CAUTION: Sony rebate ripoff

I registered my S70 at Sony's website and was given the URL to place an order and get the $20.00 rebate. Bought a battery which I received promplty. Along with the invoice. No $20.00 rebate. Called the company, and after numerous reroutes and holds, they emailed me and said to get my rebate I had to register my product and order something. They have no record of me registering, yet they have a record of my order, all done at the same time.

Well, they just got themselves an extra $20.00 didn't they? They're crazy if they think I'm ordering again, or even buying anything from Sony again.

So, buyer beware. There's no way to prove you registered anything, so don't count on the $20 rebate.

Vickie

Vickie: Having the exact same problem. Called them and getting the royal run-around. A supervisor is supposed to call back. Still waiting......Paul Pavlik

Vickie said:

I registered my S70 at Sony's website and was given the URL to place an
order and get the $20.00 rebate. Bought a battery which I received
promplty. Along with the invoice. No $20.00 rebate. Called the company,
and after numerous reroutes and holds, they emailed me and said to get my
rebate I had to register my product and order something. They have no
record of me registering, yet they have a record of my order, all done at
the same time.

Well, they just got themselves an extra $20.00 didn't they? They're crazy
if they think I'm ordering again, or even buying anything from Sony again.

So, buyer beware. There's no way to prove you registered anything, so
don't count on the $20 rebate.

Vickie

Click to expand...

A note about registering - one reason companies like it is that they can get

information about customers, of course. But another big reason is that if you register your product, the company generally doesn't have to honor the
warranty for the new owner if you sell the camera. If you don't register,
and you can provide the proof of purchase to the new owner, the company
may well honor the warranty. This was the case when I sold my D400.
I have a suspicion that
this is the main reason that some companies want customers to register.
I've sold several cameras in the past few months on ebay, and was lucky
each time that I hadn't bothered to register them - I could advertise that
the warranty was probably still valid.

Paul Pavlik said:

Vickie said:

I registered my S70 at Sony's website and was given the URL to place an
order and get the $20.00 rebate. Bought a battery which I received
promplty. Along with the invoice. No $20.00 rebate. Called the company,
and after numerous reroutes and holds, they emailed me and said to get my
rebate I had to register my product and order something. They have no
record of me registering, yet they have a record of my order, all done at
the same time.

Well, they just got themselves an extra $20.00 didn't they? They're crazy
if they think I'm ordering again, or even buying anything from Sony again.

So, buyer beware. There's no way to prove you registered anything, so
don't count on the $20 rebate.

Vickie

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I also didn't receive my $20.00 rebate for a spare battery after registering my S70 at Sony's website. Did anyone receive the advertised rebate or is Sony running a scam?

Vickie said:

I registered my S70 at Sony's website and was given the URL to place an
order and get the $20.00 rebate. Bought a battery which I received
promplty. Along with the invoice. No $20.00 rebate. Called the company,
and after numerous reroutes and holds, they emailed me and said to get my
rebate I had to register my product and order something. They have no
record of me registering, yet they have a record of my order, all done at
the same time.

Well, they just got themselves an extra $20.00 didn't they? They're crazy
if they think I'm ordering again, or even buying anything from Sony again.

So, buyer beware. There's no way to prove you registered anything, so
don't count on the $20 rebate.

Vickie

Click to expand...

Good point! This is one reason I never bother registering and trust me,
I have a crap load of hard and software. Another of course is that I'm lazy
and hate the paperwork.

I suggest something else to those who got ripped off. E MAIL sony with a LINK
to your postings here. It might just put a fire under their a* es
and especially if you mention the amount of hits Phil gets on his site.

George

Nicholas Newell said:

A note about registering - one reason companies like it is that they can get
information about customers, of course. But another big reason is that if
you register your product, the company generally doesn't have to honor the
warranty for the new owner if you sell the camera. If you don't register,
and you can provide the proof of purchase to the new owner, the company
may well honor the warranty. This was the case when I sold my D400.
I have a suspicion that
this is the main reason that some companies want customers to register.
I've sold several cameras in the past few months on ebay, and was lucky
each time that I hadn't bothered to register them - I could advertise that
the warranty was probably still valid.

