LINGO VOIP Consumer Reviews - Page 2

DECATUR, ALABAMA -- Lingo is terrible. I've used it for a number of months and these are my thoughts. It basically works OK, but there are phone number that it will just not call. Like my parents in Nebraska. It's a normal phone number but it won't work. Problems with a lot of 800, 866, 888 toll free numbers. Don't try to use it on the road out of a hotel with broadband. It needs to have all kinds of non-traditional ports open and the hotel is hesitant to open the firewall for you. I had one hotel put me in the DMZ to get it to work. Thankfully I had a firewall installed.

If you cancel outside the 30 days trial period they rake you over the coals with a $39.95 disconnect fee which is ridiculous. If you cancel, you are cancelled right away and whatever unused part of your month you have paid for is lost right away, and you are not reimbursed. They are really only interested in your money.

Whether you are cancelling or calling for service, make sure you have snacks, a bottle of water, and time on your hands. Never do it from your cellphone unless you are on the weekend and have free minutes. Don't do it unless you have a full set of bars on your phone either. What am I saying here... SLOW. You can be on the phone from 30-60 minutes easily. They prioritize you not based upon when you call in.

My box failed after a few months. No one could hear me at all. The price is just not that great for what you get. Skype or GloPhone are better values, and BellSouth and others offer unlimited long distance for the same price with better service and quality. Personally I would not recommend Lingo to anyone I considered a friend, albeit to an enemy I might, but it would really be a dirty trick. I'd rate them one-half of one quarter of a star out of a hundred stars.

BURLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS -- I tried Lingo. The first few days it did work great, then their service started to deteriorate. On some days I could not get a dial tone. Some days I would dial the number and get dead air. Eventually I would get to my called party and it would sound like they were under water, or they could only hear every word that I would say. Lingo sent me an email to try www.TestYourVoIP.com to see how good of a quality that Comcast was giving me. The test failed, it could not even begin the test.

Also, the box they sent me the LAN connector did not work. When I tried to connected the Lingo box before my router, it would prevent all network traffic to my computer. So I had to set up my Lingo box behind my router. I tried their 500 minutes a month plan. Their billing system is not accurate. Several numbers I would talk with or when people call me did not show on the bill. Good for me, unless I have to prove that I attempted to call a number in court.

Also, if some numbers do not show, then how do I know that the numbers that do show have accurate billing times? One of their features is CallerID, which only works with some carriers, not all. Why? CallerID has been around for many years, aren't those specs well defined by now? On their voicemail system, when a person leaves a message they need to press the # key then another key after they are done, this is annoying because no other system requires this so you are not sure if people are going to do it.

Another feature they have is when someone leaves a message they will email to you a message in wav format, which Windows Media Player 9 says it's a corrupt file. Another useless feature. I would log all these problems with Lingo service center website and they only say "call us to help". Sorry Lingo I don't get paid to help debug your crappy system. Even with all these problems they still need to charge me $39 to disconnect me because I used their system for less than 12 months.

LOS ANGELES, SOUTH CAROLINA -- I ordered Lingo phone service on 6/19/2012 and called to cancel three days later & told to ** to cancel the account. She determined that I had not used the service at all but offered me 'one month free and three months at a reduced rate.' I told her I wanted nothing but cancellation since I had signed up for phone and cable internet service from Comcast. She kept talking and I kept telling her I wanted no service - free or charged - from Lingo and ended the call with clear and emphatic instruction that I wanted no service from Lingo and would not pay any charges.

After I'd canceled the service they proceeded to charge my credit card two month in a row, so I called back on 8/23/2012 and got a runaround from four different people - most of whom spoke halting English. They canceled the account but said I have to call back the next day to learn if the charges would be refunded. This was the worst business practice I've ever experienced from an online service company. I strongly advise everyone to avoid Lingo. They are a terrible, predatory company.

These criminals are the scum of the earth! They overcharged my bank card and cost me three $35.00 overdraft charges! I emailed my bank statement showing their criminality and they refuse to reimburse me for the $105.00. I will be suing them in small claims court and I will be relentless in revealing their criminal enterprise.

Do yourself a favor and run from these creeps! Don't let them screw you as they have me. They don't even deserve a rating, they're world-class losers! One thing, revenge is sweet! Lingo, you screwed with the wrong dude this time, you filthy scum!

After having a harrowing experience with the Lingo customer care folks a few days ago (end June-2009), I was checking the internet to see if I was alone. To my surprise, I have come across many reviews written by people about their experiences with Lingo/Primus over the last few months.

