Reply from Pingo Phone Cards
[REPLY]
- Reviews (71)
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- Kim Price
- Spokane, US
- 1 Review
I can't get softphone to work
Three phone calls and an email later, I have a "loading" softphone. Problem is that is ALL it does...never succeeds.
I was told by Pingo rep that It would work if I disabled my firewall. I have done this on two different computers with two different OS and virus protection....guess what ? still "LOADING"
Oh Well...
Reply from Pingo.com
- Customer Service
Update 5/16/13 2:40pm
We called the customer & followed up with a reply
It seems the issue was because the customer was trying to make a US based test call from where the web dial phone service is not available. The rates page lists the availability of Pingo Soft Phone at http://www.pingo.com/en/rates.do
We also offered to refund the customer the remaining balance.
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- Tina Williams Lisenby
- 1 Review
Why so many complaints on this site about PINGO - confused by what I am reading!
I'm totally baffled by the complaints I'm reading about PINGO on this website!! I have had wonderful service and the calling rates are incredible. The system is super easy to use, quality of call is good and the website is user friendly. I'm not one to leave reviews on-line but felt it necessary since there was such negative feedback that does not convey over to my personal experience. I've used other internet calling card services but switched over to PINGO (because the rates were better) and haven't regretted doing so one bit. I highly recommend setting up an account to take advantage of good the great rates they offer. I'm a happy customer and just took advantage of a Mother's Day Sale they just offered which will amount to even more cost savings for me when I call my family overseas.
Reply from Pingo.com
I just tried to call you, to try to personally thank you for going out of your way to give us this glowing testimonial.
Your review helps share the positive experience we try to give Pingo customers.
- Pingo
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- Wade Lambert
- Fulton, US
- 1 Review
Pingo cancelled account of very satisfied customer for no reason, UPDATE: restored after this review
Opened an account 1/29/13 for my daughter to be able to call home. Great price, great call quality, smiles all around. $10 bonus credit was applied to the account as advertised, more smiles! 2/21/13 my daughter calls me using a borrowed phone card to tell me Pingo stopped working. I went to visit her on the 23rd and we tried together and it was like I had no account. Checked my email and they's sent an email saying they were sorry I'd canceled. I never cancelled, the credit card is fine, and nothing anywhere to let me know why. C.S. rep I talked to was not helpful, saying I had to email pingoverification for help. Four emails and zero replies, and my daughter still can't call home. They tried calling my daughter at the location she is staying, but she is not allowed calls from non-family members and has nothing whatsoever to do with opening or paying for the account. They've never even tried to call the number associated with my account (my mobile number.) From very satisfied to completely dismissed, worst customer service I've ever received! ASFAIK no refund of remaining balance either...
UPDATE: forgot to mention I referred another customer who also opened an account!
UPDATE 2/28/13: Pingo finally called me at the number associated with my account after reading my review here, thank you TrustPilot! After explaining the situation the account was restored in full, smiles again. My daughter called me using Pingo today and was very happy it was working again. I did tell the rep that if they cancel an account because they're suspicious the credit card number may have been stolen (apparent reason they cancelled) they should try to let the customer know there's a problem instead of sending an email saying "sorry you cancelled." The phone service itself is excellent, but my student workers could give them a lesson in etiquette for customer service. The gentlemen I spoke with this morning was very polite, and my problem was resolved to my satisfaction, but he was unable to explain the failure to notify me the reason for cancellation, nor the lack of replies to my emails. Bumping from 1 to 3 stars, will bump again assuming no further problems. Suggestions: communicate directly when there's any hint of a problem with a customers card, (calling the number making the calls may not connect you to the account holder) allow reps on your toll-free number access to escalate to someone who can actually help, and lastly, a courtesy bonus credit to my account would have been appreciated after your communication issues basically cut-off communication for my daughter. I can be a very loyal customer, given the right circumstances...
Reply from Pingo.com
Thank you very much for your patience and understanding, and it was our pleasure speaking with you.
As we discussed, the account was closed for possible fraud in an effort to protect our customer’s accounts from potential abuse.
As a gesture of our commitment to our loyal customers, we have added a complimentary bonus credit to your account.
We do appreciate your business and glad to have this concern resolved and your account restored.
