Well, I guess that I can honestly relate to this one, considering that I work at the company. And I'll be the first to admit that our company can be gay about rebates, but that's why I always explain them to any of my customers.
Rule numero uno is making a copy of all paperwork, receipts, and barcode. If that stuff gets lost, it's pretty much lost.
Rule numero dos is to read everything on the ticket that prints out if you recieved a ticket from a store, or if you got one online, then please read it as well.
And Dope_Life, if you came to my store, you could not only play with the RC cars, you could play King Kong Pinball.
One more piece of advice concerning the corporation that hired me: If you call customer service or the rebate center, and you get someone rude or someone you just can't understand, hang up and call back.