Sprint considering dropping Pre mail-in-rebate? Probably Not

According to a PalmGoon source, there are “minor rumblings going around that the company might do away with the mail-in-rebate for the Palm Pre in favor of an instant rebate.” Sprint, it seems, is feeling customer pressure from partners Best Buy and RadioShack, who will be offering the Pre with the $100 instant rebate instead of the mail-in nonsense that Sprint has perpetuated for all these years.

Sprint obviously doesn’t want to lose sales to their partners (despite the fact that they’ve partnered), and converting the mail-in-rebate to the instant variety also will give potential Pre customers an extra $100 in the store to buy other things, like a car charger or Touchstone dock. Those accessories are where the Sprint stores make their money, not phone sales.

Then again, 1Reaper in our forums has just heard that the mail-in-rebate is here to stay at Sprint Locations:

I just spoke with a friend, Sprint is keeping the mail in rebate, they received all the info and paperwork on it today during their staff meeting.

Not a big surprise.  It looks like our June 6th options are as follows: line up at a Sprint store and deal with the mail-in-rebate but have a better chance at Pre stock or line up at a Best Buy for the instant rebate but risk what we expect will be smaller in-stock numbers.

Thanks to Slingblade in our forums for the tip!