Canon Rebate Dept has pissed me off

[bio-smear]

Caveat emptor, Canon rebate pricing:

Back in Nov 2006 I purchased the 30D kit and an EF 75-300mm as a package from Costco for like $1229, a price which is achieved with the "Cash in with Canon Fall 2006" rebate of $220, which doubles when you buy 2 of anything Canon.

Determined to not be one of the lazy consumers that makes rebate programs worthwhile to the manufacturers, I filled out the online rebate submission form, then submitted my rebate package with clipped UPCs, filled out rebate form, sales receipts, etc. I even sent the letter certified mail since it was worth $220 to me.

A few months go by, and I finally get a rebate check from Canon for $10. Hmm. WTF? I called their rebate dept, and they informed me that they indeed received my rebate submission for the lens, but not for the camera. Well, the rebate is achieved by having purchased 2 items, so that's a meager hit of $210 to the rebate.

All I can conclude is that their retarded stoners in whatever clearing house they use to enter the submissions overlooked the fact that I had submitted for 2 items. I guess no one informed them that the rebate program revolved around multiple purchases and to look for multiple items! The rebate form is even a list of items with checkboxes...and I make pretty stout checkmarks.

Luckily, I had photocopied the boxes with UPC's and filed it away, since one if required to mail in the physical UPC clipping. Their customer service drone informed me that they will accept photocopies for resubmission.

Overall, I'm a little pissed since I played by their rules and fell for their rebate pricing bullshit, which is apparently not a sure thing, and subject to the sobriety of the person opening your envelope.

[pechelman]

sounds like they made right on their mistake though
and you were smart in making copies of everything

a bit annoying, but you still got your deal right?

[bio-smear]

sounds like they made right on their mistake though
and you were smart in making copies of everything

a bit annoying, but you still got your deal right?

Only because I have the photocopies...the guy told me I was screwed had I not done that. Their mistake, my due diligence covering my ass. It's doesn't leave me warm n fuzzy.

I still have to mail the resubmission. We'll see if they can record it right this time.

[grapedrink]

the rebate thing is a scam, either canon is scamming their customers and is instructing the company that handles the rebates to do this stuff or that company is screwing canon, getting the full rebate from them and only sending out partial rebates to the customers. go on any photo forum and you will read ENDLESS threads/posts/rants about people not getting their full rebate back, or no rebate at all despite doing everything properly. but if you call or re-send your stuff and show that you're not going away, you get your refund. sometimes all it takes is a call and they magically find the rest of your documentation and issue the proper refund.

[bio-smear]

GD- That's funny, because I talked to the "manager" and accused him of just such an orchestrated scam. He really laid on the heartfelt assurance that that was not the case. Heh.

[BigKuba]

Thanks for reminding me of this -- I bought a lens almost a year ago, promptly submitted all the paperwork (and luckily made copies), and kinda forgot about it, but now I realized that I haven't gotten my money yet.

I found:
- Ane email from June '06 saying that they processed everything and I should get my $$$ in 2 weeks
- Another email from July '06 saying that they just got my submission and will process it in 8 weeks
- Their website, saying that they received the online submission but not the paper one and that oops, it's now too late.

Could any of you give me the phone # where I can complain? The rebate website is suspiciously missing a contact number.

[MeatPuppet]

GD- That's funny, because I talked to the "manager" and accused him of just such an orchestrated scam. He really laid on the heartfelt assurance that that was not the case. Heh.

I've never cared enough to check it out(Nikon guy myself), but I have heard that the "Canon rebate department" is actually a third party that Canon contracts to handle all their rebates. Anybody else know anything about this?

[bio-smear]

I've never cared enough to check it out(Nikon guy myself), but I have heard that the "Canon rebate department" is actually a third party that Canon contracts to handle all their rebates. Anybody else know anything about this?

I'm sure that's the case. Almost all companies farm out their rebate fulfillment to a clearing house of some sort.

[Pura Vida]

Bastards! I've been out of town, came home to find the rebate in the mail and sure enough, same story; double rebate offer not granted even though I pre-authorized online, included a copy of the online authorization w/ bar code, and all the necessary paperwork. Thankfully I did copy everything, but still pisses me off big time that I will have to deal with the customer service folk over this and after spending big bucks on some lenses.

