Global Tel* Link Corporation

Review: I use GTL to purchase time, so my fiancé can call me. On May 2nd, 2014, I purchased $25 minutes of time. My fiancé called me that evening and the money was on my phone. The next day he called, and the balance on my phone was -- (negative) $0.48, which one phone call only costs $4 and some change. I should have had at least $20 left on my phone. I called GTL and was told that my payment didn't go through, so I made another payment during that call. Everything was fine after that. The following Monday, I got onLine to look at my bank account activity. My account showed 2 with draws of $25 on the 2nd and 3rd. They owe me $25 because the first transaction did go through. I've called them about 4 times about getting a refund on the $25 or a credit to my phone account, and I have gotten give different stories. Two people told me it would take 3 to 5 days, and another person told me to fax in proof (my bank statement) that the transactions were made and that I never got a refund. I did so on May 13, 2014.

Since then I've also emailed them, and I've gotten another story. I'm tired of the stories because their all different. All I want is someone to respond and give me a straight answer about what their going to do.Desired Settlement: I either would like a refund or $25 credit on my phone.

Business

Response:

June 4, 2014Dear [redacted]The customer contacted the Revdex.com because she made a $25.00 payment to her account on May 2 and was told that the payment was declined so she made another $25.00 payment. When she checked her bank statement it showed both $25.00 payments were deducted from her bank account. [redacted] is requesting that $25.00 be credited to her GTL account. We investigated this complaint and contacted [redacted] via e-mail on June 2" and explained to her that the $25.00 payment she made on May 2 was deducted from her account in error. The payment was reapplied back to her account on May 21st.GTL anticipates that this will close this complaint and should you have any additional questions please feel free to call.

Review: I wish there was another phone company for the inmate phone services because this company is pathetic, Several times I've added money to my account and they take the money out of the account and say that I have a zero balance. I'm looking at the transactions on my bank statements and the people at GTL will swear the transaction declined. Also, they will freeze your funds for no reason whatsoever. The calls are far too expensive for them to be playing with our money the way they do. The customer service is HORRIBLE to say the least and the people all seem like they hate their job.Desired Settlement: I want the money back I paid for these phone calls if it will not be added to the account. The even better outcome would be if they closed this company down and provided a better, more competent option to the families of inmates.

Business

Response:

[redacted] 7, 2014Dear **. [redacted]This letter serves as a formal response to the complaint listed above.The customer contacted the Revdex.com because when she made a payment to her account GTL advised her that the payment declined however her bank statement reflects the payment being deducted from her account. In addition she would like to see some improvement in GTL’s customer serviceWe attempted to contacted **. [redacted] several times via telephone however since **. [redacted] did not return our calls a letter was sent to **. [redacted] with the resolution to her complaint.When a payment is declined by GTL there is a disclaimer advising the customer that a pending transaction is released by the customer’s financial institution within three to ten business days back to their account. **. [redacted] needs to contact her financial institution to see when the funds will be released, not GTL.In addition we explained that when a customer uses multiple credit cards in an attempt to fund an Advance Pay Prepaid account the system flags that account and disables credit card usage. We ask that customers not use more than two credit cards per account.The current rate **. [redacted] is charged to receive calls from an inmate in The [redacted] Correctional Facility is $0.20 per minute with maximum talk time of 15 minutes, therefore a 15 minutes call is $3.00 + $0.32 tax total $3.35 each. We have included copies of **. [redacted]’s payment history with the letterGTL anticipates that this will close this complaint and should you have any additional questions please feel free to call.

Review: It is bad enough the company has a monopoly on handling calls from correction system inmates to verizon cell phone customers. But in addition, they require consumers receiving calls to prepay in $25 increments, without stating what the calls actually cost. I'm still not sure what the calls cost, but I am sure it's around 50 cents per minute. I'm also sure the phone payment system mentioned a "fee". Upon viewing my account online, I discovered the fee is $6.25. That's a 25% transaction fee on putting money into my account. So not only does the company overcharge mystery rates to connect and per minute, but they charge a 25% transaction fee. This fee is pure gouging of the consumer thanks to their monopoly.

Other companies have sought to provide better service and have had to battle the FCC to force these primary providers to not block their numbers when inmates try to dial out.Desired Settlement: A refund of all transaction fees will be enough for me to not bother filing a lawsuit against this horrible practice. No matter what they do I'm actively pursuing alternative services, such as those that battle the FCC to force this one to allow them to provide better service at non-abusive rates to users.

