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PhoneCardSmile.com ReviewPhoneCardSmile.com is a popular calling card company, but we don't understand why.
Bottom line: PhoneCardSmile is the worst calling card company we have reviewed. The problems are many and we strongly recommend that you look elsewhere for your calling cards. Where to begin? There are so many issues, but let's start with two major ones. You can read more in the detailed ratings below. Pricing - PhoneCardSmile has questionable price disclosure practices. They advertise very low per minute rates for their cards, but they bury heavy extra fees and surcharges in their Terms & Conditions. As a result, your actual costs are likely to be much higher than the advertised rates. Plus, these buried fees aren't even precisely stated. In many cases, they provide simply a range or a general indication of a fee you might be charged. Here is an actual example taken from the Terms & Conditions for one of their cards (Star One International card from TCI) on 21 Oct 2008. We've underlined some of the fees. Example of PhoneCardSmile Hidden Fees"BY PURCHASING THIS CARD YOU AGREE TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS ON THE RELATED ADVERTISEMENTS. ADVERTISED MINUTES ARE FOR SINGLE CALL MADE BEFORE THE EXPIRATION DATE OF THE ADVERTISEMENT AND MAY REDUCED BY FEES DESCRIBED HEREIN. AFTER THE APPLICABLE EXPIRATION DATE, RATE CHANGES WILL REDUCE ADVERTISED MINUTES BY UP 50% AND BY MORE IF COSTS TO CARRIERX CHANGE SUBSTANTIALLY. RATES AND FEES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. FOR INTERNATIONAL CALLS, FEES MAY INCLUDE A DISCONNECT FEE UP TO 50% OF CALL VALUE; A WEEKLY MAINTENANCE FEE UP TO 99 CENTS COMMENCING AFTER FIRST CALL; A DAILY MAINTENANCE FEE UP TO 15 CENTS COMMENCING AFTER FIRST CALL, A FEE UP TO 99 CENTS FOR ANY CALLS FROM PAYPHONES; AND A POST-CALL FEE UP TO $1.99. FOE DOMESTIC CALLS, FEES WILL BE THE UPPER LIMIT OF THE FEES DESCRIBED ABOVE. CALLS MADE ON HOLIDAYS AND BETWEEN FRIDAY AT 6PM EST AND MONDAY AT 6AM EST MAY BE CHARGED UP 5 CENTS PER MINUTE. CALLS THROUGH TOLL FREE ACCESS NUMBERS MAY BE CHARGED UP TO AN ADDITIONAL 5 CENTS PER MINUTE. CALLS ORIGINATING FROM OUTSIDE OF THE 48 CONTIGUOUS STATES MAY BE CHARGED UP TO AN ADDITIONAL 25 CENTS PER MINUTE. CALLS TO INTERNATIONAL CELLULAR NUMBERS MAY HAVE HIGHER RATES. CALLS MAY BE ROUNDED UP TO THE NEAREST INCREMENTS NOT TO EXCEED 6 MINUTES. THIS CARD EXPIRES 60 DAYS AFTER FIRST USE. MAINTENANCE FEES AND SERVICE FEES MAY APPLY, FOR MORE DETAIL ON RATES AND OTHER CHARGES, PLEASE CONSULT THE CUSTOMER SERVICE. Quite frankly, this is ridiculous. There are so many clauses and loopholes in this statement that you really can have no idea what any given call is going to cost. Carriers - Like other companies we have reviewed, PhoneCardSmile is a reseller that markets prepaid phonecards for 3rd party telecom carriers - perhaps more carriers than any other firm we've seen. But there are a few issues. First, their 'Trusted Vendors' list includes several brand name carriers such as AT&T and Sprint. But after looking at 20+ cards, we found no cards from any of these 1st tier carriers. They may be there somewhere, but don't be fooled into thinking that one of these premium carriers is providing your service, unless you specifically verify this. In addition, we found cards from lots of vendors not shown on their list - we're not sure what that indicates, but we don't like it. We also find it troubling that several of their carriers are companies that have recently been involved in calling card fraud lawsuits. In particular, the following companies on PhoneCardSmile.com's published list of carriers were part of a fraudulent marketing settlement reached by the Florida Attorney General in 2008:
That's 8 of the 11 calling card companies settling in that case! Plus, one of the carrier technical support numbers we called did not work, even after 4 attempts at different times. This is not encouraging. Overall, we really don't like the way PhoneCardSmile does business and do not recommend them. PhoneCardSmile.com Company Information
Ratings Legend
PhoneCardSmile.com Ratings
Click here for details on how we review calling card vendors PhoneCardSmile.com Review - RecapOverall, PhoneCardSmile.com gets consistently weak ratings. We DO NOT RECOMMEND PhoneCardSmile and suggest you look elsewhere for your next calling card purchase.
