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Lingo Telecommunications
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2.7 30 Reviews

Lingo Telecommunications Complaints Summary

13 Resolved
17 Unresolved
Our verdict: Dealing with Lingo Telecommunications, which has an average resolution rate, requires some diligence. Research their service in depth and read a variety of customer reviews for a balanced view. Approach any customer service interactions with detailed and well-prepared queries to facilitate a better resolution process.
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Lingo Telecommunications reviews & complaints 30

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7:21 pm EST
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Lingo Telecommunications - Unlimited Plan

I took their Unlimited Plan called Lingo World Max – they claimed unlimited calls to 70 countries per month. I took the service and found out the calling limit is 5000 minutes per month. 5000 minutes are way lot of minutes anyway for our residential usage. So, I did not bother with their misleading unlimited slogan. We talked around 900 minutes first month...

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3:31 pm EST
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Lingo Telecommunications Fraud

Lingo is selling "Unlimited" calling plan but they actually lie. They limit the calls to 5000 minutes and on top of it they have hidden residential usage requirement that limits your calling number to 6. However, they have suspended lines of 3, 500+ customers for using over 500 (yes five hundred) minutes leaving them unable to call 911 in case of emergency. They put customers lives in danger. Many have reported this company to the FCC, FTC, Attorney Generals office. There is lawsuit against this company for this fraud and they soon will be shut down. And it is highly likely that the company owners and managers will be in jail, like the Enron fraud.

Their customer service cannot be worse. You must stay away from this company.

Do not sign up for this service. Please spread the word and save others.

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Syed Fawad
Sunnyvale, US
Dec 04, 2012 12:15 pm EST

Worst service ever, I got the hardware but no one setup my phone with the number. They never activated my account, servers were down for almost a month. Customer service is poor. I tried to close my account and stop using this service and never got entertained.They charged me service fee without providing the service and no way to close the service. I filed dispute transaction on my account and highly recommend no to use this service.

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2:30 pm EST
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Lingo Telecommunications Lingo World max a Pure scam. False advertising. They do not have true unlimited plan.

LINGO INC (phone Service), Primus Lingo Phone, Lingo VOIP, Lingo Inc, Primus Telecom Pure scam. False advertising. They do not have true unlimited plan. Their fine pint (terms and condition clearly states that). Also you give you rights to Trial by Jury for any dispute resolution. Read their fine print before subscribing to their service. There are many other services like Vonage and Joiphone will give you better deal then those cheaters. By unlimited plan they mean that your usage has to be “single-family residential usage patterns” (under their “Residential Use of Service and Device” of terms and condition). Which they never clarified what is that pattern, because My service was disconnected for using less than 1000 minutes in a month. Do they consider this as non single family usage? They disconnected my service after charging my credit card in advance, for which I never received the service and not willing to pay my money back. Stay away from these cheaters. They have already filed chapter 11 they are not a good company they just want to get as much money as they can from your pocket.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1639086820090316

Those who did not take Lingo service, please stay away from them.

Those who were cheated by the lingo Please file complains to FCC, FTC and Virginia Consumer affairs and consumer protection department as their office is in Virgina.

FCC : http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm

FTC: https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

Virginia Consumer affairs and consumer protection department complaint form
http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/forms-pdf/cp/oca/complaint/oca1complaint.pdf

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Lingo Telecommunications Suspened my phone line

i took lingo phone october 13th with2years agrement local&80 coutries unlimited talk.yesterday they suspened my line cause of high uses but i have unlimited talk line.i have two kids.my daughter is sick.she has brnocritis taking medication.two days i don;t phone line.i send them e-mail call lot of times but they didnot response me.without phone if something happen what can i do .please solution my problem please.lingo cheat lot of customer like me.please take action this company my e-mail address is [protected]@att.net

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sue smaw
,
Nov 21, 2008 9:37 am EST

I never ordered service from lingo phone service, , , this is fraud! I want my money back!

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John Evans
Atlantic City, US
Dec 04, 2009 11:52 pm EST

If you are planning on getting Lingo or if you have had problems with Lingo PLEASE READ! Together we can make a difference.