Business

Response:

October 21, 2013

Dear **. [redacted]

This letter serves as a formal response to the complaint listed above.

The customer contacted the Revdex.com because of the credit card processing fee he was charged when he set up his account as well as he would like to know why GTL has a monopoly over the correctional facility.

We have made several attempts to contact **. [redacted] with regards to this complaint however **. [redacted] has not responded to our e-mails. We wanted to explain to him that when a customer sets up an account the recording states that a processing fee will be deducted from the payment.

With regards to a monopoly a correctional facility can only contract with 1 telephone service provider at a time. In this case GTL is the contracted service provider.

GTL anticipates that this will close this complaint and should you have any additional questions please feel free to call.

Sincerely yours,

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

Review: I called global tel link's automated pay system to make a payment on Friday 1/17/2014. I tried to make the payment 3 times before being transferred to a live agent. After speaking with the live agent I was told that the automated system would not take my payment because my information wasn't updated. I then updated my info with the agent who then informed me that in order to not incur the $8.75 fee I would need to hang up and call again to get the automated system, which I did and got the same result which was "invalid entry, please try again" I then was transferred back to a live agent who then processed my payment. Sunday called back and ran into the same issue, so I had to speak with a live agent yet again and incurred the $8.75 fee again as well. I then asked to speak with a supervisor and was told that I would have to wait on a call back which could take up to 48 hours. I called back after the 48 hours because I never received a supervisor call back in which the supervisor who took the call informed that it wasn't her fault that I didn't receive the call back and to write a letter if I didn't like her resolution. Her name was [redacted] in the Alabama office.Desired Settlement: I would appreciate a credit to my advance pay account of $14.00 because [redacted] was only willing to credit back $3.50

Business

Response:

January 28, 2014

Dear **. [redacted]

This letter serves as a formal response to the complaint listed above.

The customer contacted the Revdex.com because she is requesting a refund of the service fee she was charged because she was forced to talk to a live operator because she was told that she needed to update the information on her account.

We investigated this complaint and contacted **. [redacted] via phone and explained to her that when a payment is made online the transaction fee is $6.95. When a payment is made using a live operator the transaction fee is $8.95. We have issued a credit to **. [redacted]’s account in the amount of $4.00. This represents the difference of the live operator fee and the online transaction fee for 2 payments.

GTL anticipates that this will close this complaint and should you have any additional questions please feel free to call.

Sincerely yours,

Review: My fiance often calls from jail, Global tell link often drops the call for no reasons, I have been trying to get a refund for the drop calls for the past three weeks. The jail drops the call calling it three way calling, I do not know how to make three way calls.Desired Settlement: I want credit for all the drop call that has been from 2 minutes to 18 minutes the alloted phone conversation should be 30 minutes not 10 or less.

Business

Response:

October 24, 2013

Dear **. [redacted]

This letter serves as a formal response to the complaint listed above.

The customer contacted the Revdex.com because she is requesting a refund for the collect calls she receives from a correctional facility that have disconnected prematurely.

We listened to the calls and determined that 3 calls were disconnected because a three way call was detected; therefore no refund is due for these 3 calls.

**. [redacted]'s calls are billed at flat rate of $2.25 connection fee plus $0.18 tax totaling $2.43 for one 30 minute call. **. [redacted] is charged the same price for each call regardless of the length of each call

**. [redacted] was aware that when she established her GTL account that when a customer sets up an account on a cell phone that GTL does not guarantee service on cell phone accounts. As a onetime courtesy we have issued a credit in the amount of $4.86 for 2 call attempts on October 18 and October 19th.

GTL anticipates that this will close this complaint and should you have any additional questions please feel free to call.

Sincerely yours,

Review: I purchased phone time from global tel link august 1st for 25.00. I was not informed that 6.95 would be taken off the top without notifying me. Then when the party who called me from the local county jail (global tel link sells phone time for inmates in county jail here locally) for the 1st call was charged exorbitant rates for the first minute, and then exorbitant rates for each additional minutes. On the 2nd call, the first minute was increased to 2.99 the first minute and then an exorbitant rate the additional minutes and that not the same rate for the second call. So, gtl is not consistent with its billing practices and did not disclose the fraudulent practice of taking 98% of my money with notifying me of the charges per minute and the 6.95 for a fee that I don't even know what it is for. In reality I paid 25.00 and only got 2 phone calls from the local jail that is a little over a mile away from my residence. I want my 25.00 credited back to my credit card for not disclosing the charges for their theft practices of misrepresenting themselves. GTL needs to be in jail for fraud against many who have purchased their so called "legalized" fraud phone time.