Click to expand...

You should have gotten a seperate email along with the url also. This can be your proof as to getting the $20 off. Per the rebate terms, you should receive a $20 credit on your card a few days after the transaction. If you don't receive it and want to return the item, then there will be information on how to send it back to Sony. They will promptly refund the full amount including shipping(as I've had to do this a couple times, with both experiences the same).

It's sort of a different way of giving a rebate, possibly due to total sales figures or something(not really sure).... but with my past experiences with them I can say I'm not worried about not getting the rebate. So if you're worried about the credit, just call your credit card company on say the fourth day after the initial transaction and see if the credit is there(taking into consideration that the credit card company has updated their transaction logs recently).

Hope all goes well....

Vickie said:

I registered my S70 at Sony's website and was given the URL to place an
order and get the $20.00 rebate. Bought a battery which I received
promplty. Along with the invoice. No $20.00 rebate. Called the company,
and after numerous reroutes and holds, they emailed me and said to get my
rebate I had to register my product and order something. They have no
record of me registering, yet they have a record of my order, all done at
the same time.

Well, they just got themselves an extra $20.00 didn't they? They're crazy
if they think I'm ordering again, or even buying anything from Sony again.

So, buyer beware. There's no way to prove you registered anything, so
don't count on the $20 rebate.

Vickie

Click to expand...

Nicholas Newell said:

A note about registering - one reason companies like it is that they can get
information about customers, of course. But another big reason is that if
you register your product, the company generally doesn't have to honor the
warranty for the new owner if you sell the camera. If you don't register,
and you can provide the proof of purchase to the new owner, the company
may well honor the warranty. This was the case when I sold my D400.
I have a suspicion that
this is the main reason that some companies want customers to register.
I've sold several cameras in the past few months on ebay, and was lucky
each time that I hadn't bothered to register them - I could advertise that
the warranty was probably still valid.

Click to expand...

The reason any company wants you to fill out the registration card is not to execute a specific warranty, but to gather a database of customer information

from that registration card and then SELL the database list to vendors who might appeal to you with their products. Haven't you ever wondered how you received a mailer that happened to be something you really liked...hey, how did they know?? The registration card. This is a huge huge business.

Your receipt of purchase is all you need for warranty. Not the registration card.
Though a company would like you to believe that's what the registration cards
intended purpose is for.

Good luck!

Member said:

Paul Pavlik said:

Vickie said:

I registered my S70 at Sony's website and was given the URL to place an
order and get the $20.00 rebate. Bought a battery which I received
promplty. Along with the invoice. No $20.00 rebate. Called the company,
and after numerous reroutes and holds, they emailed me and said to get my
rebate I had to register my product and order something. They have no
record of me registering, yet they have a record of my order, all done at
the same time.

Well, they just got themselves an extra $20.00 didn't they? They're crazy
if they think I'm ordering again, or even buying anything from Sony again.

So, buyer beware. There's no way to prove you registered anything, so
don't count on the $20 rebate.

Vickie

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

For times such as this I can reccomend http://www.idrive.com

You can easily "clip" web pages to your own account for refference latter.

Not only is it an easy way to document transactions but it provides you with more clout if something is in dispute.

Several times over the years I have told companies that were giving me the run around that if they did not follow through on their agreements I would post all the info to my web site. I have never had to follow through.

Guy.

Vickie said:

I registered my S70 at Sony's website and was given the URL to place an
order and get the $20.00 rebate. Bought a battery which I received
promplty. Along with the invoice. No $20.00 rebate. Called the company,
and after numerous reroutes and holds, they emailed me and said to get my
rebate I had to register my product and order something. They have no
record of me registering, yet they have a record of my order, all done at
the same time.

Well, they just got themselves an extra $20.00 didn't they? They're crazy
if they think I'm ordering again, or even buying anything from Sony again.

So, buyer beware. There's no way to prove you registered anything, so
don't count on the $20 rebate.

Vickie

Click to expand...

