Wirefly Purchase

[Parafly]

Hey guys,

Never bought a phone from anywhere other than a corporate store. I pre-ordered 2 S4's from Verizon for my wife and I but they charge $250 each, (minus MIR hassle), and then they also charge in MA full sales tax based on the device price, so another $80 in sales tax.

I could save close to $150 via Wirefly. I plan on keeping the devices for a while so anything else I should be aware of prior to ordering from them and cx my VZW pre-order?

 

[effreyj]

I'm in MA as well and definitely will not buy from VZW because of the sales tax issue. I'm planning on either buying from Wirefly, Amazon, or Best Buy. So far Wirefly has the best price.

 

[GB333]

I bought from Wirefly once and was NOT happy. Their rebates have so much red tape that they are practically impossible to get, and I believe they intentionally scammed me out of mine. When I joined T-mobile I used Wirefly to do it. The phone they sent me had a Memphis phone number, even though I clearly live in Nashville (3 hours away). They MAILED me the phone, so they knew where I lived and I had requested a LOCAL phone number. By calling T-mobile to change the phone number to a local phone number, it voided the rebates from Wirefly. I would NOT do business with them. But if you do, I would not rely on any rebates - as you will most likely never get them.

 

[natethechamp]

Target is offering for the same price as Wirefly ($179). You'll have to pay sales tax though. Amazon is currently selling the AT&T S4 for $168, so there may be price pairity once they start selling on Verizon since they're both $199 in the end.

 

[effreyj]

I ended up ordering it from Target and they did not charge me tax. It depends on which state you live in though.

 

[wirefly_kim]

I bought from Wirefly once and was NOT happy. Their rebates have so much red tape that they are practically impossible to get, and I believe they intentionally scammed me out of mine. When I joined T-mobile I used Wirefly to do it. The phone they sent me had a Memphis phone number, even though I clearly live in Nashville (3 hours away). They MAILED me the phone, so they knew where I lived and I had requested a LOCAL phone number. By calling T-mobile to change the phone number to a local phone number, it voided the rebates from Wirefly. I would NOT do business with them. But if you do, I would not rely on any rebates - as you will most likely never get them.

We do not offer Rebates anymore and have not offered them since 2007, when Wirefly became part of privately held Simplexity, LLC. We have no association with the company that previously owned us and managed our programs, including our rebates. Please PM me if you have any other questions/concerns about rebates from Wirefly PRIOR to 2007. Thanks.

 

[dpham00]

We do not offer Rebates anymore and have not offered them since 2007, when Wirefly became part of privately held Simplexity, LLC. We have no association with the company that previously owned us and managed our programs, including our rebates. Please PM me if you have any other questions/concerns about rebates from Wirefly PRIOR to 2007. Thanks.

It is my understanding that Wirefly was owned by Inphonic prior to 2007. The CEO of Inphonic was Andy Zeinfeld. Inphonic was essentially dissolved around 2007 and a new company, Simplexity was started, with the assets from Inphonic. The first CEO of Simplexity was none other than Andy Zeinfeld. To me, having the same CEO at both companies a nd money coming from the previous company is what I would consider an association. If any of my facts arw wrong, please feel free to correct me.

Also, to me, the rebate was just moved to an instant discount, if you make certain changes to the account within 181 days, Simplexity will charge the buyer $400 since you lose your commission. But I have a hard time believing that the commission per phone is really $400.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II

 

[wirefly_kim]

It is my understanding that Wirefly was owned by Inphonic prior to 2007. The CEO of Inphonic was Andy Zeinfeld. Inphonic was essentially dissolved around 2007 and a new company, Simplexity was started, with the assets from Inphonic. The first CEO of Simplexity was none other than Andy Zeinfeld. To me, having the same CEO at both companies a nd money coming from the previous company is what I would consider an association. If any of my facts arw wrong, please feel free to correct me.

Also, to me, the rebate was just moved to an instant discount, if you make certain changes to the account within 181 days, Simplexity will charge the buyer $400 since you lose your commission. But I have a hard time believing that the commission per phone is really $400.

Sent from my Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note II

Wirefly has been under new ownership since December 2007, and throughout that time we have lived by our Customer Promise ? Straightforward pricing with no Rebates at prices hundreds lower than retail stores. Andy Zeinfeld was the CEO of Inphonic(which was a publicly traded company that filed bankruptcy), and he was the CEO for Simplexity, (when private investors created Simplexity and saving the brand of Wirefly) however they are not the same company, even with the association of Andy Zeinfeld.

The instant discount is not related to the rebate at all (when Inphonic owned Wirefly, they had an instant discount as well), and it is compensated through the commissions paid to us by the carrier. We work with the carriers to structure commissions that pay us in such a way to enable us to offer the phones for such a low price to our customers.

 

[Parafly9]

I'm cancelling my preorder from wirefly and going to newegg. $159 is too good.

 

[addicted2tech]

That's what I did. Well I cancelled my Target order and went to newegg.

 

[effreyj]

I just did the exact same thing. I love saving money!

 

[spyderrc10gt2]

I'm cancelling my preorder from wirefly and going to newegg. $159 is too good.

2 questions:
Will these phones ship at the same time as ones pre-ordered through verizon?
Do you still have to pay the $30 upgrade fee?

 

[effreyj]

You have to pay the $30 upgrade fee no matter what. Instead of paying it up front though, VZW will charge it on your next statement.

 

[Parafly9]

2 questions:
Will these phones ship at the same time as ones pre-ordered through verizon?
Do you still have to pay the $30 upgrade fee?

The stupid upgrade fee still exists. I'm not really sure about the shipping date. HOpefully it's pretty quick. I asked in another thread but all the Simplexity partners that sell mobile phones (as far as I can tell including walmart, amazon, newegg, office depot, wirefly, target) are all actually sold and shipped by Simplexity directly so I"m guessing they all ship around the same time. at least I hope so. Cancelling my Wirefly preorder and moving to newegg probably put me further back in the queue but hopefully they have sufficient stock.

 

[JarodL]

So where is the best place to order if we have to pay full retail?