Filed a rebate claim but never got a check? Step-by-step guide to get your money back

Have you been ripped off by a mail-in rebate company before?

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zanyguy

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Filed a rebate claim but never got a check? Step-by-step guide to get your money back

This is a compilation of my learnings from experiences with fraud rebate "fulfillment" companies. Specifically it relates to the cell phone rebate company cellphonerebates.com (CONTINENTAL PROMOTION GROUP, INC) that serves as a fulfilment agency for inPhonic and other companies that offer "free" cell-phones with a service contract. But the learning is universal and can be applied to any other rebate claim that got rejected:

  1. Call the rebate fulfilment company and speak to the Customer Service Rep and see if they agree that the rebate claim was valid. If this works, great. But many a times, they will fool you by saying that the claim has been resubmitted and check back in a couple of weeks.
  2. If after repeated tries, nothing seems to be working ask to speak to their manager and also clarify that you will complain to the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and other agencies if your claim is not processed.

    If that does not help, start the fight. Remember: it's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog that counts!
  3. File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Typically the company's website will have a direct link to the BBB (a button with the words BBB or BBBOnline on it). If not the URL is http://www.bbbonline.org. The BBB complaint form is at http://complaint.bbb.org.
  4. File a complaint with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/consumer.htm. Click on the "File a Complaint" button at the bottom.
  5. File a complaint with your State's Attorney General. A Google query like "Idaho Attorney General" should give you the URL for your state. If you're lucky and have a tech-savvy Attorney General you can file a complaint online. If not, they will explain the process for mailing in your complaint.
  6. File a mail fraud complaint with the US Postal Inspection Service at https://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/MailFraudComplaint.htm
  7. File a complaint with the manufacturer / service provider that is using the mail-in rebate fulfilment agency. In case of cell phone rebates, more often than not the vendor would be http://www.whereismyorder.com. The service provider's website should be known to you already e.g. www.cingular.com.
  8. You can also write a letter to your newspaper to make the public aware of this fraud and to expose the fraudsters.
  9. Finally, remember that you can sue the company in a Small Claims Court. The Small Claims Court Links to Each State is at http://law.freeadvice.com/resources/smallclaimscourts.htm
  10. You could also try contacting your credit card company's (Visa / American Express) dispute resolution process and try getting a refund from them. Some people have reported success through this method.

Hope this helps. Please feel free to add your own experiences / suggestions...
 
thanks for your help :claps: :claps:
 
I am currently having issues with cellphonerebates.com. I purchased two cell phones from TigerDirect.com whch promised $500 in rebates. Well after 180 days after activation I had 30 days to submit all my info. I did so and they emailed me with an "invalid" response towards my cell phone bill which I printed directly fron Cingular.com. They said it did not have an invoice daye which is a complete lie. I spoke with the billing supervisor on duty at Cingular that day and they told me there is no such thing as invoice date. The only thing that can serve as an invoice date is the billing date whioch was clearly on the bill I printed from Cingular.com. Thsi is one of the ways they can deny your claim and make you give up on your rebates. I am currently submitting complaints left and right and think it is time to file a class action suit against Inphonics and cellphonerebates.com, I have searched and found many other complaints against these companies.
 
8. You can also write a letter to your newspaper to make the public aware of this fraud and to expose the fraudsters.
Click to expand...

local news stations can also be an idea. if they receive enough complaints, they usually do the legwork to get to the stage the consumers get stuck at.
 
Additional info on the InPhonic Scam

It seems that InPhonic is the biggest scamster and has mastered the art of cell phone scams. A Google query on "InPhonic BBB" throws up these links which expose the rotten depths to which these bastards have gone:

http://discuss.treocentral.com/archive/index.php/t-97769.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inphonic

http://www.dc.bbb.org/report.html?national=Y&compid=23004111

Apparently the BBB has revoked InPhonic's membership because of 3,000+ violations!

What we need to do is to spread the word around and ask everyone avoid buying from InPhonic or any of its hundreds of affiliates like Intelenet or Wirefly or A1wireless.

Also let us all mobilize and file complaints with as many agencies as possible.

The latest one that I heard of is Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at http://www.ic3.gov/ IC3 is a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C) and its mission is to serve as a vehicle to receive, develop, and refer criminal complaints regarding the rapidly expanding arena of cyber crime.

Best of Luck in driving InPhonic out of business!!!
 
zanyguy said:
Best of Luck in driving InPhonic out of business!!!
Click to expand...
A little off-topic, but InPhonic also runs under the followings names:
* InPhonic Inc
* MobileDIA
* Wirefly
* wirefly.com
* Wireless Marketplace

I was going to get my Treo 700w phone from Wirefly, but for some reason, I thought that when the 6 months came up, they wouldn't honor my rebates. (Maybe the Better Business Bureau report about them got my attention.)

Also note that the $150 and $50 rebates at Buy.com for that phone are the exact same as InPhonic/Wirefly. I've seen other retailers use these rebates from InPhonic too. They have infiltrated quite a few stores in the marketplace.

What really irks me is that you cannot change your phone number within that six months, or else your rebate is denied. What? If you get a ton of harassment calls on your mobile, you are stuck with either dealing with the harassment for six months or invalidating your rebate.

I really do hope that they go out of business or at least get a huge class-action lawsuit that forces them to pay to denied consumers. Buyer beware.
 
How can I get my money back?

