Wirefly

When I pulled up Wirefly just now and looked under my zipcode for VZW, the phone selection was actually more limited than VZW corporate. Many of the newer LGs and Samsungs were not there, and I don't recall seeing ANY Audiovoxes.

 

I am interested in buying a phone on wirefly.com is this site legit to buy phones?

Thanx

 

I have never bought anything from them, but i do believe they are Legit. Just 1 thing to remember with re-sellers, they have different T&C then the carriers, so if you would normally get a 30 day grace period with say Cingular, they could have a 14 day & other fees to cancel.

 

So my other question is if I got through them do they hook me up with Verizon? I mean would that just be the phone and then I have to get my own plan?

It just seems too good to be true. Right now they have the Motorola v710 for free after rebates.

 

Nevermind. I read the fine print on the rebates and I'll pass. You send in the rebate form with a bill after 150-180 days of activation! Then it says you won't get the money back for another 10-12 weeks. So basically you have to come up with 300 bucks up front and wait another 5-6 months to collect your money....screw that

 

That's why I suggested you read the T&C's to find out all the facts to it. Sometimes what sounds too good to be true is too good to be true.

 

I was browsing through HoFo for Wirefly.com and came across a few users who had bought through them. They didn't look like a scam but the reviews weren't great. One person warned that the rebate takes 8-10 months after you sign up. Most of the others said that Wirefly was slow shipping the phone even though the contract started 2-3 weeks ago.

 

Love Wirefly

I have bought from Wirefly twice. The first time was over 2 years ago. More recently switched again through the wirefly friends and family site (http://www.wireflyfriends.com) which I originally found at fatwallet.

It's basically even lower prices with no wirefly rebates (there is a discussion thread now about the wirefly friends/family site along with recent prices at anandtech http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=40&threadid=1529361&enterthread=y)

Wirefly ratings/policies at CNet http://reviews.cnet.com/4011-5_7-6254748.html

 

I would steer clear of them. I ordered a razr through them that was 49.99 with a 50 rebate. They never delivered the phone and I am STILL waiting for a refund. Trying to get someone that understands english is almost impossible as is trying to get a supervisor on the line. In short, I feel that this was a scam, as when I contacted FEDEX to run the tracking number (2 days after the phone was supposedly shipped) they said the only activity on the tracking number was the lable printout. I contacted Wirefly (keep in mind I ordered it next day), and they said it had already shipped. 4 days later.. no phone, and as I said, still waiting on the refund. Ended up goin to best buy and gettin the same phone for 60 bucks.

Please beware when ordering through these people.

P.S. The local phone number for the company is no longer in service either.

 

sylviecat,
I'm sorry that you didn't have a good experience. Send me an email directly at ddennis(at)inphonic.com and I'll personally look into what's going on with your refund check.

Sincerely,
Doreen

 

Go here and read this, and if you still want to buy from Wirefly, then go ahead.

Myself personally, No fing way.

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2006/01/consumers_irked.html

 

I just finished reading the above posts and am thankful that consumers have such a medium to express their outrage or dissatisfaction with a company. I also am thrilled that company's are joining in on the dialog in an attempt to manage perceptions being created. InPhonic's Doreen Dennis above is a good example. I myself have had an unpleasant experience with InPhonics as I have been denied a refund on two phones totaling close to $460. The reason I was denied a refund (or even the return of my two phones) is simply due to mis-communication by a customer service representative and unclear website instructions. I just emailed Ms. Dennis and will keep you abreast of her responsiveness and ability to assist me. Anyone from InPhonics can contact me at salvaggio(at)gmail.com if they can also help.

If you are curious about my issue with InPhonics, here is the time line:

Dec 9, 2005 - Ordered two phones from inPhonics
Jan 1, 2006 - Visited website below which stated:

http://www.whereismyorder.com/wm2/returninstructions.aspx?referringpartner=www.inphonic.com

"Call your wireless service provider and deactivate your account. YOU MUST DO THIS TO RECEIVE A REFUND." (**which I did immediately as this is quite clear no deactivation, no refund**)

"Send everything you received in the shipment (phone, manual, charger, battery, even the original box) back to us. You must do all of these steps to receive proper credit and avoid unnecessary fees , both from us and from your wireless service provider. " (**which I needed clarification on since the boxes were damaged on route to me and while opening the package and thus not able to be returned.**)

Jan 2, 2006 - Called for an RMA # and clarification of website instructions that discuss proper credit and additional fees. I explained that the original boxes were damaged but I could send the UPC Codes. He confirmed that a small fee would be incurred as long as InPhonics gets the phones by January 10, 2005 a refund would be granted minus a small fee for the boxes.

