Canon Rebate Problem

[zeker]

I just shelled out big bucks for 3 canon L-Series lenses - two of which qualified for a Canon $50 rebate. Well, $100 is roughly worth about 2 tanks of gas so I thought it was worth my time to cut out the barcode, make a copy of the warranty card, and send them with the receipt to Canon. I did everything required and even checked them off to make sure I everything went into the envelope. I now get a card from Canon saying that I didn't include the barcode or a copy of the warranty card and therefore do not qualify for the rebate.

Somehow I expected better from a company like Canon.

OK! I'm finished wining. Just want to make everyone aware that Canon may make great photo equipment, but can't seem to keep track of rebate information. If you do send in for a Canon rebate. Make sure you make copies of everything you send.



Zeke

[Reyno]

Same thing happened here. But I got back a card saying I forgot to include a copy of the warranty card. But I also got an email saying that my rebate check will be mailed. I made another copy of my warranty card and send back. Never heard from Canon since. It's been about a month now.

[zeker]

It's not so much the money, but rather the principle of the thing. I would have bought the damn lenses even if they didn't offer a rebate. But if their going to use it as an incentive to sell their product, they should be honest and pay.

I can re-send in the copy of the warranty card but can't send in the barcode because Canon has it with my original submission. I'm going to call their rebate line on Monday and light them up!

[nwyman]

did you all make use of the online service to pre-register for the rebate? I did that, and sent the required stuff in through the mail and got my rebate last week. Cashed it on Friday.

Nancy

[SuzyView]

I just checked mine and it says errors: none. I pre-registered as well. I'm expecting $60, which 1 tank of gas. Worth the 20 minutes it took to do this on line, I hope.

[SuzyView]

Just got an e-mail from Canon - just now - saying my money will be coming in 2 weeks. This time I pre-registered and I think it went much better. Do you get free address labels in the mail from all those charities? I get tons of them. I put a small label with my name and address on every paper I sent them, copies of the warranties, rebate forms, etc. And I tape the cut out codes to a sheet of paper with the label on it and copy that for myself. I send all of it together as required and it fits in a larger envelope because I use heavy paper. This way my name is on every part they need. Those UPC parts get lost so someone I knew suggested taping them to a paper. It works. I've gotten every rebate back. But if I were you, I'd call the number and talk to someone. That helped me get the rebate from the fall after e-mailing over and over again.

[zeker]

Pre-registering and labels are good ideas. I didn't do either. But I think they should be smart enough to process a simple rebate without losing the required items.

Thanks for the good ideas. I'll try them next time.

[SuzyView]

Please. Any time. I am a little neurotic (as we all know by now) and I don't like to leave anything to chance. And yes, they should be smart enough to figure it out, but last time I did the fall rebate, I bought the 20D with the kit lens and for some reason, the Canon processing plant did not recognize the UPS symbols from the 20D with kit lens, so they were not going to give me the rebate. I sent in everything right, the lady even said so. But they had a computer reading error and it was not my fault, but I still had to fight for it. They finally said they were accepting those UPC's after about 2 months of going back and forth. No matter what you do on your end, the Canon people still can screw up. Look at the thread about Apple selling the 1DsMKII's for $3999. That was a mistake, I'm sure, but I hope people got the right camera.

[zeker]

Just talked to the Canon rebate center and "unfortunateuly they can't do anything for me" since I sent in the bar code without making a copy of it. My fault for thinking Canon could handle something as simple as a rebate without documenting everything. I never had a Nikon rebate mishandled when I used their equipment. Lesson learned:

Pre-register your rebate
Make copies of everything
Keep rebate center phone number (877-862-6870) handy.