I have signed up for Lingo phone service in October 19th of this year. The plan I signed up for was Lingo World Max which cost 23.95. As the company advertised on their website this plan allows FREE UNLIMITED calls to over 70 countries and FREE UNLIMITED calls all over USA. FREE UNLIMITED is in bold on their website. Company also claimed it will provide 30 days money back guarantee. My 30 days expired on November 19th, 2009. However after the 30 days expired on 11/27/09 they sent me an email saying my accounted has exceeded allowed minutes. I was baffled because I didn't understand how I can exceed my allowed minute on an unlimited plan. So I called them and they told me they will allow 500 minutes maximum of international calls and 5000 overall. I was obviously upset but since I am in contract I didn't cancel. They mentioned nothing about my account being suspended at the time. On 12/1/09 my phone stopped working and I got an email saying they suspended my phone account and asked me to call the number provided. On 12/2/09 I finally got a hold of a customer service rep after being on hold for 1 hour and 8 minutes. I am not exadurating.
At this point the lady told me my account was blocked due to high usage since I used 4 hours and 16 minutes. You ask yourself is that unlimited? She also told me it will take 24 hours for the service to be turned back on. 24 hours went by and nothing.
I contacted customer service department again and they told me I need to contact Account Management Group. However everytime I try to contact that department it puts me on hold for about 10/15 minutes and then asks that I call them back during regular business hour. Only issue is everytime I do try to call I do so during business hour. Finally today 12/4/09 I got a hold of someone in that department after being on the phone for about 10/11 hours no lie. They told me at this point I have three choices:
1. Cancel my account.
2. Hello USA plan 21 bucks a month however no international calling for free.(They noticed I call call the country Bangladesh a lot. So they said with this plan I will have to pay 5 cent per minute for calls to Bangladesh)
3. Another similar one.
Seeing that I had no choice I chose option 2. And they told me my phone will not be back on until 12/9/09. So days without phone.

Here is the reason I didn't cancel...If I cancel my phone number will not be able to be transferred to different career. Now as soon as they activate my phone number again I will switch back to Vonage. And yes I don't care about the 99 bucks they will charge me. I will also cancel my Credit Card. So they can bill me rather than have access to my credit card.

I figured out their business plan...like many of you.

They suck customers in by claiming it's an unlimited plan. Within the 30 days they will give you no problem since customers can cancel during that time frame. Right after the 30 days they will suspend the account. This way you are stuck with their pay per minute plan which is what they want to begin with. Or if customers cancel their plan they will collect $99 cancellation fee and make about $150 off of the customer. Not bad for a month and a half worth of service. What a well thought out scam. I can't believe they are getting away with this in America. I have filed complaint with Better Business Beareu and FCC. If you have had problems with this company please don't think you can't make a difference. File a complaint! We as customers can't fight alone but together we can bring this company down. FCC and BBB can ignore two hundred complaints but if EVERY SINGLE customers who has been ripped off by Lingo complained, FCC and BBB WILL take action. I know it will take 30 minutes of your time away. But is that really much compared to the hours you spent on phone trying to solve this issue with Lingo? Save the trouble for thousands of other new customers who will sign up for Lingo. Please.

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Lingo Telecommunications Will re-run same charge many times to hold huge dollar ammounts from your account

I had been a customer of Lingo's for at least a couple of years and had not had too many problems with the service, just the usual outages, common to all VOIP providers. My wife bought two airline tickets a week and a half ago so I logged into our bank's web site to make sure they cleared and they had. While on the bank web site I also noticed Lingo had ran a charge of $248.43 and while it was listed as pending it was immediately deducted from my account. All was fine and well with the world or so I thought. Then Lingo emails me threatening to cut off my service! I called Mr. Beneflor Mas back (and after having some difficulty understanding his accent) managed to explain that he had taken the money from me 10 days or more prior. Also I asked that he not just run the charge again and freeze up $500 of my money. Mr. Mas was given the phone number on the back of my bank card and was to call the bank and fix this. When I got home Mr. Mas had emailed me to tell me that he had "processed" the charge, and after looking at my bank account I saw that he had TAKEN $500 from me! After taking a screen cap of the bank site showing his double error, I emailed him back at which time the JERK ran the $248.43 charge agian in retaliation for me having the nerve to complain about his stupidity. So now I have $750 frozen for a good part of the day causing my account to go negative while other charges came in! I tried talking to the bank and was told that there was nothing I could to to stop this fraud until either Lingo took the money or the holds fell off in 3 business days! I had to cancel the card to stop Lingo from machine gun charging the same amount again and again. They are horrible uncaring jerks, they have a to hell with you, we are going smash your face in until we have what we want attitude. Even after I SHOWED THEM what they were doing to me they just kept right on trying to cause as much damage as they possibly could!

NEVER DEAL WITH THESE LYING SNAKES! One day they will BITE YOU! I am telling you, years of being a high paying customer (thousands of dollars a year), they make an error and it's straight to slash and burn!

Talking to a supervisor (Katherine Manuel in my case if she even is a supervisor) just gets you the run around and lies about how they only ran the charge ONCE! The bank told me about at least 4! Mr. Mas admitted to 2 of them in his email.

