Complaint Review:
ConsCallHome
On February 24,2012 I made a payment of appr. 30.00 to this company,who claimed that it would only cost me 2.00 per call to talk to my inmate loved one in another state. As expensive as jail calls are even locally,I naturally was eager to start this up right away. I paid the fees,which included tax and the company's processing fee,and was then given a supposed "local" number that my loved one would call from and thus make my rates much more affordable. I went through the process of setting up a pin number and all the other usual steps to get an account going. After all this,I was then informed that I would now have to contact the jail's phone provider at the number they assigned me and let that company go through their process to get me all set up.
I was feeling a little skeptical at this point,but continued to go along in hopes that all would work out. When I contacted Securus,the company that provides the jail's phone service,I was then instructed to make yet another payment of 27.95 to cover processing and blah,blah,blah. Ok,done.
I was then instructed (all by automated system,mind you) to set up a pin number and after doing so thought I was up and running. About an hour later,my loved one calls from the jail,and I am greeted with an automated voice telling me my number has been blocked from receiving further calls until I add more funds. I was stunned!! I get back on the phone to ConsCallHome.com and tell them the situation,and they tell me it's Securus and not them I should be contacting. Let me tell you,I have yet to speak with a live person at Securus. The closest I came to a live person was chatting live on the internet with someone who may or may not have been anything other than a robot. Robot or not,I was then informed that Securus did not deal with any third party phone companies and had no record of any assigned local number or any record of the 27.95 that was paid to them the night before. Basically,I was told that it was my problem so deal with it. I was in total shock and could not believe it.
I then tried to call ConsCallHome.com again and conveniently,their lines were doing nothing,along with their website. I just sat there and began to cry, realizing I'd been had and still could not talk to my inmate loved one. Oh yeah (and this is for another report) I also paid Globaltel 50.00 before doing any of the other things I told you about above because I had a friend who used them when her husband was in jail. Well,they conveniently "forgot" to mention that they don't service the facility where my loved one is housed until after they took my money. Now,I have to wait up to thirty days to get a refund for that 50.00 minus more flippin processing fees!
So,to sum it all up,I'm out like 100.00 bucks and for what? I still can't talk to my loved one. I actually did speak to her once since all this but paid per call,and 15 minutes to her is over 25.00. Please,if any of you have a loved one who is incarcerated and are trying to get calls from the jail/prison at a lower rate,do your homework,ask questions,and research the companies claiming to provide these services. If you don't you could find yourself out of alot of money for nothing,and crossing your fingers,hoping with everything you've got that you'll even get your money back. BEWARE!!