I found out a little more about this rebate and can maybe shed some light if the info I received is honest and accurate. After waiting for 30 minutes to speak to a Sony Via direct support person regarding my accessory order, I got a very pleasant person on the other end. My order was for two items, one (USB Mem Stick Adapter) is on backorder still, with the other item shipped already. I am a registered SONY 505 (damn, no V!) user and was told this is how it works. Once the order is COMPLETE (all items shipped) your credit card will be charged IN FULL. However, a few days later (I was told it took around 3 days to process), there will be a $20 CREDIT that will show up on your credit card bill as a separate item. If this explanation proves to hold water, then Sony is not ripping us off, just working in a convoluted way. I would be interested if anyone could verify this via a perusal of your credit card bills. I guess I'll have to wait until my backordered item appears to see for myself.

Ray

Vickie said:

I registered my S70 at Sony's website and was given the URL to place an
order and get the $20.00 rebate. Bought a battery which I received
promplty. Along with the invoice. No $20.00 rebate. Called the company,
and after numerous reroutes and holds, they emailed me and said to get my
rebate I had to register my product and order something. They have no
record of me registering, yet they have a record of my order, all done at
the same time.

Well, they just got themselves an extra $20.00 didn't they? They're crazy
if they think I'm ordering again, or even buying anything from Sony again.

So, buyer beware. There's no way to prove you registered anything, so
don't count on the $20 rebate.

Vickie

Click to expand...

Raymond: I registered my S70 on the 10th of May and ordered the NP-FM50 spare battery at the same time. My mastercard bill, received on the 28th shows NO CREDIT. So far 5 phone calls and no resolution. A supervisor is supposed to call me back. Still waiting....Paul Pavlik

Raymond said:

Ray

Vickie said:

I registered my S70 at Sony's website and was given the URL to place an
order and get the $20.00 rebate. Bought a battery which I received
promplty. Along with the invoice. No $20.00 rebate. Called the company,
and after numerous reroutes and holds, they emailed me and said to get my
rebate I had to register my product and order something. They have no
record of me registering, yet they have a record of my order, all done at
the same time.

Well, they just got themselves an extra $20.00 didn't they? They're crazy
if they think I'm ordering again, or even buying anything from Sony again.

So, buyer beware. There's no way to prove you registered anything, so
don't count on the $20 rebate.

Vickie

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Did you receive a confirmation saying you've registered your product??

Vickie said:

I registered my S70 at Sony's website and was given the URL to place an
order and get the $20.00 rebate. Bought a battery which I received
promplty. Along with the invoice. No $20.00 rebate. Called the company,
and after numerous reroutes and holds, they emailed me and said to get my
rebate I had to register my product and order something. They have no
record of me registering, yet they have a record of my order, all done at
the same time.

Well, they just got themselves an extra $20.00 didn't they? They're crazy
if they think I'm ordering again, or even buying anything from Sony again.

So, buyer beware. There's no way to prove you registered anything, so
don't count on the $20 rebate.

Vickie

Click to expand...

Priscilla said:

Did you receive a confirmation saying you've registered your product??

Click to expand...

Yes. When I registered, they sent me a URL, specific to me, where I should go and place my order, to be sure to get the rebate.

When I got my invoice, no rebate noted. Called, waited, called some more, waited some more. I even told her the URL they had given me.

Then I get an email saying that in order to get the rebate, I had to register and place an order. Yeah, I'm gonna do that again.

I wrote and told them I already ordered, I already registered, I want my rebate on what I already ordered.
They sent me another URL to go order something and get my rebate.
geez,
Vickie

Update: Received my MasterCard bill today (7-3-00) and the $20 credit is posted...Paul Pavlik

Paul Pavlik said:

Raymond said:

Ray

Vickie said:

I registered my S70 at Sony's website and was given the URL to place an
order and get the $20.00 rebate. Bought a battery which I received
promplty. Along with the invoice. No $20.00 rebate. Called the company,
and after numerous reroutes and holds, they emailed me and said to get my
rebate I had to register my product and order something. They have no
record of me registering, yet they have a record of my order, all done at
the same time.

Well, they just got themselves an extra $20.00 didn't they? They're crazy
if they think I'm ordering again, or even buying anything from Sony again.

So, buyer beware. There's no way to prove you registered anything, so
don't count on the $20 rebate.

Vickie

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...