It is again time for a nice rant.

As you may recall I have recently built a new computer from scratch to run Windows Vista Ultimate, and unfortunately that has meant I have been offered some rebates. I hate rebates and apparently, judging from my e-mail, I am not alone in thinking this ridiculous idea is keeping retail prices high because consumers actually think they are getting a bargain.

Rebates are so reviled that even Best Buy and Office Max are phasing them out. But still they persist.

"Rebates were the No. 1 customer complaint we were getting," said Ryan Vero, OfficeMax's chief merchandising officer.

Here are some dirty secrets of rebates:

• Most consumers don't complete the hoops that are required to actually get the money. Sure, you buy the product (factoring that "after rebate this is such a deal" only to discover that you never get around to it, you don't have the UPC code or DNA sample required or you somehow lost the receipt).

That means they are paying a much higher price for the good than they thought they were going to. One industry figure I remember was 14 percent of rebates are actually redeemed.

• Some percentage are redeemed, but the user doesn't ever get the money. The redemption service makes up some excuse about you not including the right UPC code or something and your complaints fall on deaf ears (assuming you even remember that the rebate is missing).

• Some are stolen in the mail (some are actually sent as postcards if you can believe that). I bought something the other day at Circuit City and the cashier had to spend about 2 minutes printing things and stapling forms together for me to claim $10. (Unless you order on the Web and pick up your purchase at the Circuit City store ... in that case you're on your own to find the rebate coupon and get it all mailed off.)

I bought a bunch of parts recently from a large online seller. Three came with rebates. This retailer and some others now are using an online service that purportedly makes it easier to claim your rebates. I actually consider it a step backward. Here's why: With this new process you enter some information into an online form and you expect to be done. But this site adds a wrinkle ... you have to enter your e-mail address and wait for a confirmation e-mail before you can click on that to then print out another form and then mail off all of the receipts and UPC codes.

To my mind that delay makes it far more likely you'll never find a second time to sit down to work on rebates.