Beware: Buying from Wirefly

[tmojay]

I'm not saying 'don't buy from wirefly' but.....shop and your own risk and Read these if you're considering those "Free!" RAZR ads from wirefly.com or other inphonic dealers online

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

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

although many of you may claim success at these rebates I have a lot of customers who signed up for t-mobile with them who have complaints about the rebate process.

Although some may say they have problems with all rebates for any product from any carrier, I have heard more complaints about rebates from wirefly than amazon or t-mobile's own rebates or other company's rebats.

i searched hofo and didn't see a mention of this yet.

[HiTekAlex]

It's not so bad - the rebates on 2 RAZRs I got from Wirefly came directly from T-Mobile, not them. T-mobile has a website where you can track rebate status, it's actually an easy process.

[PsychoKoala]

Man I got a call from this customer yesterday who ordered from Wirefly, and he was pissed. He originally ordered a RAZR, and they sent him a Moto V188. When he got the phone, it worked, but he couldn't get any calls because when people called the number he was told was his, they got someone else. It turns out they had sent him the wrong phone, AND a SIM card from someone else’s order, and they in turn got his SIM card. So he called them and spent about 60 minutes on the phone to be able to get the right phone sent back to him, so they set it up to send him the correct phone, and have him send back the V188 when he got it. What they actually did though, was activate a 2nd line with a RAZR, and sent that to him. So we ended up canceling both lines, he sent back both phones, and I ended up crediting all the charges from his account (even though he used the phone) so he would have to pay us nothing. So there is a horror story for ya.

And those "customer loyalty" rebates that they offer are complete BS as well. Have to wait six months to send it to them, and they have to receive within a certain 30 day window or it is denied

[cawang]

the problem is from their rebates, not t-mobile's. (at least you don't have to wait for 180 days to mail out t-mo's own rebates.)

It's not so bad - the rebates on 2 RAZRs I got from Wirefly came directly from T-Mobile, not them. T-mobile has a website where you can track rebate status, it's actually an easy process.

[rokrnroll]

PsychoKoala, I'm not so sure you're 100% right about the customer rebates from these online retailers. I had a bit of a problem receiving mine as well (turned out it had to do with wirefly switching rebate processing centers), but it's not entirely because of some evil corporate plan to screw you. After weeding through the flame-wars, I found the REAL explanation. These online companies make their money by receiving commissions from the big carriers, in exchange for signing up new customers... but they don't get that money from T-Mobile (for example) until you've been a customer for six months.

So, that 180-210 day window, or whatever it is, has nothing to do with intentionally delaying the process. It's the carriers' fault, not the retailers'.

Here's an article explaining how the dealers subsidize the phones, even before the rebate:
http://www.point.com/articles/2005/0...ree_cell_p.php

And this site explains why you need to wait 180 days:
http://www.wireflyrebates.com/#why-d...nclude-rebates

[kdenninger]

Well, here's a good question for 'ya....

If T-Mobile is so focused on customer satisfaction, then why do they not bar (by contract) this kind of crap from places like Wirefly and Amazon?

They could require that these retailers not require the sort of "you must mail this rebate form from 90 to 94 days after purchase, and you must use the phone for exactly 235 minutes" garbage.

After all, the IMEI you last used is on the account. How do I know? I just got an SDA, and when they pulled up my account in the store, my unlocked phone's IMEI - a Cing-branded 6230 - was right there on the screen.....

Verification is a 30 second deal. So cut the crap T-Mobile, and put a stop to this nonsense - or I will conclude (correctly) that you approve of it.

[Sideout2]

By law, you cant tell another company how they can price their handsets. T-Mobile cannot force a company to follow certain guidelines in regards to the sale of the handsets. Lets face it. If people didn't want everything for free then there wouldn't be a need for these type of rebates and deals. The consumers are the ones who really determine why companies do what they do.

[kdenninger]

By law, you cant tell another company how they can price their handsets. T-Mobile cannot force a company to follow certain guidelines in regards to the sale of the handsets. Lets face it. If people didn't want everything for free then there wouldn't be a need for these type of rebates and deals. The consumers are the ones who really determine why companies do what they do.

You can't tell people how to price (that's correct) but you can pull someone's dealer authorization because their policies are reflecting poorly on you as a company.

In short you can impose business standards on representation of your products to the marketplace, since ultimately it is your image that is harmed when a company does something like this.