Sincerely,
- The Pingo Team
- Abigail Osei-Asamoah
- 1 Review
Used to be good but now the waste time saying 'They are reviewing your account with Manual recharges"
I have used Pingo since 2008 and have been using the same credit card for recharge and i recharge my account manually. They do offer great call quality and service regarding phonecalls internationally especially to my home country from the US. However beginning this year anytime i recharge my account,it always says my account is under review and i either have to call and harass customer service before my recharge goes through; a total waste of time given that there is a big time difference between my call destination and US ,so sometimes,by the time the whole mess is resolved,it would be so late i can't make my call. I do not know why they started doing this but when i call customer service they tell me something silly that i recharge my account too often ,which i thought it would be good business for them or i don't know if this is their way for pushing me to sign up for Autorefill which i wont sign up for. Either way i am truly displeased with the service and the hassle i have to go through to make one phone call because i can't keep calling or e-mailing their customer service each time i recharge! Maybe they do not want my business and want me to look for another phone card!
Reply from Pingo.com
We are sorry for the experience that your having with the phone service. We will look into your account. However if you have a future issue recharging your account, please contact Pingo Account Verification at 1 781 505 7477 available business hours 9 to 5 or email pingoaccountverification /at/ p.i.n.g.o. dot com.
Thanks for your business & patience,
- Pingo Customer Service
Update: We have reviewed your account with Pingo's account verification manager to help reduce the chances of your account going under review.
- Steven Lewis
- Silver City, US
- 1 Review
Pingo is reliable, DOES Respond to problems and my faith in this company is renewed.
Pingo has worked well for us for a few months on three separante phone accounts and we have been really pleased with their calling system, ez-dial software and especially their rates and website. BUT recently, a charge showed up from them on our bank account which we "absolutely did not make". This charge was not credited to our Pingo account, it simply was charged to us and disappeared into their system. No problem, "Pingo is great", we thought.
Well, we made three calls to them to correct this and no relief, they denied it. So, I wrote a scathing review here and made a chargeback at the bank. Then, because my review appeared here where they monitor, upper management called me and helped me analyze the problem. Guess what? It was our fault! Our son's account had the wrong card attached to it and the charge came from my wife's card and showed up in another.
Anyway, it was OUR FAULT, like many (can't say if all) of these Pingo complaints here seem to be.
Thanks Pingo team for fixing this. I much prefer to admit we screwed up and renew my confidence in the best long distance provider we've ever had
Reply from Pingo.com
Thanks for updating this review after we had a chance to fully investigate the situation together.
We try to maintain a 95% customer retention rate since launching Pingo 8+ years ago.
Thanks for your continued support!
- Pingo
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- Lorna Emond
- 1 Review
Saved me a lot of money in long distance phone calls
I don't understand all the bad reviews. I've had Pingo for years and found it to be very reliable and dependable. If one is in an area that one can use a local access number, it's half the cost. As far as I'm concerned, it is not a fraud company. I even get emails from them offering 'specials' of 15%-25% which I take advantage of. I prefer to spend pennies for minutes than a large sum at the end of the month with AT&T. Most of the time, I use their toll free number, enter my account number, password, dial the 1 and 10 digit phone number of the person I'm calling and then press pound. Call goes right through. When I'm calling from home, my account and password are already recognized so I just dial the number I want.
Reply from Pingo.com
We value your business and strive to maintain a 95% customer retention rate.
- Pingo Team
- Andrea Heatley
- Washington, DC, US
- 1 Review
My account doesn't work, and they won't refund me!
Hello,
I have had a Pingo account since 2010, and until this year everything was fine. I traveled abroad in April to visit my family, and most of the time I was unable to use the account to call my husband back in the USA. I sent several emails to Pingo, and each time the message was the same - wait two hours and try again. I came back to the USA and had no problems with the account until the end of October. Whenever I tried to use the account, I received a message that said "we are unable to complete your call at this time". I have called Pingo at least five times to get this resolved, and sent numerous emails. Their response is always the same - wait two hours and try again. I finally had enough over the Thanksgiving weekend, called Customer Service, and told them to cancel the account because I was unable to use it. I had $15 remaining on the account, and asked if this would be refunded to my account. The woman told me yes, since I couldn't use the account. When I contacted them (by email) yesterday to find out where my money was, I was told that it would not be refunded. I am so upset about this, and would like to know what I should do next. I do have contact information for IBasis, the company that owns Pingo, but I don't know if there is any point in writing to them. I am very disappointed in Pingo, and will never recommend them to anyone.
Thanks,
Andrea Heatley
Washington, DC
Reply from Pingo.com
- Customer Service
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- Tim Lloyd
- 2 Reviews
Very unimpressed
I rang Pingo to set up an account, and assumed everything was OK. I had to send an email to verify my account, but never heard back from them. When I tried to use the service, it informed me that my account had been disabled. They would not respond to emails, and when eventually I got through to them on the phone, customer services were not able to help - they said I must email their verification team. As they do not respond to emails, there is no way I can make contact with them. I am left wondering what sort of a company that are now holding my contact details.
