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Rebates?

Don Shreve

pro member
I think I heard something about folks not receiving their Canon Rebates. Are people actually receiving their rebates? Right now they have $300 on the 5D. Has anyone gotten this?
 

Sid Jervis

pro member
Yes I have received rebates (not the $300) in the USA and UK, it can take a while. The biggest problem is even when you do exactly as asked, the rebate is in many cases, either delayed, messed up, lost or questioned. All I can suggest is copy everything and let the rebate office know you have copies of everything. Send the mail so that they have to sign for it.

$0.02
 

Peter Mendelson

New member
I agree with Sid. I have had several problems with various Canon rebates over the last few years, and luckily I copied everything. The Canon rebate programs have been notorious for people encountering delays, lost submissions, etc., and personally it has been quite frustrating for me. I think Canon loses some of its good will when people run into these problems, but I guess it thinks making more money by encouraging more sales through the rebate program is worth it. They really should look into using a more reliable third party vendor to manage the rebate program, though.

Peter
 

Martti Lommi

New member
Some days ago I got my cash back 300 euros! It took 3 weeks without any problems. And I got my free 512MB Sandisk CF card a week of buying my 5D.
 

Tom Yi

New member
I think Canon's rebate has notoriously been bad in my view. I've sent numerous rebates and only 50% has been returned without problems.
My last one was for a flash last December. I couldn't pre-register online, so I sent it in, then they told me that the UPC wasn't sent, which it was. So they told me no refund. Well, six months later, looks like they found it and just sent me a rebate for it.

If you use their rebate, make copies of everything, and I mean everything. Pre register and call them when the time is up for your refund. Unfortunately, it seems that you have to check up on them to make sure that they are doing their job.
 

henryp

New member
FWIW, in the USA most rebates are administered for the manufacturer/importer/distributor by a third-party rebate fulfillment company. While the manufacturer, Canon USA or whoever, is ultimately responsible, it's most often the fulfillment company which bears the responsibility for speed and so on.
 

Sid Jervis

pro member
Good to see you here Henry.

It would appear that the fulfillment company obviously has too much of an incentive to restrict rebates. They should be helping users make the claim, not hindering them.

In the UK (Europe) I believe that the service, although not perfect, has a better track record than the USA operation. Of course this may be due to the number of claims being processed.

This may be an odd question: What is the real reason for the rebate system to exist? Is it about collecting customer names? Surely, it must be more cost effective to just give better prices to customer via the dealer network.
$0.02
 

henryp

New member
Sid Jervis said:
Good to see you here Henry.

It would appear that the fulfillment company obviously has too much of an incentive to restrict rebates. They should be helping users make the claim, not hindering them.

I'm not sure they make more $$ sending fewer checks.

In the UK (Europe) I believe that the service, although not perfect, has a better track record than the USA operation. Of course this may be due to the number of claims being processed.

I am forced to confess I am 100% unfamiliar with how rebates are handled outside the USA. From comments I've seen elsewhere I was under the impression rebates were far more prevalent in the USA.

This may be an odd question: What is the real reason for the rebate system to exist? Is it about collecting customer names? Surely, it must be more cost effective to just give better prices to customer via the dealer network. $0.02

I do not fully understand the rationale but I do recall it was discussed at length 5 or 6 years ago when American car companies began offering rebates in earnest instead of dropping prices. Residual value, perhaps?
 

Sid Jervis

pro member
I'm not sure they make more $$ sending fewer checks.
I have to ask, why do they behave as some people have suggested?
It is negative service in those cases.

Many new purchasers of Canon equipment are unaware that the rebate system is run by a separate company, to most people it is Canon.
The key aim for the rebate company should be to help users claim rebates, if they did this customer perception of Canon rebates would be far better than it is at present.

My experience in the UK (on four different claims) was that the rebates arrived within three weeks. Emails were sent providing updates throughout the process.

$0.02
 

danielsan

New member
According to some, the rebate companies are paid a certain amount to administer a particular rebate. Most people dont take advantage of mail in rebates. If too many people send in for rebates then they make less money or even possibly lose money. Such a setup invites the kind of problems people encounter with Canon rebates. Why should they be helpful? If you dont get the rebate it is money in their pocket.