I filed a rebate claim to Office Depot. Only problem is that I had recently moved and by the time I had actually gotten the item sent to me so I could cut the UPC out, the postmark date had expired by 3 days. I sent it in though anyways. Any chance I would get it and if not would could I do? it was a $45 rebate for an mp3 player.
 
Great post zanyguy! Don't give up even if it's $10. It took me a year to get my rebates from Soyo but I received them in full after sending multiple emails and resending the required information.

Also remember to always make copies of EVERYTHING required by the rebate! That includes but is not limited to packing slips, UPCs, serial numbers, rebate forms and receipts.
 
thanks for the post. i was intrigued because i had a bad experience with inphonic, too. although the ending of the story was they finally honored the rebate, and actually made an error, so they doubled my rebate.

the most maddening thing for me was how hard they made it to find an actual person. i had to dig and dig on their website to find a phone number, and then their phone menus were a labyrinth worthy of daedalus.

the bits that i think helped turn my case into a happy ending were meticulous records of times and content of phone converstaions, and i had printed out the web page with the offer i was responding too. this last bit is crucial, because the deal no longer existed by the time i complained, and their argument was that it had never existed.

note also that small claims court (at least in new york state) requires you file suit in a jurisdiction where the vendor has a physical business presence. this makes it tough for out of town vendors.
 
Thanks for the response and I am glad if these suggestions helped you. For you guys in New York, you have a wonderful Attorney General in Eliot Spitzer. Send him the complaints for online businesses like InPhonic / Wirefly through this web form at http://www.oag.state.ny.us/online_forms/complaint_alert.jsp.

As for my saga with InPhonic, they ended up honoring one rebate for $100 and did not pay up the other one for $150. I gave up eventually after my complaints with all the agencies fell on deaf ears.
 
I still have not had any luck getting my Inphonic rebate. $200 too! :mad: I've complained everywhere! No luck...
 
roachkilla said:
I filed a rebate claim to Office Depot. Only problem is that I had recently moved and by the time I had actually gotten the item sent to me so I could cut the UPC out, the postmark date had expired by 3 days. I sent it in though anyways. Any chance I would get it and if not would could I do? it was a $45 rebate for an mp3 player.
Click to expand...

Was it an OfficeDepot or manufacturers rebate? If it was manufacturers, you're probably screwed, but you can still try to call. Sometimes they're nice and will just give it to you. If it was OfficeDepot, call ASAP and tell them the situation. They more than likely will give it to you. You probably should have called before you mailed it out in either situation. Hope this helps.
 
Thanks for the suggestions, esp. listing agencies where to file complaints. Dropping the names of such agencies may also help when trying to get your overdue rebate!
 
I had 2 rebates still outstanding from last black Friday (Nov. 2005). Last week I received the $70 Acom Data hard drive rebate check after repeated calls.

The final rebate is for 2-$20 checks ($40) on an Olympia cordless phone. Wave Technologies makes Olympia phones. When I called the rebate center out of Scottsdale, AZ (the original 800# on the receipt had changed to 888.314.9003) they told me the status of other rebates with other companies, but said that I needed to call Wave Technologies directly at 908-766-9940, as they no longer handled their rebates. I was irritated that I had to call on my dime, so I asked the (toll-free) rebate center to transfer me, which they did. Also, I asked them not to transfer me until they had a person on the other line + to give them my # in case we got disconnected. The Wave Technologies person I spoke with (Randy) said I'd get my check in 8-12 days.

Furthermore, he told me that the rebate center they'd previously used had hundreds of unfulfilled rebates from SEPTEMBER 2005, so he fired them and at this time has Wave handling the rebates directly. I believe they are in litigation with the rebate company.

Don't know if this war story will help anyone…but just in case, I'm posting it.
 
Scam Info Update Wirefly via cellphonerebates.com

For those, like me, who have not gotten their rebates after following the rules: Here's a bit of news:

DC’s AG Sues Popular Wireless Marketer

Washington, DC - Attorney General Robert J. Spagnoletti announced today that the District has filed a consumer protection lawsuit against InPhonic, Inc., ("InPhonic") -- a DC based business that sells wireless phones and plans to consumers across the country. The District alleges that InPhonic fails to clearly disclose how difficult it is for consumers to meet its rebate conditions and that many consumers are unable to obtain promised savings.

see full text at:

http://www.oag.dc.gov/occ/cwp/view,a...v_GID,1521.asp

I also advise you to write and complain to Inphonic (aka firefly) Their stock symbol is INPC. Also, go to Yahoo finance and place messages on the bulleting boards. This company has fooled a lot of people. Time to reap what they sow.

Power to the consumer.
 
spazntwitch said:
What really irks me is that you cannot change your phone number within that six months, or else your rebate is denied. What? If you get a ton of harassment calls on your mobile, you are stuck with either dealing with the harassment for six months or invalidating your rebate.
Click to expand...

I bought through Inphonic (though this was years ago now) and had no trouble. I even did change my phone number and that was fine - i just double checked with carrier and Inphonic to make sure it would work (carrier had given me wrong number - long distance for me even though it was in the same area code). The key is they check to make sure the account is still active based on the phone number. If they look up the phone number you submitted and no longer see it as active, there is a problem. If you give them the updated number they will see it is active (as well as see the history of the previous number) and all should be fine.

Another thought after reading some of these posts and not quite sure what people mean. You must submit your rebate within 30 days and then wait the 180 days to keep your account active before you get the rebate. You cannot wait 180 days and then submit your rebate. Also, you must submit invoice/receipt from original purchase and not just monthly statements.
 
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