Again, I want my 25.00 credited to my debit card I used.Desired Settlement: I want my 25.00 credited back to my atm card .

Business

Response:

September 12, 2013

Dear **. [redacted]

This letter serves as a formal response to the complaint listed above.

The customer contacted the Revdex.com because she paid $25.00 to set up an account and was not informed of GTL’s rates, fees and taxes prior to the $25.00 payment.

We attempted to contact **. [redacted] by phone to explain to her that that the reason she was charged a different rate for the 2 calls she accepted was due to the time of day that the calls were accepted. The day rate is higher than the evening rate. With regards to the rates, service fees and taxes, **. [redacted] has the option of pressing “9” to hear the applicable fees, taxes and rates prior to accepting the call. **. [redacted] has not returned our phone calls or e-mail; therefore this resolution has been mailed to her.

GTL anticipates that this will close this complaint and should you have any additional questions please feel free to call.

Sincerely,

Review: I set up an account online with Offender Connect so that I could speak with my son while he was in the [redacted] Justice Center. I was allowed to create the whole account online and add money to the account. Nowhere on the Offender Connect site did it mention a service fee. The minimum amount that can be added is $25.00. When I added the $25.00 the site immediately showed the amount was really $18.75 as there was a $6.25 service charge. I was not thrilled but thought it would only be for the first time set up. I knew time was close for my son to be released but we needed one or two more calls. The minimum amount that can be added is $25.00 so that is what I added hoping the rest would be refunded. Again the $6.25 service charge was removed. Now a little irritated, I decided it is what it is and they are just a another consumer rip off place anyways. Now today my son is home and I went to the website to close the account. Although the website gave instructions on how to close the account it did not actually let me close it online. I had to call the customer service phone number. They said the reason I had to call is so they could tell me there is a $5.00 fee to request a refund. None of these fees are mentioned anywhere on the Offender Connect website.

There is also no way to view a list of calls made and the charges for each.

The customer service line called GTL. They said they did not have any of my information from the Offender Connect website such as my address. But they know my telephone number and how many calls were made and when the calls were made and how much money was added to the account and when it was added.Desired Settlement: It is unfortunate that any company has to arrange expensive payments for calls from inmates. As far as I can tell the phone lines are the same as the general public uses.

That being said I know they are there to make money and can see the service charge for the first time set up but I believe a service charge every time I want to put money on my account and the refund fee are a bit out of line. They are making money with every call as it is.

I would like the additional service fee and the refund fee back.

Business

Response:

Attached is the resolution letter to this complaint.

Review: I have been using Global Tel*Tell for almost 3 years, my nephew is incarcerated at [redacted] in [redacted] WV. I have had bills from Global Tel@Link for way over 20.00 each month for this period of time. My nephew tried calling me on 2/11/14 and his call was blocked. I have always paid my bill on time. I called my local phone company to see if they were the ones who blocked his calls. They told me it wasn't them and I needed to call Global Tel*Link to find out what was going on. I called them and they told me that I went over my $50.00 limit for 90 days and they were going to put me on pre-paid. Like I said I have had over $20.00 bills to them for almost 3 years and nothing was ever mentioned about this pre-pay crap. If that was their policy, then why did they not cut me off the first 2 months? If it was because people weren't paying their bills they shouldn't penalized the ones that do pay their bills on time. I think this is bad business, and they shouldn't be allowed to do this. They have got a lot of money off me over the years.Desired Settlement: I want to be able to use their services the way I was using it.

Business

Response:

February 24, 2014

Dear [redacted]

This letter serves as a formal response to the complaint listed above.

The customer contacted the Revdex.com because GTL informed her that if she would like to continue to receive calls from her nephew who is incarcerated in the [redacted] Jail she needs to set up and Advance Pay account. **. [redacted] would prefer to continue having her calls billed to her LEC.

We investigated this complaint and contacted **. [redacted] and explained to her that she had exceeded the 90 day/$50.00 limit. We explained to her that when a customer exceeds the velocity threshold we ask the customer to set up a prepaid account.

