Giving rebates their bad reputation

We'll probably never receive the other. It's a tiny miracle that this one reached us and that we recognized it for the rebate sought months and months ago. The postal service is overwhelmed and a lot of our subscription matter does not reach us; the same is true of other sorts of mail. None of this is the fault of our wonderful letter carrier. The rebate check takes the form of one of those post cards that are invitations to come-ons: you have won, you're invited to a free meal, here's a free trip to Vegas for you. It looks like one of those, but it's not the ticket of admission to advice on the golden road to instant wealth, or the almost guaranteed gambling wins, or the opportunity to be part of the best time-share opportunity ever. It claims to be a check. No doubt the rebate people think that (a) most people won't make pests of themselves following up, (b) many will entirely forget they have a rebate owed to them, and (c) others won't recognize the inconspicuous post card for what it is and will throw it away, not cashing it at all and thereby saving the issuer scads of money. Of course, we'll probably lose this item before we ever have a minute to dash to the credit union. Was it mentioned that the documentation required to file for the rebate was onerous in the extreme?