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Report: #692034

Complaint Review: Simplexity and Working Advantage - Reston Virginia

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  • Reported By: Kathy — Somerville New Jersey United States of America
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  • Simplexity and Working Advantage Reston, Virginia United States of America

Simplexity and Working Advantage ,simplexity.com, whereismyorder.com, workingadvantage.com, wirefly.com Beware of Purchasing Cellphones Through an Employee Discount Plan! Reston, Virginia

*Consumer Comment: Sorry but you obviously didn't read the contract

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Be VERY CAREFUL using those Employee Discount Programs in order to purchase goods and services because what happened to me may very well happen to you!  I was a member of Working Advantage, a popular employee discount service offered through my employer. This service enables employees to purchase goods and services such as travel, electronics, Broadway tickets, etc.; at a discount.  I had used the service in the past to get good discounts on car rentals & other things; therefore, I didn't hesitate to use their services in order to purchase a cell phone.  I think it better to have you read the e-mail I sent to Working Advantage complaining to them about what happened to me when I used their 3rd party affiliate Simplexity:

> ---------------------------- Original Message ---------------------------- > Subject: Complaint Re: Cellular Telephone Discounts > From: <name & e-mail address deleted> Date:

Fri, January 7, 2011 4:48 pm > To:

knakamoto@workingadvantage.comba > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Hello. I called your customer service department in regards to a complaint > I > want to file against one of your reward partners. I have always used > Working Advantage for discounts & never have been disappointed with it > until > now. This is in regards to your cellular phone discount affiliate. > > Back in April, 2009, I purchased a cellular telephone from your affiliate, > Archimedes One. When clicking on the link to the AT&T site, I noticed that > on the ordering site, there is another affiliate listed by the name of > Simplexity. I ordered the telephone and was directed to a site called > "Whereismyorder.com" (Simplexity's site) upon where I can track the status > of my order. I then received the telephone and service. > > Due to some personal issues, and also the increased cost of the telephone > service, I wasn't able to pay my bill on time, and my service was > cancelled > by AT&T September 3, 2009. Now, I understand that when you have cell > service & it's cancelled before the 2-year period that you are subject to > pay the termination fee. What I was NOT aware of is an additional $200 > fee > that Simplexity charges. They claim this fee represents the discount I > received on the phone. I learned this when one of their representatives > called me around Sept. 20th. I told them that I could not pay the fee (if > I > owed it) because I was not employed & couldn't afford to pay for it at > once. > They offered to have me pay it in installments. They did not give me this > in > writing, but requested to get the payment by "phone debit". I did not want > them to debit my checking account because I had prior fraud on my checking > account. I did offer to pay via my bank's BillPay service, so none of my > checking information would be revealed; & they would receive bank checks > from my account. They refused. And they also refused to accept the phone > when I offered to return the phone & equipment. On Thanksgiving Day, upon > checking my balance in my checking account (I was going out of town for > the > holiday) I noticed a debit pending of $200 out of my checking from > SIMPLEXITY. At the time, I didn't recognize who they were, but after the > debit cleared, I found out that they deducted $200 from my account! I > filed > a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (still pending), and with the > FTC. Please see attached my correspondence with Simplexity & letters of > complaint/response from BBB. > > I don't expect at this point to ever get my $200 back; however, I think > that > you should be aware (and warn other members of Working Advantage) about > Simplexity. Others I have spoken to have also experienced this issue. I > simply did not know they will charge an additional $200 from your account > if > you lose your telephone service, and I will never get another cellphone > (or > direct anyone else to get a cellphone) from Working Advantage again, due > to > my experience. > > name deleted >  > > P.S.: If you want to see what the history of my complaints at the BBB. > Please click on the link & open it by using my e-mail address: As of today, they closed my complaint. > > > I am also attaching a chatlog between myself & Simplexity of my complaint. > (see below) > > Lesson learned. > > > >

And this is the company's (Working Advantage's) response:

>>I spoke to the vendor about your situation. Simplexity is the fulfillment company Archimedes One uses. Since your account was cancelled before the 6 months required for the discount, but after the 30 day return period, you were responsible for paying $200 of the value of the phone. That policy is spelled out at the top of the terms and conditions that you checked off as agreeing to during checkout on Archimedes' website. This is the copy from their agreement: "By accepting this Instant Savings Discount, you agree to repay $200 of this discount ($300 for smartphones and netbooks) and authorize us to charge your credit card in repayment of this amount if, during the 181 days after your new equipment is activated, Verizon Wireless notifies us that the services you purchased have been suspended, disconnected, or deactivated, or if you return your purchase outside of the return and exchange provisions of our 30-day Satisfaction Guarantee." I truly wish I could do more for you, but unfortunately the vendor was within their right to execute their terms as stated during the time of purchase. I am sorry for your experience, we at Working Advantage understand your predicament. We have now duplicated this part of their terms in the restrictions section of our website, so this information will be more visible to our members. I will also call our Archimedes contact and express that it would be nice if they had more options for payment plans. Kim Nakamoto Working Advantage <<

I do not plan on seeing that $200 back at all.  I have cancelled my membership with Working Advantage & will never do ANY business with them again (I sent them an e-mail of my intentions).  BE FOREWARNED!  Also, be VERY CAREFUL GIVING YOUR DEBIT CARD INFORMATION TO ANYONE! Giving them this information acts as your consent to access your checking account whenever they deem it necessary.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 02/07/2011 03:16 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/simplexity-and-working-advantage/reston-virginia-/simplexity-and-working-advantage-simplexitycom-whereismyordercom-workingadvantagecom-692034. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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#1 Consumer Comment

Sorry but you obviously didn't read the contract

AUTHOR: whowhatwhere - (USA)

POSTED: Wednesday, August 03, 2011

It says right in the contract that:

By accepting this Instant Savings Discount, you agree to repay $200 of this discount ($350 for smartphones, tablets, and netbooks) and authorize us to charge your credit card in repayment of this amount if, you signed up for a 2 year agreement and during the 181 days after your new equipment is activated, the company notifies us that the services you purchased have been suspended, disconnected, or deactivated, or if you return your purchase outside of the return and exchange provisions of our 30-day Satisfaction Guarantee.

This includes not paying your bill, transferring the device to a different line (even if you don't cancel the contract - so watch out!), deactivate features, change your plan to a lower cost - basically if you do ANYTHING at ALL to the account within 181 days, they will charge you $200 IN ADDITION to the cancellation fee that is charged by the wireless provider.  So by not paying your bill, you potentially agreed to instead owe over $500 in cancellation fees.  It might have been better to work out some sort of agreement with them to fulfill your contract, wireless companies in the U.S. are nothing to fool around with.  You don't have to like it, but you also don't have to agree to it.  I had to agree to it when I gave them my credit card number and again when I clicked the little boxes that said "I agree" (which then forced a pop-up for me to read to make CERTAIN I knew what I was getting into)

You can't blame the company if you don't read the contract, plain and simple.  You owe the money. It sounds like you have several issues in regards to budgeting your money (fraud on your account, unable to pay your bills, not reading contracts carefully before agreeing to them, etc) so it's probably better off that you not have wireless service - why not check into a prepaid phone from any local department store?  No contracts to not read and therefore, one less financial issue for you to have to deal with, it sounds like you're not ready yet or maybe need some financial counseling/education.

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