Credit card billed months after service was discontinued.
I ended service with a zero balance on Sept 22nd, 2017. I just received two charges on my credit card from Freedompop in March 2018. One was for more than 100 dollars for ongoing service, the other was a charge for direct marketing which I never asked for. My account was closed in good standing months ago. I don't know why freedom pop continues to charge me. This is the second time FP has incorrectly charged my credit card. I have also filed a dispute with the credit card company. Freedompop should be put into corrective action for bad billing practices.
Desired Outcome
I am seeking reversal of all charges since I stopped service in Sept 22nd, 2017 as well as assurances that I will never receive another charge from this company again. I also requested that all personally identifiable information be discarded from freedom pop's records and that my credit card information be deleted as well.
FreedomPop Response
• Apr 16, 2018
We're sorry to hear of any inconvenience experienced by this customer. Our records do not indicate any cancellation under ***@yahoo.com on 9/22/17 as they are stating. This account shows it was canceled on 4/2/18 and has not incurred any charges since this cancellation date.
The customer requested their device to be unlocked for use on another carrier, but did not follow-up and request cancellation of the account or cancel the account on their end online.
In any case, we can see the customer was refunded $108.98 on 4/3/18 for their annual renewal incurred on 3/25/18. This account has been canceled and will not incur any further charges.
Customer Response
• Apr 18, 2018
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Mis-advertising about nature of unlimited voice ant text and its dependence on the limited cellular data plan
A few days after signing up for Freedompop unlimited voice, unlimited text, and 1GB data family plan and purchasing 3 of their phones, I gained access to my account and found that I was already being charged for data without having actually used the phones. Instead of telling me that the "unlimited voice and text" actually uses the cellular data plan allotment, they said they didn't know the cause and would look into it. They never did notify me.
Nine months later, I got a message that I was near the monthly data usage limit even though we only began using one of the phones a week ago. I contacted Freedompop support and after several responses that would not answer the questions, they finally told me that the data is used for voice and texting. That is, the "unlimited plan" is actually restricted to the "1GB per month data plan." This is fraudulent. The support person said it is on the advertising information.
Well, it turns out that the disclaimer was only on the advertising for the non-family web page June 2017 (see Internet archive of the page at https://web.archive.org/web/XXXXXXXXXXXXXX/https://www.freedompop.com/ ) and not on the family plan that we bought. In fact, the family plan page did not include any such restrictions about the unlimited calling and text being restricted to wi-fi or the unlimited calling only happening between Freedompop customers (see https://web.archive.org/web/XXXXXXXXXXXXXX/https://familymobile.freedompop.com/ ).
So not only was I falsely lured into an unlimited plan that was not unlimited, but contacting Freedompop support within the time limit that would have allowed returning the phones yielded deaf ears, perhaps intended to delay me until after the return period.
Luckily, I have the Internet archive pages along with the original support ticket below.
Therefore, I request Freedompop refund me the original cost of the phones as well as the monthly fees for the 9 months after purchasing them minus the cost I would have incurred shipping the phones back to them.
This would come to:
$204.96 ($15 1st month + $180 for 3 phones + $10 shipping)
$135 ($15 per month from July 2017 to March 2018)
minus $10 return shipping
which comes to $329.96 total.
*** Original Support Ticket Reference #XXXXXX-XXXXXX below ***
This incident cannot be reopened or updated. If you need further assistance, please submit a new question.
Communication History
Staff Account *** via channel 'Email' 06/09/XXXX XX:XX AM
Hello ***.
Thank you for contacting FreedomPop Online Services. My name is *** and I will be more than happy to assist you with your concern. It is our understanding that you got usage on your account even when you have not received the devices. We apologize for the inconvenience this may be causing.
I have sent word to our development team so we can fix this. In the meantime I have added 100 MB for every SIM card, meaning that I have added a total of 300 MB. Hope you have a wonderful day.
As a valued FreedomPop customer, we hope that we have addressed all concerns. However, should you need additional assistance, please feel free to respond to this incident and we will be more than happy to assist you.
***, please also be sure to visit our online Self-Help Knowledge Base at https://support.freedompop.com and our FreedomPop Communities.
Thank you, ***
Your personal Online Service Agent.
Customer (***) via channel 'Service Web' 06/08/XXXX XX:XX PM
I just signed up for the family plan and three phones. I am going to be worried about how much data will be used for freedompop's administration rather than my usage because I have already supposedly used 1% or 10MB, and I don't even have the phones yet so that should be zero. What's happening?!
Additional Details
Email Address
***@hagemeis.us
Reference Number
XXXXXX-XXXXXX
Status
Solved
Created
06/08/XXXX XX:XX PM
Updated
06/10/XXXX XX:XX AM
Desired Outcome
Therefore, I request Freedompop refund me the original cost of the phones as well as the monthly fees for the 9 months after purchasing them minus the cost I would have incurred shipping the phones back to them.
This would come to:
$204.96 ($15 1st month + $180 for 3 phones + $10 shipping)
$135 ($15 per month from July 2017 to March 2018)
minus $10 return shipping
which comes to $329.96 total.
FreedomPop Response
• Apr 16, 2018
We apologize for any possible miscommunication that occurred with our services.
As we're a VOIP, calls/texts are made over a data connection. This can be via FreedomPop's data network or your local private/public WiFi whenever available.
Since a data connection is required in order to perform these actions, when a customer runs out of data and has selected to suspend service instead of paying for additional data, the talk/text feature will be suspended along with the rest of the account.
To avoid this, the customer can either monitor their usage and use WiFi whenever available as well as enable the Top-Up feature or manually add credit, so they can continue using data beyond their plan's allotment. Though a data connection is required to send/receive texts/calls through our app, these actions do not actually count towards their plan's data allotment as they are credited back to the account shortly after.
We have a 30 day return/refund policy along with a 90 day exchange policy that applies to all devices purchased through FreedomPop. As a courtesy, we are willing to extend the 30 day return/refund policy to 60 days for this customer due to the size of their purchase.
In order to address the additional charges in question, we require the customer to provide us with the phone numbers associated with their devices.
I tried to port my phone number to Cricket Wireless and was told that I can't.
I have been a FreedomPop subscriber for a little less than a year.
Desired Outcome
I need to be able to port my number to Cricket Wireless.
FreedomPop Response
• Apr 12, 2018
In order to port the number out, the customer must keep their account active and provide the proper information that is being requested from their receiving carrier.
It appears as though the customer was not entering the correct PIN number which resulted in a failed port.
We've reinstated service to the account so the number can be available for porting. To view their PIN, they should use the PIN that was provided to them by our agent. If they don't recall this PIN, they can log into their account and visit https://my.freedompop.com/settings/port-out-info to go direct to their information or locate this information manually by following these steps:
1. Clicking on their name in the top right corner of the account.
2. Click on the gear icon to open up "Settings"
3. Select "Port Out Info" on the left hand side.
Once the customer has ported out their number, they can cancel their account by following the instructions under "How to cancel your FreedomPop account" at support.freedompop.com.
Customer Response
• Apr 14, 2018
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Cricket Wireless conference called with myself and FreedomPop and I could hear the representative from Cricket follow the exact instructions that the FreedomPop representative was giving to him. I also called FreedomPop directly from the AT&T store and followed their instructions given to me by FreedomPop and still wasn't able to port out my number. My account was active and in good standing then as I was set up on auto pay and saw that FreedomPop was taking money out of my account each month and I have records to prove this if necessary. I wound up giving up on porting my number that I had for 15 years and getting a new number when I switched to AT&T.
FreedomPop Response
• Apr 26, 2018
Outside of having the customer's porting information available to them and approving the port out, there is no further action required on our behalf for the number to port out. The inability to port out here lies on the customer or the receiving carrier. We recommend the customer shows this information to their receiving carrier to avoid further miscommunication.
Customer Response
• Apr 28, 2018
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The inability to port out my number does not lie on me or the receiving carrier. Cricket Wireless conference called with me and FreedomPop and followed everything that the FreedomPop representative said to do, which was unsuccessful. I then went to the AT&T store and called FreedomPop and physically stood in the AT&T store and watched as the representative did everything that FreedomPop instructed him to do.
I Downgrade my plan to free about 5 month ago, they are keeping charging $9.99 every month in last 4 month with no service ordered or used.
I ordered a freedompop wifi box about 10 month ago, after few months of using, I called them and downgrade my plan to Free plan, and confirmed with the online assistant that there there will be no more charge on me. But I just noticed that they never stop to charge me, they just changed my plan to $9.99 a month unauthorized.
