My $10 plan has gradually worked its way up to almost $14.
They add another 97¢ per month for some kind of bonus program that I didn't sign up for and don't want.
It's the same lying, thieving management that runs FreedomPop.
Tello FTW!
Agreed. I've already got 3 lines with Tello and moved a few little old ladies, that I help out, to Tello.
They're a first rate company and they have integrity.
I lucked out when I canceled my "Unreal" account 3 or 4 months ago(when only $10 incl. tax) and moved that phone to the FU $15 plan. Got out in the nick of time.
Chelle, is this CDMA? If you don't have another FreedomPop/Unreal CDMA line, it might be worth holding it to see what Ting's offer is.
Again, the timing is strange, with a transition at hand. Hard to make sense of any increase/change other than as a cash grab.
Yes, it's CDMA. They've actually been doing the 97 cents for several months, now. I bite my lip, each month, and swear I'll kick them to the curb.
I'll see what Ting offers and then get rid of it, if it's not something good.
That's a real pity that a company chooses to operate that way.
Of course, as far as freedompop was concerned, it wasn't difficult to find reports of how easy it was to get charged unexpectedly. So at least when I opened accounts with them, I was fully aware of the risks and proceeded accordingly.
With some other cheap or free providers, it isn't always publicized how untrustworthy or shady they are, maybe because they weren't as big as freedompop.
But out of all the cheap or free providers, freedompop appears to have been somewhat successful and enduring so they must have gotten something right compared to the other thieves and despite the bad stories out there. I suppose there are simply enough people out there that want something for free that they get excited, forget that very little in life is truly free and don't evaluate, consider or look for all the risks.
Being first on the scene probably had a lot to do with it as well as being able to offer something free and appealing with the help of a truck load of venture capital financing and the goal to gain subscribers over making profits. So they had a clear advantage at the beginning. Data was expensive in the early days of freedompop too. My first device with them was a wimax one :lol:
As time progressed it appears that they were under more and more pressure to make profits and so were effectively "pushing" customers to paid services and gradually taking away the free stuff. When they had to operate as a proper business things weren't so good and we saw more and more shady practices come to light. And now here we are with them sold off. It was always headed in that trajectory because the financers would eventually want to exit and make a profit out of it.
It takes vision to be first on the scene and get financing that covers multi year losses while subscriber numbers are increased. It takes execution to deliver on getting those subscribers and having something of value to sell off at the end.
So as well as being skillful at being shady, they were skillful with several other important business aspects.
Seems possible that others who don't succeed are skillful at being shady and not skillful enough with other things.
Credit where credit is due but they
will still go down in history as freedompoop!
I remember when I was first interested in their service. I called. This is way before ringplus.
I got such a bad vibe from fp. I never joined.
3 years worth of free service at freedompop. Never spent a dime. Some people missed out. Now redpocket buys them. Great company. Win win. No lost sleep. Freeup looking good also. Love mvno. Friends pay 60 a month for what I got free.
$60 a month for 3 years is $2160. Way to go John thomas!
Freedompop isn't or wasn't for everyone though. I stayed away until I saw an excellent guide that said you can have a trouble free freedompop experience if you follow the instructions to the letter.
For me and obviously for you, it wasn't rocket science to set up freedompop correctly.
But I can see how people who read too quickly, get intimidated by details, lack focus or concentration, are incapable of following several steps precisely and instead ask for help at every step, would make a mistake when signing up. So kudos to those who recognized they are like this and stayed away.
It is well documented the many underhand and bogus charges that some people experienced through no fault of their own. Congrats on freedompoop being so good for you. You should have gotten 13 sims.
That said I had no trouble from fp myself. But I doubt intellect had anything to do with it.
I agree with all your points.
I've used FreedomPop since April 2015, and avoided unexpected charges with the exception of a couple of FreedomPop errors that were very difficult to straighten out..
Although most complaints found on forums are from those who missed all the necessary maneuvers to downgrade successfully to the free plans, there are plenty of smart, focused, unintmidated, and attentive users who were still tapped by unexpected price increases and strange & inexplicable policy enforcement.
It's the seeming randomness of such charges that has bothered even savvy users, and the constant monitoring to make sure you haven't fallen into one of the target groups for such charges.
I see what you did there...lol!
Yup. So true.
If one sets up freedompop correctly, there is no need for constant monitoring. I set it up and forgot it.
And setting it up correctly also means there is no worry about being charged or at least getting the charges reversed without spending much time on it.
How much extra were you actually charged? Sure it's not nice but how did it compare to the value of service received?
I don't think this applies to you but some people were bothered by the 1c charges.
Their reputation stinks and their actions often match with that. Whether you can avoid it or not that doesn't change.
Yes buying off ebay sellers with no cc requirement, virtual cards and annual plans not requiring cc were all ways to avoid the risk. It is harder to defend yourself totally if you had a paid monthly plan or service though. And yes though the bogus charges probably aren't huge it is the principle of it. Building your business around gotchas doesn't create a good impression.
Personally I have fond memories of freedompop and it is sad to see them at their lowest. I even had some excellent customer service over the years since 2012. They once sent me a replacement phone that had broken a few days outside the warranty period. They didn't have to. I miss companies having integrity and going beyond for customers. It is too rare these days.