I have just read a report from your column regarding Inphonics from a customer who shares the identical frustration and story I am facing right now Obviously, this has happened one too many times.
The story is almost identical to mine.infact, I can paste the story here, and change the dates (which goes to show you how ironic and chilling it is to know that companies like InPhonic can allow this to happen and get away with it).
In August I called Wirefly (Inphonics) to inquire about a Nextel phone deal they were running. I was a current long time Nextel subscriber beyond my contract obligations (free to get a different contract with no penalty). I had good phones but the new, smaller phones would be nice. I told the sales rep that I was only interested in the deal if I could keep my current phone numbers - otherwise I'd just keep what I had. He enthusiastically informed me that I could get the deal and keep my old phone numbers and he further stated that I would have to call Nextel when the phones arrived to change the numbers. I called Nextel to confirm that they had no issues with this deal. Upon confirmation by both companies that my concerns were answered, I signed up for the offer.
The phones arrived and I called Nextel as the InPhonics rep had said to change the numbers - all is well at this point.
Three months later (Nov 04), I received an email from Inphonics stating that their records indicated that I had cancelled my service (not true) and I owed them $150 per phone for "equipment discount penalty". Customer service - Collection response to my calls were all along the line of "changing the number on the phone invalidates that contract". They gave me 48 hours to resolve this matter with Nextel or collect! The companies basic position is that they are not responsible for what their sales people say to make a sale. Despite explaining that the only reason I took the deal was the assurance that I could use my old numbers without penalty, the company has stood their ground. The issue is now in their collections debt who "understand my frustration" but can do nothing about it.
I called the Customer Service Sales team and all they do is nothing. The charges will remain and they "won't be able to waive the charge, unless we reinstate the original phone numbers given at the point of sale." The numbers have long been resold and there is nothing we can do about it.
What does it take to get these people to start taking responsibility for their salespeople's actions? I am so outraged about this. Is there anything legal we can do about this? Can we get more of our voices heard nationally? It's a case of misrepresentation and a bate and switch put together? Because of this, at no seen fault of ours, we are victims of paying an additional amount of money ($150 per phone $300 altogether) due to the neglect and misrepresentation of their so called "sales representatives."
I would also like to post this along with Brian from Chesapeake, Virginia who had the courage to post his identical, yet unfortunate situation with InPhonics.
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