Even if Canon administers the rebate directly, it is money in their pocket if you dont get your rebate. I hate rebates for this reason. They are a carrot to get people to buy sooner or buy when they wouldnt have otherwise. They count on the fact most oeple dont mail them in. If they really wanted to cut people a break they would just drop the price.

Sid Jervis said:
I have to ask, why do they behave as some people have suggested?
It is negative service in those cases.

$0.02
 

Sid Jervis

pro member
danielsan said:
If you dont get the rebate it is money in their pocket.

Even if Canon administers the rebate directly, it is money in their pocket if you dont get your rebate. I hate rebates for this reason. They are a carrot to get people to buy sooner or buy when they wouldnt have otherwise. They count on the fact most oeple dont mail them in. If they really wanted to cut people a break they would just drop the price.

I understand your points here, that is why I said "It would appear that the fulfillment company obviously has too much of an incentive to restrict rebates.".
 

Tom Yi

New member
henryp said:
FWIW, in the USA most rebates are administered for the manufacturer/importer/distributor by a third-party rebate fulfillment company. While the manufacturer, Canon USA or whoever, is ultimately responsible, it's most often the fulfillment company which bears the responsibility for speed and so on.
Wow, Henry is here as well? (love the bhphotovideo.com as the homepage btw, he he he)
He's right about the third party doing the rebates, but still, I think Canon has to be aware of such poor service. I just hear way too much about the rebate service (or the lack there of) to believe that this is an isolated event.

As for the rationale for rebates, I've heard that it lowers the advertised price and intices more to buy, figuring the rebate into the final price. But not everyone actually sends it in, and of those some do not send in all the stuff required and fail to follow up to get their rebates. So this way a company gets to increase sales and not necessarily pay out all the rebates.
 

henryp

New member
danielsan said:
According to some, the rebate companies are paid a certain amount to administer a particular rebate.
I believe the rebate fulfillment company is paid to administer the program but the actual rebate $$ goes from (in this case) Canon USA to the rebate company to you. I really don't see a viable business model where the rebate company profits from NOT fulfilling the rebate.
 

Tom Yi

New member
It seems funny that as big as Canon is and with it's what seems like a semi annual rebates, that they can do this in house. After all, they have rebates for other products besides just the camera equipment.
 

Sid Jervis

pro member
henryp said:
I really don't see a viable business model where the rebate company profits from NOT fulfilling the rebate.
Neither do I, but some of the mess ups I hear about do make you wonder. Certainly friends of mine seem to accept getting a rebate will be a problem, and are surprised if it all goes well.

I am not anti Canon, far from it; It just seems a pity that this could be fixed quite easily if Canon paid some attention to the complaints about their representative (company) running the rebate system.
 

Will Thompson

Well-known member
The thing You have to remember is that the rebate for most products are a insurance policy sold by a third party to the manufacturer for a % of the rebate amount. They gamble that the number will be at the statistical level so they can make a profit so it is in there best interest to decline as many of the requests as they believe they can get away with.
 
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Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Whenever one sends in for any "rebate", no matter what the company, make sure you keep copies of all the proof of purchase.
Sometimes you may be called to submit them again. In Boston, an IRS claims processer simply threw away piles of claims when she couldn't keep up! The poor folk just have to re-submit. They are not technical companies, but just run at the lowest cost possibles, a consequence of which is some degree of turmoil.

What I have not liked is the boasting of some companies of the low percent of people who redeem the coupons. The MFR for sure is NOT paying $300 for a $300 rebate, maybe $292. however for a $10 coupon, it probably reaches at most 20%. That means it costs only $2 to service say 1 million claims for $10. Bottom line, it is a "partial scam" which most people have no problem with. Don't worry, you will get your money. You have your backup proofs of purchase and receipt ready. Great!

Now where's that form for my $300 rebate for my 5D. Oh, yes the 24-105, that has another $30 I think. Nearly forgot about this until I answered this post!!!

That's the truth!

Asher
 
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