ink) . Oh yeah and go find that receipt...hmmmm now where do I place those receipts for every damn thing I buy? Oh right, in the garbage. Now I regularly take the garbage out every 4-6 days so a 4 month old receipt is bound to be around here somewhere. Hmmm, nope can't seem to find it. How strange.

Seriously, there are so many problems with this little interaction.

A) how does "just a little" less ink end up in cartridges that I assume are filled by a machine?
B) how many regular people (not businesses) keep their receipts for office supply purchases?
C) where do you get off requiring me to print a 2 page coupon which in fact is just a piece of paper for my information on to whom and where to send the cheque, over 2 pages of large color dense imagery?

I'm really steamed about this. I do have 1 receipt for ink from the summer but only because I had ordered a bunch of supplies for Andrew's going back to school and had them delivered so I have the packing slip in my files, but I have bought ink twice since then and those purchases are equally eligible, except for the fact that I don't have receipts.
HP Canada is getting a nasty letter today.

M.