Fight for it if necessary.
I sent in a rebate form for the 70-300 too, and on June 25, got an email from
[email protected], telling me "We received your rebate submission and it is currently being processed," with a web link to a status page with the following message; "Your submission has been processed and your response has been mailed. You should receive it by August 12, 2009. If by this date you have not received your response, please contact us at 1-800-953-3098. Thank you."
When Aug 12 (and a few more weeks) came and went, I called to find out why I hadn't received my check, and was told I wouldn't be getting one because "more than a month had passed between my purchase of the lens and the postmark on the envelope with the rebate form."
This came as a bit of a surprise, not least due to the fact that my online status page never said that the claim had been denied, and I didn't remember anything about a time limit between buying and applying, so after a complete lack of, shall we say, 'constructive dialog' from the rebate company, I sent off an email to Olympus, and they confirmed that there was no such condition on their rebates. And, after sending photos and scans of the lens, box, sales slip etc., to someone at Olympus, I eventually got my check directly from them.
Rebates are rarely administered by the company offering them (usually, they're contracted out to a third party), and my cynical and suspicious side has me wondering if JUST MAYBE this rebate company saw in my case an unusually long time between purchase and rebate application and pegged me as someone who might completely forget about the rebate, or if I checked, might swallow a manufactured reason for disqualification so they could increase their profit margin. (Note that I also never received the "response" that the website had said had been mailed - if I don't receive any paperwork at all, I'm more likely to forget the whole thing.) I'm sure that's not REALLY the case - no doubt the reason for using a disqualification that didn't appear ANYWHERE on the rebate forms or websites was just an honest mistake. But I did learn that whatever the reason behind the 'error' (and since the rebate company HAD admitted to having received my application), Olympus was more than willing to make it right. Grief from the rebate company, exceptional customer service from Olympus.
I expect that even if my cynical and suspicious side is right, the mere fact that you're presenting yourself as someone careful enough to send the rebate by registered mail means they probably won't try anything fast and loose with your application. But keep those photocopies and proof of letter delivery until the check has been received and cashed. Then if there are any disputes that you can't resolve with the rebaters, take it straight to Olympus.
