My story is different from most of you all because my problem with this company has nothing to do with rebates, as I've learned from previous experience not to deal with rebates. My problem is the fact that this company has lied to me on more than one occasion.
Before I placed my order on 9/29, for a free RAZR from Cingular, I did my research on the company and went to Inphonic's webaite directly at www.inphonic.com. Under thier link, "CARRIER RELATIONS" it clearly states, "We also purchase wireless devices directly from these carriers and their designated distributors for resale to customers."
This means to me, a consumer, that I was getting a phone from Cingular (Cingular branded with the Cingular logo on the phone). Needless to say when I received the first phone on 10/3/06 it was an unlocked phone, in a pink Motorola box, that wasn't even an American phone. The words "personalized" and Dialed" were spelled wrong, "personalise" and dialled" among other words. The Quick Notes in the messages menu were all in German or some other foriegn language even though the rest of the menus were in English.
As some of you may know already, most of the features in an unlocked phone do not work with the networks. And this was the case with this phone. The same day I received the phone, I first called Cingular to see if I could get the phone configured to their network and they told me there is nothing they can do about this. My next call was to Wirefly. I explained my problem to their customer service person and requested that they send me a Cingular branded phone. I even asked if that was possible and was assured that the phone I received was an error and a correct phone would be sent to me as an escalated case. I was assured I would have a new phone by that Friday, 10/6/06.
Friday came and went without me having a phone.By 10pm I called Wirefly to see what was going on and was told that the phone was still in the warehouse ready to be shipped and it would go out on Monday as an escalated matter. I expalined that I would be at work and would not be home so requested them the change the shipping address to work address. I again was assured that I would have the have by Monday and the adress correction was put through.
On Monday, I received a confirmation email that the phone was shipped only to see that the shipped address was my home address. So I was not getting the phone that Monday as promised. After numerous phone calls to wirefly and FedEx, the address was finally corrected after conference calling FedEx with Wirefly on the phone. On Tueday, 10/10/06, I recieved the second phone, only to find out that again, they sent me an unlocked phone. I experienced the same probleems with this phone as I did with the other one.
I called Wirefly again to voice my displeasure at being lied to. I was AGAIN assured that Wirefly sends branded phones and that my order was again a mistake. I questioned if what I was asking a option and whether they understood what I was asking and the reponse was yes to both. At this point I had received my first bill from Cingular for $91.26.
I told the customer service rep that all I wanted was a Cingular branded phone and if ths was not possible to let me know now so that I can cancel the order and call Cingular to cancel the service to avoid any fees as the 30 days was quickly approaching. I was assured that they made another mistake and promised me that I would get a Cingular phone. I was told by Spencer in the warehouse that they would send me a new Cingular phone via Air Overnight and I would have the phone the next day. I was told that the Air overnight delivery was complimentary for my troubles and the case was yet again esalated.
The next day I hadn't received the phone.By that evening I received an email confirmation that the phone was shipped. I entered the tracking number on FedEx's website a saw that the phone was shipped Ground 2nd day and I should receive it by the 13th. Needless to say I was a little upset. At this point I called Inphonic directly to voice my displeasure in the companies practice of lying to it's customers. I spoke with a gentlemen by the name of Jon who referred to himself as the VP from the office of the president. He assured me that he would resolve any issues that I had and would be placing an order on my behalf to send me a Cingular branded phone. He told me it would take about 5 business days, that was on the 12th.
By this time, I have yet to receive the 3rd phone. On the 19th the phone finally arrives and low and behold it another unlocked phone. And it's 5 business days later and the phone Jon had promised hadn't been shipped according to the web site www.whereismyorder.com. At this point, I am trully disgusted with this company and cancel my order and return the phones. I finally just went to Best Buy and bought the phone for $49 and got another free one because Best Buy had a sale buy one get one free.
This experience with this company has been an eye opener. I have advised all of my friends and even foes not to deal with anything/any website that has the Inphonic logo on it. I even went so far as to record my last conversation (and advised the rep that the call was being recorded) and asked him if it was there practice to lie to it's customers and he say yes. I caught him telling a few of them on tape. I have the tape if you wish to hear it. I am thinking about hiring an attorny to get the money back that I had to pay Cingular ($91.26) along with suing this company for fraud.
Jamila
Clifton, New Jersey
U.S.A.
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