Bizarrely, I still keep getting promotional emails from imploring me to come back to Pingo, and even telling me that my account has been credited with £10, which I can't use. Are they going to take that from my account bank account - I hope not?
Reply from Pingo.com
Please note that its a holiday in the States and we are responding to try to address your concern. With out being able to look into your account it seems that you tried to create a new account which are system does not allow. Since it seems you had an account before. It seems like you just need help logging into your old account. pingoaccountverification /at/ p.i.n.g.o. dot com can assist you with this matter.
- Customer Service
9/13/12 Update:
We did not get a response from this customer as requested. However after investigating, we were able to locate this account and activate it. It should work properly from this point on.
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- Νίκοιαυς Κοορμαηη
- Honolulu, DE
- 2 Reviews
not satisfied
I payed $US 5,00 + tax and they did not send any account info or whatever. when i try to login it says my account is invalid. im really starting to hate the US! S§%t like that doesn't happen in Europe.. filthy greedy system
Reply from Pingo.com
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- Jan Khor
- 1 Review
Love it!
I love their softphone, speed dial and PINless features. Very cheap rates.
Reply from Pingo.com
- Sara
- Haifa, US
- 1 Review
Wonderful until now...
I have had no issues while using Pingo for the past few years and neither have my parents. I suppose that it may be some technical issue on their end but the past I have successfully been able to make calls from Israel to the United States using the correct access code but it has not worked since I yesterday. I am able to access my account when I enter my account number and pin code, and am then able to dial the phone number in the US that I am trying to reach. The phone then rings but when someone answers on the other end, it cuts off and offers to let me make another call- apparently they can hear me but before they even finish saying "hello" we are cut off.
I am incredibly frustrated, and have even tried multiple ways, making sure that I enter the country code, city code, telephone number and then the pound key. I also tried with only the country code, city code and phone number, as well as only with the phone number and in each instance, the same problem occurred. Please let me know what I can do to resolve this as soon as is possible. My account number is 5188945451
Reply from Pingo.com
I'm sorry that you are left frustrated and needed to express your concerns online. As this is not the format to resolve this online, I'm afraid we missed responding before the weekend.
However we did set up a tech ticket for call quality to look into this route. Please note that we only have the web dial feature to call from Israel to US for 1.75 cents a minute VS the several options we have to call US to Israel www.pingo.com/en/rates.do?origcountry=1361&destcountry=1339 So you won't be able to call from a landline or cell phone from Israel. See details on the web dial feature at www.pingo.com/en/softphone.do.
- Customer Service
- Kitty
- Raleigh, US
- 1 Review
Complete waste of time...and money
This company is a borderline a scam and joke. Please avoid by any means.
I signed up for $10 to give this company a try. There is no confirmation emails with promised PIN code EVER! I emailed customer service TWICE and got zero reply. I called them three times and the rep said he found my account was closed but he can't see why. ... What?! At the same time, they have charged $10 to my card. The reds said whoever closed my card is in another department and he can't reach them. It will take a few days to refund the $10 back to me.
So they charged your card and closed your account without providing any reason, confirmation, or notice. NEVER heard of such a ridiculous thing. Wow!
Reply from Pingo.com
To Clarify:
When you request to close out an account or if you were declined from the service, its a mater of your bank or credit card provider to issue the refund, which can take up to 3 business days.
- Customer Service
- k
- sanford, US
- 1 Review
FALSE ADVERTISEMENT
I SIGNED IN TO THEIR SERVICE THURSDAY FEB 23,2012 AND CHARGED MY CARD $20 IN ORDER TO GET A $10 AS A FREE BONUS... WHEN I CALLED THEM TO ASK WHERE IS THE $10, THEY TOLD ME I WILL GET IT IN 10 DAYS.. THIS IS NOT WRITTEN CLEARLY ON THEIR WEBSITE.. I ASKED THEM TO CLOSE MY ACCOUNT COMPLETELY THE SAME DAY I OPENED IT.. THEY SAID THE REFUND IS NOT IMMEDIATE, IT TAKES SEVERAL DAYS.. WHY? I TAKES A SECONDE TO TAKE MY MONEY BUT FEW DAYS TO REFUND IT...I AM MAKING SURE YOU HAVE A VERY POOR RATING ON THE INTERNET SO THAT YOU THINK TWICE BEFORE TREATING CUSTOMERS LIKE THAT.
Reply from Pingo.com
When you request to close out the funds, its a mater of your bank or credit card provider to issue the refund which can take up to 3 business days.
