Complaint Review: Conslines - Internet

 Everyone knows that collect inmate calls from any jail or prison are very expensive. Everyone also knows that those phone calls are the ONLY communication that some people have with incarcerated family members. That makes the ability to receive such phone calls extraordinary important to both inmate and family member. Everybody is looking for a way to save money on such calls. When my son was arrested I knew that for his own well being I needed to set up an account to enable him to pick up that phone and contact me whenever he needed to do so. The jail told me the name of there collect call provider. Before I contacted them I went online to see what services were available to help me save on this expense. I came across an ad posting for conslines.com. it promised that its service could be used Nationwide. At any local jail. And any federal prison. Anywhere in the United States. It showed a variety of monthly packages. Most of the packages had a set number of minutes for a set amount of money. I chose a package which promised to allow my son to call me an average of 24 times in one month. Total cost for the package was just under $21. Knowing that my son would want to call me everyday if he could, I chose this package and went into the website to fill out the necessary information. In big bold letters it stated IN JUST THREE SIMPLE STEPS YOU CAN BE TALKING TO YOUR LOVED-ONE TODAY! It went on to list those three steps. I don't remember it word for word, but it went something like this: Step 1. Purchase and pay for the package of your choice. Step 2. Contact your loved one with the phone information necessary. Step 3. Start saving money on collect inmate calls today! That sounded very easy so I did what it said to do. I chose my package, paid for it, and expected to be able to talk to my son within the next half hour. After I made my payment and it was verified, they informed me that it would be a 3 hour wait before they could activate my package minutes. Just over two and a half hours later I received a message with a website that contained instructions on how to activate my minutes. When I went to that website I was then informed I had to purchase another package. This one needed to be from a company who specialized in collect calls. The first thought that went through my head was "Isn't that what I just did?" "What did I just pay Conslines for?!" I immediately called the number that was listed on the website. Unbelievably, I got a message saying that nobody was available to help me and the mailbox was full. I should try my call again later. What the hell! After digging around on Google, I found another phone number. This one was to add money to my account. I knew I would find a human at this number because it involved them getting more money. I was informed that I did not read their entire policy and that it was necessary for me to go through another company to pay for the collect calls from my son. When I ask them what the package I had just purchased from them was for, I was told that it would save me 80% on each collect phone call from this other company. When I ask them to explain how they could save me money on another company's product they told me that they did it all the time and it was a wonderful thing. I ended up going through the original company that the jail told me to buy my calls through. So everything should be fine after that right? I should be saving money in no time correct? For the next 10 days I went around and around and back and forth with this company because my son was unable to contact me on my phone number. It kept telling him that I had no money in my account even though there was upwards of $40 in my account. They blamed the jails lines. They blamed my phone. They blamed everybody but themselves. My son blamed me! I was heartbroken. I was frustrated. I was mad as hell that I paid twice for a service I still was not receiving. I emailed them and told them to just cancel my service with them, that's it didn't work. The next day I received an email back stating that they would cancel my service with them but it wasn't their fault it didn't work. The jail was obviously blocking my calls because I was trying to save money and they didn't want me to. Conslines tried to get me to go through another company to purchase more collect calling time. At this point I was so angry I told them to cancel my account immediately! I didn't want any more help from them on this, and I didn't want them to try to explain anything else, just to leave me alone. They emailed me an answer telling me that if I disputed their charges the bank would charge me over $100 in fees, and that I should contact Conslines and work it out with them instead. For free! I got my service with conslines cancelled that day. I didn't receive one penny in refund. And I did not use one second of their service. It hasn't been a full month yet. I wouldn't be surprised if they try to charge my bank for another month of service because their fees are recurring unless you cancel them. I have the email saying they're canceled but I'm sure that won't stop them from trying to rip me off some more. DONT waste your money on this crappy company. They are scam artists. When I told them that, they told me the jail was scamming me. And ,by the way ,the very second that I cancelled their service, calls from my son started coming through with absolutely no problems! There was nothing wrong with the jails lines. There was nothing wrong with my phone. The problem was their service, which was absolutely of no service to my son and I at all. Avoid conslines at ALL COSTS! They are just what their name says they are. A CON!