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| Guest |
 Posted: Sat May 28, 2005 1:43 am |
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We purchased two phones because we were supposed to get a $50.00 rebate per phone. There was a certain criteria to be met - had to have phone for at least 150 days but not more than......x amount of days - had to have bill paid in full/had to still be active with the cell phone carrier, etc. Completed all the info and sent in at appropriate time. Claim was denied because bill showed a balance forward. Re-submitted everything showing all bills paid in full up to date - denied because it was too late to file claim!! Was not customer service oriented. Called 3 times. Still have not received any money and probably never will.
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| Guest |
| Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2005 8:33 am |
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I agree 1000%. I accidentally sent it in early since I mis-read the rebate and didn't quite wait long enough. They rejected it and told me to resubmit, but unfortunately I forgot to make copies of the sales receipt before I sent it in.
Now, both of those things are clearly my fault (early and no copy made), but don't ever try to communicate with their "customer service" since they make it impossble to reach them 99% of the time (don't respond to email and hang up on you while on hold...that's if you manage though the phone menu too...).
When I finally reached them (sounds like overseas cust serv in India), he wqas hurried, unwilling to listen, and by the time I reached them and IF they send the copy...it will be too late.
They promise rebates they make impossible to get. (better hope you don't screw up sending it in, and they don't find a reason to deny it...but I bet they will always find a reason...)
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| Guest |
| Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 6:35 am |
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Quote: Originally Posted by susanbrian We purchased two phones because we were supposed to get a $50.00 rebate per phone. There was a certain criteria to be met - had to have phone for at least 150 days but not more than......x amount of days - had to have bill paid in full/had to still be active with the cell phone carrier, etc. Completed all the info and sent in at appropriate time. Claim was denied because bill showed a balance forward. Re-submitted everything showing all bills paid in full up to date - denied because it was too late to file claim!! Was not customer service oriented. Called 3 times. Still have not received any money and probably never will.
Dear Valued Customer,
Our goal is 100% customer satisfaction and therefore we are sorry to hear of your concerns regarding our rebates.
It is our policy to promptly process and send checks to every customer that fulfills the rebate requirements. We activate over 100,000 new wireless subscribers every month, and have happily paid out millions of dollars in rebates to our customers. Please send an e-mail including your original order number to customerinquiry@inphonic.com, and I will personally investigate your situation.
Regards,
Inphonic Customer Service Response
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| Guest |
| Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 6:48 am |
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Dear Valued Customer,
We are sorry to hear of your experience. Our goal is 100% customer satisfaction. Please send an e-mail including your original order number to customerinquiry@inphonic.com, and I will personally investigate your situation and ensure that somebody follows up with you. Thank you for your patience.
Regards,
Inphonic Customer Service Response
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| Guest |
| Posted: Thu Aug 11, 2005 10:04 am |
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I am somehwat wary to go through with this purchase because they told me I would not have to pay anything, but yet the first thing they asked me for was my CC#. He proceeded to tell me that the card never gets charged, and there is no rebate, he would just send it for free. They make deals with the service providers and gain a commission off of new activations. I didnt do it though because I needed more feedback first.
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| Guest |
| Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2005 11:31 am |
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I got ripped off in EXACTLY the same fashion. Make no mistake, this is no accident or coincidence, this is a deliberate scam.
My particular case -
BEWARE OF WIREFLY.COM (an InPhonic scheme). This company regularly posts advertisings on Yahoo for free phones. These ads are really a scam to charge consumers full retail price under the pretense of a 100% FREE mail-in rebate.
I was duped into a 1-yr contract with AT&T Wireless (now Cingular), my credit card was billed for the full retail price of $200 and after meeting all the rebate requirements and fulfilling the 1 year contract with all my payments on time with the carrier (CINGULAR WIRELESS, their partners in crime) I HAVE YET TO SEE MY REBATE CHECK FOR $200.
I have sent InPhonics, WireFly and Cingular countless letters. I have filed complaints with the FTC, the FCC and the BBB, TO NO AVAIL.
These types of schemes should be outlawed, the perpetrators (sellers) should be locked up and put out of business and their accomplices (carriers like Cingular and advertisers such as Yahoo) should be handed stiff penalties.
Frank G
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| Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2005 11:40 am |
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After this experience, I read the fine print and only go for the Instant rebates or th ereal mail-in rebates. Those that have a 3-month time and catch-22 proof of payment b.s. are nothing but a scam.
Needless to say, I have a new wireless carrier, will never go to Cingular Wirless again, will never buy from WireFly/InPhonics. I have since bought 2 beautiful Motorola Razr V3 (one for my girlfriend) and a 2 line family plan from T-Mobile. They were not "FREE", but T-Mobile had an instant rebate, so they ended up being cheaper then the "FREE" phones from WireFly/InPhonics (They still owe me 200 bucks).
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| Guest |
| Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 12:01 pm |
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You gotta love this. I have not heard of one customer expressing any satisfaction with Inphonics, which has many operating names and subsidiaries, such as CellularChoices.com and Wirefly.com. I too thought about registering with the FTC, until I found out this bit of information. The founder and CEO of Inphonics, is David A. Steinberg, is an elected official on the board of directors of the United States Chamber of Commerce. The entire upper management, ranging from the COO to their Senior VP's have previously held high positions with other telecommunications companies, such as Verizon, MCI, and many others. Someone told me that Verizon has had many complaints and is going to cancel Inphonics as a Verizon Agent. This could not be further from the truth! Frank C. Bennett III is the Chief Strategy Officer, he was previously a VP for Bell Atlantic (now Verizon Communications)Regardless of what Inphonics and your service provider tell you, (Cingular, Verizon, Alltell) these companies are in business together and make billions off screwing people over. I don't know what we can do about it, (Nothing in my opinion, they all have friends in high places in Washington D.C.) but we can at least try.
