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General discussion

Poor customer support from Inphonic.com/Wirefly.com

Jul 19, 2004 9:53PM PDT

I placed an order on 6/17/04 which was the beginning of a nightmare! I could not get accurate inforamtion about my order and their customer service hides behind email because I was unable to contact anyone by telephone. I was told on one occasion(via email) that my order had been shipped but when I attempted to check on the shipping status I was informed that my order was still being processed. Finally, after three weeks I received the telephone with a congratulatory letter welcoming me as a customer and informing me of my new wireless telephone number with AT&T but by then I had decided to cancel my order and return the phone. I followed their instructions to return the phone and when I called AT&T to cancel the service I was informed that a number had not been activated for me and the number Wirefly/Inphonic told me was mine, was actually assigned to someone else and in use. When I called to get a return authorization I finally got to speak with someone in customer service who wanted to know why I wanted to return the phone. He didn't seem to be too concerned when I outlined the problems I had experienced.

Discussion is locked

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(NT) Beware of offers that are ''too good to be true''
Jun 23, 2005 3:15AM PDT

I'd be wary of any of these companies who offer large rebates. You have to figure that the way they make their money is by having as few people as possible cash in the rebates. And by spending the absolute minimum on stuff like support and order fulfillment.

So, if you go with a company like Inphonic/Wirefly or Simply Cells, you can count on no support and having to jump through hoops to cash in any rebates they offer.

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Inphonic Customer Service Response
Aug 31, 2005 6:01AM PDT

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.

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"trusted" sites
Jun 23, 2005 1:53AM PDT

Thanks for posting this list of InPhonic-affiliated sites. It's been helpful in my search for a good deal on an Audiovox SMT5600 for Cingular. However, in case this can help others, here's my experience with the "trusted" sites you refer to:

buy.com: Went to check out their rebate and return/exchange policies. Was directed to a page for special return policies for cellular. Top of that page reads something like: effective 3/??/05, INPHONIC is changing its return/exchange policies as follows.... Looks like buy.com is yet another InPhonic affiliate. I decided to skip this one.

letstalk.com: Their rebate looks like others I've seen that are valid only if I sign up for both a voice plan, AND an unlimited data plan, which I do not need or want. However, their rebate description only gives a minimum required dollar amount, without specifying whether a voice plan is sufficient to qualify for the rebate. They only say "some rate plans may not be eligible." Of course, you don't get to see the actual form--and actual requirements--until after you make a purchase. I e-mailed them three days ago for clarification. Haven't heard back from them. I've been unable to find any negative postings about this company, but I'm not sure the savings here ($20 under Cingular's direct purchase price) is worth the risk.

amazon.com: I bought and sold on amazon before, and like & trust them. They have a great, and easy, rebate offer on the Audiovox, and you get to see the rebate form up front. I went through the entire purchase process, except for pressing the final "submit order" button, at which point I realized I had never been given the option to port my number from my current carrier (an option that was very prominent on all other sites I've visited). So, I went back and dug through a few layers of help screens to find their number portability guidelines page: Amazon does not yet have an agreement/arrangement with Cingular to facilitate number portability, and if you get Cingular to port your number after receiving the phone, you are no longer eligible for amazon.com's rebates. Argh. I cancelled out of the order.

simplycells.com: They have the best price of these 4 sites, and don't require the data plan. Two concerns about them, however: First, I'd like to know to whom I'm sending $200! Why do they bury their company information? Second, to get the final $75 price for the Audiovox, you have to send in three different rebate forms--one every three months. For most of the items on each form, it specifies you are to send photocopies (of the barcode and the current month's billing statement). However, the requirements are worded so that, every three months, you have to send the ORIGINAL RECEIPT. I'm guessing they are probably not going to send this back to you each time, so, technically, if you submit the original at 3 months, they could then claim you don't qualify for the 6- and 9-month rebates when you submit those forms without the original receipt, which they already have.

I do believe I'm going to take my business to the Cingular store down the street.

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InPhonic/Wirefly is a separate entitty
Jun 28, 2005 6:19AM PDT

Actually, these are all different companies. InPhonic provides the technology to run these e-stores, but if you have a beef with one of those sites, you should call them directly since InPhonic/Wirefly doesn't make decisions for them.

These are all legitimate businesses, not fly-by-nights. Personally, I look for deals that don't include rebates since they are designed to be a pain to redeem. Anytime, not just with cell phones.

Check out Point.com for when there's a sale. Point.com has been around forever, and it links to all of these sites mentioned by jeffig (except the carriers, which tend not to be cheap)

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Inphonic Customer Service Response
Aug 31, 2005 6:07AM PDT

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.

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Inphonic Customer Service Response
Aug 31, 2005 5:32AM PDT

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.

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Buy.com is also using inphonic inc.
Jan 25, 2006 6:21AM PST

I got mpx220 from buy.com.

Two rebates on there mentioned some site rebate-zone.com same 180/210 days stuff. The rebate tracking site never functioned. After a lot of days I saw the rebates from inphonic inc on rebate status .com.