- Customer Service
- brando b
- havry, US
- 1 Review
wow
hi, pingo is the best calling card ever.
great rates , great customer service, i've been using pingo for more thatn two years, yeah sometimes a problem comes up here and there but over all, it is a great service, you go pingo.
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- Karen Cristina Yupanqui Carlos
- Provo, US
- 1 Review
I haven't received my confirmation email from Pingo
This is the second time that I buy a calling card for Pingo. The first time I waited for years and they never answered my confirmation( or whatever )mail to verify my account. So, yesterday I decided to give a new opportunity to this company but It has been more than 24 hours and I am still waiting for the verification mail ( I can't remember that name)... Please!!! verify my account 801 636 3772 I need to call my family.. it is an emergency!!!
- John Miao
- New York City, US
- 1 Review
bad Service
i have purchased the 20 dollars international phone card, couldn't use it
from the beginning, the next day i could't even access the account, it keeps saying that invalid account number , please help with the issue, my account number is : 2014232752 First name: Wenqiang Last name: Miao, i have sent the customer service email , but so far no reply, please solve the issue for me ASAP!!!
Reply from Pingo.com
Since you provided your account info, we were able to look up your information. The new customer verification team was not able to confirm your account. When signing up, you need to respond to a verification email and in some cases we will email or call you to verify your information. We have reviewed your account and went ahead and opened it, so that you can start using the service.
We are sorry for the in-convenience that this may have caused you.
- Customer Service -
- ddddd
- istanbul, TR
- 1 Review
AVOID!!
I just signed up with this company 3 hours ago. For the past two hours I've been trying to make a single damn call. NO WAY! First of all, there is NO ACCESS CODE from Turkey! Thanks for telling me this before you took my money PINGO! Second, their soft phone is totally useless, it either says the number is invalid, or else it "connects" without any sound from the other end, even though the audio test works perfectly. DONT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THIS COMPANY! In frustration Ive sent three emails to the company now, and havent heard back once. Of course a company rep will respond to this email just like all the other ones, with some lame excuse/explanation. ENOUGH LIES!
Reply from Pingo.com
We are sorry that you are left frustrated and need to express your concerns online.
1. Access Code for Turkey
A. We list access codes in the top navigation of the site
http://www.pingo.com/en/accessnumbers.do
B. Rate check
If you did a rates search before signing up, you would have seen that we only list the web dial rate option.
2. Call Quality
The service offers a call quality guarantee. However your account may have not bin verified to start using the service.
This is not the proper format to resolve this as we don't have your account info to look into the issue. Please call customer service to assist you, as we hope to regain your business.
= Customer Service =
- nancy
- 1 Review
Worst experience ever!
I needed to call another country on an urgent matter, so I found this online and thought it'd be easy and a great idea. I was so WRONG!. Things written on the website contains much of a huge miscommunication. I also called to verify that I will NOT get charged additional from my provider, and the speaker confirmed that everything I'm doing is correct, and when the bill comes around, NOTHING is CORRECT!. I called customer service, and that SUCKED. They change the wordings so that the CUSTOMER is WRONG. I was not trying to any additional benefits. I just wanted my call to be credit towards the credit that I bought. ERR.
Reply from Pingo.com
I'm sorry that you are left frustrated and need to express your concerns online. However this is not the format to resolve this as we don't have your account info to look into the issue. Please contact the account verification manager directly to assist in resolving this 781-505-7477.
Here is a link to a video to help explain how to best use the service to ensure that your not being charged for Int. calls from your cell phone carrier. Hhttp://youtu.be/EUBbuxw8hKA
1. Be sure you heard the Pingo jingle at the start of the call
2. Use Pingo Speed Dial to pre-program up to 25 of your friends and family phone numbers.
3. Call your cell phone provider to block International phone service.
These are 3 simple ways to ensure your taking advantage Pingo EZ Dial on your smart phone.
Please call us to address your concern, in the mean time i hope this was helpful on how to use the service to ensure that you hear the Pingo jingle before making an Int call.
- Customer Service
- dancergirl
- STC, US
- 1 Review
WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE
They charged me for $20 when I only purchased $5 and then refused to refund the difference and told me it was my fault when I emailed them. Called them and they said they "put in a request" for the refund and the money would be refunded to my card in 3-5 business days. 2 weeks later and nothing so I emailed to close my account like it says to do in their terms and conditions and they told me I had to call and they couldn't close it unless I did. And of course they don't make it easy to actually get connected to a customer service rep; the only way to get through is to select the option that your calls aren't be placed properly or something. No options for anything related to account issues. In fact the automated message even says for everything else (other than issues actually making calls) to use their website or email them! Its so screwed up! And when I called to close my account they only "put in another request", so who knows when/if it will actually be closed and I'll finally get my money back.
