I am beyond furious with this company. I may as well have titled this "All of the Above and More!" I think it's safe to say, this isn't the opinion of a couple of disgruntled customers. The general consensus here is that this company is ripping us all off!
As someone else mentioned, and I've been saying this for a long time now, people seem to forget that the loved ones of an inmate aren't necessarily criminals and should stop being treated as such! I've never been in any legal trouble, this is the first time I've EVER had to deal with anything like this. So to treat me like a low-life for loving an inmate is outrageous!
Not being able to see each other is hard enough on my boyfriend and me. He's 7 hours away. Writing isn't always feasible, and I can't always send him money for the envelopes, stamps, paper, and pen he has to BUY to write me. Talking on the phone is all we have to look forward to anymore and GTL is destroying that for us.
Number One: MIN PMT: $25??? I've seen other companies (obviously not used nearly enough by correctional facilities) charge WAY less than that for a minimum. $25 is a joke. They only give you 25 min to talk and if the call is dropped or you don't use the full 25 min, you STILL get charged the full amount of the phone call! Not to mention, this minimum amount is NOT what I actually get in my account! Which brings me to:
Number Two: FEES. Do I really need to pay 7.95 EVERY time I put money on the account? So I'm spending $25 to only get $17.05 worth of calls! It's absurd! I get sick to the stomach every time I see that number! And it is SO easy to spend the full $17 in a day when you only get 25 min at a time. Oh and then there's your option to use Western Union.... yeah they charge outrageous fees too so I'd be spending $36 (or more, depending on the method for sending $) for about three phone calls if that, while WU enjoys $10.95 (or more) and GTL gets $7.95. No thank you!
Number THREE: There is NO consideration here for special circumstances. I get policies and procedures. Believe me I get it. But It makes no sense to me that you can only transfer funds once. As a "courtesy." So I funded my phone number (A) for him to call me and a second number (B) for him to reach his dad.
When (A) got DISCONNECTED because I lost my job, I had to separately fund a third number (C) because when I called requesting a transfer of funds, the rep lied about actually processing the transfer. I called a week later and finally got it done. Now, his dad (forgetting I'd already funded an account for him) opened his own account for his home number.
So number (B) has been sitting there with $17.05 for FOUR months... I've gone through my savings, still no luck finding a new job and I can't get GTL to transfer this $17.05 from an UNUSED number to MY number (C)???? Seriously??? They don't care that all I have in my bank account is $24.95 (I WISH I was making that up) and therefore can't add money to my number (C)?
They don't care that I went through the trouble of getting another card to pay the difference either! They refused to let me pay with two cards. Only one card allowed! So here I sat, staying at my mother's because I can't afford rent, no vehicle, no job, watching my phone as my boyfriend called over and over between 630pm-10pm likely worried something happened to me because I always pick up and all this because I'm FIVE CENTS short of their ridiculous minimum payment!
Here's where I'm REALLY confused. For a company that charges so much and rips people off left and right, you'd think they'd wanna take my money! They won't transfer that $17.05 but they will REFUND it?!?!? NO sense! I need it on my phone account! Oh but here's the kicker! The refund will take 30-60 BUSINESS DAYS to be processed. In 2015? Are you kidding me???
GTL is a company of thieves and liars. If I could shut them down myself, I wouldn't hesitate in the slightest!
What company charges you a fee EVERY time you make a payment? The scumbags at GTL, and the scumbags that hired this company. It's a scam. GTL - and no doubt the privatized corrections industry - profit off of fees they charge each time you make a payment. The only way to avoid the fee is mailing a money order to a PO box in CO, and adding the payment takes "7-10 business days". I think companies contracted with the government go through a bidding process, so whomever accepted this offer is pathetic. GTL probably offered NJ the BEST PROFITS. I would love to read the terms of this contract. Corrupt government employees have taken over NJ.
Everyone, cut off the money supply by sending money orders! The NJ rep gave me this address:
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 does not allow exclusive contracts between building owners and carriers of any kind. Most people do not know this, but since prisons are multi-tenant, multiunit facilities, GTL is not allowed to have an exclusive contract. Can you say "class action suit"? This also applies to government facilities, as you can read below.
tradeshowinternet.com/about/consumerrights
I hope you guys can use this to your advantage to protect yourselves and your loved ones against this tyranny.
