Telestial Reviews (%countItem)
Telestial Rating
Address: 423 W Broadway Ste 304, South Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02127-2266
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After owning an ekit phone for a few years, the company started a new policy which required customers to use their phone at least every three months in order to keep it activated (and keep the balance on the account). Putting more money into the account was another option. I did one or the other and continued to use my phone as needed for a number of years. When I went to use my phone last week to keep it active, I got no service. Turns out that it is a 2g phone and it no longer works in the US or Canada (I received no heads up on this). My only options according to ekit were to put another $30 on the account and/or buy a new phone with 3g. Today made three months and so the $38.29 that was on my account was transferred out. They refuse to refund the money. The phone I have was purchased from ekit and it seems to me that ekit's policies should support their products - or at least not penalize customers when their products become outdated.
Dear Customer and Revdex.com representatives,Thank you for providing us with the opportunity to answer this complaint. We appreciate the privilege to live and serve customers in a country, where consumer rights are respected and enforced.Telestial.com provides a prepaid mobile service intended for international travelers. The V4C 2G quadband dual SIM phone mentioned in this complaint was purchased as part of a package deal including our International SIM card and some starter credit for a $29 purchase price on May 30th, 2014. The service was recharged and used in Europe in the summer of 2014 and then again in early 2015. Then it was used, but not recharged, again in Europe in the summer of 2015.The statement that the prepaid credit expires 3 months from last use or top up is correct, as per our terms and conditions clearly stated on our website (http://www.telestial.com/legal.php?tab=terms) and agreed to by the customer with each purchase and recharge transaction. Customers have the option to keep the SIM card and remaining credit from expiring by using it at least once in 3 months this way. Every SIM card and phone number that is active and in circulation incurs costs, so it would not be sustainable to keep SIM cards active that are not in use longer term. The request to refund the partial credit left over from a recharge transaction done in February 2015, is at this point not warranted for the reasons stated. The phone and service are not in any way defective or faulty. Also, we just replaced the old SIM with our newest International SIM card product for free, featuring an improved rate structure, plus we added a bonus credit as a thank you for customer loyalty and continued trust. The mentioned credit is still active and can still be used in 190 countries for prepaid calls, texts or data, using an unlocked mobile device, compatible and at par with the current status of technology, applicable to the respective country the service is used in. In regards to the phone, it had a 1 year warranty, which has since long expired. We would like to point out the fact that the phone and service is intended for travel abroad, which it has been used for on several occasions in this case, and it would still function in Europe and many other areas in the world to this day and with the current status of technology. It was the decision of the US network providers to turn off 2G coverage gradually in the US in favor of the faster 3G and 4G bands, and only since the beginning of 2017 has this been effecting anyone in the US still trying to use 2G mobile devices. We do notify our customers, who provided us with their contact information, about applicable changes to our service, but can not be held responsible for such actions by other parties we have no control over. Especially in regards to updates in technology over several years, that would not be feasible.In closing, we sincerely hope that we were able to communicate our side of the situation effectively, in a way that allows for a better understanding by all parties involved. We appreciate the time and effort contributed. Our customer service team is available 24/7, should you require any further assistance or information.Kind regards,the Telestial teamwww.telestial.com
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response submitted by the business and have determined that the response does not satisfy or resolve my issues and/or concerns in reference to complaint # ***. Please add your rejection comments below.
Please allow me to clarify a couple of things in the Telestial.com response to my complaint. First, there was no "mention of the V4C 2G SIM phone" in my complaint. But, since my customer history was brought up, allow me to add some details. I have been a customer since May of 2011 when I acquired an ekit V600 SIM phone, a phone that has given me no cause to complain. In fact, the phone and service I had was good enough to motivate me to look into buying another phone - the V4C - so as to have a second phone for family members traveling with me to Europe. This phone, from the very beginning, could not hold a charge for more than a few hours. Telestial's customer service did their best to help (sending me new batteries) to no avail. They eventually agreed to combine my accounts under one SIM card, for which I am appreciative, since the V600 continued to work fine (until the 2G got phased out). How much I use or don't use this phone should not be a factor here. I have kept the account active in order to have a phone in case of emergencies in Europe since I go there one or twice a year. Secondly, Telestial has my current street and email addresses and I have been receiving notices regarding my US number expiring and the need to keep my phone active every three months. This has been much appreciated. However, I did not receive any notice regarding the US policy of phasing out 2G. Had I received notification, I could have at least used the money in my account when I was in Europe last spring. Telestial states that it "can not be held responsible for actions by other parties (they) have no control over." They are, however, responsible for their policies, which, under the circumstances seem like bad business. They were willing to make an exception to their policy when they combined my accounts and I would expect that they could make an exception regarding refunding my account that I can't use because the V600 (also a 2G) does not work in the US. A compromise might be to reinstate my balance for 3 more months so that when I go to Europe in December, I could use up my remaining balance.
Regards