Easy Comparison Shopping--Good Deals, Service
Written: Jun 16, 2006
| Ease of Ordering: |
 |
|
| Customer Service: |
|
|
| Selection: |
|
|
| On-Time Delivery: |
|
|
|
| Full Review |
I first landed on the Wirefly.com website when I searched for information about Cingular cell phone plans, since I was starting to get dissatisfied with my Sprint phone. No real hurry, just window-shopping. But when I saw I was able to compare the prices across companies, and saw prices which beat other cellular stores, I got more and more enthused and ended up buying two phones and a new family plan. After that first buy I have returned to Wirefly.com several times for additional purchases (including accessories and also an extra phone for my home business), and each time I had a positive experience.
So what is Wirefly.com, and how is it different from 1) "physical" stores and 2) other e-stores?
Wirefly.com is one of the leading Internet-based stores handling cellular phones, plans and accessories. Wirefly claims to be the internet’s #1 seller of wireless phones, and is one of many sites operated by the Washington, DC, based InPhonic. The way Wirefly.com operates is this: you buy a cell phone at cost or at below cost, then they recoup the money from the different service providers after you keep your service for at least 180 days. This is why they are often able to offer cell phones for lower prices than other stores.
THE SITE
The first thing that struck me of Wirefly.com is the simplicity of their home page. Right off the bat, you get the choice of shopping by brand, by carrier or by plan type. Each of these choices requires that you enter your zip code: I really liked this because it prevents you from seeing choices only to find out later that they are not available in your area. Apart from these three choices, the Wirefly.com homepage features 1) a list of current "Great Deals" from different phone manufacturers and carriers, 2) a list of the top-10 free phones and 3) a list of carriers from whom you can choose to view special offers.
I found this layout extremely easy to navigate and very rational. There are no flashy signs, cheesy colors or too much information to sift through. I am old enough to remember when in order to buy something you had to look on the Yellow Pages for stores that sold it and then drive there to see the item - which is why I still like sites that have a straightforward feel to them.
Another thing I liked is the consistency of the information you get on each phone when you click on it at any point on the Wirefly.com site. Here's the list of the information you get:
- A very clear and bright picture of the phone, along with a chance to view an image gallery and a detailed phone description
- Essential information about the price, like "Free After Rebate With Activation of New Cingular Account"
- A breakdown of the various discounts and/or rebates
- A parallel window showing the essentials of a popular plan that goes with the phone chosen, along with its monthly cost and a chance to view plan details, a plan coverage map, terms and conditions and more plans from the same carrier, including family plans.
BUYING A PHONE
One of the things I liked the most about Wirefly.com is how easy it is to comparison-shop on their site. If you choose to shop by manufacturer, you get a list of cell phones made by the maker of your choice, along with who the carrier is, the price before and after rebate (when applicable) and a brief description of the phone's main features. So if you know you want a Nokia phone, you can quickly sort out all the Nokia phone offers from all the different providers. Wirefly featured phones from Motorola, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG, Audiovox, Samsung, Blackberry, Sanyo, Siemens, Kyocera, Palm, Novatel, Firefly, T-Mobile, and Sprint.
If you shop by plan, you can choose from every carrier in your zip code, including some I had never heard of (Liberty Wireless?). After choosing your carriers, you get a similar page where all the plans from your chosen providers (available in your zip code) are listed. On this particular page, I was pleased to see J. D. Power and Associates ratings for each plan, and even more surprised to see that Wirefly.com is not afraid to show when a particular carrier’s rating was low for my zip code.
Regardless, this layout gave me a great opportunity to sit down with my family and look over the phones and plans, compare them and see what would be most convenient for us to have.
After narrowing down what you like in terms of phone and carrier, you can customize what plan you want with that phone (staying of course within the same carrier). When this decision too is made, you get the option of buying online or doing so over the phone.
When I bought my phones and plan, I did that over the phone. I was able to get through right away, and here too I had a good experience. I am one of those shoppers who asks a lot of questions, especially when my purchase involves entering a long-term contract, as is the case with buying a mobile plan. The staff were patient, courteous and, above all, knowledgeable. After I was done and I was reassured 1,000 times that yes, I would be able to move my current number to my new phone, they sent me a confirmation email that recapped my purchase item by item.
Sure enough, my shipment confirmation came by e-mail later that day, and two days later I got my new phones in a nicely-packaged box. In addition to the usual bubble padding, the interior boxes were protected by clear-plastic bags. Each phone was in a sealed Cingular Wireless retail box containing the Sony phone and Sony chargers, earphones, manuals and warranty cards. The box also contained an itemized list of my purchase which mirrored the email sent to me by the sales staff, and a reminder that they had scheduled the switching of my phone number. I still had a day to charge my phone to be ready for when the number switched over. This all went smoothly and the best part is I never had to deal with either Sprint or Cingular (for that, I’d have been willing to pay more!).
REBATES
The phones I bought (the Sony Ericcson W600) came with a rebate. Now, ironically, I hadn't read any of the complaints dealing with rebates at the time I made my purchase, but I must say I don't get a lot of the hubbub. When I was looking at the phone on the Wirefly.com site, the info clearly said that I had to pay a certain amount upfront , and that after three different rebates applied, I would get my money back and net out. The rebates were one from Wirefly.com, one from Cingular and one from Sony.
Also, after clicking on each line-item rebate, I was clearly told when I had to apply for the rebate, why and how long it would take to process. The saleswoman on the phone confirmed this. Bottom line: I knew when I made the purchase that I wouldn't see some of the cash back until almost a year after my purchase. Slow? Well, yes. Unclear or deceptive? Not in my opinion. Incidentally, the reason why they do these long-term rebates is because they base their system on whether you keep your account in good standing. Now, my 180-day window for submission is not there yet, so I cannot report on how this particular aspect went. But I kept all the serial numbers and receipts as requested, and I don't expect problems. I keep copies of everything and I’ve never been denied a rebate before. In any case, if you don't like dealing with rebates, Wirefly.com has plenty of free phone deals that don't involve rebates.
SELECTION AND DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Something else I liked about shopping online and Wirefly.com in particular is the fact that you get to scope out a vast number of phones, most of which are in stock. I have counted 17 different manufacturers, each of which has several models, and at the time when I made my purchases everything I wanted to buy was in stock.
Also, every phone comes with a very thorough description of most (if not all) of its features. In this, Wirefly.com truly shines compared to most other sites I've seen. Each phone description (which Wirefly.com calls "Phone Details") is a long page with the phone's features broken down by highlights, core features, additional features, cool features and personalization, and what would be the essentials such as weight, dimensions and the band on which the phone operates.
In addition, Wirefly.com seems to have more photos and more detailed photos of the various phones. I get the impression that they don't just use stock photos from the manufacturer, but that they go to lengths to provide customers something more complete, helpful and thorough. For me at least, this compensates for the lack of "touch and feel" which of course you don't have when you shop online.
CONCLUSION
Overall, I am very satisfied with my experiences with Wirefly.com, and I plan to buy from them again. I agree with other reviewers who say this store is much better than the ratings primarily given to it because of the slow rebates on certain models. What I found at Wirefly.com was great in-stock selection, prices cheaper than most other places where I looked (even before rebates) and a straightforward and hassle-free buying process.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? 2 Cell Phones, Family Plan
|
|
|
|
About the Author
Member: Count Zaza'
Reviews written: 4
Trusted by: 1 member
|