Desired Outcome
They need to refund all unauthorized charge. please take a look on FB's victim of freedompop, there are hundreds people having about same experience with Freedompop. I wander this company still exist.
FreedomPop Response
• Apr 12, 2018
Our records indicate the customer subscribed to a 1-month free trial of our Unlimited 2GB plan ($24.99) and FreedomPop Premier ($9.99) on 3/18/17. These trials become paid subscriptions that are charged accordingly if not downgraded prior to renewal. This is disclosed prior to checkout and reiterated in a follow-up email which includes their order confirmation, subscription details and instructions on how to manage their subscriptions through our self-help tools.
After 4 months of service, the customer downgraded their Unlimited 2GB plan on 8/7/17 through the self-help tools referenced above and was not charged for the plan thereafter. The customer left FreedomPop Premier active which resulted in the scheduled renewal of the service for a service they opted into.
The customer continued to be charged accordingly from August 2017 through March 2018, when the customer canceled the account.
Though the charges were valid, we've gone ahead and refunded the last 3 months of renewals as a courtesy ($29.97). Please allow 3-5 business days for the refund to process.
Customer Response
• Apr 21, 2018
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I acccept geting refund. but I have to say that by using "sel-help tool" there was no way to downgrade service to free level. so I had to search around for live surpport for the free level, I made it eventually but freedom pop just ignored that. I will advise all my people to keep away from this trap.
Won't allow account cancellation promptly.
FreedomPop charges for phone customer service, so one must navigate to the URL: https://forums.freedompop.com/us/ in order to receive support if one's account is not active. I have had previous communications with Freedom pop regarding cancelling my account. FreedomPop employees link to the following URL: https://support.freedompop.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2634/kw/cancel which shows screenshots of an account page that I do not have access towards.
I was asked in a confusing format on a forum post to the Account Help section and I was given the following directive in the forum thread (which are public)
*** March 13
Please cancel my accountand quit charging me $0.01 a month. I don't want your service - it didn't work for me.
Hello,
Sorry to hear about this, could you please confirm the account email."
It was not made clear that my email would be protected on a public forum.
I had asked in other previous posts in the forum but the moderators removed the posts, as I had to request a new link to the old posts, but they also quickly expire.
I've provided the WAN MAC address of the free device that they associated with my account and I have not heard anything back. I provided my email address and the aforementioned WAN MAC address of the device today as well and I'm waiting to hear back from any employee at FreedomPop.
Desired Outcome
I want FreedomPop to cancel my account associated with my phone number: XXXXXXXXXX ; email address: ***@outlook.com ; and device number MAC WAN: 00:1D:88:4E:1E:9E - promptly, and without any more details or notice, since this is all the information at this point that I can cross identify with Freedom Pop, aside from a $0.01 charge that appears on my Bank of American Credit Card Visa every month. I'm tired of getting charged for something that was advertised as supposedly free. FreedomPop literally nickle and dimes one until they go crazy attempting to cancel service with more drastic measures. It's no wonder FreedomPop has a B on Revdex.com ratings.
FreedomPop Response
• Apr 06, 2018
Accounts without activity will incur a maintenance fee to ensure a card remains active on the account, this is applied per our terms of service which must be manually agreed to upon sign-up.
Though VIP phone support requires a paid subscription, we still offer free support through various channels such as email at freedompop.com/contact social media at facebook.com/freedompop and twitter.com/freedompop, as well as our community forums at forums.freedompop.com.
We can confirm that the account in question was canceled by our staff on 3/29/18 as requested. We apologize for any inconvenience experienced during the resolution of this complaint.
I received freedompop stuff never used and was supposed to be FREE but I was charged 89.95 without authorization by me then was charged AGAIN in the amount of 89.95 without ever using their services! This is a common late scamand they need to be put out of business for LYING about being FREE. I want my money back and the business to stop advertising how FREE they are!! 89.95x2=179.90
Product_Or_Service: Cell service
Desired Outcome
Other (requires explanation)
Not Entered
FreedomPop Response
• Apr 16, 2018
We're sorry to hear of the customer's unsatisfactory experience with us. Our records indicate the customer subscribed to a 1-month free trial of our Semi-Annual subscription for Premium 2GB Unlimited plan on 8/16/17. These trials become paid subscriptions that are charged twice a year if not downgraded prior to renewal. This is disclosed prior to checkout and reiterated in a follow-up email which includes their order confirmation, subscription details and instructions on how to manage their subscriptions through our self-help tools.
The renewal was attempted on 9/19/17 and was not successfully processed until 9/25/17. The following renewal occurred on 3/19/18 accordingly.
Though the charges were valid, we've gone ahead and refunded the latest renewal in full as a courtesy and canceled the account. Please allow 3-5 business days for the refund to process.
Customer Response
• Apr 17, 2018
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I was charged 89.95 twice, and no services were received. Being credited once is stealing the other 89.95. So no, this is unacceptable and I will continue speaking with Revdex.com about this matter until I see the entire amount back into my account.
FreedomPop Response
• Apr 26, 2018
The charge was incurred as a result of the customer manually approving a plan which was selected and made available to them according to the service agreement.
Payment ensures the plan is active on the account so that the customer can use as much or as little of their selected plan as they require. The payment agreement does not depend on whether or not the customer uses the services that were made available to them based on the selected subscription - but rather on the availability of these services on their account.
As such, the charge is valid and does not warrant a refund. Despite this fact, we have issued a refund for their latest renewal and closed the account to avoid any further charges.
Customer Response
• Apr 29, 2018
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I do not accept this because services were not rendered.
They sign you up for plans you don't want then automatically charge you when they lapse. Even after I cancelled all of my initial plans, they kept enrolling me back in the "international plan" so they could keep charging me a monthly fee, despite never using a single international minute. Their customer support is beyond lacking, agent told me she would downgrade me but never did so I was charged for the international plan for a further 3 months. Predatory and gross business.
FreedomPop Response
• Mar 29, 2018
All features may be disabled and deactivated on a user's end. This may be achieved by logging into one's account and selecting services. We'd suggest visiting our Community where one of Admin is more than capable of resolving the issue regarding the deactivation. You may visit *** or by submitting a ticket at
Long story short, my wife and I signed up for the free service so we would have a backup telephone # in case of emergency. The free service IS free, you only have to remember to downgrade and it IS free - that I had no complaint about, it is NOT false advertising in my experience. My wife did not remember to downgrade, and since my cell service with FreedomPop was so poor in our area, decided to cancel her account before even activating her SIM card. Of course, she remembered after she had been charged, but there was proof on the account that she never used it, so they agreed to refund her once we cancelled her account. She did in September and the refund took emailing back and forth with different FreedomPop agents to finally get. It was ridiculous, but we said we're glad to have our hands washed of FreedomPop after their terrible customer service and moved on. I cancelled myself shortly after.
Fast forward to March, I have a ~$60 charge on my bank statement from FreedomPop. Both of our accounts are cancelled, the SIM cards destroyed months ago. I was livid. I called the number on the charge, and it was FreedomPop alright - but I needed a telephone # with them to speak to someone, a telephone # I did not have. I almost snapped my phone in half, I was enraged. I pushed 0, I said "representative", I put in 10 digits of nonsense to get someone on the line, NOTHING.
So I pushed 3 for Sales. I got *** first. I explained the situation and once they heard "cancel" they talked over me quickly stating this wasn't the right # for that and connected me back to the automated line. I called right back and got ***. I explained the situation again, and she said she'd get me right to a live representative. I thanked her, and was promptly connected back to the automated line AGAIN. I called back and got ***, and requested her manager or supervisor. She told me one moment let me see if any are available - put me on MUTE, not hold for about 5 minutes, then came back and said she was transferring me right over to her supervisor. Guess where she transferred me to? You guessed it, the automated line!
After being rudely transferred to the automated line multiple times after explaining that I did not have a telephone # with FreedomPop but needed a live representative or requesting a supervisor, and having no help via email support who told me they couldn't assist me without the SIM/IMEI # or telephone # as they saw no charge under my old account (pretty much "too bad, so sad, we're enjoying your ill-gotten $60"), I messaged the FreedomPop Facebook account as a last resort.
