I told the supervisor Tracy (at x267), who said she could do nothing for me, because she was only the rebate administrator and had no control of the dates (understood) that she might be getting quite a few calls on this topic. Perhaps call her (please be courteous) and maybe we can encourage her to check with whomever at Sony deals with them to correct the date.

Here's hoping my dealer resolves this soon, otherwise.

i live a half hour or so from white bear lake where the rebates are sent. any chance i could just drive over there and walk away with a sxs??

:)

My contact at B&H wrote me back today with the following:

Still no reply from either the rebate processor or Sony Professional Products customer service.

If I don't hear something soon, I'm just going to fake up a receipt and send it to the rebate processor. This whole situation is ridiculous given the amount of money this camera costs. We're not talking about a $10 rebate on an iPod here.

I ordered my cam from abelcine in NY in the middle oft October... arrived late November..... and here's the email I received from Sony yesterday ( 1-10-08 )

Claim ID: #########

Dear CHRIS WITZKE:

Thank you for your recent submission for the Sony 070573B - PMW-EX 1 SxS Memory Card Offer. We have received
your submission and it is valid. We are now processing your claim.
Please allow up to 8 weeks to receive your premium item.
If you would like to check the status of your claim online, please refer
to www.rebate-zone.com/SonyB2B. Your Claim ID number is #######.
If you have a membership on the website, just login to check the status of your claim.
Thank you for purchasing Sony products. We appreciate having you as our customer and look forward to serving you for years to come.
Now we invite you to register your new product at http://productregistration.sony.com.
This is an automatically generated email that is unable to accommodate replies.
Please be aware that you have not been added to an email list.

Sony Rebate Center
Customer Care

Ah, but what did the "Order Date" say on the receipt? It might have been listed as being in November, which the rebate processor is now accepting. My "order date" was in October, although the deliver date was in early December.

Hello from Germany

I ordered an EX1 and I am very sorry for that chaos regarding the free 8GB card. Well just wanted to let you know at least in Germany (don't know about rest of Europe) - I was told from my dealer - the second card will be delivered together with the EX1...

all the best
Rainer

Those of you who are in touch with B&H about the rebate runarounds: please keep us updated.

I pre-ordered my EX-1 in mid-October, applied for the free 8GB card, and just got the rejection email from Sony. When I emailed B&H about this, they had this to say:

"Our Answer: Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about it as the date of purchase was in October. We apologize for the inconvenience. "

If anyone else who pre-ordered from B&H comes up with a way to get the free card, please let the rest of us know. Any suggestions on who we should contact at Sony about this mess?

I will let you know what my contact at B&H says about this when he gets back to me.

I would recommend e-mailing both the rebate processor as well as Sony Professional Products (I think that's the division that the EX1 comes out of) and let them know what's going on as well as point out to them that the official Sony website *still* doesn't specify the SxS card offer start date.

mike

Response from Sony
 

I just received a reply from Sony concerning the rebate fiasco for those of us that ordered our cameras before Nov 1st, 2007. Sony told me to contact the "Sony office" which is really their rebate processor, and e all know that the rebate processor only does what Sony tells them to do (and I did send several e-mails to the rebate processor as well, with no response yet). I wrote back to Sony to tell them that their rebate processor would only honor the dates that Sony told them were valid, and I asked this Sony rep to please try to help us with this rebate date issue.

As usual, Film at 11 ;-)

mike

After emailing and calling sony when they sent the first email saying my preorder date was too early for the rebate, I just received second email saying that my rebate is now validated.

"Thank you for your recent submission for the Sony 070573B - PMW-EX 1 SxS Memory Card Offer. We have received
your submission and it is valid. We are now processing your claim.
Please allow up to 8 weeks to receive your premium item.
If you would like to check the status of your claim online, please refer
to www.rebate-zone.com/SonyB2B. "

I just got the same email from Sony; guess someone at Sony was able to straighten this out.

Well.... even after getting the email on the 10th saying all is good, I just received this one today....

Dear CHRIS WITZKE:

Thank you for your recent submission for the 070573B - PMW-EX 1 SxS Memory Card Offer. We have reviewed
your claim and require additional information in order to process the claim:
The serial number submitted is not eligible for this rebate promotion.