As happens most of the times, one either does not do much research on a company, products or its services when the deal looks really nice or we simply ignore any poor experience shared on the web, thinking that these are either disgruntled customers and there are still many more who avail the services of the company. We forget that not everyone takes the time or makes the effort to share their experiences on the web through reviews. I appreciate those who have done this so that fellow consumers can benefit from their experiences. It's time we get wiser and not let companies get away with mistreating customers.

Only after one goes through a very poor experience does one look out and then gets shocked to see the experiences other have been through. For the benefit of others, I have put together a brief list of links that I think could help others if they are Lingo customers or do intend to become one in the future - http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=57796; http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=57730; http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=57569; http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=57559; http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=57228; http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=54316; http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=56515

Here is one where the phone number of a senior person at Primus Telecommunications is available (will be helpful for those who are having issues with the company or are being given a run-around by their customer service folks): http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=57528. Hope each of you reading this review wake up and don't burn your fingers with this company. BEWARE OF LINGO!!!!

Lingo customer service people take the prize for knowing how to make a customer mad. I called their helpline to get my issue resolved. Spoke to the staff who did not appear knowledgeable, but promised a callback. I waited for few days and did not hear from them. Called the helpline again and wanted to speak to a supervisor. The representative did not get the supervisor but continued to talk. HEY, LISTEN TO THE CUSTOMER FOR A CHANGE!!!!! I was on the phone for quite sometime and the representative kept arguing with me...I don't know where Lingo found such poor staff for their customer service department.

I checked with others who used or continue to use Lingo that one needs to call their senior management and issues get resolved then. I located the number **. Did want to share this so that others getting the run-around by the customer service department can call this number and get help. I sincerely hope Lingo get more knowledgeable people on the phones, who can help customers. I need a service that works and people who can help in the hour of need. I am not paying for poor service! If this isn't fixed, I will take this to the BBB and FCC.

CLIFTON PARK, NEW YORK -- I have been Lingo's customer for more than three years for my home phone. The service was down, off and on, but I used it rarely so I guess it was OK. I had a TRUE experience of LINGO when I tried to cancel my account. I kept a record of customer rep names and ID's as I called them approx EIGHT times to cancel my account. The conversation always ended as "your account has been cancelled, the bills had been generated by mistake and the money has been credited back to your credit card company".

I could only dispute the payments LINGO was regularly posting on my credit card even after cancelling the account but I could not make my credit card company to stop them from posting the bills (unless I cancelled my credit card and get one with a new ID). What a NIGHTMARE, NIGHTMARE. At the end, they send those bill that they were saying have been credited back to a collection agency (my first experience). HEADACHE, HEADACHE. Just stay away from this company.

If you're thinking of going with Lingo for a VoIP phone service, do yourself a favor and choose another provider. Aside from the fact the sound quality is poor, the delay and Echo cancellation are really bad. I thought the service quality was going to be the worst part of my consumer experience. I was wrong. The hell began when I called their customer service.

For months I told them of the problems I was having, and for months I was told these problems were being addressed. The customer service reps must be measured in call volume because they will tell you whatever it takes to get you to hang up and go away. Your time is worth something. Don't think you're going to save any money by going with Lingo. The service quality is poor and their customer service is even worse.

BOULDER, COLORADO -- They are so bad that I am reporting them to the Better Business Bureau. They turned off my company's phones BY MISTAKE, which they have acknowledged in an email, then guaranteed it would be on by the end of the business day. That was Monday. It is Thursday afternoon, I have called in 10+ times, and the phones are STILL NOT ON!! They are costing me hundreds of dollars per day that my phone is off, and not one person in their company cares at all. They are so pathetic that it almost seems like you're being "punked." I cannot emphasize enough how terrible, unaccountable, uncaring, dysfunctional, and incompetent this company is.

DALLAS, TEXAS -- This company offered me 40 days free service and $9.75 for the following six months and then regular charge of $23 per month for the international phone service without a contract. I was suspicious about this company from various reviews, but accepted it due to their good offers. Since I was vigilant of their service, I was closely monitoring them.

Immediately after 30 days they charged me full payment of $23, where I was to get 40 days free and 6 months 9.75 rate. I called the customer support and spoke to them where they said we have offer only 30 days free and then full charge. When I spoke to them about what they said in the beginning, they acted like they don't know it. When I told them to cancel my account, they want to charge me another 9.95 for return shipment, where the shipping address is very close to my house. They said I can hand-deliver it, but they will have to charge as per their policy.

I am happy that I did not transfer my line to Lingo, otherwise I would have been in a deep pit from which I can never come out. I don't recommend this product to anybody and suggest you to stay away from their offers, because they don't keep their promises.