The Florida offices of Hello Mobile's parent company, Q-Link Wireless, was raided today by a joint force of Post Office, IRS, & the Department of Justice.
They carted away boxes of paperwork, and computers. Whether intentional or not, websites for both Hello and Q-Link are down, as well as the Customer Service lines.
Not sure what to make of the quote from the US Postal Service Inspector: "“As far as the investigation is concerned, it’s pretty involved,” Ramirez said. “It is pretty complicated, very detailed, but like I said, once more information comes out, our consumers will realize that this operation and these investigations that have taken a while to get us to this point and beyond, it’s only for their benefit, and they will basically be reaping those rewards when they realize, ‘Oh, that’s what that was all about.'”
From reports I've seen, lines are still working: if you have a Hello Mobile line, it would probably be a good idea to think about what your path might be, and to keep your eyes open for developments.
Websites are back up, and apparently give normal dashboard access.
The automated help line (611611) connects, but gives account inquiries a "Account Past Due" notification, which is probably familiar to Hello Mobile users who have gone through HM's messy migration to the T-Mobile network. (Long story, but it appears that Hello wasn't prepared for the migration, and tracking account status during a long, slow, transition from Sprint service to T-Mobile service incapacitated account status reports for most customers, sometimes for over a month.)
The app is reportedly working again.
The problems Hello Mobile is having with T-Mobile transition are a pain for their users, without question. I imagine it's the tip of the iceberg for service problems, and that the much larger Q-Link/government subsidized user base has had far more impactful problems-- but we just don't see as much forum activity from that user base.
I do find it kind of hopeful that the quoted statement above makes it sound like a serious issue, but one that can be resolved & make everyone happy....
A little more detailed statement from the Postal Inspector :
"“We are looking into how they provide their services, their telecommunication services how they’re being provided, the customers and clients that are receiving those services and if everything is on par with what they promote and offer versus what is actually being provided,” said US Postal Inspector Ivan Ramirez."
......
"“This is part of an investigation, it’s not a culmination of any investigation in any way, shape or form, no arrests have been made. On the contrary, we have been receiving a lot of cooperation from the organization,” Ramirez said."