The person who maintains the FreedomPop Facebook Messenger part of the account did look up the charge using the first and last 4 digits of my credit card and the charge date. They told me the charge came from my wife's FreedomPop account which was CANCELLED, as you read before, in September of 2017. They told me to log in or call to cancel the account, even after I explained those were not available options. When I logged in to her old account to try, it took me to an order status page where none of the links worked, and again I had no telephone number with FreedomPop to cancel the account. Upon request, I sent a screenshot to the Facebook person to prove what I saw when I logged in and that I could not manually cancel. Only then, they finally agreed to refund my money, and I did receive it this morning.
The Facebook person was the most helpful, and unfortunately that doesn't mean a whole lot because it was still like pulling teeth to get them to understand that to our knowledge her account was cancelled and that I was unable to cancel a cancelled account AGAIN. I strongly urge anyone having FreedomPop issues to message them and stick to your guns because they will feed you the same lines you've been getting via email or phone but eventually somehow I guess it sinks in and you MAY actually get a resolution.
I fully expect in a few months to be charged again, and for them to tell me "please cancel your account for a refund" even though it will have been done twice at that time. I guarantee it will happen, and I wonder how many others this has happened to? Be very, very careful - the service I wasn't able to give a fair shot because it didn't work in my area well at all, but I fear they really bank on people not checking their credit card or PayPal statements.
The customer service support is absolutely incompetent and total garbage, this business deserves to be investigated. I have never been so disenchanted with a company. I will caution anyone I come across against FreedomPop. I wish I could give it negative 100 stars.
FreedomPop Response
• Mar 29, 2018
Thank you for your review as it will assist us in making our services better. We're glad our Facebook team was able to help resolve the issue. We apologize for the inconvenience and again thank you for your candid review.
Company charging hidden fees that are not clearly disclosed and then not allowing adequate communication to resolve the fraudulent charges.
The company makes claims to being a free service, however they have MANY hidden fees and monthly charges that are not disclosed to individuals in a way that the layman could reasonably understand. Then as a way to discourage the consumer from following up and being reimbursed for these charges, they create an inefficient ticking system to address these issues. They close the cases without resolve, and are not consistent or timely in their responses. Are either rude or not well versed in English (not entirely sure which). There is no way to contact these people regarding charges other than this ticketing system.
Desired Outcome
This company needs to be forced to very clearly state the charges to all future customers, and should refund ALL hidden charges to customers until they are no longer using predatory methods.
FreedomPop Response
• Apr 16, 2018
We're sorry to hear the customer had an unpleasant experience with our product and team. We do our best to disclose all related plan/service fees prior to checkout and reiterate them in a follow-up email with additional instructions on how to manage their account's subscriptions.
Besides our available free support channels (Facebook, Twitter, Email, Community Forums), customers can reach us by phone with a Premium VIP subscription.
We request information on what charges the customer is concerned with so can properly address their account and provide an adequate resolution.
I gave my old Samsung s2 to my 80 year old mom and activated it with Freedom Pop. She enjoyed the use of the phone for over a year. On Sat. March 10, 2018, I received an email saying that they were unable to bill my card on file and the phone was turned off. I went to the web portal and the card info was gone! I input the info again and it charged me for the monthly service. The phone did not come back on. Tech support says there is an "unknown technical error" on their behalf. They admit this problem was in their system. They said they were working on it. After a week of the phone being down, I decided that it would be better to just switch to a different carrier. I discovered that I cannot bring the phone to the new carrier because they locked the meid to their system! This is NOT their phone, not under contract. They have no right to lock this phone! I had to buy another phone. My mom is 80 years old and lives alone, it is SUPER IMPORTANT that she has a working phone. Freedom Pop cannot provide service and I'm not allowed to seek another provider?
Product_Or_Service: cell carrier
Desired Outcome
Other (requires explanation)
Unlock MY phone, it is NOT yours and you had no business locking it! You caused me to have to buy another phone and left my mom without communication for 2 weeks!
FreedomPop Response
• Jul 13, 2018
We're sorry to hear of the customer's unsatisfactory experience with us. Our records indicate the customer's account was temporarily suspended due to a failed payment of $17.98. This was incurred for the renewal of Premium 500 ($13.99) and FreedomPop Premium Voice ($3.99).
However, the customer did update their billing information on 3/10/18 which resulted in the reactivation of the account. Once any changes are made to an account, we recommend our users to Sync Account Data to ensure the device and account synchronize properly. This information can be found in our knowledge-base at support.freedompop.com.
The customer reached support and the account associated with ***@gmail.com was canceled on 4/11/18. However, the user incurred a renewal charge of $13.99 for Premium 500. Since the account has been canceled, we have issued the refund in the amount of $13.99. Please allow 3-5 business days for the refund to process.
We can confirm the account remains active and the device has been deactivated, so the user will no longer incur any future charges associated with this account.
Customer Response
• Jul 16, 2018
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
These "facts" are incorrect. The monthly payment was drafted and the service was terminated anyway. No one there could tell me why, their response was "unknown error". After a month with no service, I cancelled the subscription. I was charged after that, which they refunded (thank you), that is the refund that is referenced. My complaint was two fold, the service interruption for a whole month, but mostly what made me mad was when they locked the phone so that I could not even go to another provider! This was MY phone that I provided, they have NO business locking a phone which is not theirs and not under any contract. If you cannot provide adequate service, you have NO business stopping someone from shopping elsewhere! I had to buy another phone so that my 80 year old mom could have a phone! Freedom pop is disorganized and unable to provide reliable service. You cannot contact a human there, the only contact is made by messenger. Service being down for a month is ridiculous. More ridiculous is them locking the device so that you cannot choose another provider!
I bought another phone (refurb, $100) and signed up with someone else and gave the now, useless phone to my grandson.
This nonsense about payment is incorrect, the payment was drafted from my bank and they said their was an "unknown error". I can document this!
FreedomPop Response
• Jul 25, 2018
Anytime a device is activated via BYOD, it is assigned to the activated account. Therefore, the device must be deactivated from the account in order to be eligible for activation with another carrier.
We apologize for any inconvenience the user has experienced with us.
We can still confirm the device has been released and the account remains canceled.
They advertise multiple times and on their products that their service is 100% free once you pay with a credit card there will be an automatic deduction of $98.88. this is more than my previous cell phone provider and false advertising.
Because of this false advertisement I am now negative due to an automatic payment that went through my PayPal account which cause my bank account to go negative. I have not use their service at the moment the SIM card that I had received I had paid $0.01 for has not been activated. There has been 0% use of their services therefore there should have been no charges until the SIM card has been activated. Again this is false advertising. If you advertise on multiple avenues that your service has 100% free then wouldn't you think that it would be one hundred percent free'
I am still with Verizon at the moment and was planning on being able to switch to FreedomPop to use a cheaper service that appears from their advertisement as "reliable". But only to find out that it cost more than my current Verizon bill and now my account is negative. Currently trying to figure out how I'm going to pay rent and my car this month because of the negative balance and Bank fees.
I am still currently with Verizon because I have been told it was going to cost me $150 to cancel my Verizon service this is why I haven't canceled just yet to switch to FreedomPop. Now I am regretting even the thought of trying to switch to FreedomPop.
Product_Or_Service: 100% free mobile/data service
Desired Outcome
Billing Adjustment
I would like my $98.88 returned to me.
FreedomPop Response
• Jul 12, 2018
We're sorry to hear of the customer's unsatisfactory experience with us. Our records indicate the customer ordered an LTE SIM KIT 3-in-1 (Order #XXXXXXXX) on 2/16/18, which included a free trial of our Semi-Annual subscription for Premium LTE 2GB Unlimited ($71.94) and FreedomPop Phone Premier ($26.94). These trials become paid subscriptions that are charged twice a year if not downgraded prior to renewal. This is disclosed prior to checkout and reiterated in a follow-up email which includes their order confirmation, subscription details and instructions on how to manage their subscriptions through our self-help tools.
The user failed to downgrade their account before the renewal date of 3/20/18 which is why they incurred a charge of $98.88. However, the user reached out via Facebook support and was granted a refund as the account was canceled the same day as their renewal.
The customer's account associated with ***@hotmail.com remains canceled and no further charges have incurred.
I have a $59.97 charge from Freedom Pop. I had one account that had the free plan, and customer service says they don't see a charge.
I have a $59.97 charge on my personal bank statement from Freedom Pop. There is a telephone number attached to the charge, which I have called to confirm it is Freedom Pop. However, I do not have a phone number with Freedom Pop in order to speak with someone. I had one account that had the free plan, and customer service says they don't see a charge under that account. My wife had a similar issue and she didn't get a refund until we reported it to the Revdex.com, it appears that's how I'll get mine as well.
