I just got off the phone with a very nice man at FreedomPop who quickly and painlessly cancelled my remaining lines.
I didn't even have to wait on hold!
The number I called was:
(424) 317-9266
Glad to hear you found a painless way to do that, Chelle!
I'm sorry to be letting go of mine. They've been really useful, and even at 250mb (with friends), I've gotten good use from them.
When I was cancelling online, I realized 2 lines have really nice phone numbers-- and we have a couple of keeper lines elsewhere that have really forgettable numbers. I should have figured that out sooner, but at this point I'm going to pay FP for a month on Essential so that I have time to complete ports out with those numbers. (Sample: X1X-XZZZ).
I've gotten some good FP numbers, along the way, and ported them out to other, longer term, accounts (like Visible) to hang onto them.
Why Visible ? It's not any cheaper than the Freedompop plan.
Where are you going to port them out to ? I'm also looking for a free way to park a couple of numbers I really like.
Visible was offering a free phone if you ported in a number. I chose numbers that I liked that were easy to remember.
I don't need to park them anywhere-- I have lines on Tracfone and Tello that have unmemorable numbers. Since I use Google Voice as my outward facing number for most things, I'm not committed to the numbers on those lines-- but I do sometimes need to use cellular numbers for verification, or when I don't want to share my GV #. (Yes, I'm more protective of my Google Voice number than my cellular number.....) I've also thought about an additional GV number, but see the issue below. ($20 cost plus an intervening stop at a cellular provider....)
But for cheap parking, I frequently see Number Barn mentioned. I don't know if you can move a VoIP number there directly, or if it has to be transferred to a cellular provider first. (Transferring to FreedomPop's Premium SIM first would work if that's needed.) Past that, I think you're looking at a few dollars a month, perhaps at Page Plus PayGO, or Red Pocket's $30 annual plan.
I had four free lines. Oldest from 2/2017, so 4+ years. Used the online chat to cancel out, but I was able to talk them into one free Premium SIM. That account had two lines on it, each with a $5 top-up. Now it's only one line with a $10 top-up (not that I expect it be useful). I guess I'll try the new free tier, but it sure looks limited.
All in all, 4+ years and they threw in a free SIM at the end? Can't complain.
I had nearly 100 dollars top up but can't deal with them anymore.
I have one uncancelled legacy line left. The credit card associated with this account is inactive. FP has not tried to bill me yet. I'll see what happens on May 13, when my billing cycle ends.
I let two of my lines go into suspended status - they were linked to a credit card number that I no longer use. The data no longer works. However, calls (including international calls) and text still work on wifi or data from another carrier. This is good because my parents can still use this to make free calls to Hong Kong. No telling how long this will last
PS: this is via the iPhone app. I have no idea if calls and text will work on android on a suspended account.
Thanks for the report! I haven't seen recent comments about the FreedomPop Messaging app on iPhone.
In theory, the FreedomPop Messaging app was (is?) available for standalone VoIP use, without any type of FreedomPop plan. The Android version of the app was removed from Google Play store for a while (now back), and some users can't get it to work even with an active FreedomPop plan. It seems that bug fixes and updates are on a low priority scale. (Perhaps never?)
Got this email a month back. Still have no update to the government plan.
Hello ,
We recently sent you a notice regarding the upcoming changes to our free plan, along with your options and instructions on what to do next.
We are delighted to offer you one additional possible option for maintaining free service, with even more data, all for free - thanks to the new Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program offered by the federal government.
For qualifying households, the EBB program as offered through our sister company will provide you with high-speed data for FREE in tiers of 1GB, 5GB, and 20GB every month for the duration of the program.
Recipients of this email have been pre-screened as potentially qualifying applicants for the EBB Program which offers free government subsidized data to eligible customers.
We are inviting you to register for priority notifications from us regarding the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program. This email is your invitation to opt-in to the EBB Program’s notification list for priority launch updates and does not guarantee eligibility.
In light of this exciting opportunity, we have opted to delay any charges to your plan for the month of May. You will instead receive a month on the Essential Plan at no cost in order to give you an opportunity to apply for the EBB program when it becomes available on May 12, 2021.
Update: no free 'premium' SIM card after three weeks. Contacted support over chat...support says no record of the request, and very hesitant to give me one. They finally caved, and it arrived today (I was surprised to see it!). Tried to activate, but the Activate | FreedomPop webpage returns "error -1" when I enter the ICCID. Huh.
Update: Well, there is a pending 1 cent charge from Freedompop. I guess I need to cancel this credit card, which is fine with me.
For anyone else who has a new free plan on the premium voice, don't you find this annoying:
On the Free plan?-you cannot have a recurring subscription on the free plan. when on the free plan, you must manually renew your free service every time it expires.
No, not at all...I tried to "unsubscribe" by deleting my CC and three months later I "re-activated" the same account and phone #.
They don't seem to do anything if your account goes inactive.
As I recall, each sim card was at least $.99...they still made money, especially with their $20 "top-up" theft...
One of my legacy lines was still working for voice and text a few weeks ago but that's no longer the case. Both my lines are now fully suspended and disabled.
I don't intend to port them over to the free premium service. However, I am going to try something else - once I get back home on Monday from traveling, I'm gonna see if I can port both numbers over to Visible via swap. If Visible doesn't let me complete the transaction oh well no harm. If Visible does accept the numbers but the port ultimately fails, then at least I've gained 2 new ZTE A7's for $10 and 2 junk phones. And if Visible let's me do full activation, that means I've saved two numbers potentially eligible for re-porting for another deal that comes up later this year.
FreedomPop finally gave me credit for the top-ups worth over $40. I can use them in my free premium accounts. Wow.