Reply from Pingo.com
I'm sorry for your experience. We offer a no contract service that you can cancel at any time to get a full refund on your remaining balance minus any free bonus minutes given. Since we are not able to look up your account from this post, please contact are verification manager at 781-505-7477 to help quickly resolve this, if you still have not received confirmation. We are sorry to loose you as a customer as we try to continue to maintain a 95% customer retention rate.
- Pingo Customer Service
12/28/2012
Follow up to @dancergirl comment.
I'm sorry but the verification manager's direct phone number given is away on holiday vacation this week. Customer service is available to set up a closed account ticket or if you have not yet. Send an email with your account number to pingoverification ////at/// pingo dot com. Please allow 3 to 5 business days for your bank to credit back your account.
- Pingo Customer Service
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- Felix Peters
- Lakeland, US
- 1 Review
Calling Card Company from Hell
This is the worst calling card company to do business with........everytime I do a recharge my account gets suspended.......customer service sucks......claims my credit billing info needs to be the same as the one on file.......how many times do I have to email you that its the same.....no tel# for 'account verification'.......what business model is this?
Reply from Pingo.com
We are sorry for the difficulty that your experiences. For some reason your account is going under review, please contact Pingo's verification manager at 781-505-7477 to help quickly resolve this. As its not are business model to have this happen but we needed to put some protection in from potential fraud abuse.
- Pingo Customer Service
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- William Bill Trevena
- Merced, US
- 1 Review
Very poor quality service to say the least.
Quick to take your hard earned money! Then you get there don't give a rats ass! about our customers service. I have tryed four times to get them to take care of my on line account. Every time they tell me the same thing. It will be 3 to 5 days and we will take care of your needs. How can you call that a company we can trust. When all you have done is tell me a lie for a mounth now. I have lost your TRUST for ever.
Reply from Pingo.com
Account verification was able to located your account by the name provided. They went ahead and closed your account, which will refund your money. As we offer a risk free satisfaction guaranteed or we will refund customers remaining phone card balance minus any free bonus credit minutes. I'm sorry for the experience that you had with the service.
- Customer Service
UPDATE:
We did refund your money. Its up to your bank or credit card provider to clear the funds that can take 3 to 5 business days.
- Xiankun Zhang
- La Jolla, US
- 1 Review
Poor customer service
I opened my account few days ago and have paid $5, they sent me an verification email and I replied with all the needed info, got nothing back since then. And now every time i try to log in my pingo it says "invalid account". Sent tens of email but no one reply till now. Can anybody resolve my problem? My account #3614312930.
Reply from Pingo.com
I'm sorry for the experience that you had in signing up. Providing an account number helped us to investigate the situation, to resolve this, as your account should now be working to make calls.
We appreciate your business and patience in resolving this.
- Customer Service
- Susan
- 1 Review
Poor Customer Service and Lies
I have used Pingo for at least a year to make calls to Australia. All of a sudden the calls were not completed, for a number of reasons, ranging from insufficient funds (when funds were available) to reason 7 (whatever that is) to just a standard message that the call could not be completed. I have called them every night for the past 5 nights, since it started, and each time they answer is the same - the problem will be escalated but the problem still has not been fixed. Last night around 8:00 I called and asked to speak to a supervisor and was advised that no supervisors work at night. Today when I called during the dayI was advised that only one supervisor was working and that two worked the 4 to midnight shift. I'm fed up with their run around, lies and poor customer service. I'm cancelling the account today.
Reply from Pingo.com
We wanted to personally respond to your concern online to know that we are listening. I'm sorry for the experience your having. Please note that we are one of the few phone card providers to have a call center available all day for seven days a week. However your request caused a trouble ticket that we needed to investigate the issue for termination. We do offer a call quality guarantee for this temp. inconvenience caused. I hope that you'll call a manager directly at 781-505-7477 so that we can help address this quickly to not loose your business today.
- Customer Service
8/31/11 UPDATE: We were able to review your account by name. It looks like you were able to make calls. Its just a few times the call wasn't able to get through. We don't typically have issues to calling Australia, however we put a tech ticket to review termination of calls to this destination. We did just try to call you back personally in the hopes of resolving your concern personally.
***Update Susan responded with a comment on TrustPilot that confirms this issue was addressed and resolved.
- Nilesh
- 14 Reviews
Do not use Pingo... its ridiculous
Service is poor. The thing I do not understand is what are they charging 98 cents maintenance fee for?