The velocity thresholds are not set forth by her Local Exchange carrier but by where the call originates from - GTL’s phone platform at the facility. Customers like herself that receive a high amount of calls within various interval could be subjected to opening a prepaid account that needs to be funded through various channels (e.g. check, money order, credit cards). This practice in standard in the industry and there are hundreds of thousands of customers utilizing this service every month.

At this time **. [redacted] chose not to establish a prepaid account.

GTL anticipates that this will close this complaint and should you have any additional questions please feel free to call.

Sincerely yours,

So I went to their website to set up an account at https://www.connectnetwork.com/portal. I deposited $20.00 in my account after it asked me to set up my phone number, the facility and the person that I wanted to be able to call my number. When that person tried to call me, it asked if I wanted to accept the collect call. When I called billing support, I was told that the money was deposited in his prison account and not my own and that an internet would advise him he has money in his account and that he had to dial a different way from the facility. So I tried to deposit again another $15.00 which was set up on his account again even though the way the website is designed it asked if you want to make a payment to YOUR phone number. So I called billing support and they said they cannot move the money from his account to mine, even though they RUN EVERYTHING. That is what is wrong with this country, companies that are allowed to run a monopoly and be the only service provider so they can charge $3.40 a call and offer to resolution to your problem. I asked to escalate to a manager and they were no help. I asked for a refund and they said they do not provide refunds. Then I said I would dispute these charges with my bank and they said the phone number would be blocked. Unfortunately if you want to be able to receive a call from your loved one in prison, they are the only service provider you can choose. Good luck finding a resolution.

Review: On June 1, 2013, I spoke with [redacted] in customer service, requesting that my home landline (###-###-####) be blocked from any collect calls provided by Global Tel Link. She assured me that my line was blocked and we put a 4 digit password on the account. When I received by September [redacted] phone bill there was a total of $66.12 in collect charges from GTL for the dates of September 23 to 30, 2013. I called GTL on October 28 and spoke with [redacted]. I told him that I had placed a block on the line and asked how the charges appeared on my bill. [redacted] said that the block was only good for 90 days. I told [redacted] that I was never told about any time limit on the block. I requested GTL pay the $66.12 on my [redacted] bill. [redacted] said I would need to speak with his supervisor, [redacted]. [redacted] did not know anything about a temporary block. She told me that I would need to call [redacted] and have them block the collect calls. I called [redacted] and spoke with [redacted]. She called GTL so we could have a three-way discussion. The customer service rep at GTL said that he could not hear me on the line and then said that his system was down so he could not pull-up my account. [redacted] was helpful and did say she would put a block on collect calls through [redacted].

GTL is very difficult to reach. The phone number listed on my [redacted] bill is not the customer service line. I had to go online and look up a number to reach anyone to speak with. I also sent an email, on October 27, 2013, to a customer service address that I found online on GTL. As of today, no one has responded. Every time I call GTL I get a different story from the customer service reps about the blocking procedures.Desired Settlement: I would like a complete 100% block from GTL that does not expire. I would also like GTL to pay the $66.12 on my [redacted] bill, and any other charges that may appear from their failure to block my landline.

Business

Response:

November 4, 2013

Dear [redacted],

This letter serves as a formal response to the complaint listed above.

The customer contacted the Revdex.com because back in June 2013 she requested her home phone be blocked from receiving any collect calls from any inmate in a correctional facility that GTL is the service provider for. When she received her September 2013 AT&T bill there were $66.12 in charges from GTL billed on behalf of ILD Services. [redacted] is requesting that the $66.12 be credited back to her account.

We investigated this complaint and we determined that a block was put on [redacted]'s phone back in June 2013; however for some reason the line released back on its own and the collect calls began again in September. We have issued a credit in the amount of $71.49 back to her LEC and the line is now blocked in both of GTL's billing systems.

GTL anticipates that this will close this complaint and should you have any additional questions please feel free to call.

Sincerely yours,

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. Thank you for your quick action. Without the assistance of the Revdex.com this situation would never have been taken care of.

