Another reason Canon is SUPERIOR!

[ME100FINN]

My hubby purchased the Canon 580ex flash and the two Canon L lenses to receive Canon's fall double rebates. Then the rebate stuff was filled out and the UPC on the flash didnt register. Turns out the military store (where we purchased the flash) shipped us a Japan/European model (since we are located in Japan I suppose ?) and made the rebate void on this item. I contacted Canon Rebates. The lady checked into it and said it wouldnt work - sorry, but she'd give me $30 free product but she cannot ship to Japan. I enlightened her on our shipping address (it is a USA shipping address via USPS) and she said ok. The Canon system wouldnt allow her to ship the items to me directly even though it is a valid US address (because of our address format many merchants are not "APO, AP" friendly) so she went the distance.... mailed the product to herself and then shipped it to me!!! Isn't that great??!!! So, I ordered an eyepiece extender and a lens cap I lost - worth $28.50. Not bad eh?? I am happy my $30 rebate was redeemed in some fashion!

CANON CUSTOMER SERVICE ROCKS!! ...now I await on my $200 coming back from the rebate....

[Wendy]

Hi Beatrice ...

Oh that was really good of her ... isn't it nice when you get that sort of service :)

Wendy

[mbrant]

Hi Beatrice,

I'm glad this worked out well for you.

I've also had great experience dealing with Canon's support personnel. In this era of impersonal and distant support, it is refreshing to encounter a service organization that is qualified and motivated to actually help the customer.

-Mike

[LeeOtsubo]

...I contacted Canon Rebates. The lady checked into it and said it wouldnt work - sorry, but she'd give me $30 free product but she cannot ship to Japan. I enlightened her on our shipping address (it is a USA shipping address via USPS) and she said ok. The Canon system wouldnt allow her to ship the items to me directly even though it is a valid US address (because of our address format many merchants are not "APO, AP" friendly) so she went the distance.... mailed the product to herself and then shipped it to me!!! Isn't that great??!!! So, I ordered an eyepiece extender and a lens cap I lost - worth $28.50. Not bad eh?? I am happy my $30 rebate was redeemed in some fashion!

CANON CUSTOMER SERVICE ROCKS!! ...now I await on my $200 coming back from the rebate....

This is interesting. Unless Canon has changed their rebate process, in the past, they have subcontracted with a rebate processing company that is incentivized to deny rebates. The company knows the typical redemption rate of various rebates and charges Canon to process the rebates based on that. If more people redeem the rebates than anticipated, the company loses money. If fewer people redeem their coupons, the company makes money. The fewer, the better. If you troll sites like DPReview, you'll find lots of posts about the rebate company denying rebates for no reason.

Did you contact Canon directly? A few Canon employees are authorized to override the rebate processing company but their names & phone numbers are deep, dark corporate secrets within Canon.

In any case, congratulations on beating a system that has mystified, frustrated and baffled many others. I refuse to buy anything on the basis of any rebates.

[ME100FINN]

Wow Lee! I never really looked that indepth on the matter! I was certainly hoping for the rebates - always great to save more money. I guess in the light of your post I feel very blessed to receive such service from such hush-hush places... her name was Marsha :D I did contact Canon directly. I had sent emails via the website and called Canon direct and they redirected to a rebate department.

[AngelicKim]

Beatrice that is just so great that she did that for you. I wish more Customer Service Reps were that nice.

[Carbone]

It's nice to hear that, Beatrice!!

Lee: I never had any problem getting my rebates back from Canon (ink cartridges, printers).

Ray

[LeeOtsubo]

It's nice to hear that, Beatrice!!

Lee: I never had any problem getting my rebates back from Canon (ink cartridges, printers).

Ray

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that the vast majority of rebates aren't honored. But, if the rebate company is running close to the margins, you could be one of the unlucky ones who is denied for no apparent reason. That's when things really get ugly and you have to go directly to Canon (or whatever company issued the rebate) as Beatrice did. I've only had 1 rebate denied but it was for nearly $200 and took months to get my money. In the end, my time and aggravation wasn't worth $200 but I got mad and dug in my heels.

[ME100FINN]

Understood Lee. Let me clarify my situation -- my product was denied for a specific reason - it was not a USA model, but a European/Japanese model (UPC code). The military store I ordered from shipped it to me when I ordered a USA model. It was their error (or custom to send a non-USA model since I am in Japan). Had I known that, I could've ordered elsewhere.

Since it appeared I was hosed by the purchase end of it after it didnt pre-authorize at the web-rebates.com site, I contacted Canon to see if there was something they could do.... They confirmed it was a European model (UPC Code) and couldnt do anything about the rebate. BUT - they would accomodate me with $30 in product instead. They didn't HAVE to do that, but they did.

The actual rebates for the lenses were pre-approved via the website and the paperwork was mailed off. One thing I can gather is that is important to send off rebates immediately (and hopefully at the beginning of the rebate dates, if possible).

[chas3stix]

Something I found out the hard way......Rebates aren't sent to P.O. Box addresses. They will only send rebate checks to street addresses. Why? Who knows?
Chas

[LeeOtsubo]

Something I found out the hard way......Rebates aren't sent to P.O. Box addresses. They will only send rebate checks to street addresses. Why? Who knows?
Chas

For 2 reasons: 1) PO Boxes are too easy to scam and 2) they want your home address for mass mailing purposes.

[chas3stix]

Lee,
Come to think of it, I did get a rash of junk mail after I received the rebate checks.
Chas