Desired Outcome
I do not have a telephone number, SIM # or an email address that a customer service representative can look up the charge with, but I can absolutely provide my credit card number because it was a direct charge to that.
FreedomPop Response
• Mar 30, 2018
We're sorry to hear about the customer's concerns. In order to properly investigate the issue, we are requesting the name or email associated with the charge in question as it is not included in this complaint.
I tried to sign up for their service on a Sunday throught he internet. I had many crashes of their buggy website while trying to make the $19.99 purchase. You click buy and it goes to a white screen with "500 URI MALFORMED" on it. I never got a screen that said my purchase was completed. I didn't know what to do, I reloaded and executed it again, this time it worked but I ened up with 3 purchases on my card! I found three emails and three charges on my credit card for the single device I was ordering even though I only got through the purchase screens once. I left messages on tech support, the user community and I called the next morning when they opened and was told that the devices were already being packaged and that I could not have a refund. Of course their website says that they take up to 10 days for shipping.
This is the first website I have ever used that did not have a second screen that let you review your bill before purchasing. It also doesn't work well with Google Chrome, I had to use Firefox to get it to work.
I was told to refuse the packages and that I would be refunded without charge. After reading all the negative comments on the internet, I have little doubt that I will be out of the $60 and possibly more. Not a good start.
FreedomPop Response
• Mar 22, 2018
If your package has already shipped out, you can still send it back to us and get a refund, ***. Simply refuse the package when it arrives. This means you can simply inform the delivery worker that you would like to have the package returned and they will send it back to us. Even if the package is delivered, you will still be able to take it to your local post office ( it must be unopened) and refuse it there. Make sure to contact us to have the account cancelled, because if you've signed up for any paid plans or services, you can still incur a charge.
Once the package has returned to us, we can issue your refund. You may inform us or request assistance by visiting our Community at Forums.freedompop.com or by submitting a ticket via support.freedompop.com
There is no contact number to set up this phone.
Unable to get help service. The phone is not activated.
I was charged for 6-month service.
Tried to e-mail for a refund to no avail.
Product_Or_Service: Sim Card
Desired Outcome
Refund
Refund of charges.
FreedomPop Response
• Mar 30, 2018
We're sorry to hear about the customer's experience. The SIM arrives preactivated and comes with instructions on how to configure their SIM card. Live agent support over the phone does require a paid subscription of Premium VIP support, but we do offer 100% free support options via email at freedompop.com/contact along with social media at facebook.com/freedompop and twitter.com/freedompophelp.
The customer was charged accordingly for their selected plan and therefore is only eligible for a refund upon cancellation. They can confirm their cancellation request here if they wish to end their service.
Freedom Pop charged 89.94 on my card. I filed a ticket because the service was never activated, I was advised that although they acknowledge I have never activated the service, per their terms and conditions I was to cancel it within 30 days. So I'm supposed to cancel a service that was never activated in the first place?
Product_Or_Service: Cellular service
Desired Outcome
Other (requires explanation)
My desired outcome is the refund of the 89.94 for services that were never rendered or activated
FreedomPop Response
• Apr 06, 2018
There is insufficient information provided in this complaint for us to properly investigate. We request the customer provide the account name, email, ESN/MEID or phone number associated with the account in question so we can help.
Customer Response
• Apr 14, 2018
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
They are requesting additional information, the phone number that was assigned to the account was XXX XXX XXXX
FreedomPop Response
• Apr 26, 2018
We're sorry to hear of the customer's unsatisfactory experience with FreedomPop. Our records indicate the customer ordered an LTE SIM on 7/4/17, which included a 1-month free trial of our Semi-Annual subscription for the Premium 2GB plan ($89.94 /6mo). This trial becomes a paid subscription that is charged twice a year if not downgraded or canceled prior to renewal. Despite the customer choosing not to use the product, it does arrive pre-activated with an active subscription they selected at checkout.
The details mentioned above are disclosed prior to checkout and reiterated in a follow-up email which includes their order confirmation, subscription details and instructions on how to manage their subscriptions through our self-help tools. The customer did not take action prior to the renewal period as required according to their subscription terms which resulted in the renewal of their plan accordingly.
As a courtesy, we have refunded the latest renewal from 2/8/18 and can confirm that the account has since been canceled. Please allow 3-5 business days for the refund to process.
I have not used them in years. Recently, I've been charged 0.01 on credit card statements. Tried contacting them, their customer service is a joke.
I have not used them in years. I have no account number or model information because I threw it away years ago after not using it. Recently, I've been charged 0.01 on credit card statements. Tried contacting them, their customer service has no live people. This is the 3rd time this 0.01 charge is showing up on my credit card statement. They charged the 0.01 on 2/27/2018.
Desired Outcome
Stop charging my credit card 0.01 when i no longer have an account with them nor utilize their services in years.
FreedomPop Response
• Apr 06, 2018
Accounts with no usage will incur a maintenance fee to ensure card remains active on the account, this is applied per our terms of service which must be manually agreed to upon sign-up.
As a courtesy we've gone ahead and refunded their latest $0.01 charge. If the customer no longer wishes to continue service, they can cancel their account at anytime by logging in and selecting "Settings" > "Account Status" > "Cancel". If they wish to keep an active device and avoid the $0.01 maintenance fee, they should simply power up and connect their device briefly at least once a month so activity is recognized.
Freedom pop is charging me every month $7.99 for last one year for the service that were not signed up for me. They didn't notify me through the email or mail.
Product_Or_Service: Frredom Popup
Desired Outcome
Other (requires explanation)
Not Entered
FreedomPop Response
• Apr 06, 2018
We're sorry to hear of the customer's unsatisfactory experience with us. Our records indicate the customer ordered a Global SIM on 1/10/17, which includes a 1-month free trial of our Global 1GB Unlimited ($19.99) and Premium Plus ($7.99). These trials become paid subscriptions that are charged accordingly if not downgraded prior to renewal. This is disclosed prior to checkout and reiterated in a follow-up email which includes their order confirmation, subscription details and instructions on how to manage their subscriptions through our self-help tools.
The customer downgraded their Global 1GB plan on 2/22/17 through the self-help tools referenced above and was not charged for the plan thereafter. The customer left Premium Plus active which resulted in the scheduled renewal of the service for a service they opted into.
Though the charges are valid, our team issued a refund for 6 renewals as a courtesy. We have since refunded their latest renewal from 3/12/18 and closed the account.
Customer Response
• Apr 09, 2018
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
They never notified me through the emails about the charges. I never signed up gor premium plus service. Customer support excitive mentioned that they autosigned me up. I am
Reviwing about company online. I am not alone. They are cheating lot of peoole
FreedomPop Response
• Apr 20, 2018
Attached is a screenshot of the email sent to the email associated with their account. There is no further action we can take on this account beyond what has already been processed on this complaint.
I was billed for 2 months after cancelling my cell phone service. I went through their website to cancel and completed all the necessary questions to close my account. Freedompop claims they have no record of the cancellation.I contacted Freedompop who was willing to refund only one months charge. When I viewed my online account it clearly shows no activity for 2 consecutive months.
Product_Or_Service: Cell phone servce
Order_Number: Januray transaction
Account_Number: account # XXX XXX XX
Desired Outcome
Refund
A refund for both months of service that went unused.
FreedomPop Response
• Apr 06, 2018
The account under ***@gmail.com has 3 devices, no account associated with account # XXXXXXXX. We request the customer indicate the specific device or phone number related to the account in question.
I've been a customer for a little less than a month. Everything with Freedom pop is in the cloud (no any transperancy). You don't know what you are paying (what you're going to be charged), what are the plans, there no way to speak with representative - no phone number provided and etc.
Stay away - my advise.
FreedomPop Response
• Mar 15, 2018
Hi Jordan, we apologize if your subscriptions were unclear at sign up. We do our best to be transparent by explicitly outlinig any and all associated charges prior to checkout. We require our customers to manually agree to these before the order can be processed. Additionally, we send a confirmation email which reiterates these details along with instructions on how to manage these subscriptions on your end without the need for a representative's assistance.
If you need help managing your account, please visit support.freedompop.com for self help or open a ticket at freedompop.com/contact.
I got a .01 sim card and was suppose to get free service When activated . I never activated any phone. I still have the sim card
they charged my pay pal account 98.88 for phone service. it says on there sight 30 day no hassle refund. I E-mailed them several times. I called also but you cant talk to anyone unless you have a phone number or password which I threw out cause I decided not to activate a phone . I still Have sim Card.