Regards,

Review: I opened an account in order for an inmate in [redacted] Detention to call. I wanted him to be able to reach me at different locations so I had three phone numbers I wanted him to be able to use. They told me I had to open one account for each number. There was a 6.95 charge for each number. Every time I added money to one of the accounts, there was a 6.95 charge again. When the inmate was released and I asked for the refund of the balance on these accounts, I was informed that there would be another charge of 5.00 for each account. When I opened the accounts, I was not told that there would be a charge to close them. The fees for each call were extremely high to begin with and now they want to charge even more money. I feel they are taking advantage of people during a very difficult time.Desired Settlement: Although I was upset about the initial fees to open the accounts, I was made aware of them and because there is no other form of communication, I accepted it. However, I don't feel that I should have to pay ANOTHER fee on top of all the phone charges they added up. I am requesting that they return the 5.00 fee for two of the accounts, and the balance of 2.45 on the third one, a total of $12.45.

Business

Response:

March 14, 2014

Dear **. [redacted]

This letter serves as a formal response to the complaint listed above.

The customer contacted the Revdex.com because she requested to close her 3 GTL phone accounts and was informed that there is a $5.00 refund processing fee deducted from the balance on each account. **. [redacted] is requesting that the $15.00 in fees be waived.

We investigated this complaint and contacted **. [redacted] via e-mail and informed her that the remaining balances on her accounts have been credited back to her credit card. The refund processing fee has been waived on all 3 accounts.

GTL anticipates that this will close this complaint and should you have any additional questions please feel free to call.

Sincerely yours,

Review: No November 19, 2013 - approximately 5:15pm CT - My fiance' called me thru their prison phone - GTL. During the recording, it stopped (cut out) for about 10-15 seconds, but continued. I continued to listen to when I can start talking. When I was able to start talking to my Fiance, there was another man (inmate) on the phone. When I asked where my fiance' was - he said that he will go get him. After waiting for my Fiance' to get to the phone (about 1 - 2 minutes), I asked what was going on. This is not the way this phone call works. He told me that had been having proble** with the phone, that he had been trying to call me for over an hour. Then the call went dead. GTL cut the phone call!

Later my fiance' called me by another phone - he told what was going on. Again, he said they were having proble** with the phones, every inmate was having proble** getting thru. GTL phone syste** were bad. He said he called, but the recording stopped. So he hung up, to find a different phone to use. When the other inmate picked up the phone, I was on the phone. GTL did not stop the call after my fiance' had hung up.

Here are the points.

1. My fiance' called - GTL recording stopped. That means that GTL service ended.

2. My fiance' hung up the phone, thinking the call had ended, doing the recording - so it should not have continued and charge me for the phone call.

3. GTL - did not end the phone call (during the recording) after my fiance' hung up the phone.

4. GTL - cut our phone call off - after about 5 minutes into the phone call.

5. I was charged for a phone call, that never should have happened after my fiance' hung up the phone.

6. GTL refuses to credit my account, because they say it is a cell phone.

Facts - my fiance' and I always talk 15 minutes ( the full length we can talk), every time the calls are cut short (not very often) it is because of GTL. We have about 5 phone calls where the call was cut short because of GTL - I am charged for those calls, without credit.

One time, about August 2013 - I pushed 5 to accept the call, GTL cut the call, wouldn't let the call go thru. Twice in about August 2012, and once in about November 2012 - my fiance' called, I could hear him talking, but he couldn't hear me. So the call was disconnected.

All this proble** are due to faulty equipment on GTL phones. It is not on my phone, but GTL phones.

Issue #2:

After I learned of FCC regulating the cost of prison calls, I called GTL to find out the cost of our calls. The person told me the calls were $3 for 15 minutes call time, .97 for taxes. So I should be charged $3.97 for each 15 minute call. I figured the cost of these calls, and found out I was being charged a total $4.19 for each 15 minute call. I am being over charged on my calls. There is $.22 difference.Desired Settlement: I want credit for every call on all our calls that were less than 15 minutes. GTL knows how long each call is and has record of every call and length of time. I also want credit for all those calls that I have been over charged $.22.

I figured there are 5 phones calls of less than 15 minutes that we were cut short on, due to GTL lousy equipment. Making that a total of $25.

I figured about 60 calls or more where I am over charged $.22 per call, making that a total of $14.

Business

Response:

December 12, 2013

Dear **. [redacted]

This letter serves as a formal response to the complaint listed above.

The customer contacted the Revdex.com because the calls she receives from an inmate at a correctional facility that GTL is the service provider for disconnect prematurely. **. [redacted] is requesting a refund for the disconnected calls.

