Print Rewards: Unscrupulous behaviour by Canon

1 min read

Canon Europe has (or had) a printer rewards scheme called Print Rewards, where you earn points for printing and replacing ink cartridges. Those points can then be exchanged for things like photo paper.

This morning I received this email from Canon:

PRINT REWARDS IS COMING TO AN END. Hi Reupen, From 14/10/2022, our Print Rewards program will be closing. Until then, you can still claim rewards like free photo paper and other creative media, plus exclusive discounts on other Canon gear. Any points you have must be redeemed before Print Rewards closes, so act fast.
At least Canon Club is alliterative

Okay, no big deal I thought, I’ll just redeem my points. Expect, contrary to what is said in the email, all the meaningful rewards have been removed, and only these are left:

A list of rewards comprising discounts on a few odd products.
10% off eight Zoeminis is exactly what I wanted

Previously, 500 points would’ve got me a pack of pro A4 photo paper, and 1000 points a pack of pro A3 photo paper. But all those options are gone, and there are only a few discounts on oddball products (which aren’t even things that can be used with an existing printer).

‘The 50% off a camera bag doesn’t sounds that bad’, I thought. Except there’s only a single camera bag in stock on the Canon UK online shop, and it’s a tiny bag for compact cameras.

Perhaps you’re wondering what’s in this new Canon Club? More discounts, as it turns out. These are the first two:

Canon discounts in the Canon Club
Where have the images gone, Canon?

The first code is completely useless, as photo paper is already 20% off in the Canon UK online shop, and Canon discounts don’t stack. (In fact, the Zoemini is also already discounted, so that reward in Printer Rewards is probably also useless.)

And there’s also a promised 15% Lowepro discount in Canon Club – except that when you click through, it’s only 5%.

Canon – sort it out.