Yesterday we posted about a possible deal at Best Buy where price drops coincided with a new Canon mail-in rebate. There was the potential for some insane deals, like the 24-70 II for $1699 after-rebate, the 70-200 II for $1899 after-rebate, or the 100L Macro for $749 after-rebate.
Although the mail-in rebate form clearly doesn’t have any specific restrictions on Best Buy (only “authorized dealers”, of which Best Buy is one), it’s still unclear whether or not purchases are eligible for the rebate.
Here’s what we know:
Early this morning we made a few calls to the Canon Rebates hotline (1-866-668-9861) and asked if purchases made at Best Buy are eligible for the mail-in rebate. According to the agent I spoke to, the list was not published yet but she felt that Best Buy would not be a valid retailer for this rebate (even though they are an authorized dealer). (If that’s really the case, shame on Canon for not being transparent about this on their mail-in rebate form!)
However, the list was published an hour later and it indeed does clearly show that BEST BUY COMPANY INC is a valid and participating retailer for this rebate. I’ve taken a screenshot and linked it here in case they decide to try to change this later.
I followed up with another call — according to the agent, if the retailer is on the list, they are a valid retailer for the rebate. I recommend that you try calling (1-866-668-9861) as well — if you have an update, please leave a comment.
My recommendation to CanonPriceWatch readers is: if you tried to get in on this deal, there’s still too much misinformation to know for sure whether or not your mail-in rebate will be honored. My recommendation is don’t open the boxes, and don’t cut the UPC codes until we know for sure. Best Buy has a minimum 15-day return policy; wait patiently, and we should know more by the end of the week. Maybe Canon will decide by then 🙂
In the worst-case scenario, you can think of Best Buy’s current sale as an application of an equivalent “instant rebate”. If you live in a low-tax or no-tax state, this may still be preferable to waiting 6-8 weeks for the rebate AMEX gift card to be mailed to you.
You can check out the full list of rebated items and their current prices. The list includes both the instant rebate program and the mail-in rebate program — both started on the same day.
I will update this post as more info is known.
Also big value inc has the 24-105 on sake again new $659 on eBay.
Sale*
Just got an email that my 24-70 2.8 II has shipped. Best Buy is honoring the deal, now waiting to see if Canon will honor its part. Thanks for your work on this matter!
i, on the contrary, cancelled my order with bb for the same lens. $123 savings (tax was $177 for me in NY), was just not worth the hassle on a $2000 item. i will try again after midnight today to get the extra 5% quarterly bonus from shopdiscover, that extra 5% is worth a shot, that is IF bb still have this lens available to ship.
Darn best buy is sold out within a 4 hr radius.
I hope they do….keep us posted! I grabbed the 100-400
I ordered the 24mm TS-E and the 50mm 1.2 and received notification that they shipped… I don’t see how Canon *can’t* honor their rebate, since it fits the criteria. I appreciate the diligence used in reporting on this – appreciate this website.
Picked up a 17-40 from Best Buy at the sale price. Called Canon and they said I am fine with the rebate.
I price matched at B&H, that’s the safer route if you’re worried.
how did you do that? if they matched it, then you can again save about a hundred bucks on the tax!
Has anyone received their lens and tried submitting a rebate at the rebate pre-submission form with their serial number (promotion id is 819101650)? We’re hearing that no rebate submissions are working (regardless of retailer) — just wanted to hear from others. Let us know if it was successful or not, and which retailer you bought from. https://www.acbpromotions.com/canonrebates/submit.asp
I did the press mission and it was approved. Mailing it in today.
Great to hear.
No go for B&H price match. They said that the 4% gift card is all that they can offer, and reminded me that there is a rebate on the price.
Checked Best Buy today the price is now 2299 for 24-70 darn I should’ve bought it back then