So last night, I was super excited, because I finally ordered my 5D. It was the last day of the Canon rebate, and I spent much of the afternoon deciding on what lenses I was going to get with the 5D and such, and finally decided on the 100mm macro, the 5D, and the battery grip.

Anyway, so I complete the order with B&H (I'd had everything in my shopping cart for a while), and then the order date on the top of the invoice came through as 2/20/07. I my order was at 9:06 Pacific Time, but their system logs it as 12:06 Eastern Time. So since the canon rebate (almost $700 in this case) expires on the 19th...well that means no rebate for me.

I cancelled the order, and I suppose it's just a sign that I need to wait until next month to see what comes out (if anything) as a replacement. I'm just bummed...and wanted to pout to somebody...

just call b&h, they'll happily send you a new invoice dated to 2/19 , it's not the first time this has happened

Last month I purchased 5k in gear from B&H (Canon 5D, 70-200, 50, flash, extra battery) and couldn't be happier with the service (the guy was a RIOT on the phone). Rumor has it that the rebates are tricky to get back but I was UBER thorough, made copies and added a "signature required" confirmation thingy through the PO. Too bad you canceled the order because I'm one thrilled chick!!!

I have never had a B&H represenative be a RIOT on the phone.!!!!!!

ahh, now I see you already canceled the order, I would still call, last time I got an invoice dated past the rebate, they were like "sure, no problem, where do we fax a new one too?"

Well, I called B&H back, based on Stephen's comments and spoke to a customer service guy who definitely wasn't a riot

He claims that it's against their policy to change an listed order date even by one day. I explained the situation fully, and even added that I'd heard from other photographers who said that this has happened before, and that they were able to easily change the date.

I spoke with this guy's supervisor (also, not a riot) and he confirmed the information.

Dang it

Thanks Stephen

a little more info on my situation, I ordered some memory cards that had a rebate, but were on back order, by the time they were in stock the rebate has passed, so b&h gave me another invoice prior to the rebate expiration. I had just assumed they would do the same for the time zone difference, since technically, the rebate had not passed for you when you ordered them

Yeah, to be fair I don't really think it was B&H's fault at all. It was 2/20 for them afterall. I wouldn't worry about it though, I'm sure you will be able to get a deal at WPPI.
BTW- for anyone who is reading this, make copies of everything and take pictures of everything you send in for the Canon rebates. I can almost guarantee that you will have some sort of an issue with the rebate people. They will try to get you to give up your rebate by telling you that they didn't get everything. Be firm and everyone please go to Canon at WPPI and tell them how dissatisfied you are with their rebate people.
Companies hire rebate companies to deal with all their rebates. That other company makes extra money on people who don't claim their rebate. It seems that the company that Canon hired is trying to cheat a bit to make a little extra so hundreds of photog's, including myself, have been told they won't get their rebates. I argued with the guy for 10 minutes and finally he put me on hold for at least another 10 (probably hoping I would hang up) and he finally came back and gave me my rebate. Magically, the 4 pieces of missing information showed up on the guys system, imagine that!

I agree 100% on this one. I actually submitted a rebate twice now - once mailing in and again by fax. They told me flatly that they will never honor the rebate as they never 'recieved' it - this was yesterday. I have proof that I sent it both times - and proof that they received it. So, I have now taken it up with Canon & going that route. It was kinda funny - I was on the phone with the supervisor at the rebate center. She said flatly that I would never receive anything from them. She said that canon would be able to help me and that she'd be happy to transfer me to them. I said to transfer me & - ta da, she transferred me to Direct TV!

The person I spoke with at Canon laughed a little bit when I told her this. It didn't make me mad, as I kind of expected it. But, well, it just shows their professionalism. Canon is now taking up the case for me.

Ditto.

Writing to or taking it up with the vendor certainly helps. Make copies of everything. I'm not sure if delivery confirmations always work. I've heard of others being screwed by that because no one may be present to sign at a PO Box, though a delivery of confirmation is what the person behind the counter at the US Postal office may suggest to do. I typically fill out a certificate of mailing, which shows the postmark date of the rebate I'm mailing off and does not require a signature. By making copies of everything, you can inquire as to why they rejected your rebate submission and then most likely prove them wrong. My last issue came when a data entry person entered a later purchase date that fell out of the rebate terms than the actual purchase date. I had a copy of the receipt and argued and also cc'd the vendor. I received a nice letter back from the vendor's public relations dept. to apologize for the trouble.

It does make me happy to hear that B&H is usually flexible with things like this. I do hope you get a good deal on your 5D...

Oh, I see Yeah, the guy was bummed that he couldn't help me out - especially since the order came through at 12:06am their time (meaning I missed the rebate by 6 minutes).

I've never had to deal with a Canon rebate situation, but after reading everybody's thoughts, maybe it's a good thing that I didn't get the rebate thing going...


-Jeff

I was just getting ready to send in my rebate forms...glad I read this post!
As for B&H I just ordered several things from them...one being a lens hood.They sent the wrong one...I've sent it back for a refund.I hope they will credit my account without any problems!

an added note to what colin said re: rebate people, i had an issue with one of my rebates - canon e-mailed me and said they had not received the warranty registration card or something, which i knew i had sent in. i called them immediately and explained the situation. they put the order for my rebate through right there when i was on the phone with them, and i had my check within a week.

yep, rebates are funky, but canon tends to be pretty good about them if you stay on top of 'em.

HEY JEFF! Did you see the post about the Mk III? Maybe it was fate that kept you from getting the 5D. Check that post out.

Oh my lucky stars!

Read this post yesterday and got a little worried about my rebate. I prequalified online for mine, but received an email this week with my last name misspelled saying that my $20 rebate was being processed. I was confused since I prequalified for $640. After reading this, I thought for sure I was gonna be screwed. So I called the rebate # this morning and spoke to a really nice man named Chris, who looked everything up, found my submission and told me that some of it was torn during mailing, but he said that was OK that he could see that it was all there and he deleted the $20 rebate from the system and processed it for the $640 right on the spot. So, I agree with those that said be diligent and stay on top of things regarding your rebate and it will all work out. Just wanted to share that.