Initially there was only one rebate entered twice in there system ( unknown to me why) and there was inadequate docs stuff on one of the two rebates. I replied with fax copies. Ultimately it turned out that the rebate entered twice had inadequate documents status. Few weeks later other rebate showed up.

After faxing the docs the status was updates as In process.
Later this was changed to Mailed Too late ( I had mailed in 180/210 days). It seems only duplicate rebate was showing that status. Other two rebates were still in process.

Finally yesterday I saw status as checks (170 $ + 150$ ) as mailed on Jan 23.

I am still keeping my fingers crossed till the checks ( hopefully i will receive those) get cashed.

Did anybody actually get rebates from Inphonic?

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good luck on those checks
Jan 25, 2006 9:55AM PST

My checks were supposedly mailed 12/2 and 12/5. I checked 2 weeks later - still say mailed. After 30 days I notified them. They said wait another week. Then after that week, they said it had been too long - and would stop payment and reissue checks - it would take 10-12 weeks. And, my rebates were initially received 8/25! So now, it will be the end of March - at which time I will have had my phones for 14 months! I have a feeling that after that, there will be yet another holdup - needless to say, I'm not holding my breath.

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Scammed by Inphonics? Tell us your story!
Jan 26, 2006 1:10AM PST

SCAMMED BY INPHONICS / WIRELESS WORLD / WIRELFLY / CELLULAR CHOICE?

I was also scammed by Inphonics (dba Wireless World, Wirefly, Cellular Choice, etc).
Their websites are so good you wouldn't expect them to be such a scam. But they
are not going to get away with it! Please help bring these folks to justice by sharing
your story with me so we can go after these folks in court. Your story will remain
confidential. Please contact me at inphonics_scam@igc.org As long as we remain silent,
these guys will get away with this.

Knoll

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Rebates-hahaha
Jan 25, 2006 10:03AM PST

I was told my UPC codes were not eligible for the rebates of $300.00. How can that be when I received the forms with the phone from cellular choices. I also emailed Ddennis @ inphonic and she said the same thing-Now I am out 300.00 GRRRRRrrrrrr

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We CAN do something about Inphonics
Jan 26, 2006 1:13AM PST

SCAMMED BY INPHONICS / WIRELESS WORLD / WIRELFLY / CELLULAR CHOICE?

I was also scammed by Inphonics (dba Wireless World, Wirefly, Cellular Choice, etc). Their websites are so good you wouldn't expect them to be such a scam. But they are not going to get away with it! My law firm is trying to gather enough information and experiences from individuals like us so that we can sue this company and stop their deceptive practices. Please help bring these folks to justice by sharing your story with me so we can go after these folks in court. Your story will remain confidential. Please contact me at nphonics_scam@igc.org As long as we remain silent, these guys will get away with this.

Knoll

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sometimes
Jan 30, 2006 11:25AM PST

when you dont supply the upc code you get the NOT eligible error because they have to enter SOMETHING in the upc field so it's usually 99999999999999 or 0000000000000000 or something like that

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Help stop Inphonics
Jan 26, 2006 1:15AM PST

SCAMMED BY INPHONICS / WIRELESS WORLD / WIRELFLY / CELLULAR CHOICE?

I was also scammed by Inphonics (dba Wireless World, Wirefly, Cellular Choice, etc). Their websites are so good you wouldn't expect them to be such a scam. But they are not going to get away with it! Please help bring these folks to justice by sharing your story with me so we can go after these folks in court. Your story will remain confidential. Please contact me at inphonics_scam@igc.org As long as we remain silent, these guys will get away with this.

Knoll

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Inphonic Customer Support
Aug 31, 2005 3:31AM PDT

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.

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Inphonic Customer Support
Aug 31, 2005 3:36AM PDT

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.

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Inphonic Customer Support
Aug 31, 2005 3:40AM PDT

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.

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order#532120523 return #532120523-1-RNMR
Jan 18, 2006 8:58PM PST

I returned this cellphone unopened and I want my credit card credited back for the $104.99. This phone was returned on jan 3, 2006. Please will someone let me know how I can get my money back?

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Getting money back
Jan 19, 2006 12:56AM PST

Your situation is quite simple. When paying your credit card bill, deduct the amount that is owed to Wirefly. Include a letter of explanation to your credit card company as to why you are making the deduction.
You should be OK, the credit card company will go yo bat for you.

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Inphonic Customer Service Response
Aug 31, 2005 3:42AM PDT

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.

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Inphonic Customer Service Response
Aug 31, 2005 3:44AM PDT

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.

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Re: Poor customer support from Inphonic.com/Wirefly.com
Oct 17, 2004 3:32AM PDT

I've seen this kind of customer service at ATT. The object is to keep you on hold long enough to irritate, then run you through a long list of irrelevant choices, let you select the closest one which turns out not to handle your problem, and then either back to the menu and start all over again or wait for a CS rep who tells you that kind of problem isn't handled by his dept. Or, call back at some other time. I asked for an RMA, got a receipt of message with a promise of a reply but no reply, and all telephone communications and E-mails got no response. I've already put my charge into dispute with Mastercard and just won't pay the charge. I got a $120 software package a while back, wrong one, and requested an RMA. Couldn't get one. Put it into dispute. Got re-billed 4 times before the SOB gave up. I still have the software, unopened. Thank God for Mastercard.