January 3, 2006 - mailed the phones, manuals, chargers, batteries and UPC codes by UPS 2 day mail

January 5, 2006 - InPhonics signed for and processed the returned package

January 19, 2006 - I inquired about the status of my refund and was informed that no refund is coming and I will NOT be getting my phones back.

January 19, 2006 - I spoke to a supervisor, Spawan, regarding my January 2, 2006 conversation with a customer service representative and explained the website was very clear that no deactivation means no refund but not so clear with no original box. No original box according to myself and the customer service rep. meant refund but additional fees incurred. The supervisor apologized for the misunderstanding and explained that the notation of the 1/2/06 conversation mentioned "gave RMA and instructions" with no detail. He said he could not issue a refund as a result. When I expressed my need to carry this further, he said he would contact the Finance department for approval.

January 19, 2006 - I contacted the Attorney General of Maryland's consumer affair department to find out my options. They suggested I write them a detailed letter but first attempt to contact InPhonics directly as your company has a stellar record according to their database.

January 19, 2006 - I found other irate customers on WirelessAdvisor.com and thankfully discovered Ms. Dennis' email to help out. Thus, emailed Ms. Dennis.

 

I almost wanted to buy 2 Moto Razr from this company. But after I did some research on the net, I found so many unpleasant and dissatisfy customers who all complainted about never receiving their refunds or rebates. Amazingly the details of there stories are almost identical. But hey, dont take my words for it. Go to this web site and see it for yourseslf:

http://www.wirefly-rebate.com/forum1.php

http://reviews.cnet.com/5238-7813-0...&tag=cnr&q=wirefly.com&select=All+CNET+Forums

 

and this:

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller7831-p1-s1-d1.html

 

One other thing I have also noted about wirefly, they seem to have reps out now trolling forums like this one(and others) looking for complaints and trying to mitigate complaints. Notice a few post up from here a wirefly person trying to help someone out that has an issue. Hope they can, but from what I read here and elsewhere on the net, doubt it. Nor will helping one person on this forum persuade me to ever do business with them.

 

Doreen Dennis is policy-centric

Doreen Dennis is attempting to lessen the negative press that her company has earned by responding to negative posts from scammed customers. Keep in mind, InPhonic started to open up a dialog with posters and bloggers only AFTER the company lost their BBB rating and received negative ink from MSNBC. Thus, please do not put your faith in InPhonic or Doreen as she is less customer-centric and more policy-centric. Obviously I can only speak of my own experiences with InPhonic and Doreen but read on and I will let you be the judge.

*** Here is my story about a return of two phones that went bad for me (and good for InPhonic) ***

I returned my two phones without the original boxes only after an overseas service representative misinformed me and instructed me (BEFORE I returned my phones) that only a small fee would be imposed. When this was mentioned to Doreen, she ignored this mistake and focused on company policy. She simply said, sorry, policy says, NO REFUND. She also stated its our policy NOT to ship your unqualified return back. In addition, after I mentioned the instructions on the "WhereIsMyOrder.com" website said additional fees would be imposed, Doreen ignored my comment each time I mentioned it.

As a result of this malicious policy, I am out $460 and two phones. Below is her latest reply to my emails. I find it hard to imagine a multi-million dollar organization does not have the logistics to ship unqualified returns back. This is unthinkable and an indication of the type of business InPhonic has grown into.

*** Here is Doreen's reply to my request to get my unqualified return back even though an InPhonic phone rep. told me to ship it back as is ****

Maria,

I'm sorry but our policy indicates we cannot issue a refund for your order without all items (phones, packaging, manuals etc.) returned. We do not the ship phones or accessories returned by the customer back to the customer. Unfortunately we cannot issue a refund or return the phone/accessories back to you. I wish I could have given you a more favorable response but I cannot supersede the company's policy.

