Complaint Review: Inphonic

Jenn,

Thanks for your comments, but I don't need to listen to Steinberg's interview again in order to quote what he said. His arrogance and blatant disinterest regarding the rebate issues for which his company is being sued were all I needed to form my opinion.

You are correct -- he is an extremely INeloquent speaker and, in my opinion, sounds profoundly clueless (just validates my theory that one can become a CEO with not much more than a primeval brain).

I am not interested in engaging in semantics or reading between the lines of his self-serving discourse. I also don't care what he MEANT to imply, say, or its context. He was asked about all the current complaints regarding unfulfilled rebates.

No one cares about whether or not Wirefly and InPhonic plans to offer rebates in the future -- that was not the question. Everyone on this site is concerned over his or her own currently rejected or pending rebate(s).

Additionally, as the head of a company that has innumerable complaints lodged against it all over the internet, Steinberg should think before he speaks and choose his words with more care. He should also fully expect us to weigh every syllable coming out of his mouth concerning the unfulfilled rebates.

I certainly would never have purchased a $250.00 cell phone which I did not need, had it not been openly advertised as FREE after rebate. I did not see this ad by going to Wirefly's website. The free phone was prominently advertised on my internet carrier's home page. From there, I was lured to Wirefly's website where FREE was once again glaring all over their site.

From the timing of many of the complaints here, I suspect numerous consumers were similarly lured by InPhonic and Wirefly's dynamic, albeit misleading, ad campaign. Many of us fell for the same free after rebate RAZR V3 phone at about the same time last year.

Otherwise, I am wondering why you are defending him. Are you employed by or have some other interest in InPhonic or one of their associates?

Jana,
if you listen closely to the interview you'll notice that what he's saying (inelegantly) is that they are issuing fewer DEALS WITH REBATES not that they are PAYING OUT fewer rebates.

From the context it's clear that he means that Wirefly is relying less on rebates to attract customers -- he makes that comment right after saying something about trying to reduce the hassle of rebates.

EG Not only are we being much more open about how rebates work but we're even issuing less of them so fewer people will have to deal with them in the first place. He never says that they are paying less or issueing fewer CHECKS.

Chem,

I just listened to Steinberg's press conference of July 7. As another person on this site stated about "Jon Delahay," I also almost fell out of my chair laughing at the bs coming out of Steinberg's mouth. He sounds incredibly dumb for a CEO, especially when he can't even get the lawsuit(s) against his company straight. The caller was asking him about the DC Attorney General's lawsuit, and this idiot starts talking about a lawsuit that's completely different.

But what really froze me in place with utter amazement is how many times this imbecile openly admits on the radio the following:

(1) "We have made a concerted effort to issue substantially LESS rebates as a company."

(2) "We have dropped the percentage of rebates we issue as a company DRAMATICALLY."

(3) "We are issuing substantially FEWER rebates."

REALLY? I don't think anyone here or the other websites noticed.

I'm going to post more on this and urge people to go to the site you mentioned and actually listen to him. It's good for a laugh, and maybe should be classified as "stranger than fiction."

Here, I did some more research for you:

STEINBERG, DAVID A
4510 JAMESTOWN RD
BETHESDA MD 20816-1858
(301) 320-5260
DSTEINBERG@INPHONIC.COM

CURRAN, BRIAN J
(703) 528-0008
(703) 248-9092
(703) 248-8965
BCURRAN@INPHONIC.COM

WINKLER, LAWRENCE S
11507 SKIPWITH LN
POTOMAC MD 20854-1642
(410) 849-2118
(410) 849-3377
LWINKLER@INPHONIC.COM

WESTRICK, BRIAN T
5920 JOHNSON AVE
BETHESDA MD 20817-3433
(301) 564-1411
BWESTRICK@INPHONIC.COM

DONNELLY, TRIPP
TDONNELLY@INPHONIC.COM
(202) 256-4254
(202) 337-3635
(703) 812-3944

HOAG, JAY C (MAJOR SHAREHOLDER)
(650) 473-1090
(831) 622-0950
(209) 599-9777

KEMP, JACK F (ON BOARD OF DIRECTORS)
13505 PINE RUN LN
FREDERICKSBURG, VA 22407-2050
(540) 786-8504

To access David Steinberg's press conference, go to http://www.mn1.com/, then select "Downloads & Podcasts". Next, type in "INPC" in the symbol search and click on "GO". You should see a link for the conference recorded live on July 7, 2006.

To access David Steinberg's press conference, go to http://www.mn1.com/, then select "Downloads & Podcasts". Next, type in "INPC" in the symbol search and click on "GO". You should see a link for the conference recorded live on July 7, 2006.

To access David Steinberg's press conference, go to http://www.mn1.com/, then select "Downloads & Podcasts". Next, type in "INPC" in the symbol search and click on "GO". You should see a link for the conference recorded live on July 7, 2006.

To access David Steinberg's press conference, go to http://www.mn1.com/, then select "Downloads & Podcasts". Next, type in "INPC" in the symbol search and click on "GO". You should see a link for the conference recorded live on July 7, 2006.