Deceptive Rebate Offer with Cingular Wireless Contract

Amazon dot com offers rebates on cell phones that make them
practically free, or so it seems. Have you bought a phone from them,
and then been told you had a choice between taking the advertised
rebate and taking your old phone number with you? Or maybe you had to
pay extra to port your existing number.

I am looking for somebody who bought into this situation to be a
plaintiff in a class-action style lawsuit against Amazon and maybe
Cingular, too.

The ideal plaintiff would have kept the phone either without porting
their old number, or without taking the rebate, so there are some
damages to speak of.

Don't just sit on your rights if this happened to you. Tell me your
story. You can reach me at rebateaction@yahoo.com.

The above statements in no way constitute a guarantee, warranty, or
prediction regarding the outcome of your legal matter.

I guess I got lucky, I've only had one frustrating evening. Ordered my
phone from Amazon last night. Was going to do get one for my
girlfriend when I found the 'fine print'. After going back and forth
between Amazon and Cingular customer service (four times), each
pointing the finger at the other, I will simply send the phone back.
It seems to me both companies are at fault. Amazon does not make the
situation clear. Cingular seems to be engaging in a busines practiced
designed to do nothing short of stealing from their customers.

This is bull...Amazon is a third-party vendor of Cingular...the only
thing you deal with on Cingular is your service, and the phone. Amazon
has it stated if you go to www.amazon.com/keep-your-number, IT WILL
TELL YOU that if your port your number to Cingular, you WILL be
charged $250 for porting your number since they don't have an
agreement set up with Cingular. It is on the website and true, the
information is difficult to find, a tradeoff when going through a
third party dealer for a good price on a phone, IT IS THERE and that
is not Cingular's fault. Besides, there are other ways to go about
buying service with Cingular where you CAN keep your number, as long
as it is local to your home area. Sometimes you have to really search
for the fine print to make sure the great deal really is a great deal.
I researched that first, went elsewhere and got a great deal on a
phone, AND I was able to keep my number. Maybe you should have
reposted this towards Amazon.com.

Oops.. sorry about the blank post.

I have had the same problem with my Nokia 6682 rebate.

But on my rebate, they specifically state:
"You must remain active on the account for at least 180 days to
qualify"

And on my first Cingluar bill, I have the original number and my
ported-in number showing under the SAME ACCOUNT. And I have kept this
account active ever since, so I have complied pefectly with the rebate
form requests.

So, I have done everything the rebate form said, and legally, I
believe my argument will hold up and theirs won't.

They basically came back and said that if I changed numbers, Cingular
would cancel the account they Amazon had made. But this was not true,
I have my first bill showing that the number I got through Amazon was
activated and then the other number was ported in and the other one
deactivated through the same account.

So, what's the best impact to get Amazon to live up to their
agreement? Should I just complain to the Better Business Bureau, sue
them in small claims court, or can we start a class-action lawsuit?

Thanks,
Gail

Did Amazon get back to you? I tried posting the same information on
their review page for a Blackberry 8700c on a Cingular plan when I
found out the problem, but they won't post my comment.

Who doesn't have a cell number they want to keep? A 14 year old?

I must say, your complaint is probably the first legit complaint I
have seen on this website. That is horrible that you got jerked around
like that. If the "fine print" says one thing and there is another
"fine print" that contradicts the first statement that is the
companie's fault. Cingular/Amazon.com's problem for not having better
communication between their companies. If they do not have a rebate
available for numbers being ported, then they should absolutely not
state that they do. That is ridiculous and I hope if they do not honor
your request, that you turn to legal action. I would probably print
the pages which stated this contradictory information for your
records. Cingular has horrible service, and customer service to begin
with. Good luck...