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Lingo Telecommunications Lingo unlimited calls are misleading and not truly unlimited

When you are signing up for Lingo Worldmax plan with calling unlimited to over 75 countries. You are actually signing up for limited to calls to limited countries. Read the fine print in the Terms and Conditions. They even go beyond terms and conditions in reality. Their Fine Print in Secotion F Under ‘F. Residential Use of Service and Device ….. Residential Customer’s monthly usage is limited to 4, 999 minutes per month (the “Residential Usage Limit”). Lingo deems the usage of 5, 000 or more minutes per month in violation of this Section III(F), and shall subject Customer to the immediate suspension and/or termination of the Service ……….. (i) Lingo reserves the right to adjust the Residential Usage Limit at its sole discretion; (ii) in-plan international calling is limited to up to 6 (six) unique phone numbers to a particular in-plan overseas destination; and (iii) Lingo reserves the right to immediately, suspend, terminate or modify the Services, if Lingo determines”. And you have no rights. In reality they even try to send you an warning much less than that and they tells verbally that the limit is only 500 minutes for international calls. Of course when you ask them to send the Fine print for that 500 minutes they will not send. Please be aware of this kind of fraud who puts unlimited on the front page and puts limit in T&Cs.

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Jeff James
Sunbury, US
Jun 03, 2011 10:41 pm EDT

Price kept raising quality got worse and was ripped off when I switched to other provider and lingo continued to bill me.

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dave314159
, US
Feb 15, 2011 11:59 pm EST

I was a Lingo customer for 6 years before switching to a better company in Oct 2010. They continued charging my credit card and I unfortunately did not catch it until late December. Lingo "cancelled" my service at that time, but would not reverse any of the charges, so I had to contest the charges with my credit card.

My credit card quickly reversed the charges and considered my case closed, and in a couple of weeks I get a nastygram from Lingo saying I am about to be turned over to collections. This week I am disputing with their collections company and they send me a copy of the supposed "terms and conditions" I had with Lingo, which quite plainly state that they can and will continue billing you even if you no longer have a phone number with them -- until you call them to explicitly cancel your service.

I have dealt with many phone companies over the years and NEVER run across one that would behave anywhere close to this manner. Thanks for the link, gigagig. My complaint has been filed.

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gigagig
georgia, US
Feb 08, 2011 9:02 pm EST

Lingo is definitly a company with fruad written all over it face. I signed up with Lingo in May 1999. I signed up with I think "Hello world" plan. I call a country that is not covered within free country calling list but rates were cheaper so I signed up. I confirmed that I was not signing up any contract and that I will be able to cancel any time. I kept their service until December of 2010 when I found out they doubled my international rates without any communication. When I called them to ask they told me that it was written in the terms and conditions on thier website that they can change rates at anytime and that it was my responsibility to check the rates everytime I call. So I decided to pay the bill and cancel my service. They told me that I can't cancel my service because I am on a contract which I can't cancel. I told them that I never signed any contract and I was told that it is written in the terms and conditions that I am signing a contract for three years. I was also told that terms and condition may not have been the same when I signed up but when I signed up terms and conditions said, "Lingo has right to change terms and conditions at any time". So I didn't sign the contract but they changed terms and conditions after my service and slapped a contract on me on their own. The only advice I have is to file as many complaints with FCC as you can using this link http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm and selecting the option for Internet service and VoIP. That is the only way to get their attention.

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ExLingoCust
, US
Apr 16, 2010 12:27 pm EDT

I just got a call from Lingo, saying I owe them $166 – $99 “early” termination charges, and $60 for two months of service (after porting the number out) + taxes!

Awesome! Early termination after being their customer for 5 years!

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AAlkurdi
, US
Apr 10, 2010 6:16 pm EDT

I had lingo from 2006 till 2010, I have to say that calls quality and connection are great, I never had a problem in that regard, but starting a year ago, on international calls, they started charging much more then their published rates, I contacted them to see if their rates went up, and their answer was no and my charges were a mistake and I would be refunded, NEVER DID, for the next 3 months had the same problems and same answers and NEVER A REFUND, not only that but it got worse, they started charging me for calling countries that are suppose to be free within my plan, EVEN WORSE, some landline numbers I called were considered mobile numbers and was charged triple the rate, finally I gave up and cancelled with them, and recieved a confirmation e-mail thanking me for being a loyal customer since 2006, GUESS WHAT, a month later I was charged $99.5 for early termintion fee because I did not complete a 2 years contract, I WAS WITH THEM FOR 4 YEARS, another call and another apology and this time with an e-mail confirming that I shouldn't have been charged the termination fee, 3 MONTHS LATER NOW AND NO REFUND YET.
I researched my problem to see if I was the only one and GUESS WHAT, I'm not the only one, I'm really considering an action lawsuit, so good luck joining them.

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ExLingoCus
, US
Apr 07, 2010 8:58 pm EDT

This is their "unlimited" calling policy...

==============================================================
Dear XXXXXXXX

It has been determined through analysis of the traffic patterns on your account that your in plan outbound usage exceeds normal usage. This is a violation of Lingo Terms & Conditions Section III. Service; Part F. “Residential Use of Service and Device”; Part G. “Business Use of Service and Device” which can be found on our website www.lingo.com:

Please note: “Unlimited calling is subject to Lingo’s fair usage policy as specified in the Terms and Conditions”.

