Got Ripped off! what to do??

NYSpeed Automotive NYSpeed Off Topic
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CLIFFS- WAS SOLD A REFURBISHED CELL PHONE AS NEW BY A LICENSED DEALER AND WAS SCREWED ON MY WARRANTY BECAUSE OF IT

ok so last December I signed up with Sprint (or at least I thought it was) in the McKinley Mall, I got a new Palm Pre…

Well my Palm shit the bed in January and I got a replacement, that one shit the bed about 3 weeks later and I got my 3rd in Feburary

About a week ago my 3rd shit the bed, so I go to the Sprint store in the parking lot of the McKinley Mall (as I found out months ago the Mall “Sprint” store is actually "More Wireless) and inquire about a replacement as Palm warranties the Pre for 12 months…

I am told my warranty is expired, so I explain the phone has a 12 month warranty and that I have only been a Sprint customer for 9 months…

Well fast forward like an hour and I am told that More Wireless must have sold me a refurbished phone as new and the warranty follows the original manufacture date of the phone…

So they are unwilling to help me and send me to More Wireless, so after standing there like an hour and being told “We dont sell refurbished phones, thats illegal” the dude “figures it out” he tells me , well my old phone is active again so it IS refurbished NOW so thats why its showing that in the system (still dosent account for the fact the phone should still only be 9 months old)…

So whatever he calls Sprint corporate and I leave waiting on an investigation from Sprint…

Well in the mean time More Wireless calls me and tells me they have bumped my elgibility and I can come in and upgrade but they cannot replace my Palm…

So I call Sprint today and find out that-

My old phone is NOT in current use

More Wireless sold me a refurbished phone “new” in the box for FULL PRICE

that they cannot replace my Pre and yes my elgibility is in fact bumped up by 2 months and I can come in and upgrade, no further discounts, credits, nothing

they say its “troubling” that a store that sells their product is conducting business like this but theres nothing they can do

WTF!!!

I will upgrade to the EVO but thats going to cost me $300 I didnt plan on spending right now and my Palm is basically fucking useless so I have no choice

Who can I contact to make these mother fuckers pay for outright consumer fraud???

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BBB?

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I am thinking that route, I dont know what to ask for as a resolution though and they seem to take forever…

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x2 They don’t fuck around. I’ve reported two cases and have been more than satisfied with their work. Explain your story…maybe a bit more clear and I’m sure they’ll deal with it.

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lol thats the clear version, the whole situation is composed of half truths and buck passing its hard for me to even figure out what the reality of it is…

I went ahead and filed a complaint, I asked for a new Palm Pre or the MSRP of one, since I paid for a new phone with a warranty and was sold garbage

  • Interesting side note, More Wireless isnt listed with the BBB by name, address or phone number, I had to file it against Sprint*
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I will give you $10 for the battery and charger?

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no can do, have another pre in the family, so it’s good to me as parts

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Three phones in 9 months dude? Do you throw it on the floor often?

I’ve never seen a refurbished sprint phone period… It could have just been used or something weird and grey market.

Many of those sprint stores look exactly like an official company store, look for the “authorized dealer” signage, that is the only giveaway.

No wonder I buy my sprint phones on ebay and just ESN swap them online when I want a new phone.

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shitty … but i can sell you a NEW replacement pre for $100 …

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BBB Blows file w/ the attorney General. BBB has no power except advertising. state attorney general can threaten to not allow them to do business in NYS. there is a local (buffalo Office) i’ve filed complaints with them twice and been satisfied both times

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So, I thought I’d chime in here.

I run a VZW store, and I’m a bit confused as to what exactly happened, but I’ll see if I can lend a hand.

Get in touch with the manager. BE CALM. I can’t stress this enough. I’m much more apt to bend over backwards for someone who is calm and polite versus someone who is ranting and raving.

This whole thing about it being refurbished, or not new, is tough for me to swallow. Thats such a liability for a store, it’s just not worth it. Someone at Sprint might have just been saying that to redirect your anger/attention. Ask the manager to verify the ESN history, to show you that it is new. Do you have your receipt?

I took a quick look online at Sprints site, and it looks like upgrading for $300 is spot on. There looks to be a mail in rebate as well. If you got your upgrade date bumped by 2 months, and can get the phone with a mail in rebate, thats a decent solution. Let me know if I’m incorrect on the MIR.

Lets start there. Remember, BE CALM AND COURTEOUS. You have a legit issue, but being a dick wont help at all, and will probably make it harder to get what you want.

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in response to JustinH, no I dont throw my phones on the floor, the Pre has a history of having defects such as speakers randomly failing in them for no reason which has been my issue, hence why Palm extended their warranty to 12 months due to the amount of problems, read some Pre forums, some people have had 20 replacements …

To GeeHee, I never ranted or raved at anyone, I feel for the circumstances I should get an award, the sprint corporate store didnt even feel as though they owed me an explination, most people would have punched the dude in his smug mouth as he calmly repeated over and over “your warranties up” , explaining to him Palm offers a 12 month warranty and the fact I havent even owned a Palm Pre nor been a Sprint customer for a year meant NOTHING to him…

the ESN was ran by the Sprint store thats how we came to the conclusion that it was a used phone

you act like I havent spoke to a manager, I spoke to the manager of the fraud division at corporate Sprint, it was confirmed again via the ESN that it was a “refurbished phone” when it was activated on my account and since I replaced it , it has never been active on anyones account since…

The bumping my upgrade is nice and all but its really more like a month its being bumped by, something that was owed to me anyways…

Not good enough in my book for one of their retailers basically committing fraud against me, I have about 5 hours of my time tied up into this issue already not to mention apparently since day one I have had used telephones which I have had nothing but problems with, my wife recieved a new Palm on day one and hasnt had any issues, I dont know if I have a copy of the receipt of not anymore but Sprint surely has records of it and I was sold a “NEW” phone and paid full price for it…

correct me if I’m wrong because things apparently seem different in the cell phone world but I feel as though I am due what I paid for…

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sorry i tried to help bro, i’m not the enemy.

