Few Students Collect Coop Textbook Rebate

Harvard undergraduates forfeited hundreds of thousands of dollars in textbook rebates from the Harvard Coop last month, store officials said.

Less than half of the students eligible for the Coop's 10 percent rebate on textbook purchases took advantage of the offer. Students who bought books between August 24 and October 15 were eligible for the rebate.

Coop President Jeremiah P. Murphy '73 said student "had ample opportunity to take advantage of [the rebate]."

Students had about two weeks, from October 17 to 31, to bring in their receipts and claim the rebate.

"I missed the deadline," said Mary J. Hahn '97.

Maria E. Mendez '97 said" "I didn't have time, and I didn't remember."

Murphy said a number of students took advantage of the offer.

"Several hundred thousands of dollars were picked up. That's still a lot of people," he said. "It's safe to say it was a success."

The Coop said it publicized the rebate well.

"We were very meticulous about advertising. We stuffed every bag with flyers. We had signs in the store," Murphy said. "We ran [ads] in the student newspaper."

But students said the Coop could have done more.

"I knew it was sometime in October, but it wasn't publicized enough," said Peter S. Galstin '95. "I didn't have an excuse to go to the Coop. That's where all the signs were."

Talye Salant '96 said she thought the rebate referred to students who returned books and obtained a refund.

"I didn't know anything about that [the 10 percent rebate]," she said.

Even many of the students who took advantage of the rebate said they didn't hear about a through the Coop's publicity.

"I heard something about it," said Jay L. Abramovitz '97. "A friend of mine was on his way to get the rebate."

The flyer passed out by the Coop said the rebate was to "make sure students will still get a special benefit" in a year when the store, for the first time, offered no membership rebate.

The flyer also mentioned the like lihood that a rebate would not be offered this year.

But Murphy said the textbook rebate would not take the place of the end of year rebate. "This [the textbook rebate] is really a refund," he said.

"This is not in place of the rebate at the end of the year," he said. "This was just a benefit to the students."

Murphy said he did not know if the Coop would offer this type of rebate again.

"It depends on the effect on our bottom line," Murphy said.