I signed up for a phone service from my home in New Mexico with Global Tel Link or GTL to accept calls from a correctional facility. Valencia County Detention Center ! I paid a fee of 5.00 for a non refunable deposit and put 25.00 dollars on my account using a debit card. Then I find out I cant access the account and neither could the caller to me. I called their customer service dept and was informed they no longer access that facility! I then asked for a refund. I was told they would refund my 25.00 but not my 5.00 deposit. I called my bank fraud divion(Bank of America) and turned in a claim because they had processed my payment. My bank contacted them and were sent a fraudulent phone account record showing I used it. I cant use it. I have the copies they mailed the bank! I just called customer service at GTL and was told 3 more weeks for my refund. But only 25 dollars. They sent me emails warning me not to turn this over to my bank. Now I know why! I am going to report them to the New Mexico Attorney Generals office and the Utilities Commision in New Mexico. I have heard they have done this to other customers and none have gotten a refund either. I was just told my account is blocked because I asked for a refund. This so wrong and someone needs to check this out.
I was informed by my son who is currently in LA County lock-up that many people were having the same problems we are having with Global Tel Link (GTL). We have always been able to receive collect calls through GTL up until two months ago when, they just would not let me ok the collect call, no explanation was given, just a recorded message asking for my credit card number to set up a prepaid phone account. Mama didn't raise no fool!!! I was not about to just give my credit card info to a recorded message after, weeks of calling my telephone provider and GTL and getting nowhere I went on-line and registered for a prepaid account. Now everytime my son calls and I try to accept it takes several tries cause the phone says I refused to accept the call, so my son has to keep calling back until the call can go through, costing me more and more money. Today I received an email from OffenderConnect.com informing me of company name change to ConnectNetwork.com and that all my infor will stay the same it's just a name change WTF!
Global Tel Link is a rip off! My 22 yr old schizophrenic son got arrested in San Francisco for blocking an intersection. Can you believe it??? Anyway I am unemployed and only have 10.00 in my account. I can not accept his call because I can not afford the 25.00, minimum they will take, from the jail that is literally no more than four miles away!!! I have called the station four times, no help!!! He is really a 22 yr old boy, not man. This is unconstitutional!!! I tried to find out how I could visit him and I could only make an appointment through the internet and all the slots were full by the time I found out. I need an attorney, this is ridiculous. I am crying as I write this.
Global Tel Link Reviews
I am beyond furious with this company. I may as well have titled this "All of the Above and More!" I think it's safe to say, this isn't the opinion of a couple of disgruntled customers. The general consensus here is that this company is ripping us all off!
As someone else mentioned, and I've been saying this for a long time now, people seem to forget that the loved ones of an inmate aren't necessarily criminals and should stop being treated as such! I've never been in any legal trouble, this is the first time I've EVER had to deal with anything like this. So to treat me like a low-life for loving an inmate is outrageous!
Not being able to see each other is hard enough on my boyfriend and me. He's 7 hours away. Writing isn't always feasible, and I can't always send him money for the envelopes, stamps, paper, and pen he has to BUY to write me. Talking on the phone is all we have to look forward to anymore and GTL is destroying that for us.
Number One: MIN PMT: $25??? I've seen other companies (obviously not used nearly enough by correctional facilities) charge WAY less than that for a minimum. $25 is a joke. They only give you 25 min to talk and if the call is dropped or you don't use the full 25 min, you STILL get charged the full amount of the phone call! Not to mention, this minimum amount is NOT what I actually get in my account! Which brings me to:
Number Two: FEES. Do I really need to pay 7.95 EVERY time I put money on the account? So I'm spending $25 to only get $17.05 worth of calls! It's absurd! I get sick to the stomach every time I see that number! And it is SO easy to spend the full $17 in a day when you only get 25 min at a time. Oh and then there's your option to use Western Union.... yeah they charge outrageous fees too so I'd be spending $36 (or more, depending on the method for sending $) for about three phone calls if that, while WU enjoys $10.95 (or more) and GTL gets $7.95. No thank you!
Number THREE: There is NO consideration here for special circumstances. I get policies and procedures. Believe me I get it. But It makes no sense to me that you can only transfer funds once. As a "courtesy." So I funded my phone number (A) for him to call me and a second number (B) for him to reach his dad.
When (A) got DISCONNECTED because I lost my job, I had to separately fund a third number (C) because when I called requesting a transfer of funds, the rep lied about actually processing the transfer. I called a week later and finally got it done. Now, his dad (forgetting I'd already funded an account for him) opened his own account for his home number.
