Complaint Review: InPhonic Cellular Choices AT&T - Washington District of Columbia

I signed up for AT&T Wireless service on a 2-year contract through Cellular Choices on the Internet. This was to include two phones which were advertised to be free after the rebates ($150 each). Little did I know that the rebate process was going to be so confusing and delayed. I could not even submit the rebate until after I could provide 3 months of paid bills and the rebate form also stated I could not cancel service before 181 days or the rebate would be null. Well, the person who took my order failed to set the automated billing up correctly, and I was then without a paid statement for the first bill (it showed overdue because they failed to keep it on automatic from my credit card as I had requested and as it had been done for the previous contract) and then I had to go into my local AT&T office to get that all straightened out. The people there told me that Cellular Choices had not done things properly, and that they were going to have to fix it and change the activation date. They assurred me this should not affect my rebates.

Well, after a tremendous hurricane season here in Florida and several other stressful life events, I became confused on the dates on the rebate form and misread it. I thought I had to produce 181 days of proof of service. So I waited for 181 days to pass.

While completing my paperwork I realized my mistake with the 181 days vs. the 120 days, etc., and sent a detailed apology and explanation. They didn't care. I also sent copies of all my statements which included any dates from when I started this transaction, AND my previous statement from AT&T to show that I did indeed have automated billing prior to this transaction and was not just inventing that confusion.

I got a letter saying my rebate was denied because:

(1) Dates of submitted wireless bills do not fall within the date range specified on the rebate form.

(2) Postmark date does not fall within required timeframe included on form.

I called the InPhonic rebate line and was told that there was no way that this rebate would be honored. I was also told that by sending them more than they asked for I was not following the directions on the form and this, too was ample reason to disqualify my request. They did not care about the dates confusion or the wording or anything else; they were only interested in ripping me off!

To make matters worse, a month after being on AT&T, they sold out to Cingular Wireless, which I would have NEVER gone with as I had had a previous bad experience with them. AND, that's not all, one of my phones, which I paid $150 for (supposedly free after rebate) doesn't even work! The battery went dead after about 2 months! Additionally (yes, there's more) I also ordered 2 accessory packs which were to include belt clips, ear plugs and car jacks. I received only 1 kit so I sent in a request for the 2nd one. They then send a belt clip and ear plug....no car jack! I am still waiting to receive it and when I talked with them just this morning I was told that she would contact the warehouse and request it again! My original order was 7/31/2004!

I think all rebates should be put on the shoulder of the seller...not the buyer. Buyers should be able to get their rebates instantly. If retailers can't offer that then they should not be allowed to offer rebates at all! There is just too much scamming going on in the name of rebates and too often consumers either forget or lose something and are out of luck. Rebate companies are creating too many hoops for consumers to jump through, knowing that in all likelihood they will miss one and they will then have a loophole to deny the rebate.

I would not recommend Cellular Choices or InPhonic after this experience. If anyone starts a class action suit over these rebates, I certainly want to be part of it.

Shirley

New Smyrna Beach, Florida
U.S.A.

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