Please submit the missing or corrected information, along with this email, to:
Sony Rewards Program
c/o Customer Care Department
PO Box 100517 - DDQ
White Bear Lake, MN 55110-0517
Your response must be postmarked no later than 02/14/2008, in order to
be eligible for this promotion. If you have questions regarding the status of
your rebate or the requirements for resubmission, please contact us at (866) 881-1114
between 8:00 A.M. and 7:00 P.M. Central Time, Monday through Friday. Please
allow 4-6 weeks to process your resubmission. To check the status of your
resubmitted claim, please visit www.rebate-zone.com/sonyb2b. Your Claim ID is ######.
If you have a membership on the website, just login to check the status of your claim.
Sincerely,
Sony Program Headquarters


Now... how could cutting out the UPC from the box, taping it on a sheet of paper, and including a copy of the receipt show an invalid serial number? So I called and the lady on the phone told me to take a photo of the serial number on the camera and mail it to them. I told her that I felt they were calling me a liar.... she put me on hold for 1/2 an hour and then told me they'd call me back..... nice touch the on hold for 1/2 hour.

I can only assume that they are trying to delay sending out these cards as long as they can.

Chris,

I got the same email today and was surprised to receive it! I called and asked if they had the info I sent to them and the person couldn't confirm one way or the other. I looked at the info I originally submitted and noticed that I had an apparent typo on the serial # I submitted in the pre-qualification form (entered all 0s and then the number, instead of "010..."), so figured it was my mistake. I read the serial # from my UPC label to the person I spoke to and she said she'd pass it on - I asked when I should check back to make sure they had it correct, and she said in about a week...

So, check the printout you sent them that is the copy of your pre-qualification form and compare the serial # to the UPC label and make sure they match - wonder if it was my mistake, or whether their web-based form processes the info incorrectly. Also, I just checked my camera and there is no '0' preceeding the '1' on the serial # shown on the camera itself.

this whole process could be a lot simpler

Brent

I have not yet gotten that email but I remember entering the extra zero.

I guess I'll be getting that email soon...

Sony, You're Full of Balogna
 

Well, my contact at B&H came through and put the Sony rep in contact with me. The rebate start date is now set to 10/15/07, which is before my order date. I'm not sure if my e-mail to B&H had anything to do with that or not ;-)

I then received an e-mail from the rebate processor stating that I am eligible for the rebate! Yeah! So, I trudged on over to the rebate processor's web site to check the status of my rebate and, to my horror, shock and annoyance, saw the dreaded "Invalid serial number" message.

Hmm... let's see, I sent in a copy of my receipt from B&H which had the EX1's serial number on it, I sent in the actual UPC panel from the EX1's box that had the serial number on it, so the only thing I can think of is that when I filled out my qualification form I mis-typed something, but I was pretty sure that I was very careful to check what I had typed against both the B&H receipt *and* the EX1's UPC panel.

Anyway, I am getting very annoyed at this rebate processor, and as a professional I feel that this is becoming a monumental waste of my time, and I am going to write Sony to let them know that their rebate processor needs to get a good whack with an EX1 shipping box ;-) and use some common sense on these things.

Unless of course the rebate processor employs inmates from the local maximum security prison facility to process the rebates.

btw - I looked at my serial number identified on my B&H invoice and it's not even close (well, the last few numbers are) to what's on the UPC label and the actual camera. Maybe that's where I got serial # I punched into the web form from... (don't remember)

So, I have a serial # on the invoice, one from the web form, and one on the UPC label - all slightly different. Wonder which one they don't like? :-)

Hi all

Got the same bs email. As someone posted earlier how could it be a unqualified serial. It came right off the box and is from an authorized dealer on the rebate site!

Since the "survey" wasn't all that detailed they could have just supplied the card in the box to begin with.
Very frustrating.

Chuck

Oh crap. After receiving an email from Sony last week that said all was well with my submission, I am now a victim of the dreaded "serial number submitted is not eligible for this rebate promotion" email. I followed their instructions to the T. I'm really pissed.

I wonder what's really triggering this... No way can it just be a simple error on any of our submissions. I'll definitely call tomorrow and try to raise up to a level that can explain why the issue is being flagged. If anyone beats me to it, please report here for all to know

Brent

The serial number for the camera is on the bottom of the camera. I think it's also 'in' the camera i.e. you can find it in the maintainance menu if all else fails. It should also be on the outside of the Sony shipping box but if your box has lots of stickers from the shipping company the silver sticker on the bottom of the camera is the place to make 100% certain you have the correct number.

