Complaint Review: Zingo Telecom

Like most people, I look for ways to save money. I thought I found a great way to save on my phone bill with Zingotel. The headaches have not been worth the money saved.

I signed up for unlimited residential service in March 06. I was happy to pay about thirty dollars for service startup, and having the 'router' shipped to me. It took about 10 days to receive the equipment. Things went well for about a week, until I had my first dropped call. Suddenly, all calls would disconnect mid-call. Customer service said my service was running correctly, but the dropped calls continued. Finally, after my own investigation, I discovered I needed more bandwidth, even though I'd been assured by Zingotel I had plenty.

The next issue was that I was charged for the "free" month I was promised. My money was refunded, after I called and threw a fit (for 30 minutes) at customer service.

Service was on again, off again. Sometimes I couldn't get calls in. Sometimes I couldn't get calls out. Sometimes people would call me and get a recording that my line had been disconnected, even though it had not. Some calls dialed would go to a fast busy signal. I called customer service and emailed repeatedly to have these problems corrected. They were, but only ever temporarily. The problems would arise again within 7 to 10 days. Back on the phone with their USELESS customer service.

Another issue I have with this company is that my bill was 14.95 a month for a few months. Then it went up to 16.85 for 'fees'. They were listed as regulatory recovery fee and sales tax. The latest bill has gone up to 19.19. The increase is due to more 'fees', these being listed as 911 tax, FUSF (VoIP) (whatever THIS is...) and telecommunications infrastructure fund. I was never notified that these charges would be appearing on my bill. I had to discover it on my own.

The final straw was my service being suspended on Jan 3. A recording was played with any call I tried to dial out, directing me to call customer service. I tried calling customer service and couldn't get anyone. I sent emails to their support department and got no response. I left messages with their automated phone system and didn't get calls back. This went on for 4 days. Finally, I used a different phone to call their toll free number. I got a customer service agent almost instantly. He informed me that my line had "excessive call volume." My options were to A: pay the higher business rate for my line or B: Disconnect my service and pay a disconnect fee. Customer service claims they sent me an email regarding the change to my service. I never received it.

I highly recommend this company for anyone who enjoys poor quality of service, non-existent customer support, an increasing monthly bill, and general headaches and frustration. You'll love all the wasted time on the phone talking to no one.

Michelle
New Plymouth, Idaho
U.S.A.