Desired Outcome
a refund. But more than that stopping there deceptive practices so others do not get scammed.
FreedomPop Response
• Apr 06, 2018
We're sorry to hear of the customer's unsatisfactory experience with us. Our records indicate the customer ordered an LTE SIM on 1/30/18, which included a 1-month free trial of our Semi-Annual subscription for FreedomPop Phone Premier ($26.94) and Premium LTE 2GB Unlimited ($71.94). These trials become paid subscriptions that are charged twice a year if not downgraded prior to renewal. This is disclosed prior to checkout and reiterated in a follow-up email which includes their order confirmation, subscription details and instructions on how to manage their subscriptions through our self-help tools.
The SIM is shipped pre-activated for easy set up and simply requires configuration upon arrival. Their selected subscription renewed at the end of their trial as intended. In any case, we can see they canceled on 3/15/18 and received a refund of $98.88 for their subscription renewal as requested.
Credit card billed months after service was discontinued.
I ended service with a zero balance on Sept 22nd, 2017. I just received two charges on my credit card from Freedompop in March 2018. One was for more than 100 dollars for ongoing service, the other was a charge for direct marketing which I never asked for. My account was closed in good standing months ago. I don't know why freedom pop continues to charge me. This is the second time FP has incorrectly charged my credit card. I have also filed a dispute with the credit card company. Freedompop should be put into corrective action for bad billing practices.
I am seeking reversal of all charges since I stopped service in Sept 22nd, 2017 as well as assurances that I will never receive another charge from this company again. I also requested that all personally identifiable information be discarded from freedom pop's records and that my credit card information be deleted as well.
We're sorry to hear of any inconvenience experienced by this customer. Our records do not indicate any cancellation under ***@yahoo.com on 9/22/17 as they are stating. This account shows it was canceled on 4/2/18 and has not incurred any charges since this cancellation date.
The customer requested their device to be unlocked for use on another carrier, but did not follow-up and request cancellation of the account or cancel the account on their end online.
In any case, we can see the customer was refunded $108.98 on 4/3/18 for their annual renewal incurred on 3/25/18. This account has been canceled and will not incur any further charges.
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
Mis-advertising about nature of unlimited voice ant text and its dependence on the limited cellular data plan
A few days after signing up for Freedompop unlimited voice, unlimited text, and 1GB data family plan and purchasing 3 of their phones, I gained access to my account and found that I was already being charged for data without having actually used the phones. Instead of telling me that the "unlimited voice and text" actually uses the cellular data plan allotment, they said they didn't know the cause and would look into it. They never did notify me.
Nine months later, I got a message that I was near the monthly data usage limit even though we only began using one of the phones a week ago. I contacted Freedompop support and after several responses that would not answer the questions, they finally told me that the data is used for voice and texting. That is, the "unlimited plan" is actually restricted to the "1GB per month data plan." This is fraudulent. The support person said it is on the advertising information.
Well, it turns out that the disclaimer was only on the advertising for the non-family web page June 2017 (see Internet archive of the page at https://web.archive.org/web/XXXXXXXXXXXXXX/https://www.freedompop.com/ ) and not on the family plan that we bought. In fact, the family plan page did not include any such restrictions about the unlimited calling and text being restricted to wi-fi or the unlimited calling only happening between Freedompop customers (see https://web.archive.org/web/XXXXXXXXXXXXXX/https://familymobile.freedompop.com/ ).
So not only was I falsely lured into an unlimited plan that was not unlimited, but contacting Freedompop support within the time limit that would have allowed returning the phones yielded deaf ears, perhaps intended to delay me until after the return period.
Luckily, I have the Internet archive pages along with the original support ticket below.
Therefore, I request Freedompop refund me the original cost of the phones as well as the monthly fees for the 9 months after purchasing them minus the cost I would have incurred shipping the phones back to them.
This would come to:
$204.96 ($15 1st month + $180 for 3 phones + $10 shipping)
$135 ($15 per month from July 2017 to March 2018)
minus $10 return shipping
which comes to $329.96 total.
*** Original Support Ticket Reference #XXXXXX-XXXXXX below ***
This incident cannot be reopened or updated. If you need further assistance, please submit a new question.
Communication History
Staff Account *** via channel 'Email' 06/09/XXXX XX:XX AM
Hello ***.
Thank you for contacting FreedomPop Online Services. My name is *** and I will be more than happy to assist you with your concern. It is our understanding that you got usage on your account even when you have not received the devices. We apologize for the inconvenience this may be causing.
I have sent word to our development team so we can fix this. In the meantime I have added 100 MB for every SIM card, meaning that I have added a total of 300 MB. Hope you have a wonderful day.
As a valued FreedomPop customer, we hope that we have addressed all concerns. However, should you need additional assistance, please feel free to respond to this incident and we will be more than happy to assist you.
***, please also be sure to visit our online Self-Help Knowledge Base at https://support.freedompop.com and our FreedomPop Communities.
Thank you, ***
Your personal Online Service Agent.
Customer (***) via channel 'Service Web' 06/08/XXXX XX:XX PM
I just signed up for the family plan and three phones. I am going to be worried about how much data will be used for freedompop's administration rather than my usage because I have already supposedly used 1% or 10MB, and I don't even have the phones yet so that should be zero. What's happening?!
Additional Details
Email Address
***@hagemeis.us
Reference Number
XXXXXX-XXXXXX
Status
Solved
Created
06/08/XXXX XX:XX PM
Updated
06/10/XXXX XX:XX AM
Therefore, I request Freedompop refund me the original cost of the phones as well as the monthly fees for the 9 months after purchasing them minus the cost I would have incurred shipping the phones back to them. This would come to: $204.96 ($15 1st month + $180 for 3 phones + $10 shipping) $135 ($15 per month from July 2017 to March 2018) minus $10 return shipping which comes to $329.96 total.
We apologize for any possible miscommunication that occurred with our services.
As we're a VOIP, calls/texts are made over a data connection. This can be via FreedomPop's data network or your local private/public WiFi whenever available.
Since a data connection is required in order to perform these actions, when a customer runs out of data and has selected to suspend service instead of paying for additional data, the talk/text feature will be suspended along with the rest of the account.
To avoid this, the customer can either monitor their usage and use WiFi whenever available as well as enable the Top-Up feature or manually add credit, so they can continue using data beyond their plan's allotment. Though a data connection is required to send/receive texts/calls through our app, these actions do not actually count towards their plan's data allotment as they are credited back to the account shortly after.
We have a 30 day return/refund policy along with a 90 day exchange policy that applies to all devices purchased through FreedomPop. As a courtesy, we are willing to extend the 30 day return/refund policy to 60 days for this customer due to the size of their purchase.
In order to address the additional charges in question, we require the customer to provide us with the phone numbers associated with their devices.
I tried to port my phone number to Cricket Wireless and was told that I can't.
I have been a FreedomPop subscriber for a little less than a year.
I need to be able to port my number to Cricket Wireless.
In order to port the number out, the customer must keep their account active and provide the proper information that is being requested from their receiving carrier.
It appears as though the customer was not entering the correct PIN number which resulted in a failed port.
We've reinstated service to the account so the number can be available for porting. To view their PIN, they should use the PIN that was provided to them by our agent. If they don't recall this PIN, they can log into their account and visit https://my.freedompop.com/settings/port-out-info to go direct to their information or locate this information manually by following these steps:
1. Clicking on their name in the top right corner of the account.
2. Click on the gear icon to open up "Settings"
3. Select "Port Out Info" on the left hand side.
Once the customer has ported out their number, they can cancel their account by following the instructions under "How to cancel your FreedomPop account" at support.freedompop.com.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Cricket Wireless conference called with myself and FreedomPop and I could hear the representative from Cricket follow the exact instructions that the FreedomPop representative was giving to him. I also called FreedomPop directly from the AT&T store and followed their instructions given to me by FreedomPop and still wasn't able to port out my number. My account was active and in good standing then as I was set up on auto pay and saw that FreedomPop was taking money out of my account each month and I have records to prove this if necessary. I wound up giving up on porting my number that I had for 15 years and getting a new number when I switched to AT&T.