Reply from Pingo.com
We are able to provide the most advanced features, online account management of all your calls & low rates because of the 98 cent maintenance fee. Unlike some of are competitors, we do not hide or charge any additional fees other then calling from a payphone.
Why Pingo?
Pingo maintains a 95%+ customer retention rate with ongoing loyalty promotions. There is no contract as you can cancel at any time and we offer 100% call quality guarantee.
- Rusee
- Rhône-Alpes, FR
- 1 Review
Money Taken, Can't Make Calls, False Advertising, No Customer Service Response Ever!
1. After I signed up it took them almost a month and only after about 100 emails from me for them to approve and activate my account.
2. I signed up through a reference link from my boy specifically so that he could benefit and we could both call our parents for their anniversary but after my account was (finally) activated and I emailed Pingo (yet again) to inquire about my brother getting credited I never got not even one single response!
3. I just added money to my account to make a call. but each time I try to make a call I am given a message which says (every) number that I try to call is invalid. Oh? Really? Please tell me how that is so Pingo. And since their track record concerning customer service is disgusting I am not feeling too confident that the situation will be resolved or that I will get my money back and it is a highly inconvenient and frustrating situation.
4. When I inquired about the publicised promotion on their website (which I had taken great pains to follow the procedure stated in order to qualifiy for it) and be credited a certain amount-I never got a response. And I must say the promotional ad is till there on their site!
From now on I will discourage and successfully convince any person I know who is even thinking about signing up for Pingo and will find another company to use.
Pingo, honestly, you suck.
The high number of horrible reviews says it all.
Good riddance.
Reply from Pingo.com
We are listening and sorry that you feel disappointed in the service. To clarify a few things. Some promotions are only valid to new customer only. We also have a process to collect call quality concerns to ensure call quality.
- Customer Service
August 1st Update: This is not the proper format to resolve your concern. We do not have a contract and you can cancel the phone service at any time. Please reach out to the account verification manager at 781-505-7477 or email your account ID, name and details to pingoverification /at/ pingo dot com.
- Clark S
- Bristow, US
- 1 Review
Poor Performance
I have used Pingo for at least 2 years - when I saw a slick ads on DC metro buses. It's been a very frustrating experience for my wife and I. We call Thailand regularly. I would say, conservatively, 90% of the time the call does not go through. After we dial the number, we get extended silence and then busy signals, busy signals, wierd ringing sounds, silence and clicks. This morning, in fact, I tried 10 times, but was unable to get through. The helpdesk, who have thick Spanish accents, tells us to wait a half and hour. I wait, still the same. I call back, they say wait a half hour. I tell them that is what you said before, let's get their technical people on the phone, they say they can't do that. This has been going on for two years. I am now searching for alternate international calling options.
Reply from Pingo.com
We do have a partial Spanish speaking call center based in Chicago to assist are multi-lingual customer base 7 days a week. We are sorry about your call quality issues and do have a process in place to set up a tech ticket to improve the route and termination. We are listening and hope that you'll consider using the service again when we can fix this calls to your specific destination.
- Customer Service
- Eric S.
- Palo Alto, US
- 1 Review
New client: Calling from my cellphone in the US to Cellphone in Paris France
My girlfriend is in Paris, France for a month and after spending almost $400 with AT&T I started investigating alternatives. I tried "Pennytalk" a complete joke and Skype which is fine if your near your PC. I am calling cellphone to cellphone both AT&T US (CA) cellphone numbers. The first phone call went through without a hitch and subsequent phone calls were better then my providers! I read the bad reviews and can't understand what the problem is? This is a first rate stand up company that I will recommend to all my friends!
Eric S, Palo Alto, California
- Jack
- 1 Review
Horrible Service with no product to even use
I tried to set up an account recently and thank god i did not give them my credit card number but used PayPal instead. I have been trying to contact their customer service for over a month with not one reply i have provided all the pertinent account info they should need and still not one email, call or any other contact. I tried to call the 800 number they said they couldn't help me because the account was not activated and their department is unable to help with anything other than call quality issues. they aren't even able to look up account info.
When I set up my account on a Friday I was able to log into it Saturday and Sunday but could not use it due to it needing verification once Monday came around it said the account did not exist. This was over a month ago and my account is still not active and I have not even had a response from a single Pingo representative. I have sent emails to contact@pingo.com, pingoverification@pingo.com, customerservice@pingo.com.
Not one person or even automated reply stating they received my request or concern. This company is a committing Fraud by taking money and not delivering anything at all.
