Sony Cashback Scam? - Where to complain?

[Nirurin]

I recently purchases a sony a6000 camera from John Lewis, under the terms of the current sony camera cashback offer. This states that I receive £50 cashback if I purchase a camera during this time frame, as long as I send them the invoice which shows the date, invoice number, product model, etc. 

I have now done this 6 times. 

Every single time I send it, they respond with a different 'reason' that my claim is invalid. Sometimes it is that the date is not shown. Sometimes that the model number is not shown. Sometimes its the invoice number that isn't shown. 

However... I always send the exact same invoice document. And the document clearly shows the invoice date, invoice number, model number, etc etc. The document is perfectly fine. 

At first I gave sony the benefit of the doubt, assuming that it was some kind of automated service. However I have now had slightly different responses, but all having some degree of a copy/pasted response. Clearly the response team have been given a list of 'excuses' to respond with, in the hopes that their customer will just give up. 

I have contacted the customer services team by email on two seperate occasions, but am yet to receive a response. 

At this point I need to find out what the next stage of escalation would be. I have fulfilled sony's own terms and conditions to the letter, so I know that legally I am prefectly within my rights to expect the money that they owe me. However I do not know the best way to proceed. 

I hope someone on here can direct me in the right direction. 

[djdeere36]

The ASA have had lots of complaints with Sony over cashback!

The Advertising Standards Authority is the UK's independent regulator of advertising across all media.

[Anonymous]

Hi @djdeere36

I am unsure if your just commenting or that you too have an issue and maybe need assistance - if so, please reply back with some basic details.

Cheers

[djdeere36]

Hi Quinnicus,

I purchased the Sony FE 28mm, the Sony FE 35mm, the Sony FE 90mm and the Sony FE 70-200mm in the last two months, to complement my (second) A7rII body, each from different retailers.

Each of the cash backs I attempted were rejected by Sony.

This is the second A7rII body I have owned, the first over heated and stopped working, with endless calls and emails to Sony nothing was done, I donated the camera to the University so they could dismantle it for research.

I think Sony has a terribly poor customer service.

Dj

[JapanMan2]

Damn, I think I need to get a new job, I only dream of buying an A7RII and more lenses... 😮

[Anonymous]

Hi @djdeere36

I have escalated your complain to Sony in the hopes they can find out why your claim has been rejected and what needs to be done in order to resolve this.  If I receive any information ill either post it here if appropriate or private message you.

Cheers

[kim1861]

I agree. I found my experience a bit of a shock to the system, as I have been buying walkmans, radio's, mp3's for many years, because I always thought they were a decent company, but clearly I was wrong.

Interesting to hear about the A7 breaking down though as even with their [profanity removed] atitude I still wouldn't have minded one.

Maybe thats the advantage of Canon/Nikon ...durability.

Note: Edited by Quinnicus to remove profanity.

[Anonymous]

Hi @djdeere36

I received information from Sony in regards to your case.  Unfortunately your cash-back claim has been rejected because the items were purchased from non-participating retailers (Amazon, Ebay).

The terms and conditions are attached to this post (PDF).

Also:
https://www.sony.co.uk/cashback/digitalimaging/

Cheers

[kim1861]

Thats exactly the same reason my second claim was rejected, although when I submitted my first claim AMAZON were regarded as a participating outlet.

Now you might well argue that I should have checked the small print, and I might well counter I had no reason to assume AMAZON would not be a participating outlet based on my previous experience, and that the onus is on SONY to make clear that previous participants might not be current.

The point of these offers is to induce customers to buy their products, but with so many people grumbling and feeling ripped off, I have to question how successful this strategy is in retaining customers?

Don't get me wrong I am very happy with Sony's cameras, I get some great results, but these Cashback scams leave a very bad taste. I have in excess of £1000 in kit supporting my A6k system and was looking at upgrading to an A7R2, but now I am looking at alternative systems. So for the sake of reneging on £30 or so in Cashback, Sony have now lost about £3000 from me in the 12 months plus additional FF lens in years to come.

[djdeere36]

It looks like the Sony cash back will backfire on Sony, so many people going back to other brands.

I rub shoulders with a few other pros who comment on the poor support and service,

when someone asks you for an opinion on the camera and lens your using at a shoot what does Sony think others and myself will say?

My first A7r overheated then stopped working,  Sony did nothing but pass me on to another then another, I must have repeated myself twenty times to different Sony reps.

Sony has some  superb cameras and digital equipment but let themselves down with customer service,

looks like I'll be saying " stick with your Canon or Nikon" at a few more events this year too.

Dj

[kim1861]

I was reading an article earlier about Pete Souza, Obama's official photographer, who experimented very briefly with the A7R, before returning to the safety of the Canon 5D. So if Canon is good enough for him, it ought to work for me. Granted more weight to lug around, but better reliability and customer support.