Sincerely,

Doreen Dennis

 

Don't touch them... As one of many dissatisfied customers, I can tell you that the spend more money avoiding paying rebates than it would probably cost them to simply honor their commitments. They owe me $250... claim not one, but two, separate rebate submissions were lost in the mail...They've been kicked out of the Better Business Bureau and are nothing more than a very legitimate looking scam.

 

i gave them a try for a free razr but when i called them to find out the status of my order, they told me that they were out of stock. i cancelled the order for 2 reasons, first because they were out of V3's and second because they didn't notify me with that information, i would have been waiting weeks for that, then there was the wait for the rebates. i'm glad they were out of stock, i ended up getting it locally for free.

 

after reading all this, i will never do bussiness with, wirefly.

 

I purchased 2 Razr phones from Wirefly back in March. The phones are free like they advertise, but I still have not seen the first refund out of 3 rebates. You have to wait 6 months to send them in. I have been waiting for over 13 weeks now since I sent them in. Good luck

 

You have to wait six months to send them in? I was under the impression that you only had a certain period of time to send them in. Usually you have to send the rebate in within 60 days, etc.

 

I wish I would have looked at this web site first!!!!!!!!! The time frame is 150 to 210 days after purchase. Check this out before going to Wirefly.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/cell_phones/wirefly.html

 

Whatever you do . . . DO NOT USE WIREFLY. First of all, their "mail in" rebates (regardless of which wireless service you go with) can't be mailed in for 120-150 days, and then you must tear the box all to pieces to get all the information they need, as well as your most recent phone bill from whichever provider you chose. Your phone must be activated by them, not your wireless provider . . . that gets them off the hook for the rebates because most people call their wireless provider to activate. And if, by chance, the coverage you need isn't available and you don't notify them within 15 days - you have to eat the cost of that phone. One order I placed with them was supposed to be credited to my account over a month ago - they're still dragging their feet. CALL THE PROVIDER DIRECTLY - DO NOT GO THROUGH THESE SO-CALLED "freebies" . . . they will cost you more in the end.

 

While this is certainly good advice, I must say that there are trustworthy resellers out there, whether they are box stores like Best Buy or Circuit City or Costco, or online sellers like Amazon.

 

Wirefly is quite possibly the worst place ever to purchase phones from. Back in Oct. 06 I tried to purchase 2 phones from them for my wife and I. Now here it is Jan. 07 and I'm still dealing with issues from them not sending me the accesories that I ordered as well as the insurance for my phone.
They have cancelled my orders 3 times and failed to let me know why! Then when you try to call them not only do you have to hold forever but, I have even been hung up on.
And when you finaly are able to get through to a live person you can't understand them. Not to mention the they are extremely rude!
As for as customer service it is nonexistant!!!!
I work in retail and have to deal with customers all the time and I would never treat my customers the way they do.
I will never use them again and think that it's worth it to go to the stores in person and pay the extra cost to get some decent help with a product.

 

Did I try to find this site before I purchased phones from wirefly it would have been lot of help for me.
I hope this message helps lot of people.
I am the victim of the Wirefly's dangerous fraud going on all over the internet.
I dont know US being with so many good laws how this company is surviving.

After paying 300$ upfront for a family plan which includes one motorola razr and one nokia , trusting we will get money back in rebates Wirefly had found all the reasons to deny the rebates.

In first place they had sent phones that are made for use in China. We had tough time to get the phones that work in US but got them though they dont work well but we were living with them.

With this we had 2 activation dates. So we enquired the rebate center which bills to send with the rebate forms so that our rebate forms are honoured.I didnt keep notes whom i talked to as I didnt know that it would turn into such a fraud.

They have given us the months for which we have to send the bills and we sent them. Now it is 4 months I have made atlest a dozen calls to find the reasons for denial and talked to th supervisors only in vain.

I lost all money.
I have nto complained yet to business bureau. I have to .
Also every time a call is made you are kept 30-40 min waiting.
Not only money but lot of manhours are wasted in this deal.

I hoep still there is better place to caution hte people.

 

Call them again and tell them that you are going to call your district attorny's office and will be filling a formal complaint for action against them. And if they don't respond immediately to resolve your issue, then do call the DA's office and file a formal complaint.

 

Thanks for your reply.
I spoke to the supervisors and told the same thing.
They are not resolving anything. I need to formally put a complaint against this company as you said.

Thanks for suggestio