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I would definitely ask for ESN history, have them search the esn of the original phone you bought to see if it was active on a number before it was active on yours. That will tell you if it was used when you bought it.

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I didnt say your the enemy but right away you come at me like the people at Sprint, go figure.
I’m sorry if 90% of your customers are uninformed jack offs with bullshit complaints but let me assure you I am the 10% that has a legit bone to pick.
I was a customer service supervisor for years so trust me I dont take it out on the people behind the counter if I am being treated fairly.
Your attitude is typical of the assholes at Sprint, you question the facts “This whole thing about it being refurbished, or not new, is tough for me to swallow.” and tell me how calm and polite I should be, again refer to my uninformed jackoff remark above, where would I get that fact from?
Did I pull it out of my ass? I dont hypothize shit like this, Sprint itself told me this, I dont know the difference between ESN and ESPN this is what I was told by a high ranking investigations manager…
Your attitude of “I’m much more apt to bend over backwards for someone who is calm and polite versus someone who is ranting and raving.” is fucking bullshit, does this mean if I am mad (which I have every right to be) I shouldnt get justice?
Sprint should be sucking my cock to make things right and as a customer service rep you should know theres days shit is fucked up and you suck cock, THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT , especially well when your company has comitted an act of fucking consumer fraud…attitude dosent negate responsability and usually in my experience the bigger pain in the ass someone was the quicker shit was done to shut them up and get rid of them, the old squeaky wheel theory

the fact of the phone having a 12 month warranty and me being a 9 month customer speaks for itself, I bought the phone at their store case closed, its not my problem who did what or ESN this or that, replace my fucking phone and then figure it out at their own time and expense

So while your advice is good for the average jackoff who dosent have his facts straight , I am the dude who didnt get his dick sucked good enough to shut me up so now I want blood

and if Verizon dosent pan out for you I think you would fit in perfectly with Sprint!

---------- Post added at 08:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:42 PM ----------

According to Sprints fraud investigation it was a refurbished phone sold to me, they wouldnt give me any further info as to when it was in use before or by whom

---------- Post added at 09:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:44 PM ----------

let me put this story into car terms for you guys, say you go out to buy a new GM (save the I wouldnt jokes) and walk into a car dealership with the GM logo everywhere, huge light up GM sign out front and selling nothing but GM cars, you pay full price for a new GM vehicle (again ignore the fact cars have carfax) with 0 miles on the odometer and a warranty and drive away…

on the bill of sales you notice “Daves autos” written in small print under GM, you later find out Daves Autos is only authorized to sell GM vehicles but isnt afilliated with GM nor do they handle warranty issues

3 years into your 5yr/100k mile warranty your engine blows depsite no fault of your own, you find out through GM the car was a previous lemon and was reconditioned and the odometer was replaced, you find out the warranty started with the original owner and is now expired

GM basically tells you “while thats unfortunate theres nothing they can really do” and “you should have bought from us not Daves Auto” and the best the can do for you is give you a little extra on trade in

sound cool to everyone?

granted its only a couple hundred bucks but its the same premise

if Sprint can get away with it why not every other company??

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thats a big piece right there then.

Also, I wouldn’t say sprint committed consumer fraud, you are incorrect there. You did not buy the front from sprint. Basically whats happening is Sprint is being asked to correct a problem, that they did not create. A reseller of theirs created a problem. And while they are still selling under the Sprint name and Sprint allows that to happen so Sprint should be responsible it never works out easy that way. If Sprint exchanges that phone out of warranty I am sure they would eat the cost, Palm will not credit them. What really needs to happen is the agent needs to take care of you (with something more than an early upgrade) but chances of that happening are slim, and thats why most agents suck, all they do is sell and they its basically hands off. (not true for all agents, just most)

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no I agree with you Sprint themselves didnt do this but I would think they have to have accountability for places that use their name (whether they do or not is a different issue), If you went into a McDonalds and got horribly sick off of the food and called to complain I doubt corporate would tell you, “oh thats Burger Land, they only sell our products, not our problem”

Companies dont usually license their names to places that run them into the dirt, seems like business 101 to me

My real beef is with more wireless but sprint handled it very poorly and they squeeze $150 a month out of me, I guess they are willing to let go over that over a Pre that might cost them $20

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ehh if its out of warranty its more than that. palm wont give them anything back, like they would if it was in warranty. smartphone replacement devices are usually around $250, cost to the company.

---------- Post added at 06:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:26 PM ----------

you should just try and get one of the news channels to do a story on it. haha that would make things go your way real fast.

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well in an honest world Sprint would eat it since its no wrong doing of mine and then take it up with More Wireless, the thing that pisses me off is I thought I was at a Sprint store, it was never mentioned to me they werent sprint until they handed me my reciept, interesting note both the More Wireless and the real Sprint store are at the McKinley Mall and share the same mailing address, I dont know why I would have thought I was doing business with sprint!

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Yeah, they do all they can to make people think they are corporate.

GL with all this though man, def a PITA