So number (B) has been sitting there with $17.05 for FOUR months... I've gone through my savings, still no luck finding a new job and I can't get GTL to transfer this $17.05 from an UNUSED number to MY number (C)???? Seriously??? They don't care that all I have in my bank account is $24.95 (I WISH I was making that up) and therefore can't add money to my number (C)?
They don't care that I went through the trouble of getting another card to pay the difference either! They refused to let me pay with two cards. Only one card allowed! So here I sat, staying at my mother's because I can't afford rent, no vehicle, no job, watching my phone as my boyfriend called over and over between 630pm-10pm likely worried something happened to me because I always pick up and all this because I'm FIVE CENTS short of their ridiculous minimum payment!
Here's where I'm REALLY confused. For a company that charges so much and rips people off left and right, you'd think they'd wanna take my money! They won't transfer that $17.05 but they will REFUND it?!?!? NO sense! I need it on my phone account! Oh but here's the kicker! The refund will take 30-60 BUSINESS DAYS to be processed. In 2015? Are you kidding me???
GTL is a company of thieves and liars. If I could shut them down myself, I wouldn't hesitate in the slightest!
What company charges you a fee EVERY time you make a payment? The scumbags at GTL, and the scumbags that hired this company. It's a scam. GTL - and no doubt the privatized corrections industry - profit off of fees they charge each time you make a payment. The only way to avoid the fee is mailing a money order to a PO box in CO, and adding the payment takes "7-10 business days". I think companies contracted with the government go through a bidding process, so whomever accepted this offer is pathetic. GTL probably offered NJ the BEST PROFITS. I would love to read the terms of this contract. Corrupt government employees have taken over NJ.
Everyone, cut off the money supply by sending money orders! The NJ rep gave me this address:
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 does not allow exclusive contracts between building owners and carriers of any kind. Most people do not know this, but since prisons are multi-tenant, multiunit facilities, GTL is not allowed to have an exclusive contract. Can you say "class action suit"? This also applies to government facilities, as you can read below.
tradeshowinternet.com/about/consumerrights
I hope you guys can use this to your advantage to protect yourselves and your loved ones against this tyranny.
Best of luck.
I signed up for a phone service from my home in New Mexico with Global Tel Link or GTL to accept calls from a correctional facility. Valencia County Detention Center ! I paid a fee of 5.00 for a non refunable deposit and put 25.00 dollars on my account using a debit card. Then I find out I cant access the account and neither could the caller to me. I called their customer service dept and was informed they no longer access that facility! I then asked for a refund. I was told they would refund my 25.00 but not my 5.00 deposit. I called my bank fraud divion(Bank of America) and turned in a claim because they had processed my payment. My bank contacted them and were sent a fraudulent phone account record showing I used it. I cant use it. I have the copies they mailed the bank! I just called customer service at GTL and was told 3 more weeks for my refund. But only 25 dollars. They sent me emails warning me not to turn this over to my bank. Now I know why! I am going to report them to the New Mexico Attorney Generals office and the Utilities Commision in New Mexico. I have heard they have done this to other customers and none have gotten a refund either. I was just told my account is blocked because I asked for a refund. This so wrong and someone needs to check this out.
I was informed by my son who is currently in LA County lock-up that many people were having the same problems we are having with Global Tel Link (GTL). We have always been able to receive collect calls through GTL up until two months ago when, they just would not let me ok the collect call, no explanation was given, just a recorded message asking for my credit card number to set up a prepaid phone account. Mama didn't raise no fool!!! I was not about to just give my credit card info to a recorded message after, weeks of calling my telephone provider and GTL and getting nowhere I went on-line and registered for a prepaid account. Now everytime my son calls and I try to accept it takes several tries cause the phone says I refused to accept the call, so my son has to keep calling back until the call can go through, costing me more and more money. Today I received an email from OffenderConnect.com informing me of company name change to ConnectNetwork.com and that all my infor will stay the same it's just a name change WTF!
Global Tel Link is a rip off! My 22 yr old schizophrenic son got arrested in San Francisco for blocking an intersection. Can you believe it??? Anyway I am unemployed and only have 10.00 in my account. I can not accept his call because I can not afford the 25.00, minimum they will take, from the jail that is literally no more than four miles away!!! I have called the station four times, no help!!! He is really a 22 yr old boy, not man. This is unconstitutional!!! I tried to find out how I could visit him and I could only make an appointment through the internet and all the slots were full by the time I found out. I need an attorney, this is ridiculous. I am crying as I write this.