INPHONIC
1010 WISCONSIN AVENUE, SUITE 600
WASHINGTON, DC 20007
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
1615 H Street NW
Washington, DC 20062-2000
Phone# 202-659-6000
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| Guest |
| Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2005 3:50 am |
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Hello Folks. I wanted to let everyone know that Wirefly/Inphonics is still doing the Rebate Scam. Also, alot of people do not know what to do. Here are some steps that everyone should do so we can stop this scam, and get our money back.
1st, Report it to Your States Attorney General= Consumer Protection Div.
2nd, Report it to the Pa, Md, MN, AZ Attorney Generals Office aswell. You can find them online doing a search for that states Attorney General IE:
Pennsylvania Attorney General which is http:www.attorneygeneral.gov
3rd, Report it to Verizon, and any other Company that you bought the service to
4th, Report it to the FCC
I can tell you that Pennsylvania will go after them, they will not ignore our complaints.
Also, please send an email to me so we can ALL keep in touch of the process. I will be working on a website where we can all post everything that is going on.
Thanks,
PAmes
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| Guest |
| Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2005 6:54 am |
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I bought a phone through inphonic in January. I had to wait 180 days to send in my $300 rebate and I did. I sent it in 187 days after activation. This was on August 3rd. I just got a letter today(Oct. 14) stating that my rebate was illegible and must be resubmitted "No sooner than 180 days after activation, but no later than 210" Well it's past 210 days now.
I made copies of all the forms I sent back and they are clearly legilbe. I go to the website they direct you to and there is NO CONTACT INFORMATION!!! This is driving me crazy. I need to find someone to call to resolve this issue.
Do you gouys have any advice for me?
Thanks in advance,
Chris
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| Guest |
| Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2005 8:23 am |
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same issue as mine. I sent a email using their 'contact us' link in the cellphonerebates.com website. If I dont hear anything from them in a weeks time, I will look in to 'consumer protection' options in my state.
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| Guest |
| Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 5:06 am |
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hello rebate scam forum:
I'm another victim. same story. filed my forms on time, neat and tidy, kept copies, sent them by certified mail. today I received an email notice saying that my claim is invalid because the form was incomplete or illegible. this is false. and yes, I'm in the same catch22 of 180-210 days - the 210 days having come and gone because they took so long to process my claim.
there is some good information in this forum though - I'm going to send off a bunch of formal, personalized snail mail letters to some of these crooks: David Steinberh, founder and CEO of Inphonics (I wonder if that's inphonics as in in-phony?), some of the execs, the chamber of commerce, my state attorney general's office and so on. if I get any results, I'll post the news here.
as a longtime web citizen and ecommerce customer, I think it's important that these frauds not go unmarked. those of us that shop and buy online must be able to trust online merchants. so I advise you to agitate for change too.
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| Guest |
| Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 7:30 am |
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Same thing happened to me.
"Thank you for submitting your recent Mail-In Rebate Application. We
have reviewed your claim and discovered that it is invalid for the
following reason(s):
The claim form submitted was incomplete and/or illegible. All fields
are required"
Complete B.S. I just reviewed my rebate forms and everything is fillled out completely and is legible. Mailed in on time as well between 180-210 days.
DO NOT BUY FROM Wirefly !!!! It is a SCAM and should be stopped at once.
Please, if anybody is taking legal action, I will be more than happy to contribute to the cause.
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| Guest |
| Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 9:14 am |
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I have the same problem as you guys. The practicies and polices of Inphonic/Wirefly are totally absurd.
I've taken the time to research the 180/210 day time frame to file the rebate, the different addresses given on the rebate forms sent with the orginal telephone order vs those given on the downloadable website forms, and web addresses that don't exist.
For those of you that reside in state of New Jersey, I suggest that you file a formal complaint with the Attorney General's at:
NJ Division of Consumer Affairs
Office of Consumer Protection
PO Box 45025
Newark NJ 07101
Anyone located outside the state of New Jersey should contact you local consumer affairs office for information on how to file a formal complaint in your home state.
In Solidarity
Da8thSign
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| Guest |
| Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2005 9:39 am |
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My plight is the same. I too emailed after 180 days and waited for 6 more weeks for the rebate($150 + $150) to receive a rejection with the same reason as you guys("Claim form submitted was incomplete or illegible. All feilds are required"). The email I received has a link which says
"Check the surface mail for instructions to resubmit". The surface mail says check online for more details. I tried to contact the phone number they gave: 1-866-800-4303. It says contact customer support online. I sent a request online and no reply.
I emailed the customerinquiry@inphonic.com. And this is what they replied
"I thank you for your recent inquiry regarding your rebate request and appreciate the opportunity to assist you with this issue.
I regret to inform you that the decision has been made that your rebate request has been statused as invalid due to the reason listed in the e-mail that was sent you. The only way in which you could possibly get this decision overturned and have your rebate request honored, is if you follow the instruction given in the previous e-mail that was sent to you. I understand that you are disputing the reason given for the decision, but the proper way in which to dispute it, is to submit the information that has been requested."
I don't know what to do. There is simply no way of contacting them. 've learnt a lesson though, I'm not buying a single thing with mailin rebates from now on. But I'm not letting up on this. I'll do whatever it takes to get my rebates back.
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