InPhonic
Inc. Bait and Switch Sales Tactics/Rebate Ripoff

Phones purchased through MSN Mobile advertisement.inPhonic Rep stated that we could keep our exsisting Nextel numbers without affecting our rebate or service.

Did not receive rebates after several weeks. Contacted InPhonic several times and was unable to clear the issue. 11/12/04 contacted "Deb" at (866) 579-3062. She had us take the phones apart and give her the numbers off the sim cards. Called back to check status, (as instructed) on 11/14/04 to the same number. Gave the name, (Deb) and operator number, (5008) and was told no such person there. Asked the contact "Laticia" to check rebate status and was informed that the rebate would be sent out in 4-6 weeks.

11/20/04 Received 2 letters from the ERC company, collections dept for InPhonic.
Claiming I owe them $300.00 for service terminations.

Called (866) 579-3062 explained situation to "Fileep" and was instructed to ignore the letters.

Not happy with that advice called ERC on 11/22/04 and explained situation to person there. This person began yelling at me and told me I broke the contact and would pay the $600.00. Tried to get a name but was hung up on.

Decided to wait and see if the rebate checks came.

12/15/04 Received call from ERC explained situation and was asked if I intended to dispute the charges. Answered yes.

12/20/04 Received 2 letters from ERC offering to settle for $240.00 payment or be turned over to 3 major Credit Card Companies.

12/22/04 Called (866) 579-3062 and explained situation to "Molly". Was given a customer service number, (800) 985-6073. I called this number and spoke to the operator explaining the entire situation. Was connected to "Kris" the floor supervisor and explained the situation to him. He stated that "We had done nothing wrong and we should have been advised that we were supposed to call InPhonic after activating the phones to give them the new cell phone numbers". Kris then started an "escalation process" and explained that we would first get the "ERC" issue resolved and then tackle the "Rebate" issue. I was advised to call back in 48 hours to check the status of the "Escalation".

12/23/04 Called ERC and spoke to Cynthia Webster. Explained the situation to her and was very rudely told that it was impossible to repair the situation because I broke the contract and If I did't pay the money I would be turned in.

12/28/04 Unable to get through until Tuesday. Called (800) 985-6073 to check "escalation status" was told by "Daniel" that "Kris" didn't work in the building were he was and to try calling back to see if I could connect to the right building. I explained that the wait time is 30 minutes every time I call. "Daniel" replied that there was no other way.

12/28/04 Tried several time to locate "Kris" but failed"

12/30/04 Called (800) 444-9543 after researching InPhonic Contact numbers.
Spoke to Samantha Harper and explained the entire situation. She immediately became rude and told me it didn't matter what I was told by any employee because all the company policies are posted at their website. If the sales person told me different then they were wrong. If "Kris" told me what he did then he was wrong.

I explained that I should not be held responsible for InPhonics actions and that I had explained this to many people without getting anywhere. I also made it clear that I wanted the issue resolved quickly.

"Samantha stated that she could not reach her manager "Martin Bry" and had to walk to another building to speak with "financing" I told her of the numerous persons that had vanished before and she assured me that she wasn't going anywhere and would call me back shortly.

I waited until late afternoon and called back. Spoke to "Martin Bry" and was informed that Samantha had left for an emergency. I attempted to explain the situation to him but he didn't want to take over from Samantha.

12/31/04 No call from Samantha. Decided to file with BBB and rippoffreport

Company: InPhonic
Country: USA
State: District of Columbia
City: Washington
Address: 1010 Wisconsin Avenue NW
Phone: 8666357400

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