I should have read the yelp reviews before purchasing a phone from this store. We were strolling around Chinatown on a nice day during the weekend when we decided to check out Fone Art. I needed to replace my old phone and my contract with T-Mobile was over. Anyway, we blindly walked into the store and were greeted kindly by Lawrence (the owner) and Arthur. Two ordinary looking Chinese men who had a friendly smile on their face. We decided to ask them about which phones they had in stock and alas that was our undoing. Basically, we were made to believe that they were offering a special deal for Sprint users who wanted both the family plan and data service. They said that they could give us 700 anytime minutes plus 300 text msgs and unlimited data for around $75.00. Only a month later do we realize that no - this was not true and Sprint was charging us $450.00 for our first month of usage. The other item is the phones. We were told that we would get about $300-400 back in rebates (in forms of checks, credits on the Sprint bill, and gift cards. Lawrence said, "Oh don't worry about doing the rebates. We'll fill them out for you and you'll receive them in 3 months." Well, it's been about 3 months and what have we received? Only a $25.00 Sprint gift card. (Although it's strange because Sprint said they mailed out $50.00 worth of gift cards to us and some other yelp user mentioned that the Fone Art store keeps the other $25.00) Please avoid this store. read more

I was looking for the phone number of this place on google and came upon this review on yelp. I've been wanting to write a yelp review for a while now, and this is actually my first one! Anyway, the initial reason why I wanted to call them was to ask about the rebate I was supposed to get! The -1 star is because yea, as the other reviews said, sometimes they don't pick up. You really just have to call a few times before you get a response. So when I read the reviews on this page, I was kinda pissed and wasn't expecting to get my money. Anyway, to my surprise, I actually received my Sprint bill AND my $100 rebate check today! The rebate check that Arthur, one of the agents at the store, helped me fill out the paperwork for. I got a $56 credit on my sprint bill as well, which equals the $150 they promised I would receive. Woohoo! Success. It did take 3 months, but that's on Sprint, not Fone Arts. To their defense, I think that the reason why they prefer to do the paperwork for the rebates is because well, look at the location of the store. It's in Oakland Chinatown. As a kid coming from an immigrant family, I can understand why they would choose to do that! Do you think my mom, who doesn't really read or write English, would be able to fill out the paperwork and successfully get her rebate? NO! I would have to do it for her, lol. So, it's called customer service, not trying to ripe you off! (Though I was skeptical after reading previous reviews) Anyway, so to those who are considering getting a phone at this place - DO IT! I got my BB Pearl for free =). Seriously, it's as good as it gets! read more

Scam! Scam!! Scam!!! Avoid at all cost. I made the mistake by doing business with them when they were acting as TMobile agent. During lunch one day, I walked in to the store. And politely greeted by Lawrence. He successfully talk me into buying a new RAZR cell from him. He promised to help me out with the rebate and all. Well, only after 2 weeks, the cell phone that I bought was broken and I went back to Lawrence and asked him to help out. He took my cell and gave me a loaner cell phone. He then asked me to put $100 deposit for the cell that I borrowed. A week later I came back to the store hoping that I could picked up my phone. To my stunning amazement, Fone Art Communication was closed for renovation. I tried to call the number that they listed (510) 663-1888, but nobody picked up, not even an answering machine. I have to wait for another month before I can picked up my cell. After a month of renovation, they dump Tmobile and become an agent for another carrier, Sprint. It has been a hasle doing business with Lawrence and his staffs. They will take you to the cleaner any chance they have. To make it worst, they charged me $100 for the cell phone that I borrowed and neglected to cancel the charge to my credit card. Avoid Fone Art Communications at all cost. If Fone Art is the only store there is, forget cell phone and use smoke signal instead. read more

WORST PLACE!!!the place ripped my famliy off by say there was a promotion that 5 lines for $60 a month and they took $600 from us and the bill came in the mail it was $700 and we were all furious when the bill came in the mail and when we went back to the place they didnt do anything and say the promotion didnt exsit and i think this business should be shut down and please don't ever go to third party mobile sprint stores because you'll get ripped off!!!go to the sprint store in Emeryville instead i would give this place an F from the better business bureau really this small business should just be closed down. DON'T COME TO THIS PLACE EVER IN YOUR LIFE!!!!!!! You'll regret comming to this place. read more

My husband and I renew our contract with Fone Art for 2 years. This guy there named Samuel told us EVO is out of stock. He said we can use the EVO shift and the Epic for 2 weeks until EVO is back in stock. After 2 weeks, he said the EVO is not here yet. When we go back after a month, the store is closed for innovation. Its a scam! They are out of business. Now we have to stick with the phone we have. read more

Don't EVER come to this place! CON! I went with my mother to open a new plan since my contract with at&t was expiring. After signing the contract under their promotion plan, I thought I just had my lucky day. I was in need of a new provider since I will be leaving to UCLA, and he told me it has great service there, which is FAIL since at&t and Verizon has way better reception. Under their "promotion plan", there were $25 visa cards, a check, and a credit back on my second bill. I received all the visa cards and check, but still waitng for credit back! I called sprint 4 times and each rep told me there was no rebate sent out, and I have to talk to the seller about it. Which I did go back to the seller, but blamed it on sprint and the reps' laziness for not doing their work. In conclusion: DO NOT go into this store to have your money taken under your nose! The sells people are very devious! I regret leaving at&t! read more

A one-star rating is too good for this place. I totally agree: THIS PLACE IS A SCAM!!!!! DO NOT GET YOUR PHONE HERE! The slick salesguy talked us into a plan, and we are currently being overcharged $40 to 120 a month, with no solution in sight. I'm not the only one that was scammed by this place. They're also scamming a bunch of other people in Chinatown who can't speak a lick of English and complain to someone about this. Last I heard, a bunch of them banded together and went to scream at the people behind the counter. I doubt that helped though. =( Bottom line: It would have been more productive to light my money on fire than sign up for a plan here. read more

I wish I could rate this place with zero star. Do not ever get your phone service with them. Total scam!!!! I had multiple problems with the plan, the bill, the rebate throughout the year. It is totally not worth the trouble for the cheap phone or "great plan" that they promised me. They don't return phone calls nor pick up calls. In the end, their attitude is that they can't do anything to fix the problems. Lawrence was the guy who helped me and DO NOT believe anything this guy tells you. read more

This store tried to get me renew the contract, so they promised me 1000 free minutes and 1000 free text messages. They actually wrote down on the contract, but I only get 700 minutesas my plan was.I called them several times at 510-663-1888 and no one answered. I had to call Sprint several times and still could not resolve it. I will terminate the contract soon. This store wants the commission from Sprints, so they promised something that they did not do. BAD! read more

Please do not purchase any products from this store. If you are Chinese, please advise all of your family and friends to avoid this store. THIS PLACE IS A SCAM!!! I've purchased 2 new phones from Lawrence (a very good salesman, please don't listen to him). He said the store submits rebates for their customers. I was supposed to receive $275 from Sprint but it never happened. I had called the store every week for months but no one picks up the phone. I called Sprint and they said the rebates were never submitted and I've passed my timeframe and they can't help me. I've called other Fone Art stores and hope they can help, but they wouldn't. In another word, Lawrence's store made an extra $275 on my account. Luckily, I had went back to the credit card company and submitted a dispute and able to recover my money after 9 months. If you have already been scammed by this store and have all your receipts and paid by credit card, try calling the card company and see if they can help. read more