Outside of having the customer's porting information available to them and approving the port out, there is no further action required on our behalf for the number to port out. The inability to port out here lies on the customer or the receiving carrier. We recommend the customer shows this information to their receiving carrier to avoid further miscommunication.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The inability to port out my number does not lie on me or the receiving carrier. Cricket Wireless conference called with me and FreedomPop and followed everything that the FreedomPop representative said to do, which was unsuccessful. I then went to the AT&T store and called FreedomPop and physically stood in the AT&T store and watched as the representative did everything that FreedomPop instructed him to do.
I Downgrade my plan to free about 5 month ago, they are keeping charging $9.99 every month in last 4 month with no service ordered or used.
I ordered a freedompop wifi box about 10 month ago, after few months of using, I called them and downgrade my plan to Free plan, and confirmed with the online assistant that there there will be no more charge on me. But I just noticed that they never stop to charge me, they just changed my plan to $9.99 a month unauthorized.
They need to refund all unauthorized charge. please take a look on FB's victim of freedompop, there are hundreds people having about same experience with Freedompop. I wander this company still exist.
Our records indicate the customer subscribed to a 1-month free trial of our Unlimited 2GB plan ($24.99) and FreedomPop Premier ($9.99) on 3/18/17. These trials become paid subscriptions that are charged accordingly if not downgraded prior to renewal. This is disclosed prior to checkout and reiterated in a follow-up email which includes their order confirmation, subscription details and instructions on how to manage their subscriptions through our self-help tools.
After 4 months of service, the customer downgraded their Unlimited 2GB plan on 8/7/17 through the self-help tools referenced above and was not charged for the plan thereafter. The customer left FreedomPop Premier active which resulted in the scheduled renewal of the service for a service they opted into.
The customer continued to be charged accordingly from August 2017 through March 2018, when the customer canceled the account.
Though the charges were valid, we've gone ahead and refunded the last 3 months of renewals as a courtesy ($29.97). Please allow 3-5 business days for the refund to process.
(The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)
I acccept geting refund. but I have to say that by using "sel-help tool" there was no way to downgrade service to free level. so I had to search around for live surpport for the free level, I made it eventually but freedom pop just ignored that. I will advise all my people to keep away from this trap.
Won't allow account cancellation promptly.
FreedomPop charges for phone customer service, so one must navigate to the URL: https://forums.freedompop.com/us/ in order to receive support if one's account is not active. I have had previous communications with Freedom pop regarding cancelling my account. FreedomPop employees link to the following URL: https://support.freedompop.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2634/kw/cancel which shows screenshots of an account page that I do not have access towards.
I was asked in a confusing format on a forum post to the Account Help section and I was given the following directive in the forum thread (which are public)
*** March 13
Please cancel my accountand quit charging me $0.01 a month. I don't want your service - it didn't work for me.
Hello,
Sorry to hear about this, could you please confirm the account email."
It was not made clear that my email would be protected on a public forum.
I had asked in other previous posts in the forum but the moderators removed the posts, as I had to request a new link to the old posts, but they also quickly expire.
I've provided the WAN MAC address of the free device that they associated with my account and I have not heard anything back. I provided my email address and the aforementioned WAN MAC address of the device today as well and I'm waiting to hear back from any employee at FreedomPop.
I want FreedomPop to cancel my account associated with my phone number: XXXXXXXXXX ; email address: ***@outlook.com ; and device number MAC WAN: 00:1D:88:4E:1E:9E - promptly, and without any more details or notice, since this is all the information at this point that I can cross identify with Freedom Pop, aside from a $0.01 charge that appears on my Bank of American Credit Card Visa every month. I'm tired of getting charged for something that was advertised as supposedly free. FreedomPop literally nickle and dimes one until they go crazy attempting to cancel service with more drastic measures. It's no wonder FreedomPop has a B on Revdex.com ratings.
Accounts without activity will incur a maintenance fee to ensure a card remains active on the account, this is applied per our terms of service which must be manually agreed to upon sign-up.
Though VIP phone support requires a paid subscription, we still offer free support through various channels such as email at freedompop.com/contact social media at facebook.com/freedompop and twitter.com/freedompop, as well as our community forums at forums.freedompop.com.
We can confirm that the account in question was canceled by our staff on 3/29/18 as requested. We apologize for any inconvenience experienced during the resolution of this complaint.
I received freedompop stuff never used and was supposed to be FREE but I was charged 89.95 without authorization by me then was charged AGAIN in the amount of 89.95 without ever using their services! This is a common late scamand they need to be put out of business for LYING about being FREE. I want my money back and the business to stop advertising how FREE they are!! 89.95x2=179.90
Product_Or_Service: Cell service
Other (requires explanation) Not Entered
We're sorry to hear of the customer's unsatisfactory experience with us. Our records indicate the customer subscribed to a 1-month free trial of our Semi-Annual subscription for Premium 2GB Unlimited plan on 8/16/17. These trials become paid subscriptions that are charged twice a year if not downgraded prior to renewal. This is disclosed prior to checkout and reiterated in a follow-up email which includes their order confirmation, subscription details and instructions on how to manage their subscriptions through our self-help tools.
The renewal was attempted on 9/19/17 and was not successfully processed until 9/25/17. The following renewal occurred on 3/19/18 accordingly.
Though the charges were valid, we've gone ahead and refunded the latest renewal in full as a courtesy and canceled the account. Please allow 3-5 business days for the refund to process.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I was charged 89.95 twice, and no services were received. Being credited once is stealing the other 89.95. So no, this is unacceptable and I will continue speaking with Revdex.com about this matter until I see the entire amount back into my account.
The charge was incurred as a result of the customer manually approving a plan which was selected and made available to them according to the service agreement.
Payment ensures the plan is active on the account so that the customer can use as much or as little of their selected plan as they require. The payment agreement does not depend on whether or not the customer uses the services that were made available to them based on the selected subscription - but rather on the availability of these services on their account.
As such, the charge is valid and does not warrant a refund. Despite this fact, we have issued a refund for their latest renewal and closed the account to avoid any further charges.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I do not accept this because services were not rendered.
They sign you up for plans you don't want then automatically charge you when they lapse. Even after I cancelled all of my initial plans, they kept enrolling me back in the "international plan" so they could keep charging me a monthly fee, despite never using a single international minute. Their customer support is beyond lacking, agent told me she would downgrade me but never did so I was charged for the international plan for a further 3 months. Predatory and gross business.
All features may be disabled and deactivated on a user's end. This may be achieved by logging into one's account and selecting services. We'd suggest visiting our Community where one of Admin is more than capable of resolving the issue regarding the deactivation. You may visit *** or by submitting a ticket at
Long story short, my wife and I signed up for the free service so we would have a backup telephone # in case of emergency. The free service IS free, you only have to remember to downgrade and it IS free - that I had no complaint about, it is NOT false advertising in my experience. My wife did not remember to downgrade, and since my cell service with FreedomPop was so poor in our area, decided to cancel her account before even activating her SIM card. Of course, she remembered after she had been charged, but there was proof on the account that she never used it, so they agreed to refund her once we cancelled her account. She did in September and the refund took emailing back and forth with different FreedomPop agents to finally get. It was ridiculous, but we said we're glad to have our hands washed of FreedomPop after their terrible customer service and moved on. I cancelled myself shortly after.
Fast forward to March, I have a ~$60 charge on my bank statement from FreedomPop. Both of our accounts are cancelled, the SIM cards destroyed months ago. I was livid. I called the number on the charge, and it was FreedomPop alright - but I needed a telephone # with them to speak to someone, a telephone # I did not have. I almost snapped my phone in half, I was enraged. I pushed 0, I said "representative", I put in 10 digits of nonsense to get someone on the line, NOTHING.
So I pushed 3 for Sales. I got *** first. I explained the situation and once they heard "cancel" they talked over me quickly stating this wasn't the right # for that and connected me back to the automated line. I called right back and got ***. I explained the situation again, and she said she'd get me right to a live representative. I thanked her, and was promptly connected back to the automated line AGAIN. I called back and got ***, and requested her manager or supervisor. She told me one moment let me see if any are available - put me on MUTE, not hold for about 5 minutes, then came back and said she was transferring me right over to her supervisor. Guess where she transferred me to? You guessed it, the automated line!
After being rudely transferred to the automated line multiple times after explaining that I did not have a telephone # with FreedomPop but needed a live representative or requesting a supervisor, and having no help via email support who told me they couldn't assist me without the SIM/IMEI # or telephone # as they saw no charge under my old account (pretty much "too bad, so sad, we're enjoying your ill-gotten $60"), I messaged the FreedomPop Facebook account as a last resort.
