Nooooo!

With Verizon and Sprint both dropping mail-in rebates in favor of oh-so-much-less-painful instant rebates, we were starting to hope this was becoming an industry standard.

Alas, it looks like Sprint might be calling it quits.

According to a leaked doc acquired by Spantechular, Sprint’s instant rebate program will be coming to an end as of 5/7/11. Probably not-at-all a coincidence: the BlackBerry Playbook is rumored to be launching on the carrier just one day later, on 5/8.