Young America Corporation

Young America Corporation is a major rebating center and clearinghouse with locations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina and India. The corporation handles Rebates, both mail-in and paperless, Gift Gards and Pre-paid Cards, Sweepstakes, Targeted Sampling, Premiums and Merchandising, CRM and Loyalty Programs and Business Process Outsourcing for a number of major clients. [ [http://www.young-america.com Young America ] ]

Young America Corporation is the world's largest processor of rebates, processing over 80 million rebates per year worth over $2 billion USD.

History

Originally named Dile Corporation, Young America began in 1972 as a three-client promotion fulfillment company out of Plymouth, Minnesota. In 1973, the corporation relocated to Young America, Minnesota, and took on the name of the town. Since then, the company has expanded greatly, with locations in five countries, and becoming the world leader in rebate processing.

Locations

In the United states, Young America has 7 locations across the country, including the Headquarters in Young America MN (from which the company gets its name). Other locations include Chanhassen MN , Glencoe MN, Pasadena CA, Phoenix AZ, and El Paso TX. The Canadian division of the company, Young America Canada, has two call centers for general questions and concerns regarding any of the offers handled by the company in Chatham-Kent, ON.

In April 2008, Young America announced the scheduled closure of the call center in Thunder Bay, ON, transferring all call handling services to the Chatham-Kent center.

Criticism

On November 7th 2005, officials in Massachusetts filed suit against Young America demanding that they submit an audit for $43 million in uncashed rebate checks. Young America answered back saying that they keep the money in return for charging lower fees to their clients, stating that it is easier for Young America to keep the money and charge lower fees than sending the money back to the clients and in return having it returned to them as part of the fees. The CEO reportedly stated "Young America receives the same fees whether a submission is valid or invalid." Massachusetts officials characterized the check retention as a conflict of interest nonetheless.

A similar suit was filed in Iowa in 2006, with officials again demanding an audit for money the corporation is supposedly withholding from the uncashed rebate checks. [ [http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/02/ia_rebate_suit.html Iowa Sues To Reclaim Rebate Money ] ]

Strict guidelines for rebate submissions are intended in part to combat fraudulent submissions. As of 2005, the corporation supposedly has over 10,000 addresses that they monitor for bogus submissions. [ [http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/nov2005/nf20051123_4158_db016.htm The Great Rebate Runaround ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.young-america.com Young America Corporation home page]