F. Residential Use of Service and Device

If you have subscribed to Lingo’s residential Services, the Service and Device are provided to you as a residential user (single family households), for your personal, residential, non-business and non-professional use. This means that you are not using them for any commercial or governmental activities, profit-making or non-profit, including but not limited to home office, business, sales, telecommuting, telemarketing, autodialing, continuous or extensive call forwarding, fax broadcast, fax blasting or any other activity that would be inconsistent with normal residential usage patterns. This also means that you are not to resell or transfer the Service or the Device to any other person for any purpose, or make any charge for the use of the Service, without express written permission from Lingo in advance. You agree that your use of the Service and/or Device, or the use of the Service and/or Device provided to you by any other person for any commercial or governmental purpose will obligate you to pay Lingo’s higher rates for commercial Service on account of all periods, including past periods, in which you use, or used, the Service for commercial or governmental purposes. Lingo reserves the right to immediately terminate or modify the Service, if Lingo determines, in its sole discretion, that Customer’s Service is being used for non-residential or commercial use. Not withstanding the foregoing, Customers on the Lingo World Max calling plan agree to the following additional terms; (i) Lingo reserves the right to adjust the Residential Usage Limit at its sole discretion; (ii) in-plan international calling is limited to up to 6 (six) unique phone numbers to a particular in-plan overseas destination; and (iii) Lingo reserves the right to immediately, suspend, terminate or modify the Services, if Lingo determines, in its sole discretion, that Customer’s usage patterns are inconsistent with normal residential use of Service.

G. Business Use of Service and Device

If you have subscribed to any of Lingo's business plans, the Service and Device are provided to you as a small business user. This means that you are not to resell or transfer the Service or Device to any other person for any purpose. You agree that the Lingo business plan to which you have subscribed does not confer the right to use the Service for auto-dialing, continuous or extensive call forwarding, telemarketing, fax broadcasting or fax blasting. Lingo reserves the right to immediately terminate, modify or upgrade the Service (and charge you the Upgrade Fee described in Section III(C)), if Lingo determines, in its sole discretion, that Customer's Service is being used in violation of this Section III(G). If you have a residential plan and are using the Services for business purposes, Lingo reserves the right to cancel the Service.

Your Lingo Account XXXXXXXXXXXX will be suspended immediately if you continue to violate our policy.

If you have any questions regarding the above, please contact Lingo Customer Care at customercare@lingo.com or [protected].

Thanks,

Lingo.com

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ExLingoCus
, US
Apr 07, 2010 8:54 pm EDT

This is the email that you get, when you sign up for "unlimited" calling plan and actually make normal international calls..

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Dear XXXXX,

Thank you for using Lingo digital home phone service for all your domestic and international calls.

We see from our reports that frequent calls are being made from your Lingo phone that are inconsistent with the normal calling patterns of a Residential customer. For security purposes, we are sending you this notice to inform you that if this calling pattern continues, it poses a risk of breaching Lingo’s Residential Use of Service and Device policy. For details on this policy, please see Section III Part of Lingo’s Terms & Conditions available on www.Lingo.com.

While we are happy you are enjoying your Lingo service, we ask you to please monitor and reduce the frequency and/or length of calls being made on your account. If you have any questions regarding this notification, please contact Lingo Customer Care at either customercare@lingo.com or [protected] .

We thank you for your cooperation and wish you happy calling!

Sincerely,

Lingo

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ExLingoCust
, US
Mar 20, 2010 2:21 pm EDT

I had been a loyal, long time customer of Lingo - I had signed up with them in December 2004 and had no problems with them until last year. Based on their advertisements, I signed up for Lingo's World Max unlimited calling. I paid a $10 fee to make the plan change, which became active towards the end of October 2009.

We make calls to India, predominantly to a few numbers. We were happily using the service when on Dec 16 my service stopped working. This being the only landline, my 5 month old infant and mother in law at home, we were pretty flabbergasted about the reason.

When I called Lingo, I was told that they had sent an email 10 days ago (which had gone to my spam folder) about the fact that my usage was excessive and beyond the "normal" residential usage. I asked the guy to tell me how much was "normal" and what was the meaning of "Unlimited". He kept on blabbering about "average use", "expected use" etc. etc. and was never able to answer anything specifically. When I asked to speak to the manager, he said the manager was busy on another call.

Finally, as I was traveling to India that evening, I asked what the options were - and he said that I will have to switch back to the previous plan (which did not have India free) - I could not restart on Unlimited World Max plan. It was almost that I was being punished for going over the limit of the "unlimited" plan.

I asked him to switch the plan and restore the service (while at Chicago airport, waiting to board the flight). The next thing I did was to order Vonage right there, before boarding.