We listed to the recording of the specific call in question dated 11/19/13 and determined that when the inmate called her he stated that he couldn’t hear anything so he thought he hung up the phone, but in the meantime another inmate picked up the phone and she asked him who was he and he asked her if she wanted him to go get the other inmate that laid the phone down and she said no and hung up. As a 1 time courtesy we have issued a credit for the call dated 11/19/13.

If the inmate feels that the problem with the telephones is equipment related then it is his responsibility to tell the facility so GTL can send a technician out to investigate. With regards to other calls that have disconnected, GTL's cell phone policy is that we do not guarantee service on accounts set up on cell phones.

GTL anticipates that this will close this complaint and should you have any additional questions please feel free to call.

Sincerely yours,

Review: They offer a twenty minute phone call for 2.70 the problem is the phone calls only lay 15 and they will do nothing about it there ate multiple people using this service that have the same problem and will be filling complaints as wellDesired Settlement: Would like to be credited for the minutes I did not receive

Business

Response:

September 24, 2014Dear [redacted],This letter serves as a formal response to the complaint listed above.The customer contacted the Revdex.com because she states that the calls she receives from an inmate in a correctional facility that GTL is the service provider for are supposed to be 20 minutes in length and the calls disconnect after only 15 minutes. [redacted] would like to have her account credited for the minutes she did not receiveWe have e-mailed [redacted] copies of her call records for her review. [redacted]'s calls vary from 14 minutes to 20 minutes in length. There is no indication that the calls are disconnecting prematurely. All of the calls [redacted] receives are billed at a flat rate of $2.25 plus $0.17 tax for a total of $2.42 per call regardless of how many minutes the calls are. I am attaching a copy of the call records with this response.There is no credit due at this time.GTL anticipates that this will close this complaint and should you have any additional questions please feel free to call.Sincerely Yours,Kathi T Agency Complaints

Review: Global Tel Link is probably not doing anything illegal but they certainly are a very unethical company taking advantage of people who are in an unfortunate situation. Their service is a complete rip-off for people who have no other options. They have a complete monopoly on this kind of service and know it. My son is serving 4 months at the [redacted], TN penal farm for a DUI. The only option available for talking to him on the phone is Global Tel Link. My son can't call collect and have it charged to my own personal phone bill which would be a lot cheaper.

Everytime you purchase $25.00 worth of minutes, they immediately take $4.75 right off the top as a fee, so you start out with only $20.25 worth of minutes. Their charges are out of the roof. For example, during the day Mon.-Fri., they charge 65 cents for the first minute and then 15 cents per minute after that. Nights and week-ends are a little cheaper but not much. Needless to say, $25.00 doesn't last long. Also, I have spoken with some very rude people at Global Tel Link who gave me wrong information about call rates. I did finally reach someone after talking to 3 other people who was a little professional and acted like he cared and gave me the correct rate information.

Like I said, they might not be doing anything wrong, but they are very unethical in their practices and are taking terrible advantage of family members who are given no other choice in their very unfortunate situation. I couldn't sleep at night if I owned or helped run that company. I think they need to get rid of that $4.75 fee they charge right off the top. They are making a fortune just on what they charge. And they need to get rid of some customer service reps who act like they could care less.

I would rather stand on a street corner and beg for food than to work for a company like that.Desired Settlement: Change their entire way of doing things as I mentioned in my last paragraph above.

Business

Response:

Attached is the resolution letter to this complaint.

Review: This company takes advantage of it's consumers. They first lost one of my payments submitted for use of their services. They wouldn't allow the use of the funding that I submitted with the second payment and attempted to keep the money. using the excuse of the time allotted to use the funds had expired. This company should not be a company I have had a million complaints and had been successful in not using this company. I found myself stuck with this company again when they changed their name to offender connect.Desired Settlement: A refund is the only thing they can do considering they could not provide a service to me. I want my refund now. I don't understand why if it takes 15 minutes secure the funding for the service requested. why on earth does it take 30 business days for you to put the finding back in my account.

Business

Response:

Attached is the resolution letter to this complaint.

Review: Have billed me for calls I never used. They have also took 50 dollars out of my account inwhich I'm currently disputing.Desired Settlement: To have my money back or credit for calls. They get awaywith this kind of servicebecause they are the only company that offers inmate calling services.

