How to add my company to the list of eligable companies for the corporate rebate program

I was able to get Eastman Kodak added to the list of participating companies in March of 1999. Our first step was to call Sylvia Schumann at BMW NA in NJ. (201) 307-4000 or sylvia.schumann@bmw.de She asked some preliminary questions (like how many US employees you have - must be greater than 5,000, I think). She then said that she needed to talk to somone in Human Resources. She also mentioned that they had previously asked Kodak to participate in the program, but never heard anything back from them.

My next step was to contact Human Resources. The way Human Resources is set up here is we have a local "rep" that handles our department. So, I placed a call to our rep knowing full well that she probably couldn't do anything. So, I gave her the details and she said that she didn't have the authority to make the decision. (no big surprise here) So, she gave me the name of the head of Human Resources. Well, I looked him up and found out that he's the VP of Human Resources and reports to our president and CEO. So....I sent him an e-mail. I took my time in composing it. I gave the basic details about the program and mentioned that it didn't cost the company anything about 3 times. ) I also mentioned that it was a great no-cost way to provide a benefit to their employees. I included Sylvia Schumann's contact information. And...did I mention that it didn't cost the company anything??? I also made sure to mention that the paperwork for the discount must be filled out within 60 days of delivery. I just wanted to get the point across that getting this done quickly was important. I closed the note by asking, "Who can help me get this done?" I didn't want to seem like I was asking this big-wig VP type guy to get on the phone with BMW.

Then, I didn't hear anything for about 3 weeks. No problem, I thought...at least I tried. Then, I received a voice mail from someone in the Recreation department. They're the ones that handle all the employee discounts. She said that she got a request filtered down from the VP of Human Resources and that they were taking care of it. She also mentioned that her department was being outsourced and they were rushing this along in order to take care of it before any changes in the department happened. YAY!!!!

About a week later, I called BMW NA and Kodak was on the list! We took delivery of the car at the end of April, filled out our paperwork and had our rebate check within about 6 weeks.

So, I would suggest going to the HR peon to start with, then head for the top of the HR department. If that fails, contact the people who handle the employee discounts.

-Joanne Macek