Once Vonage was setup, they took almost 6 days for number transfer (happened on Jan 6, 2010). While looking up my credit card statements, I was appalled to see Lingo charges continuing on the card. I called them up to ask what the charges were for and was told that since I had not canceled the service, those were month charges for Jan and Feb. I asked the rep her name, her agent id and asked her to tell me what service did Lingo exactly provide in Jan and Feb to me, for which they charged my credit card. She said that even though I did not use the service, as per the terms and condition, as the account was still active, they had billed me. I corrected her saying that it was not a question of me "not using the service" - "there was no service available to me from Lingo" as the number had already been ported out of Lingo and I did not have any other number on the account. So if Lingo decides to bill me, it is charging for nothing and I am going to take this further - to the courts if required.

She then said that she will request a credit for the two months that they charged me without service. I will wait to see if it actually occurs.

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Tom Siver
, US
Dec 22, 2009 1:39 pm EST

Lingo Sucks! They suspended my service yesterday w/o any warning. When I reached some one in the(worst) customer service(~25 min, music even worse ), point me to the security department. Each time I call to the security department, it goest directly to the voice mail, and the voice mail stated it is full(how funny). This company chose to SCAM customer without disclosing the real facts.

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sabbir123
san jose, US
Dec 16, 2009 1:35 am EST

this is a fraud company. they suspended my line after 10 days of use. while signup they claimed unlimited calling plan but suspended the line without any warning within 10 days of use. while asked, they said their mgmt decided to allow 500 mins/month (what a BS). stay away from them.

their customer service is very very bad. waiting time is 30-40 mins minimum. customer service is very inefficient and cannot answer any questions, just forward to some other dept.

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3:52 pm EST

Lingo Telecommunications UNETHICAL BUSINESS PRACTICES

THE SERVICE ITSELF:

In fairness to the company, I have their router box, and my phone works. If everthing was just as all the original agreements we made, this deal would be STELLAR. There is some echo no matter what you do, and I often hear myself back on it. I can accept that. BEWARE if you are into online gaming. If you hook the router up and give it priority as they recommend, you WILL BE DISCONNECTED every 5-15 minutes. I discovered that the problem is actually built into the router's firewall. Unless you situate yourself OUTSIDE the NAT (no protection of any kind at all from hackers) you cannot bypass this problem with lingo in control of your traffic. If there's anyone else on your network, you can't take this option, anyway. This problem is easily solved by connecting the router to an empty port in the back of your main router. If you don't have a separate router, you are out of luck. Don't expect technical help from any of their support staff. Guaranteed they know less than you or I do. The lack of priority causes some stuttering when there's heavy net activity, but otherwise not too big a deal.

THEIR OFFER:

I researched them, their contracts, and those of their competitors. I even called them directly and discussed my issues with them before I placed the order, including the amount I would pay in taxes. The trial seemed good, the intro price was acceptable to set it up...everything looked ideal. Plus, they were offering a 25 dollar giftcard for signing up. They only asked you to stick around for 6 months, or they would charge you 59.95 cancellation fee. 30 days to try it for free, or return at no charge, no questions asked. Since the service was ok, of course I stuck with it. I had no way to know yet what was going to happen when my trial ran out, so there was no reason to worry about it. By then, they own you, and they take full advantage of it.

BEWARE OF THE WEBSITE.

Don't click anything unless you want to place an order. I clicked on softphone simply to read more about it...ONE TIME ONLY...and an order was placed for the service. This order could not be cancelled. Though it was on a 30 day free trial, I called and asked THEM to please take it off because I couldn't from their site. They assured me I would not be billed, and guess what happened? I was not only billed for the TAXES for the first "free" month, but I got fully billed for it AGAIN the next billing period. I called them, and they told me I was out of luck because they did not have record that I cancelled it. By the way, the same man who told me I would NOT be charged for it and that it would not be on the account was the same man who told me I had not properly cancelled it, and would not remove the charge from my account.

BILLING ISSUES:

This was a big deal-breaker for me. This bill was $15 more per month (almost all taxes) than they quoted me. They blamed my state, though they had the info when they quoted me. With 21.95 service, I pay 35-40 dollars each month; and that is for VOIP. I'm calling through the internet! The same taxes should NOT apply. So...in the 4 months of being billed, I've paid over $80.00 more than I expected.

Also, you are required to keep your credit card on file for them to automatically withdraw your payment whenever they want. No automatic pament at their whim, and no phone service. I am at their mercy for whatever they decide to bill me. I don't have a credit card, so this has meant my personal checking account. You cannot cancel it. They must have something on file, and it MUST be legitimate. There is no going back.

ARBITRARY CHANGES IN CONTRACT TERMS:

Part of the allure of this deal was that they assured me that I could downgrade to the next lowest level if I found I didn't need the long distance. It was free at that point; then as soon as they billing started, they added a 9.95 fee to change my service plan. Then, within a day of the end of my trial, I received an e-mail changing the terms of my contract. Now, I have to keep the service for an entire year, or they will charge me 99.95 for breach of contract.