[pechelman]

i retract my previous statements about them "making a mistake"

this sounds like a great FYI that they do indeed suck and to CYA and copy everything if you want your money.

[dr_scrotus]

the rebate thing is a scam, either canon is scamming their customers and is instructing the company that handles the rebates to do this stuff or that company is screwing canon, getting the full rebate from them and only sending out partial rebates to the customers. go on any photo forum and you will read ENDLESS threads/posts/rants about people not getting their full rebate back, or no rebate at all despite doing everything properly. but if you call or re-send your stuff and show that you're not going away, you get your refund. sometimes all it takes is a call and they magically find the rest of your documentation and issue the proper refund.

I don't have experience with Canon, but almost every rebate I send in, often for computer parts from companies like OCZ, is returned with some reason why they can't honor the rebate. Fortunetely, they're usually worth a lot less $220, but it seems many companies, or whoever they hire, do their best to scam the customer in this area. Others I have talked to have had similar issues.

[cj001f]

I'm sure that's the case. Almost all companies farm out their rebate fulfillment to a clearing house of some sort.

yes. the n company processes rebates in house, they called and sent me a letter asking for the portions of the rebate paperwork I hadnt submitted.

[Pura Vida]

An update on this. Sure seems like a scam. After getting a hold of the rebate department the reason offered why I didn't get the full rebate was that I was missing a UPC code, claimed it was probably damaged in shipment. I'm not buying the story as I sent all my stuff in a padded envelope to make sure it arrived in one piece. I explained that everyone I know that has attempted to get the "double rebate" offer has recieved the wrong rebate amount. They had no response except, "I'm sorry sir." Thankfully I have copies of everything, so I was able to resubmit, but was still a pain and uncalled for after spending ~2000 on glass with them.

[Black Market]

I just got denied a 50$ rebate from canon on a photo printer, also claiming i didn't include the right UPC symbol. I'm 0 for 3 in getting rebates from them when i know that i included all required info. Pretty weak denying rebates as a policy unless you complain and re-submit it.

[lemon boy]

Call your AGs office.

[Viva]

My understanding is that the clearing houses are given a lump sum in advance to pay off all legitimate rebate requests. The amount of this lump sum is determined by projected sales of the qualified items over a certain time and the percentage of people who will turn in their requests correctly. Now, the clearing houses are paid for this service, but they get to keep any unclaimed or leftover rebate money.

See where this is going?

These fucks will find any way possible to reject your request and now it's gotten to the point where they will flat out lie, hoping that that will put you off and you no longer pursue your case. then, they keep the $$$ that you're entitled to.

This happened to me recently with Pentax, I simply kept bugging them until I received 4 out of 5 rebates (good for $400). They were going to reject all of my claims.

My ace was that I found the clearing house's name embedded in the e-mail address that was sent to me. I looked up the company and went from there.

Keep bugging them! And while you're at it, c.c. a copy to Canon (i.e., at the bottom of your letter or e-mail to the company, put in a little "c.c.: Canon Customer Service" at the bottom left. The clearing house will take followups seriously since too many complaints will lead to the manufacturer's dropping that particular clearing house.

[Viva]

Here's what the fucks originally sent me (Yes, the reason was written in tiny text):


"Dear iVIVA!:

You are receiving this notification because you have not complied with the terms of the offer due to the following reasons:

Submission not postmarked within allotted days of purchase date


We hope you will participate in future promotional offers.



There is an e-mail exchange miassing but at some point I responded with:

"I purchased multiple eligible products on two different dates. The rebate form was submitted within the 30 days of purchase of the first item."

Their response to that was to parrot what they said earlier:

Dear iVIVA!,

Thank you for your rebate inquiry.

Unfortunately, our records indicate that the submission for your rebate was declined. The reason for this rejection is that Submission not postmarked within allotted days of purchase date.

We apologize for any inconvenience, and hope that you will participate in future offers.



Rebate Processing Center
Jennifer
Rebate Specialist
e-mail to: rebateinq@expressgroup.com

Seeing this scam for what it was, I replied:

Hello Jennifer,

Thank you for your response. As I stated in my original e-mail to you, I mailed the rebate form in the middle of January and you received them recently (i.e, during the month of January). Three of the lenses were purchased on January 6th and the other on December 23.
So, I did submit the rebate form within the allotted time. Please explain to me how my assertion is incorrect. Thank you.

Best regards,

iVIVA!


Success!

Dear iVIVA!,

Thank you for your rebate inquiry.

Our records indicate that the submission for your rebate of $100 was Qualified on 2-2-07. Processing time begins as of the submission's qualifying date. Processing time varies from offer to offer, but 6-12 weeks is the guideline. Please allow the time frame requested on your rebate form.

Thank you, and have a wonderful day.



Rebate Processing Center
Rita
Rebate Specialist
e-mail to: rebateinq@expressgroup.com

Hold everything...what about the other three lenses?

Thank you, Rita,

Would you please apprise me of the status of the other three lenses that I submitted rebate requests for? thank you.

Best Regards,

iVIVA!

To that inquiry, I received two of the following (Look carefully- somewhere in there it says I'm getting my money):

<div align=3Dleft style=3D"overflow: hidden; position: relative; top: 0; =
left: 0; width: 718; height: 956; background-color: white; overflow:hidde=
n; font-family: Times; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: Lighter"><DIV id=3DE=
lement style=3D"position: absolute; Z-INDEX: 11; LEFT: 6px; WIDTH: 699p=
x; TOP: -3px; HEIGHT: 911px">
<P>2/6/07&nbsp;</P>
<P>viva<BR>Encinitas, CA&nbsp;<BR>&nbsp;</P>
<P>Dear viva,<BR>Thank you for participating in the following promotio=
nal offer:</P>
<P>The Essential Holiday Lens and Flash Rebate</P>
<P>&nbsp;Your Personal Reference Number is: C26819786</P>
<P>We are pleased to&nbsp;advise&nbsp;that your entry is&nbsp;being proce=
ssed and has been qualified=2E&nbsp; Please allow for&nbsp;10-12 weeks fo=
r the delivery of your check/product=2E&nbsp; </P>
<P>If you have further questions after that time frame on your submission=
, please visit us on the web at <a rel="nofollow" target=3D'=5Fnew' href=3D"http://www=2E=
expressgroup=2Ecom/">www=2Eexpressgroup=2Ecom</A>=2E There, you will be a=
ble to view the status of&nbsp;your submission by using your personal ref=
erence number listed above=2E</P>
<P>Please note that this email is an automated service and is not monitor=
ed for replies=2E</P>
<P>Sincerely,</P>
<P><BR><STRONG><EM><FONT color=3Dblue size=3D6>The Express Group</FONT></=
EM></STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG><EM><FONT face=3DTimes color=3D#0000ff size=3D5>Printing, Dist=
ribution, Fulfillment</FONT></EM></STRONG></P></DIV>
<P><STRONG><EM><FONT face=3DTimes color=3D#0000ff size=3D5></FONT></EM></=
STRONG>&nbsp;</P></div>

[L7]

I got screwed on some rebates I properly submitted a while back (originals) and now I refuse to deal with them. If I get to the till and it's a different price and then they pull the mail in rebate scam I tell them to mail it in themselves and leave whatever at the check out if they won't honour the advertised price. Total bullshit!

Advertise a fair price, charge me that price and don't pull any of this mail in a rebate for us to come up with a bullshit denial. I always make it clear when I don't buy an item because of a mail in rebate, I think more people should too. It's a complete bullshit scam.

[Spats]

Viva is correct: rebate houses are a scam for exactly the reasons he mentions.

Nokia returned my rebate forms three times for completely bogus reasons, like "That phone model is not covered by the rebate" (it was), then "You didn't include the receipt" (I did), then "The deadline for the rebate has passed". It took six months to get my check, and that was with the help of the store I bought my phone from.

I always make photocopies of *everything* before I send it in for precisely this reason. Otherwise it's their word against yours, i.e. you're screwed.

I've had good luck with Amazon.com rebates.

[haydukelives]

they have a lot of clout as a big buyer