- Ken
- SF, US
- 1 Review
No star absolutely, I wanna put minus
That's really funny that $30 is charged and shown on my online account, but it is ZERO balance when I attempt to make a call. I sent 4 emails in a week, and there's no response from this company. Keep away from this company! If you are fine with Pingo, that's b/c you are getting close to danger.
Reply from Pingo.com
- Chaithra
- Minneapolis, US
- 1 Review
No stars for them
I bought a pingo calling card to call India. The calls always go to a wrong number or it says invalid number. There was no problem at all when I was calling the same numbers using Airtel calling card, but unfortunately they discontinued the service. To top it, an auto-top has been done by pingo even though I did not select auto-top when I created the pingo account. Can someone please give me their customer call number (phone number, not the email-id). I want my money back.
Reply from Pingo.com
We wanted to respond on a Sunday to help address your concern with using the service. We hope that you'll contact customer service by phone so that we can set up a trouble ticket to review the phone number your calling. Please note that we make an effort to provide 100%c call quality and just reduced the rate to call India from 1.95 cents to 1.75 cents to provide value to former Airtel Call Home calling card customers. The service has an auto-recharge feature that you have to opt-in for this feature. Please contact customer service that is available seven days a week at 1-888-878-8838 and will be sure to review this and assist in closing your account, if you wish.
- Chong Wang
- West Albany, US
- 1 Review
They charge you Monthly Account Maintenance Fee
Nobody tell you that $.98 will charged every month.
I always call to China by other calling card. Thay never charge me Monthly Account Maintenance Fee.
Reply from Pingo.com
We are sorry that you needed to voice your issue online. The monthly maintenance fee is clearly stated across the website and in the terms and conditions. China is one of our top destinations because we charge only 1.2 cents a minute to call from the States. Pingo offers some great sign up promotions to earn a ton of bonus free minutes to call China. To clarify, we only charge a monthly maintenance fee for active accounts, we don't continue to charge if your account has a zero balance. We are sorry that you weren't aware of this one fee to use the service and take advantage of the low rates.
- Customer Service
- Cassiano
- 1 Review
stay away....was never a pleasant experience
Found them online and read the first 3 reviews on google...open an account that was under review for hours and then decided to call. Slow response on Cu. Service, granted, not the only ones with problems.
On the meantime decided to look more into the reviews. Fourth one brought me here and I realized I was in for problems. I wish I read these reviews first.
They actually activated my account when asked about it and charged my cc. Because of the delay, I learned of the monthly fee and other problems and asked about it. Then asked to cancel the account. They hung up on me.
Called back and since I always ask them to repeat their names and write it down, got the same guy. He told me I hung up on him, even though I called back and waited more than 5 minutes to speak with someone.
Promised a credit within 3-5 days....I'll wait and will update post.
Reply from Pingo.com
I'm afraid that we are in a high fraud industry and need extra steps in place to control new sign ups. Which can cause a slight delay in the new customer verification process. You could have contacted our account verification team directly to help confirm your account pingoverification /at/ pingo dot com. It also helps to verify your email when you sign up to speed up the process.
Customer service is available 7 days a week from 9am to 12pm EST to resolve these types of issues. I'm not able to see your account to look into the issue that you experienced but we are sorry and need to work hard to maintain a 95% customer retention rate.
- Jacob
- San Jose, US
- 1 Review
don't know what's going on
Me and my friend created accounts with them yesterday. I made the payment through paypal (i am a verified paypal user for more than 10 years) and my friend used credit card. But until now, it says 'Sign-up Under Review'. Yesterday I tried calling their customer support, and the guy hung up on me. Don't know what is going on, and what to expect.. :/
I will update my review in a couple of days.. and within that time, if I get to use their service, I will write my review on that as well.
Reply from Pingo.com
Thanks for signing up to Pingo, we appreciate your business and apologize for any delay in service. We have a verification process that can take a take longer pending if its a credit card to paypal sign up. This process can take up to three business days to activate. Its important that you reply to your verification email. Since we can't look up your account with this info given online. Please contact pingoverification /at/ pingo dot com to help speed up the process with your account info. In the mean time, please read this recent Consumer Report review that mentions Pingo http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/money/shopping/shopping-tips/best-ways-to-make-international-calls/overview/index.htm
Thanks for your business
- Customer Service
- Chandra
- 1 Review
The best calling solution ever!