What's more, I just found out from another man on the service that, at the end of his ONE year, they have just changed HIS terms to 2 years within a day of his contract being up. Are they going to do that at each juncture? This means, theoretically, that you will be on contract forever. This is clearly unethical; yet, legally they are allowed, because it is in their contract that they are allowed to do this. Most companies use this type of contract to cover them in extreme situations. It's always possible for them to exploit it, but this is the first company I've used that has. That makes it unethical, but not illegal.

I would run as fast as I can away from this den of thieves if it wouldn't cost me dearly to do so.

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Lingo Telecommunications Unauthorized charges

Lingo (VOIP phone service company) has changed the contract term from 12 months to 24 months and contract breach penalty from $59.95 to $99.95 in mid term for all customers by just giving 3 business day notice. This certainly is unethical but is this illegal as well?

They make people sign 15 page contract signed in which they had put a clause "Lingo may change the Terms and Conditions of this Agreement from time to time. Notices will be considered given and effective on the date posted at www.Lingo.com. The Agreement posted supersedes all previously agreed to electronic and written Terms and Conditions". Does this give them right to change contract duration as well?

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Dr D Thomassen
Acampo, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:34 am EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I have been a Lingo customer for many years, but when I cancelled was haunted with a false device charge of $75. My experience shows this company is logistically incompetent at best and malintended at worst, and I would strongly advise against anyone doing business with them.

Details: In 11/2012 I cancelled my accounts [protected] and [protected]. Verbal assurance, "you're done, no charges". Letter a few days later, "return the devices or we'll charge you". I used prepaid UPS tracking number #1Z88X96E9048443645 to return the devices from the 2 accounts (and left a second tra#1z88X96E9044685294 unused). Mayhem. They expect one package = one device, and by God, that's how it will be recorded. After much e-mail, it is finally straightened out and they admit receiving both devices. Three weeks later, a new letter " we charged you $75 for a missing device". Their internal systems are as poor as their logistics management! Here we go again, back to the phone and e-mail. They may have nothing better to do, but I do.

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John Evans
Atlantic City, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:34 am EDT

I recently signed up for unlimited calling to 70 countries. It mentions nowhere that there is a 300 minute limit per month. I just beg you as a consumer...DONOT sign up for lingo. I am stuck with a 2 year contract with them and I can only use 300 minutes per month for 23 dollars. I may as well get a cellphone contract. Please know that this company is a scam and will rip you off. Stay away for your own good.

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Binh
, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:34 am EDT

I was told upon cancellation that I would get a $99.95 cancellation fee. I was never aware of this when I signed up.
Lingo service was lousy at best. It only works for one phone and will not work with any sercurity system. If one has to use the internet phone service and aware of its limitation, magicjack is much cheaper alternative.

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Jarred
, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:34 am EDT

This is very bad Service. I took this service since they have cheap calls to India .But there service is really bad. I tried to cancel the service and called the customer service which goes to a call center in india. They wont cancel the service and gave me lot of trouble. Finally after several calls I am able to cancel the service. They still charged me with the cancellation charge. Do not take this service at all.

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lingo is a sham
Ventura County, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:34 am EDT

DO NOT do business with this company.!

They are 100% a sham.

Their email address are flase and they loop you in their phone system to get you NO help.

Please help me spread the word, it's not right what they are doing.

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dkfjdjf
, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:34 am EDT

I totally agree with this review. Lingo s***. I cancleed my service long time back and then send a bill after 6 months saying there is a past due. Well, I dont pay for services that I did not use. Evidently, I called lingo customer service a zillion times only to be answered by some **** music. So, I emailed them about the issue and they replied back saying I should hear a response from them in 2 days. Well, I dont know when their two days time get over ! This service really *******. Never ever use it !

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Melissa
,
Dec 04, 2008 1:01 pm EST

I second this question. I am filing a separate complaint complete with all the details of the unethical business practices of this company. The very day my trial was to run out, I received notice that my term was changed from 6 months to a year, and that cancellation prior to 12 months would cost me 99.95. They take advantage of every loophole in their accounts, and full advantage of the new laws regarding the legally binding affects of electronic signatures.

Basically, these laws state that the minute you "sign, " proof especially if you've authorized credit card activity with their company, you're saying they can do WHATEVER the want and you are legally bound to their every whim.

Something should be done legally to protect people, but I wouldn't have the first clue how to initiate such a class-action suit.

ComplaintsBoard
V
9:15 am EDT
Resolved
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

Lingo Telecommunications Fraud and scam

I switched my VOIP service from Lingo to Comcast in May. I attempted to make several phone calls to Lingo to cancel my account, but was never able to speak to a customer service rep. Instead I heard a voice message telling me that Lingo's voicemail box was full before my call was dropped.

At the end of May, I sent an e-mail to Lingo requesting that my account be canceled. This message was returned undeliverable. I got through in September to cancel and requested a credit for the months I had been charged since switching to Comcast. I was refused. I contacted American Express to file a dispute on the charges and was informed by my customer service rep that she had initiated the dispute and charged back $55.33 to Lingo for two of the service months in question. Within 24 hours Lingo sent me a 'Final Notice Prior to Placement with a Collection Service'.

