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PhoneCardSmile.com ReviewPhoneCardSmile.com is a popular calling card company, but we don't understand why.
Bottom line: PhoneCardSmile is perhaps 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.
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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 websiteTry These Recommended Calling CardsDisclosure: 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. |
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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.
For all folks who is still looking for a quality phone card, check out www.ldpost.com. Many options to choose from plus live customer support if you need any help.
Very thorough review with nice visuals which help get your main points across.
-Jack
I would like phonecardsmile.com to clarify their relationship with phonecardsale.com because I am the customer of phonecardsale.com and its disappearance costs me money and lots of inconvenience.
Do not do business with these people, I bought a 300 minute phone card which ran out after 30 minutes, after I called the customer service to complain, the woman on the phone insisted that she was the manager of the company and the only one higher than her was the owner who was out of the country for a month. Yet she could not do anything to help me, she said you have to use all 300 minutes in one call or else it charges you more. When I asked her official title in the company, she could not tell me the name of the company because it was "confidential," nor did the owner of the company have a phone number...
This company sucks. I just bought a $20 phone card and it went through to my bank immediately but when I tried to use it, it told me the card had expired. I have tried and tried calling customer service and have only gotten answering machines. THIS SUCKS!
Ugh! That sounds bad. Sorry to hear it.
Awful company. First they didn't send me my pins for a week. I tried to contact them for weeks. Finally I got a response and they remedied the problem. I figured this was a fluke. But I soon realized they were a scam. The price for the card was cheap and there was no connection fee however I noticed I was being charged before I was even connected. They charged me when they accidentally (and constantly)connected me to the wrong number. They charged me for being on the phone for 10minutes or more. They charged me when they disconnected me after 16 minutes. They don't answer their LIVE SUPPORT or EMAILS. They basically don't care after they've received their money. The web site is a scam. DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT EVEN GO TO THEIR SITE. Awful service, awful scams. I'm totally upset. They never helped me and the haven't responded. I lost 20$ and couldn't contact my family for over a week. PHONECARD SMILE is possibly the worst provider and the company MY LINK which was the actual phone card I purchased was the epitome of scam. Stay away from either.
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