InPhonic rebate ripoff! cingular phone purchased via AAA Niagara Falls New York
After having purchased a Motorola V551 phone and Cingular cellular service through an offer from AAA, our mail-in rebate form was submitted in August. In November I received a card from InPhonic stating that the submission was invalid because the phone bill submitted with the rebate form was not the second month's bill.
The second month's bill was faxed to InPhonic in November, immediately upon receipt of the rejection notice. Again, no word from the company, so I called them in February. The InPhonic CSR stated at the time that they had lost or not received the fax, and to resend it.
Fast forward to March, and another call to InPhonic. This time they stated that because the fax in response to the rejection notice was not received within 120 days, the rebate was rejected once and for all.
It is not my fault they lost the November fax. Furthermore, I was told that I could resubmit it in February. Also, it took over three days' of calling before I could get a manager on the phone, despite their claim that messages left in their managers' voicemail would be answered within 24 hours.
It is obvious that InPhonic has been inventing reasons to not honor their rebates, and that they are running a very lucrative scam. This is a clear case of dishonesty and fraud. It's a shame to see a reputable organization like AAA be reduced to dealing with a sham company like InPhonic in their rebate offers.
Mike
Macungie, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.
8 Updates & Rebuttals
Kathleen
Macon,Georgia,
U.S.A.
Red Tape article about INPhonic's demise?
#9Consumer Suggestion
Mon, April 24, 2006
http://redtape.msnbc.com/2006/01/consumers_irked.html
Here's a link about what Red Tape found on INPhonic's demise. It may or may not help.
Good luck! Sorry about what happened!
Tim
Villa Park,Illinois,
U.S.A.
I contacted my States Attorney re: Inphonic rebate
#9Consumer Suggestion
Sun, April 23, 2006
I submitted my similar Inphonic rebate complaint to IL States Attorney, in October 2005, they, in turn forwarded to the AZ States Attorney as Phoenix is listed as Inphonic headquarters. Yesterday I received a letter from the AZ States Attorney stating that Inphonic has moved to Washington DC and they can no longer pursue.
Tim
Villa Park,Illinois,
U.S.A.
I contacted my States Attorney re: Inphonic rebate
#9Consumer Suggestion
Sun, April 23, 2006
I submitted my similar Inphonic rebate complaint to IL States Attorney, in October 2005, they, in turn forwarded to the AZ States Attorney as Phoenix is listed as Inphonic headquarters. Yesterday I received a letter from the AZ States Attorney stating that Inphonic has moved to Washington DC and they can no longer pursue.
Tim
Villa Park,Illinois,
U.S.A.
I contacted my States Attorney re: Inphonic rebate
#9Consumer Suggestion
Sun, April 23, 2006
I submitted my similar Inphonic rebate complaint to IL States Attorney, in October 2005, they, in turn forwarded to the AZ States Attorney as Phoenix is listed as Inphonic headquarters. Yesterday I received a letter from the AZ States Attorney stating that Inphonic has moved to Washington DC and they can no longer pursue.
Tim
Villa Park,Illinois,
U.S.A.
I contacted my States Attorney re: Inphonic rebate
#9Consumer Suggestion
Sun, April 23, 2006
I submitted my similar Inphonic rebate complaint to IL States Attorney, in October 2005, they, in turn forwarded to the AZ States Attorney as Phoenix is listed as Inphonic headquarters. Yesterday I received a letter from the AZ States Attorney stating that Inphonic has moved to Washington DC and they can no longer pursue.
Ken
Kissimmee,Florida,
U.S.A.
Take Action!
#9Consumer Suggestion
Tue, April 18, 2006
Please submit a complaint to the FTC. If there are enough complaints, they will open a full investigation on this company.
address: FTC.gov
Mike
Macungie,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
Predictably, STILL A RIPOFF
#9Author of original report
Mon, April 17, 2006
Well, one solid week after contacting whereismyorder.com, still nothing. The phone number on that site says they cannot help with rebates and refers you to www.wirelessrebatecenter.com -- which is an invalid link.
Did somebody earlier in this chain mention a class-action lawsuit? That's the best suggestion I've heard yet. InPhonic is clearly a 100% corrupt sham operation. It would probably spin m head to think of how much money they're raking in by denying rebates $100 at a time.
Has anyone tried to contact the state Attorney General's office in regard to InPhonic's clearly dishonest and corrupt business practices?
Mike
Macungie,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
A new twist
#9Author of original report
Tue, April 11, 2006
Received a call today from a supervisor at InPhonic regarding this matter (within a day of being posted on this site -- yay!). They have now referred me to whereismyorder.com, and to tell the Customer Care center there that the Rebate Center cannot override the rejection of the rebate. Amazing the hoops you have to jump through to get anything done, and I'm not yet optimistic that I'll ever see the $100. But it's better than the flat rejection I received yesterday, which prompted me to post here. (And from the looks of things, I'm hardly alone.)