My attempts to resolve this issue with Lingo have been refused. Customer service reps simply cite their policy that cancellations can be made only by phone. When I insisted I had made several attempts, I was informed that my claim was impossible since they have 24/7 customer support. I have requested my phone records from Comcast to support my claim. Even tonight I experienced the same voice message stating that the Lingo mailbox was full before my call was dropped.

Lingo has threatened to refer my case to collections if I don't pay within 10 business days. These charges are unfounded and I am resolved to fight to ensure my good credit rating and bring Lingo's business practices to light.

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katski
, US
Sep 10, 2015 3:52 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I cancelled and sent back their device 7/9/15.
I saved my TRACKING INFO and I am harassed by them daily. They want to charge me for August. Even though I did not
have service with them.
This after a long fight about them charging me 1 year of service for cancelling.
The rep. lied to me initially saying I would also be able to connect to internet with said device. LIE.
That is when the back and forth started in June 2015 and I cancelled. THEY say I did NOT cancel.
They also want to charge me for said device $75.00 that I SENT BACK JULY 9, 20125.
I get emails every day to this fact. As well as calls EVERY day. EVERY DAY. Sometimes 2 or 3 calls. I do not answer anymore.
I stopped talking to them due to the fact they refuse to listen and the money for said device was even put back on my card.
I stated today to simply delete but instead will save.

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/?tab=wm#label/Katz/14fae4883bf31529

LINGO Account Number: [protected]
Katz
x

Jellie Gaspay
AttachmentsSep 8 (2 days ago)

to me
Hi,

Your account has been properly closed.

We would like to remind you of your remaining balance as of September 8, 2015.

Please check details below:

Account Number: [protected]
Past Due Balance: $23.67
Due Invoice: August

Please be informed that it is imperative you reply to this email or contact us at [protected] to settle your account and make final payment. I have attached a credit card/bank authorization form that may also be sent back to authorize your final payment. A completed signed form may be sent either via email or thru to our fax - [protected].

Please be advised that the final bill on your account will be the charge for the shipping label - $9.95 plus taxes. However, if the device will not be returned there may still be $75 fee for the (unreturned) Lingo Adaptor.

Your early settlement of the account is highly appreciated

Regards,

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HemD34
, US
Apr 12, 2010 4:48 am EDT

Service for VOIP was ordered in August '09. It took several calls to properly set up service, but once it was established I was very satisfied. VOIP is intended to replace your costly landline charges and once service was working, we promptly cancelled. We live however in rural Indiana and cancelling the landline also cancelled the dsl service needed to run lingos VOIP properly. We attempted for several months to get a working dsl company in to replace the old one, however were not able to get anyting but satellite which VOIP is inconsistant with. Re-establishing the old landline and dsl would cost a large reinstatement fee and thus cancel out the need for lingo all together. I paid for the upfront fees, the 6 months service fees, although we only used 3-4 minutes of call time and a seventh month regular item fee. When calling to cancel due to circumstances, I was told the 'cancellation fee' which was never told upfront to begin with would be waived due to the circumstances. Today they have implemented the 99.95 cancellation fee against my bank account and the customer service rep, on a first name basis only, MARVIN, #311103 was anything but helpful and all but rude. IF YOU HAVE HAD ISSUES WITH LINGO, HERE IS THEIR FAX NUMBER TO CALL, FILE YOUR COMPLAINT OR THEY WILL CONTINUE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF GOOD PEOPLE.

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mpb2
New York, US
Jul 21, 2015 1:03 pm EDT

I was a Lingo customer for 10 years or more. My bill went from $17 a month to $35 over that time period. In February of 2014, I got an email that someone added a 2nd line to my account. I called them to find out what was going on. They said they closed the 2nd number and shut off "soft phone" service but there was no fraudulent activity on my account. Then at the end of the month I got calls from the fraud dept. telling me about many calls made to Jamaica and Barbados that I didn't make. They told me to change my passcode to one with 6 digits or more. They wouldn't tell me how to do it but that I had to call technical support. When I did, technical support told me that I could only use a 4 digit number. That happened again in the beginning of March, this time calls to Latvia. I again went through tech support to change my passwords. I got email confirmations that "a change to my account was made" each time. I finally canceled my account on 3/10/15. Then on my last invoice from them (or what I thought was the last invoice), they charged me $6400 for calls to Latvia. 24 pages of calls made from unknown numbers. I called and after about 2 hours on the phone, spoke to a supervisor who would only tell me his name was "Tom". Tom assured me that he reversed the charges. (I disputed the charge with American Express anyway. They found in my favor.) I also returned the equipment using their shipping label (but forgot to make a copy of the tracking number). They are still trying to bill me monthly for the service that was canceled in March, they added $75 for the "unreturned" equipment and the amount is now up to $6600. They are threatening to send me to collections. I made complaints to the BBB, the FTC, the FCC, consumer affairs and the VA Attorney General. The only response so far (the complaints are all fairly new) is from the BBB complaint and they say that they are holding me responsible for the charges, even though they are fraudulent, because I was negligent and used "weak passwords". I have googled Primus Lingo and there are so many complaints about fraud and misconduct, that I can't believe they are allowed to be in business. I am so angry that I have to spend so much time fighting this. I do not want it on my credit report though.