Visit PhoneCardSmile.com websiteConsider These AlternativesBefore you buy from PhoneCardSmile, please consider these calling cards: Check here for more recommended calling cards. Disclosure: AboutCallingCards.com recommends a small number of vendors based on in-depth company reviews and analysis. We recommend only firms that we believe deliver the best value to consumers. Read complete disclosure statement. tags: |
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They are worth nothing!
I can't even believe they are online ripping off people. I bought an unlimited card to call the UK and for $20 I only got 3 minutes, Yes I say 3 minutes conversations. (Even if it is from a mobile phone!)
I tried to call their customer support line for 3 whole days, could not get 1 person to explain to me what happend and the 2 people I was able to talk to, hanged up the phone on me and did not even bother to call back after I gave them my number. I am fumming, not because of the money but because of the principle of having customer service that can actually ARGUE with client on the phone ,not let them explain themselves and hanged up the phone on customers.
I could even call from my house phone and it will not cost me $20 for 3 minutes.
I am disgusted at what they do. I will stick to the card bought in the shop for $5 at least, if you have a problem, you can go back there. We don't even know who those people are. Please don't make my mistake
I didn't have a problem with the actual phone card, but I could not log into my account and the first time I talked to customer service they asked for my password which was a red flag to me. Good websites should not need you to provide your current password to reset it so that you can log in. I am locked out of a second account that I had to create because customer service was horrible and now there's not even a live person and it's during normal business hours.
I have never had a single problem nor have I had any hidden fees or surcharges or anything of that nature. I recieve every last minute on my card all the way till the end. I don't know what cards you may be purchasing and if you use the 1-800 numbers they charge a little more per minute, use the local number they give you.
Yep, they advertise one rate and when I went to make a call, it told me there were less minutes on the card than what was advertised. First customer service told me I was getting a refund. The next times I called after seeing I wasn't refunded, they hung up on me. Their csr reps were very inefficient and underprepared.
DONT BUY THEIR CARDS, IT'S A SCAMM
They are the number one crooks. I hope that company owners go to jail for cheating customers and not openly disclosing their HIDDEN fees. DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM THEM.
PhoneCardCmile didn't make me smile. Customer service is nonexistent. Tried multiple calls to get information about the fees (6 in all) hidden in their disclosure information, all of which knock off minutes. Add that to the unbelievable purchase price which in itself adds nearly 50% right up front to the cost of the card, again increasing the cost of minutes.
This is one to steer clear of. Nothing above board about their policies, so I'd beware of the product as a whole.
My experience with them is really bad like others. When I tried to chat with their online support, I ask them the name of the parent company. The lady told that she was not authorized to tell me the name. That time I understood that it is a total scam. There are a LOT of HIDDEN FEES. Can anybody think even that they charge callers to disconnect a call!!!!!!!!!
PhoneCardSmile.com card is the worst in this world. I purchased the card that time I had 11 hours and some minutes next day I had 4 hours after talking for just 1 hour. I used the local access number. The next day i had just 80 minutes. when I called them to clarify they told me we have maintenance fee. According to my understanding the other charges are always 10-20 % but here the other charges are 80% and usage is 20%. Dont go for it.
They are fraud.
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