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Re: Poor customer support from Inphonic.com/Wirefly.com
Oct 17, 2004 6:32AM PDT

My experience with inphonic.com was brief and horrible. My dad ordered a phone for me thru them and when it finally reached us...like a whole month later (I kept having to check the tracking), the phone was used! And not only used...but it seemed to have been re-painted even! Long story short, I didn't even keep the phone for a day, it was sent back immediately...and they credited back the purchase.

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Re: Poor customer support from Inphonic.com/Wirefly.com
Dec 2, 2004 10:59PM PST

Have similar experience with Wirefly.com. Yesterday
they ported my number from Sprint to Cigular, even
though I did not cancel my service with Sprint! Today
I have no phone, no number, no service! Do you have
a customer service phone number of this company which
seems to hide conveniently behind an e-mail address from which I only get automated responses! usa4real

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Re: Poor customer support from Inphonic.com/Wirefly.com
Dec 3, 2004 2:28AM PST

I wish I had researched Wirefly before buying, but after a few weeks of phenomenally poor customer service I checked in to see what the story is. Based on previous user's comments, I plan to cancel the service and start all over again (after three weeks, I still don't have my phone even though my number was already ported without coordinating it with me). I'll go further to recommend that my old wireless carrier (T-mobile) and new carrier (Cingular) stop doing business with this half-baked outfit. They are obviously incompetant and don't care.

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Did you get scammed by Inphonics?
Jan 26, 2006 1:23AM PST

SCAMMED BY INPHONICS / WIRELESS WORLD / WIRELFLY / CELLULAR CHOICE?

I was also scammed by Inphonics (dba Wireless World, Wirefly, Cellular Choice, etc). Their websites are so good you wouldn't expect them to be such a scam. But they are not going to get away with it! Please help bring these folks to justice by sharing your story with me so we can go after these folks in court. Your story will remain confidential. Please contact me at inphonics_scam@igc.org As long as we remain silent, these guys will get away with this.

Knoll

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Re: Poor customer support from Inphonic.com/Wirefly.com
Dec 7, 2004 3:14AM PST

Here's the customer service number for Inphonic:

1-800-985-6073

I'm trying to get them to honor a 'customer appreciation rebate' they sent me (and now refuse to honor) after originally sending me an expired Motorola rebate. These people stink.

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Re: Poor customer support from Inphonic.com/Wirefly.com
Dec 8, 2004 3:47AM PST

I am experiencing the same "lack" of customer service problem. My wife and I ordered new phones and we were porting our #'s from the other carrier and they deactivted our current phones 5 days before we are supposed to get our new ones. I demanded to know what was going on and after 2 days they wrote back and said
"Thank you for your email.

Your order has been shipped and tracking information is available at www.whereismyorder.com.

Thank you for shopping with us.

Sincerely,

S. Jefferson
Customer Relations Department"

thats it. after 2 days. Don't use this service.

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Did you receive Rebate (s) ?
Jan 31, 2005 9:32AM PST

I just signed up with Inphonic - Wirefly (Wish I Had
seen this site first,, would not have).
I'm suppose to receive (2) rebates : 1 for Customer
Appreciation Rebate -- 1 for Customer Loyalty Rebate.
Requires me to stay with Verizon, and have a balance paid in full,, for at least 150 days.
Was wondering if ANYONE has had the same Rebates ?
Did you receive them ?
Any help is appreciated,, Thanks

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Did you get the rebates?
Feb 25, 2005 3:38PM PST

I just signed up with wirefly (thru cellularchoices.net)
But its horrible from the get go. I am looking at $600 in unpaid rebatest...and getting nervous rather than excited about my new phone. Lemme know your rebate status of if you actually heard anyone get them.

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Luckily returned phone AND got FULL refund !
Mar 1, 2005 2:42PM PST

Luckily ((After ordering phone,, had it 2 days,, didn't use it AT ALL ,, on the 3rd day came across this site and all the BAD reviews about Wirefly, Inphonic -- I made COPIES of EVERYTHING from the time I placed the order until I took it to UPS to be mailed (day 5)), I got a FULL refund. I consider myself lucky after seeing all the bad reviews about Wirefly, Inphonic. BTW,, the phone I had oredred was a Motorola V710. There was a $150.00 customer Loyalty rebate (Which, when I called Verizon,, they never heard of it) and a $150.00 mail-in rebate.
TOO GOOD to be TRUE ????? (I didn't want to even try to see if rebates were going to be honored).
So,, as I said before,, luckily I got a refund.
p.s. - whenever I called Inphonic (which was quite a few times) I always got their Name,, where they were working,, (Canada came up alot),, an extension # , if they had one.
I HOPE ALL that deals with Wirefly, Inphonic are as lucky as I was !
The thing that gets me though is ,,, I ordered through them because it was a LINK from the Motorola web site.