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wgourley
Alpine, US
Mar 06, 2014 11:35 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I subscribed to lingo VoIP in good faith, moved my numbers and used their service for about 9 months. Then they out a $10.00 add on on my service for a mobile app that dose not work on a blackberry. I did not order it because it would not work on an older blackberry like mine. I know it wont because I tried it the previous October.They refused to take it of the bill and said they would not because I ordered it. I told them if they did not I would move to another company. The customer service person in another country that spoke very little English said that I should do that if I wanted to because she could not take it off my bill or credit back the fraudulent charges.That was in August and September of 2011 and after 5 phone calls lasting from 1 to 2 hours on hold I moved my numbers to AT&T wireless but Primus/Lingo kept billing my credit card. I had to do Fraud complaints with my credit card and get a fraud block on my card. The card company eventually cancelled my card and issued a new one with new numbers to stop the fraudulent charges.They billed me fraudulently for 8 months after I moved subscribed to AT&T wireless and played hell getting my numbers moved.They owe me money.I would like to here from others at mailto:ada.legalissues@sbcglobal.net

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azarchitect
Scottsdale, US
Jul 01, 2013 5:37 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Several months back I received a call from Lingo that there was suspicious activity on my account. Long distance calls to Ghana. I sent them an email letting them know that those calls were impossible since at the time of the calls my phone was packed in a moving truck somewhere between Raleigh and Phoenix. They continued to send me emails to the effect that I owed them over $900. In the last email I sent to them I was clear that the issue was one of their security system and not of me making calls to Africa. Now they have turned me over to a collection agency. I'm not sure how to straighten this out but save yourself the trouble and steer clear of this company!

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JOSEPH JOBY
sunnyvale, US
Feb 06, 2013 10:08 am EST

I agree with all other complaints. In short just stay away from LINGO. If someone from lingo read this "PLEASE PLEASE THIS IS NOT THE WAY ANY COMPANY SHOULD BE WORKING IN USA. PLEASE DO NOT THINK THAT ALL CUSTOMERS ARE IDIOTS. You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.

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DJ Iceman
Las vegas, US
Jan 28, 2013 7:53 pm EST
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Notice how NOBODY at Primus cares to chime in and defend themselves nor deny any of the accusations above. These people are total filth.

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fellowpacker
Beverly Hills, US
Dec 05, 2012 6:15 pm EST

Canceled service and was told to use the return shipping label that they will send. The label arrived four weeks later and we sipped everything back. Now were charged $75 for not shipping the stuff back withing 14 days of cancellation. Unbelievable!

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Tome C
, US
Oct 19, 2012 9:11 am EDT

I have same issue today. They are worst in customer service. And lady over phone said they have lot more customer and they don't care if some one came and go.

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DJ Iceman
Las vegas, US
Jul 09, 2012 6:01 pm EDT
Verified customer This comment was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Lingo is run by the same ### that run Primus. They have the lowest Customer Service in the world and seem to go through CEO's like McDonald's goes through French Fry cooks. Obviously a very devious and decietful group of low lifes.

I was a customer of Telegroup prior to the Primus takeover and have been beating myself in the head for staying with tthem ever since. I'm well past their 24 months of new crooked Terms and Conditions for screwing me out of another $99.95 so they can simply suck my d*ck and watch me leave!

ComplaintsBoard
C
12:00 am EDT

Lingo Telecommunications Do not use it for your business!

Do not use Lingo or other VoIP Phone services for your business!

Lingo has been unable to provide quality phone service for my business over the last three years. I have had to call their tech assist (in India) monthly and sometimes weekly to "tune" the IP router and their settings to reduce echoing and noisy connections. Their technical solutions are never effective long term and the problems invariably return.

I am stuck with Lingo because the phone numbers they provided my business are NOT portable to another provider, I've tried going to Vontage and they could not transfer my numbers. Having invested in letterhead, brochures, business cards and numerous web directories with the "lingo" numbers it would be financially prohibitive to change them now.

A huge hidden cost the VoIP provider such as Lingo do not disclose is the cost of having your phone number distributed to the WEB Directories such as SmartPages.com, YellowPages.com, YellowBook.com, etc is that some do not allow you to ad your listing manuals as they only accept the directory listings distributed by directory service companies like Axicom.com. "Lingo does not submit customers to any Directory Listings. If you require your name to be listed you may contact directories directly.", Lingo Customer Care. The expense of listing your Business phone number in on-line directories and yellow pages will be many times the potential savings of your lousy VoIP service.

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