Business

Response:

September 18, 2014Dear [redacted]This letter serves as a formal response to the complaint listed above.The customer contacted the Revdex.com because she is requesting that a $50.00 payment be refunded back to her credit card. In addition she would like a credit issued to her account for calls that disconnected prematurely.We investigated this complaint and contacted [redacted] on September 15th and she informed us that she has in fact already received the $50.00 refund check that she requested. We listened to the recordings of her calls and determined that some calls have disconnected prematurely. We have issued a credit to her account for 3 of those calls.GTL anticipates that this will close this complaint and should you have any additional questions please feel free to call.Kathi TAgency Complaints

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Review: PCS/Global tel link is the only telephone service provider for correctional institutions making them a monopoly and because of this PCS should provide outstanding service and be sensitive to the fact they are the only provider and not take advantage of it. An automated system is used for billing and balance information and has consistent problems with updating and providing accurate information consistently. I have had multiple instances of inaccurate billing and balance information throughout years of utilizing pcs services where the system failed to update or updated inaccurately over billing me for service. April 10th I had three separate instances where I had pressed 0 on the dial pad to accept the call and the automated message continued to play despite my attempts to connect the call. I am charged $3.30 for each 15 minute phone call and after the failed connection I was able to successfully connect on the next call but my balance went from $17.00 to 9.00 even though I had only utilized 15 minutes it had billed for 2 phone calls. A half hour later the same scenario happened where I pressed zero but the call didn't connect and the next phone call I was able to accept the call this time my balance was 10 dollars that the system had given back the 3.30 but when it happened a third time my balance went from 7 dollars to 1 dollar. I called customer service and after getting no where requested a supervisor. The supervisor, [redacted] stated I had connected on each call despite my insistence this was not true. The system tracks every attempted call as well as each connected call so I informed her it would have been obvious that as an example at 7:30pm I am charged 3.30 for a 15 minute call and then at 7:32 pm charged another 3.30 for another 15 minutes even though only 2 minutes had elapsed between calls. I informed her that the system had corrected the balance for only one of the unsuccessful attempts but not the other two attempts. [redacted] then stated in an exasperated manner that she had been on this call for 20 minutes. I attempted to provide some guidance that it did not matter how long the call was that it should take as long as it takes to correct the issue or explain the billing even if I don't like the answer I want to make sure that if I am paying these inflated rates that I am receiving the service I have paid for. [redacted] then sarcastically implied that it was basic math as if I did not understand how to add or subtract 3 and 4 dollar amounts. I informed her I am college educated and understand the math and she became even more disgruntled and unpleasant and treated me even further in a significantly demeaning manner. I stated that she was not going to push attitude and then hang up on me unfortunately she stated something in agreement to my statement that I did not understand because she immediately hung up on me. I am so offended because it took some time to find a phone number for pcs that was not automated I then spent 20 minutes on hold for a rep and even more time holding for a supervisor. This is unfortunately followed by appalling customer service where I had called because I deposited 25 dollars on my account and the very first phone call after the 3.95 service charge my balance was 12.00 prompting me to wonder where 9 additional dollars had gone. I was told by a rep that even though I had 85 cents on my balance before the deposit I was charged taxes for my last 10 calls from the previous month so my balance wasn't even positive despite that I was told it was 85 cents I was negative 10 dollars due to unpaid taxes. If there was any other provider than pcs I would utilize their service simply because I work extremely hard for my money and I want the business I am spending with to work just as hard for my money as I did. I hate that pcs is a monopoly and takes advantage of this fact by making stories up when asked questions instead of admitting they do not know and placing me on hold to try and find an accurate answer. I hate that they take advantage by hanging up on customers after treating them in a malicious, sarcastic and extremely demeaning manner. I hate that they do not fix an obviously broken system that gives inaccurate balances and charges inaccurate balances. I do not like that the reps attempt to confuse by listing every attempted call instead of locating the two minute intervals where the system charged inappropriately. I wish that it would be recognized that pcs does not make corrective actions with the phone or customer service because it is taking full advantage of being a phone service monopoly in the correctional institutions. As a consumer I wish I had a choice in my phone provider instead of being stuck with such a rude and unethical business that pcs/global tel link is.Desired Settlement: That it finally be recognized that pcs/global tel link is a monopoly and has unfair and extremely unethical practices as a result. I would like to have a choice instead of being forced to spend money with an extremely disrespectful company while being overcharged just so that my young children can speak to their father. I would like an apology not just for this instance but every other instance of being told an inaccurate balance, being overcharged, given ridiculous reasons for these occurrences, being disrespected and then hung up on in the rudest way possible. I would then like my money being placed back onto the phone so that I can finally utilize all the minutes that I have been charged for but never received. I don't want a refund I just want the service that I have already paid for; who doesn't want the product or service that they paid for!!!!