I rarely write reviews, and part of the reason I am writing one for Pingo is that I am absolutely surprised by the bad reviews here. It just does not make sense to me. So, anyways, here is my Pingo story:
I am in US since 2004 with close ties to India. Between 2004 and 2006, I must have tried at least 20 different calling cards and services for my calling needs to India. In 2006, I needed to call a European country where my fiancee moved at that time. Since my calling service from Reliance did not provide calling to countries other than India, I googled for calling cards and that's how I was introduced to Pingo. Long distance relations are difficult and I must say that cheap, and more importantly, absolutely reliable and convenient calling via Pingo did play a role in our relation. We got married and now are both in US and in the past 4 years we have used Pingo for all our international calling needs and we are absolutely satisfied by it. Thanks Pingo!
- Fette Fette
- Washington, US
- 1 Review
I wish there was something LESS than one Star, They deserve MINUS 5 Stars
I have been having worse connection ever using there service. I had bad connection on each call I made and I keep getting disconnected after talking for a minute or two or three and asked to enter phone number again and again. It's pretty annoying, frustrating and on top of that I'm paying for that. It's ludicrous, absurdity, incongruity to pay for horrible service like theres. I should receive full refund and a letter of apology. I just discovered a $.98 charge for monthly maint. ! I was never told that I'll be charged "MONTHLY FEES"! They are THUGS.
Reply from Pingo.com
We're so sorry for your experience and wanted to personally respond back quickly to this post. Its hard for us to improve the service and resolve this issue with out collecting some information to see if this is a technical issue for how you might have pre-programed your phone or using the smart phone application. We'd also like to understand what country your calling to put in a support ticket to review call quality. Please call our customer support to review your account and resolve this with you.
- Customer Service
- Bianca
- Boston, US
- 1 Review
So convenient
I've been living in the US for 8 years now and used to try different phone cards, but Pingo is the best. Very convenient and reliable. I love how I can manage my account online. Pingo is easy to use, and the rates are great too.
Reply from Pingo.com
- Customer Service
- Enoc
- 1 Review
PINGO is an unethical company, trying to pass as ethical
Customer service is not bad....it is simply non existent! I think this is probably a website service being managed by 2-3 people. Connection is many times very difficult and on others the system does not recognize your account.
Additionally, they have fallen they to the "Greed Factor". When I staarted, there was no "Maintenance fee". Now the charge an monthly outrageous fee which erases any savings they offer. There is of course NO justification for this fee....they just want to have your money. My $5.00 deposited was depleted to $0.00 however I didn't make not one call. PINGO is an understaffed, unethical company which should be avoided at all costs. The good news is that there is a great number of other ethical companies, with low cost international calling services
Reply from Pingo.com
We have confirmation of unethical competitors that have bin posting false claims on review sites. We can assure the readers that we are an ethical Telecom provider that delivers an honest service. If poster “Enoc” can provide an account number to verify these claims, will be sure to investigate the situation. But to clarify our monthly maintenance fee is clearly listed at the bottom of every page of our site and in the terms and conditions page.
- Online Customer Service
- Ahmad
- 1 Review
WORST Company EVER, i wanted to put ZERO star,
This is a company or a joke. They don't have a customer service or anything so you can talk to. \i am trying to log in to my account and it says wrong pin, and when i click on forgot pin, then tell me that I am not registered with them. And when i want to register, they say your account is already registered. JUST DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME ON PINGO. THEY MIGHT BE A BUNCH CYBER ROBERS JUST TO STEAL PEOPLE'S MONEY.
Reply from Pingo.com
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- Mishri Someshwar
- Washington, District of Columbia, US
- 1 Review
Has put my account under review for days.. and now i can't speak with my family!
Pingo has always had some dicey service-- calls getting cut off, echoing on occasion, etc but I put up with it.
Then they put my account under "review" and won't let me recharge. The result? I can't call my family because I'm out of currency. Ridiculous
Reply from Pingo.com
We are sorry for the inconvenience that this may have caused you. We were able to locate your account with your name to confirm that your account went under review.
In the future you can email PingoAccountVerfication /@/ Pingo.com to expedite the process should this happen again with our credit card processor.
We see you have bin a loyal customer since May 2008 and we hope that you’ll continue to take advantage of the great rates and features that Pingo has to offer.
Sincerely,
- Online Customer Service Team
- Oltean Ioan Catalin
- 1 Review
Pingo overcharged my credit card with $1 - $2, but I can't access my account
The most worst company on planet earth. Don't deal with them !!! They don't respond to emails. They charged my credit card, but no service. Be carefully, they have hidden taxes. They overcharged my credit card with $1 - $2. 100% I want my money back!!!
Reply from Pingo.com
We are sorry to hear this concern. The website does list all fees such as a possible state taxes that we need to collect. You can call customer service to get a faster response or ask for a refund if we can't resolve this with you to earn your business back again
- Online customer service team