The person who maintains the FreedomPop Facebook Messenger part of the account did look up the charge using the first and last 4 digits of my credit card and the charge date. They told me the charge came from my wife's FreedomPop account which was CANCELLED, as you read before, in September of 2017. They told me to log in or call to cancel the account, even after I explained those were not available options. When I logged in to her old account to try, it took me to an order status page where none of the links worked, and again I had no telephone number with FreedomPop to cancel the account. Upon request, I sent a screenshot to the Facebook person to prove what I saw when I logged in and that I could not manually cancel. Only then, they finally agreed to refund my money, and I did receive it this morning.
The Facebook person was the most helpful, and unfortunately that doesn't mean a whole lot because it was still like pulling teeth to get them to understand that to our knowledge her account was cancelled and that I was unable to cancel a cancelled account AGAIN. I strongly urge anyone having FreedomPop issues to message them and stick to your guns because they will feed you the same lines you've been getting via email or phone but eventually somehow I guess it sinks in and you MAY actually get a resolution.
I fully expect in a few months to be charged again, and for them to tell me "please cancel your account for a refund" even though it will have been done twice at that time. I guarantee it will happen, and I wonder how many others this has happened to? Be very, very careful - the service I wasn't able to give a fair shot because it didn't work in my area well at all, but I fear they really bank on people not checking their credit card or PayPal statements.
The customer service support is absolutely incompetent and total garbage, this business deserves to be investigated. I have never been so disenchanted with a company. I will caution anyone I come across against FreedomPop. I wish I could give it negative 100 stars.
Thank you for your review as it will assist us in making our services better. We're glad our Facebook team was able to help resolve the issue. We apologize for the inconvenience and again thank you for your candid review.
Company charging hidden fees that are not clearly disclosed and then not allowing adequate communication to resolve the fraudulent charges.
The company makes claims to being a free service, however they have MANY hidden fees and monthly charges that are not disclosed to individuals in a way that the layman could reasonably understand. Then as a way to discourage the consumer from following up and being reimbursed for these charges, they create an inefficient ticking system to address these issues. They close the cases without resolve, and are not consistent or timely in their responses. Are either rude or not well versed in English (not entirely sure which). There is no way to contact these people regarding charges other than this ticketing system.
This company needs to be forced to very clearly state the charges to all future customers, and should refund ALL hidden charges to customers until they are no longer using predatory methods.
We're sorry to hear the customer had an unpleasant experience with our product and team. We do our best to disclose all related plan/service fees prior to checkout and reiterate them in a follow-up email with additional instructions on how to manage their account's subscriptions.
Besides our available free support channels (Facebook, Twitter, Email, Community Forums), customers can reach us by phone with a Premium VIP subscription.
We request information on what charges the customer is concerned with so can properly address their account and provide an adequate resolution.
I gave my old Samsung s2 to my 80 year old mom and activated it with Freedom Pop. She enjoyed the use of the phone for over a year. On Sat. March 10, 2018, I received an email saying that they were unable to bill my card on file and the phone was turned off. I went to the web portal and the card info was gone! I input the info again and it charged me for the monthly service. The phone did not come back on. Tech support says there is an "unknown technical error" on their behalf. They admit this problem was in their system. They said they were working on it. After a week of the phone being down, I decided that it would be better to just switch to a different carrier. I discovered that I cannot bring the phone to the new carrier because they locked the meid to their system! This is NOT their phone, not under contract. They have no right to lock this phone! I had to buy another phone. My mom is 80 years old and lives alone, it is SUPER IMPORTANT that she has a working phone. Freedom Pop cannot provide service and I'm not allowed to seek another provider?
Product_Or_Service: cell carrier
Other (requires explanation) Unlock MY phone, it is NOT yours and you had no business locking it! You caused me to have to buy another phone and left my mom without communication for 2 weeks!
We're sorry to hear of the customer's unsatisfactory experience with us. Our records indicate the customer's account was temporarily suspended due to a failed payment of $17.98. This was incurred for the renewal of Premium 500 ($13.99) and FreedomPop Premium Voice ($3.99).
However, the customer did update their billing information on 3/10/18 which resulted in the reactivation of the account. Once any changes are made to an account, we recommend our users to Sync Account Data to ensure the device and account synchronize properly. This information can be found in our knowledge-base at support.freedompop.com.
The customer reached support and the account associated with ***@gmail.com was canceled on 4/11/18. However, the user incurred a renewal charge of $13.99 for Premium 500. Since the account has been canceled, we have issued the refund in the amount of $13.99. Please allow 3-5 business days for the refund to process.
We can confirm the account remains active and the device has been deactivated, so the user will no longer incur any future charges associated with this account.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
These "facts" are incorrect. The monthly payment was drafted and the service was terminated anyway. No one there could tell me why, their response was "unknown error". After a month with no service, I cancelled the subscription. I was charged after that, which they refunded (thank you), that is the refund that is referenced. My complaint was two fold, the service interruption for a whole month, but mostly what made me mad was when they locked the phone so that I could not even go to another provider! This was MY phone that I provided, they have NO business locking a phone which is not theirs and not under any contract. If you cannot provide adequate service, you have NO business stopping someone from shopping elsewhere! I had to buy another phone so that my 80 year old mom could have a phone! Freedom pop is disorganized and unable to provide reliable service. You cannot contact a human there, the only contact is made by messenger. Service being down for a month is ridiculous. More ridiculous is them locking the device so that you cannot choose another provider!
I bought another phone (refurb, $100) and signed up with someone else and gave the now, useless phone to my grandson.
This nonsense about payment is incorrect, the payment was drafted from my bank and they said their was an "unknown error". I can document this!
Anytime a device is activated via BYOD, it is assigned to the activated account. Therefore, the device must be deactivated from the account in order to be eligible for activation with another carrier.
We apologize for any inconvenience the user has experienced with us.
We can still confirm the device has been released and the account remains canceled.
They advertise multiple times and on their products that their service is 100% free once you pay with a credit card there will be an automatic deduction of $98.88. this is more than my previous cell phone provider and false advertising.
Because of this false advertisement I am now negative due to an automatic payment that went through my PayPal account which cause my bank account to go negative. I have not use their service at the moment the SIM card that I had received I had paid $0.01 for has not been activated. There has been 0% use of their services therefore there should have been no charges until the SIM card has been activated. Again this is false advertising. If you advertise on multiple avenues that your service has 100% free then wouldn't you think that it would be one hundred percent free'
I am still with Verizon at the moment and was planning on being able to switch to FreedomPop to use a cheaper service that appears from their advertisement as "reliable". But only to find out that it cost more than my current Verizon bill and now my account is negative. Currently trying to figure out how I'm going to pay rent and my car this month because of the negative balance and Bank fees.
I am still currently with Verizon because I have been told it was going to cost me $150 to cancel my Verizon service this is why I haven't canceled just yet to switch to FreedomPop. Now I am regretting even the thought of trying to switch to FreedomPop.
Product_Or_Service: 100% free mobile/data service
Billing Adjustment I would like my $98.88 returned to me.
We're sorry to hear of the customer's unsatisfactory experience with us. Our records indicate the customer ordered an LTE SIM KIT 3-in-1 (Order #XXXXXXXX) on 2/16/18, which included a free trial of our Semi-Annual subscription for Premium LTE 2GB Unlimited ($71.94) and FreedomPop Phone Premier ($26.94). These trials become paid subscriptions that are charged twice a year if not downgraded prior to renewal. This is disclosed prior to checkout and reiterated in a follow-up email which includes their order confirmation, subscription details and instructions on how to manage their subscriptions through our self-help tools.
The user failed to downgrade their account before the renewal date of 3/20/18 which is why they incurred a charge of $98.88. However, the user reached out via Facebook support and was granted a refund as the account was canceled the same day as their renewal.
The customer's account associated with ***@hotmail.com remains canceled and no further charges have incurred.
There is no further action needed on this case.
I have a $59.97 charge from Freedom Pop. I had one account that had the free plan, and customer service says they don't see a charge.
I have a $59.97 charge on my personal bank statement from Freedom Pop. There is a telephone number attached to the charge, which I have called to confirm it is Freedom Pop. However, I do not have a phone number with Freedom Pop in order to speak with someone. I had one account that had the free plan, and customer service says they don't see a charge under that account. My wife had a similar issue and she didn't get a refund until we reported it to the Revdex.com, it appears that's how I'll get mine as well.
I do not have a telephone number, SIM # or an email address that a customer service representative can look up the charge with, but I can absolutely provide my credit card number because it was a direct charge to that.