Business

Response:

April 23, 2014Dear **. [redacted]This letter serves as a formal response to the complaint listed above.The customer contacted the Revdex.com because when she called into PCS to talk to someone about some billing issues on her account she was treated very poorly by the PCS representative.We contacted **. [redacted] and apologized for the negative experience she had with the PCS representative and assured her that the issue has been brought to the attention of the Customer Service manager. In addition we explained to her that when an inmate makes back to back calls that are not answered the funds are withdrawn from her account and placed in a “Pending status”. The funds are released back to the account within 45 minutes to an hour.GTL anticipates that this will close this complaint and should you have any additional questions please feel free to call.Sincerelv vours.

Review: I made a payment for $25.00 November 13th and requested for refund on November 14th. Spoke with a customer representative the last week of November and was told that I would get my refund back within a month. Customer service said that payment will be issued back on December 14th. I called customer service today and was told that payment doesnt process until 60 days from now.Desired Settlement: $25.00

Business

Response:

December 30, 2013

Dear **. [redacted]

This letter serves as a formal response to the complaint listed above.

The customer contacted the Revdex.com because she paid $25.00 on 11/13/13 to set up an account with GTL. On 11/14/13 she called GTL to cancel her account and requested that the $25.00 payment be refunded. She still has not received the refund.

We investigated this complaint and contacted [redacted] and informed her that the $25.00 refund was processed back to credit card ending [redacted]. In addition we advised [redacted] that it could take 30 days for the credit to appear on her credit card statement.

GTL anticipates that this will close this complaint and should you have any additional questions please feel free to call.

Sincerely yours,

Review: Set up inmate account for [redacted] County Jail phone program. Inmate moved to [redacted] County Jail in October, I called to request a refund and never received the check. I have repeatedly called and been told various things such as a check was mailed on October 18th but it would take up to 30 business days to arrive or no check has been mailed. The refund amount is around $55.00, it not a lot, but would help since I had a baby on December 19th.Desired Settlement: Would like a timely response from the company within 10 business days.

Business

Response:

January 22, 2014

Dear **. [redacted]

This letter serves as a formal response to the complaint listed above.

The customer contacted the Revdex.com because she set up an account to receive calls from an inmate in [redacted] County Jail. The inmate was moved to a different facility that is not serviced by GTL so **. [redacted] requested a refund of the remaining balance on her account. **. [redacted] contacted the Revdex.com because she still has not received her refund.

We investigated this complaint and contacted **. [redacted] and verified her mailing address. We informed her that a refund check in the amount of $55.32 was processed and mailed via overnight mail on 01/14/14.

GTL anticipates that this will close this complaint and should you have any additional questions please feel free to call.

Sincerely yours,

Review: This company has done several items in this list they have taken fees from me and a number of other people. They have failed to provide documentation to what they claim. I paid for prepaid phone service and the charge of 25 cent a minute. The call usually runs about 7.50 per call. Between Monday November 4 and November 6 I had 21.00 left on my line. This company took what was left and 1.87 as well. No notification was given and no calls had been made during that time. When calling customer service the representative stated it was for back taxes due September. Well if they take out the same amount every call how could there be back taxes. Also in the state of Indiana there are not supposed to be additional fees its supposed to be flat rate. I thought maybe it was just for my line but after checking online others were affected see post here: http://forum.jpay.com/indiana-doc/61473-problems-with-offenderconnect-com. The company refuses to post transactions or itemized statements on their site offenderconnect.com even though there is a section for it. Please check into this. ThanksDesired Settlement: My desired outcome if fair treatment. If this was a cellular phone company there would have been lawsuits all over the place but because its a prison phone call company I should not have to just take any kind of service.

Business

Response:

We have made several attempts to contact **. [redacted] regarding this complaint; however as of today she has not returned our calls. We are unable to resolve this complaint without additioal information from **. [redacted].

Consumer

Response: