nads wrote:
If all rebates were made to be instant, then everybody who buys the product would get a rebate, no matter how lazy or inept at following instructions they may be. If the pool of promotional money gets divided up more ways, that's less money for me.
BS. Unclaimed money pocketed by rebate fullfillment company. Read this:
Two of six? A 33% error rate? Who gets to do their job like that?
Slowness is understandable because of volume fluctuations and the need for internal controls. But with the reported problems, that operation must be a mess.
DavidP, did you see the news recently about the huge amount of gift cards that go unused? Most people don't track this stuff. Many people don't even send in the rebate. I will bet that the percentage of people that won't follow up approaches 50%. 100% in my household
same as if Canon outsource camera chip manufacturing to third party - I don't care, I bought Canon camera from Canon and I have a right to expect Canon to take care in case something goes wrong with the camera. It is none of my business who made the part which goes south, I hold Canon responsible for it.
this is absolutely untrue - I know I sent my rebate request correctly [$600 for 5D and $90 for 17-40], and like the OP, i got a postcard stating that I sent in an invalid UPC from my 5D boxe and I would only receive a check for $45. I was like "WTF?"
so your suggestion that it was because we didn't "do it right" is certainly not universal and by the number of replies from other purchasers discussing similar problems with their 5D rebates, I say that something doesn't smell right.
RGS65 wrote:
Oh god, here we go again. We always get these posts around rebate time.
Listen, if you do it right, you'll get your money.
I got $500 back off canon when I purchased my 5D here (In Australia) and it took less then 2 weeks (10 working days). I was quoted by the camera shop as 4-12 weeks. Lucky me.
I find it SO amusing that people who state
" I never had a problem with Canon rebates" THEREFOR, there is no problem.
Such elitist attitude.
I've been saying for a long time, check the archives here, check the google searches, there are major problems with canon rebates.
If Canon and their third party company are having problems "justifying" people's claim to rebates, then they need to do a better job of fishing out the scammers.
This is NOT a couple incidents.
I'm not responding anymore on this topic, I've had enough. I know the facts, I've been reading about these for the past few years.
anyone who thinks,and says, that there isn't a problem with the rebate scam is an "idiot"
After talking with "the idiots" at the Rebate Center several times I contacted Canon and eventually received this reply.
Dear Rodney Prouty,
Thank you for choosing Canon. We value you as a Canon Customer and appreciate the opportunity to assist you. I apologize for the delay and inconvenience experienced in having your rebate processed.
My name is Brad. I am the Canon liaison to the rebate house. Your rebate has been escalated to me. Please be assured that your rebate will have my personal attention.
I understand the issue at hand is you are confirming that your rebate will be processed in the amount of $800.00. I do show that the rebate house has updated the amount to $800.00. I have contacted them to see if we can have your check rushed to you. When I have an update , I will contact you.
Thank you,
Brad
Canon Customer Care - Rebates
Ph: 757-413-2885 x 2385
Eastern Time 1 - 8 pm
Fax: 800-231-9243
same as if Canon outsource camera chip manufacturing to third party - I don't care, I bought Canon camera from Canon and I have a right to expect Canon to take care in case something goes wrong with the camera. It is none of my business who made the part which goes south, I hold Canon responsible for it.
You ship a package with, say, FedEx, or DHL, or what have you. The package gets lost in the process. Now are you responsible for the loss or the carrier?
Tentacle, if I bought a lens from you and you shipped the lens to me, but it got lost, I'd expect you to return my money. Yes, it would be ultimately you responsible for that lens.
Tentacle wrote:
You ship a package with, say, FedEx, or DHL, or what have you. The package gets lost in the process. Now are you responsible for the loss or the carrier?
But of course! If I buy a camera from B&H and it gets lost I fully expect that B&H rushes me a replacement and then deals with the carrier however they want.
It is clear that the rebate companies operate at thin edge of legality to increase their profit margin. The fact that there are many satisfied customers should not overweight the FACT that there are way TOO MANY people that have problems.
I always have wished that rebate forms would have dotted boxes on them on which to 'afix' the appropriate piece of documentation, like a stamp outline on an envelope for each upc, registration label whatever...it would, I think eliminate the "lost", "forgotten to include", improper label issues...
I always attach/tape them to a sheet and in big letters and arrows point out what I've included, in addition to keeping copies of each and a copy of the entire sheet... AND for reeeeaaaaaly big reebies I INCLUDE A COPY of the original form with the attachments, in case a label jumped off the page all by itself and got "misplaced"...
There are two types of rebate issues -- one likely legal, the other not.
The first is just to make the hoops so difficult to follow that there will be non compliance. Cell phone companies do this a lot -- placing a $100 rebate 6 months into the service, that must be posted within a certain 10-15 days window, in which you need to submit certain stuff, like a statement. The purchaser may have a 1-3 days period in which they have all the stuff and are within the appropriate time period. And, in any event, they will probably have forgotten about it.
Canon's rebates do not fall into that category. They are pretty straightforward and simple. Buy by a certain period, send in by a certain period (a few weeks later), and provide a few things. People should be able to follow this.
The second rebate issue is where the company allegedly does not pay when it receives everything. The believe on the part of the consumer would be that the rebate company, having told the manufacturer that there will be a 75% fulfillment of rebates due to noncompliance, helps itself achieve that number (and its profits) by "losing" stuff (or saying stuff is lost). Or just automatically declining certain amounts, and seeing if people then complain.
This second issue is the greater problem. We don't know what, if any, rebate companies operate in this manner (and I'm not saying Canon does) -- news reports from them say it would be suicide to do this -- but then again there are so many people for rebates across the board that complain about sending everything correctly in and then not getting the rebate. I can see a lot of stuff just getting inadvertently lost in the rebate fulfillment centers, there are lots and lots of mail coming in, from different manufacturers.
Personally, I have found that when I've been declined for a decent sum, I call the rebate company and the manufacturer. Usually it is resolved by the manufacturer sending directives to the rebate company (because, the manufacturer is more concerned about losing the ultimate consumer than the lower fulfillment rate).
btw: off topic, the best rebate experience I had was amazon's with macs. You can do it all online, with no box cutting at all. It was a true pleasure.
Canon has contracts with rebate companies worldwide, with (at least I asume) performance clauses. The point is that the whole scam only works by presenting Canon with results from smooth operations, while the luckless customer being the victim.
If customers complain to Canon, and Canon asks for an explanation, then the rebate company instantly fixes it, thereby masking the deliberate intent they might have had. "Ah, sorry, our mistake, the UPC is here."
Tentacles, if Canon wants to stick it's head into the sand and say everything is fine with the rebates, I guess it's their choice. Personally, I think Canon needs to take hold of this issue and correct it. I just don't see any position that has been layed out that can defend Canon. It is their customer base that is being affected in a very negative way.
And I fail to see how anybody has made a case that bad faith is some kind of policy or that the rebate fulfillment center is doing anything wrong. People get pretty cynical when $600 or more is on the line, but irate people calling the rebate offer a "scam" does not make it a scam. Unless somebody can show me some kind of objective proof that Canon or the rebate center are trying to "rip people off" we're left with nothing but speculation and an unfounded assumption of bad faith.
Russ, maybe it's not a scam...but at the very least there is incompetence on the part of both the company handling the rebate process and by association, Canon as well. If there was proof of a scam, there would be legal action. There are way too many occurances ( just google and see for yourself ) to indicate that this is normal operation.
The reason it is a scam is just the sheer number of claims that are rejected. I find it inconceivable that any company can 'lose' the number of claims that they do. You can blame the consumer, but really, who is careless in following instructions for $600 rebates. You got yours because you were lucky - you apply for enough then sooner or later you will get one rejected for no good reason.
I stress that my most recent bad experience with rebates was not with Canon, but the two companies involved agreed to settle a class action suit on the grounds that the rebate form said UPC code from the box OR the EIN/SID, while they rejected thousands of claims on the basis that they wanted the UPC from the box AND a the EIN/SID.
chez wrote:
Tentacle, if I bought a lens from you and you shipped the lens to me, but it got lost, I'd expect you to return my money. Yes, it would be ultimately you responsible for that lens.
slightly off topic, but you're incorrect. Once the seller puts the lens in a proper packaged with sufficient postage, then what ever happens to the lens is between you the buyer and the carrier. Tentacle would have no obligation to refund the money. Many people mistakenly conclude that shipping insurance is for the benefit of the shipper - not true, it is to protect the buyer. in a case where insurance was purchased, it is the buyer's responsibility to make a claim with the carrier.
anyway, back on topic, although I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories, I do believe there is a concerted effort on the part of the rebate companies, very much like the medical insurance companies, to deny rebates (or coverage in the case of the insurance company) at first and see how many people actually bother to continue with a rebate claim. Certainly they do not deny EVERYONE's claims, just a randomly selected few. I currently am having a problem with the double rebates - the case of the missing UPC for a 5D - and can attest that I followed the instructions to the letter. There is absolutely no reason why my submission should have been denied, but it was. In my case, I think they're trying to screw me out of a $645 rebate [they're willing to send me just $45]. I've re-submitted a copy of the UPC, so we'll see what happens next.