We're sorry to hear about the customer's concerns. In order to properly investigate the issue, we are requesting the name or email associated with the charge in question as it is not included in this complaint.
I tried to sign up for their service on a Sunday throught he internet. I had many crashes of their buggy website while trying to make the $19.99 purchase. You click buy and it goes to a white screen with "500 URI MALFORMED" on it. I never got a screen that said my purchase was completed. I didn't know what to do, I reloaded and executed it again, this time it worked but I ened up with 3 purchases on my card! I found three emails and three charges on my credit card for the single device I was ordering even though I only got through the purchase screens once. I left messages on tech support, the user community and I called the next morning when they opened and was told that the devices were already being packaged and that I could not have a refund. Of course their website says that they take up to 10 days for shipping.
This is the first website I have ever used that did not have a second screen that let you review your bill before purchasing. It also doesn't work well with Google Chrome, I had to use Firefox to get it to work.
I was told to refuse the packages and that I would be refunded without charge. After reading all the negative comments on the internet, I have little doubt that I will be out of the $60 and possibly more. Not a good start.
If your package has already shipped out, you can still send it back to us and get a refund, ***. Simply refuse the package when it arrives. This means you can simply inform the delivery worker that you would like to have the package returned and they will send it back to us. Even if the package is delivered, you will still be able to take it to your local post office ( it must be unopened) and refuse it there. Make sure to contact us to have the account cancelled, because if you've signed up for any paid plans or services, you can still incur a charge.
Once the package has returned to us, we can issue your refund. You may inform us or request assistance by visiting our Community at Forums.freedompop.com or by submitting a ticket via support.freedompop.com
There is no contact number to set up this phone.
Unable to get help service. The phone is not activated.
I was charged for 6-month service.
Tried to e-mail for a refund to no avail.
Product_Or_Service: Sim Card
Refund Refund of charges.
We're sorry to hear about the customer's experience. The SIM arrives preactivated and comes with instructions on how to configure their SIM card. Live agent support over the phone does require a paid subscription of Premium VIP support, but we do offer 100% free support options via email at freedompop.com/contact along with social media at facebook.com/freedompop and twitter.com/freedompophelp.
The customer was charged accordingly for their selected plan and therefore is only eligible for a refund upon cancellation. They can confirm their cancellation request here if they wish to end their service.
Freedom Pop charged 89.94 on my card. I filed a ticket because the service was never activated, I was advised that although they acknowledge I have never activated the service, per their terms and conditions I was to cancel it within 30 days. So I'm supposed to cancel a service that was never activated in the first place?
Product_Or_Service: Cellular service
Other (requires explanation) My desired outcome is the refund of the 89.94 for services that were never rendered or activated
There is insufficient information provided in this complaint for us to properly investigate. We request the customer provide the account name, email, ESN/MEID or phone number associated with the account in question so we can help.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
They are requesting additional information, the phone number that was assigned to the account was XXX XXX XXXX
We're sorry to hear of the customer's unsatisfactory experience with FreedomPop. Our records indicate the customer ordered an LTE SIM on 7/4/17, which included a 1-month free trial of our Semi-Annual subscription for the Premium 2GB plan ($89.94 /6mo). This trial becomes a paid subscription that is charged twice a year if not downgraded or canceled prior to renewal. Despite the customer choosing not to use the product, it does arrive pre-activated with an active subscription they selected at checkout.
The details mentioned above are disclosed prior to checkout and reiterated in a follow-up email which includes their order confirmation, subscription details and instructions on how to manage their subscriptions through our self-help tools. The customer did not take action prior to the renewal period as required according to their subscription terms which resulted in the renewal of their plan accordingly.
As a courtesy, we have refunded the latest renewal from 2/8/18 and can confirm that the account has since been canceled. Please allow 3-5 business days for the refund to process.
I have not used them in years. Recently, I've been charged 0.01 on credit card statements. Tried contacting them, their customer service is a joke.
I have not used them in years. I have no account number or model information because I threw it away years ago after not using it. Recently, I've been charged 0.01 on credit card statements. Tried contacting them, their customer service has no live people. This is the 3rd time this 0.01 charge is showing up on my credit card statement. They charged the 0.01 on 2/27/2018.
Stop charging my credit card 0.01 when i no longer have an account with them nor utilize their services in years.
Accounts with no usage will incur a maintenance fee to ensure card remains active on the account, this is applied per our terms of service which must be manually agreed to upon sign-up.
As a courtesy we've gone ahead and refunded their latest $0.01 charge. If the customer no longer wishes to continue service, they can cancel their account at anytime by logging in and selecting "Settings" > "Account Status" > "Cancel". If they wish to keep an active device and avoid the $0.01 maintenance fee, they should simply power up and connect their device briefly at least once a month so activity is recognized.
Freedom pop is charging me every month $7.99 for last one year for the service that were not signed up for me. They didn't notify me through the email or mail.
Product_Or_Service: Frredom Popup
Other (requires explanation) Not Entered
We're sorry to hear of the customer's unsatisfactory experience with us. Our records indicate the customer ordered a Global SIM on 1/10/17, which includes a 1-month free trial of our Global 1GB Unlimited ($19.99) and Premium Plus ($7.99). These trials become paid subscriptions that are charged accordingly if not downgraded prior to renewal. This is disclosed prior to checkout and reiterated in a follow-up email which includes their order confirmation, subscription details and instructions on how to manage their subscriptions through our self-help tools.
The customer downgraded their Global 1GB plan on 2/22/17 through the self-help tools referenced above and was not charged for the plan thereafter. The customer left Premium Plus active which resulted in the scheduled renewal of the service for a service they opted into.
Though the charges are valid, our team issued a refund for 6 renewals as a courtesy. We have since refunded their latest renewal from 3/12/18 and closed the account.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
They never notified me through the emails about the charges. I never signed up gor premium plus service. Customer support excitive mentioned that they autosigned me up. I am
Reviwing about company online. I am not alone. They are cheating lot of peoole
Attached is a screenshot of the email sent to the email associated with their account. There is no further action we can take on this account beyond what has already been processed on this complaint.
I was billed for 2 months after cancelling my cell phone service. I went through their website to cancel and completed all the necessary questions to close my account. Freedompop claims they have no record of the cancellation.I contacted Freedompop who was willing to refund only one months charge. When I viewed my online account it clearly shows no activity for 2 consecutive months.
Product_Or_Service: Cell phone servce
Order_Number: Januray transaction
Account_Number: account # XXX XXX XX
Refund A refund for both months of service that went unused.
The account under ***@gmail.com has 3 devices, no account associated with account # XXXXXXXX. We request the customer indicate the specific device or phone number related to the account in question.
I've been a customer for a little less than a month. Everything with Freedom pop is in the cloud (no any transperancy). You don't know what you are paying (what you're going to be charged), what are the plans, there no way to speak with representative - no phone number provided and etc.
Stay away - my advise.
Hi Jordan, we apologize if your subscriptions were unclear at sign up. We do our best to be transparent by explicitly outlinig any and all associated charges prior to checkout. We require our customers to manually agree to these before the order can be processed. Additionally, we send a confirmation email which reiterates these details along with instructions on how to manage these subscriptions on your end without the need for a representative's assistance.
If you need help managing your account, please visit support.freedompop.com for self help or open a ticket at freedompop.com/contact.
I got a .01 sim card and was suppose to get free service When activated . I never activated any phone. I still have the sim card
they charged my pay pal account 98.88 for phone service. it says on there sight 30 day no hassle refund. I E-mailed them several times. I called also but you cant talk to anyone unless you have a phone number or password which I threw out cause I decided not to activate a phone . I still Have sim Card.
a refund. But more than that stopping there deceptive practices so others do not get scammed.
We're sorry to hear of the customer's unsatisfactory experience with us. Our records indicate the customer ordered an LTE SIM on 1/30/18, which included a 1-month free trial of our Semi-Annual subscription for FreedomPop Phone Premier ($26.94) and Premium LTE 2GB Unlimited ($71.94). These trials become paid subscriptions that are charged twice a year if not downgraded prior to renewal. This is disclosed prior to checkout and reiterated in a follow-up email which includes their order confirmation, subscription details and instructions on how to manage their subscriptions through our self-help tools.
The SIM is shipped pre-activated for easy set up and simply requires configuration upon arrival. Their selected subscription renewed at the end of their trial as intended. In any case, we can see they canceled on 3/15/18 and received a refund of $98.88 for their subscription renewal as requested.