Just one more reason to buy Panasonic.......LOL

I received the valid claim notice last thursday. Nearly a week ago. When I checked on line it showed it was valid an being processed.

Today I check and it shows "Claim not found."

Are they truly and completely incompetent. Maybe we should collectively bill them for time wasted.

I'm thinking "class action suit"

Just called the "rebate zone" and re-affirmed the number off the box which they actually have in hand. The person said that the serial was coming up "out of the range" of qualified serial numbers but that they would look into it.

I am to check back in 7-10 days...

I told them to expect more calls.. they said I am the first to complain!


Chuck

Same for me - "Claim Not Found"

or buy it somewhere other than the US... :-)

Here's the latest nonsense:

I just called the rebate center and they told me that my serial number was not valid. I asked them what was wrong with the serial number, because, since Sony confirmed that all cameras since product introduction are eligible for the rebate, it was clearly a typo or data problem rather than an actual invalid serial number.

She told me that only cameras with serial numbers 100231 through 101697 are eligible for the rebate.

Huh?

I'll get back with my dealer...again.

thanks Eric. I was just about to call (yesterday they wouldn't tell me what the issue was with the serial #).

Agree that a call to the dealer is in order...

Brent

update: just called B&H and they gave me the name of the guy at Sony that they deal with directly. I called and left a message for him.

I just got off the phone and it was apparent that a few of you had already done some groundwork <g>. 1st tier told me they were "looking into it", before I could even tell her about the problem. 2nd tier recited the company line and to check back in 7 to 10 days. I am now awaiting a call from 3rd tier supervisors "within the next 24-48 hours" for a better explanation, but I don't have high expectations. During the purchase-date screw-up, 3rd tier gave me no better answers than 1st tier.

Well, at least most of you actually have the camera. Mine has been out for warranty repair going on 8 days now. With any luck, I'll have it back today or tomorrow.

Bill - took me almost 2 weeks (13 days door to door) to get mine back...

Survey?
 

Where did you find the survey? The Sony "survey link" takes me to the rebate processor's page, and I have never been able to find a survey.

mike

Thanks, Brent. I don't want to hijack this thread, but were you provided any details about the work performed, or receive any notification of shipment before it arrived?

I just got a call from a Sony rep in Chicago. My dealer had asked him to call me and he did. Very nice guy.

He apologized for all the problems - said he was aware of the serial number glitch and said that it would be handled by end of day today.

Bill - No info/notification from Sony (for the work, the paperwork just said "upgraded and tested"). I just called the San Jose service center (phone # is on the original FedEx tracking slip) several times to check on status and ask when it was shipping back to me (they do ship it back overnight - no signature required). btw-when you call, they'll look it up by serial number, so you at least know your serial # is "valid"... :-)

Brent

Sony, No More Bologna, now Prosciutto
 

Just received an e-mail from my contact at Sony (the *real* Sony, not the rebate processor) who apologized and said that he's working on getting this fixed:

Good job, Sony!

mike

Sony, Bolgna and Mayonnaise
 

Ah Ha! Success! It now looks like the rebate center is happy with my serial number. I looked on-line and also called them, and both sources now say that my rebate is valid and that it is being processed! Happy Day!

I also received an e-mail from my contact at Sony and he wrote:

so it looks like Sony did the right thing and is trying to get this mess straightened out quickly. Kudos to Sony!

mike

I'm still on "Claim not Found" status.

I received a call back from the Sony person I called and it looks like the serial # problem has been resolved with the rebate center. I checked online, and my rebate status now reads "Received, Submission is being processed" instead of the invalid serial # message. I failed to ask how long it would take now that they have this issue resolved - hopefully soon

Brent

I received another email stating that I had qualified and my rebate was processing, allow 8 weeks to receive.

Glad to see the issue solved, hopefully the card wont take that long.

My ex was also at Sony for 2 weeks but has returned and the is aligned properly.

Chuck

I called Sony about this today and they checked and said my claim is good. They said there's an issue with the database the web is using resulting in Claim not found.