FreedomPop SCAM! Internet

Dealing with freedompop is a total nightmare they are a total bunch of scam artists that will rip you off for everything you allow them to do. First and foremost, the only thing Freedompop is interested in is selling you used defective crap that purposely doesnt come activated. Once you buy a device from them and it doesnt work, you have to fork over even more money just talk to their worthless asian/spanish sounding people that will give you the run around. When you order an item, FreedomPop will purposely screw up the address that the item is going to. When you complete the order form any Apartment or Suite number is purposely removed when they create the shipment labe. Even though you have 123 Main Street Apt 1, FreedomPop will purposely leave out the Apt 1 and have the item returned back to them for insufficent address. They did this 2 times to me when I ordered their worthless modem. Once they got the modems back, they didnt even bother to refund my account even though the tracking was returned to them. And other scam, they will start charging your account the second the item ships, not when you activate it. In my case, they started billing me for both modems every month even though the product was never delivered. 

Talking to Freedompop is a complete nightmare. Like I said above, the only thing they are interested in is selling worthless used crap to you. The second they find out you have an item and dont want to buy something, they immediately try to throw you off the phone call. Even hanging up on you and saying right to your face, "im going to have to hang up on you now because Im losing sales." Then trying to get support, thats where the runaround game comes in. You email them, they sit there and try to play stupid when they know exactly what they did. They try to deny everything, put the blame on you, and start asking you the most stupidest questions that only get you furstrated and going around in circles. When you ask them information, they will purposely lie to your face. 

Your only open is to file a chargeback and in my face I filed 6 chargebacks against these aholes for both modems, and 4 charges to my account for services not rendered. The second they find out you filed a chargeback, they remove everything from your account. What had services and you can look up your device, there SOBs will remove all information from the account and the only thing you can see is that the order shipped out. 

In addition, when they dont want you to do something, they put up a fake Error 404 page not found. Its done purposely because they dont want you to buy specific items, you filed a dispute, or they dont want to activate the device. Regardless of the what they say, they are the most worthless POS sub humans out on this world. If you do happen to get FreedomPop DO NOT PAY A DIME FOR IT. Get a few accounts and just use the 500MB for free. They are scumbag con artists that will be sued. 

We have filed numerous fraud charges against them and have our attornies filing complaints with both the Attorney Generals Office and the Federal Trade Commission. If you been coned by FreedomPop file a complaint immediately with the State Attorney Generals office In California.  https://oag.ca.gov/contact 

 Bought phone from them and Phone worked 'ok' for 1st 4 month AFTER I upgraded from FREE service to Premium Voice etc. at $7.99 / mth. IF you sign up for free service, you will not be able to make phone calls, you will not have voicemail and you will be Lucky if you can text. Once paying them phone worked ok, but with many deadspots - if they do not have service in an area - you get a message that you must have dialed incorrectly OR you have dialed a non-working number ?? - huh :) beginning of 5th month and could no longer text - called their 'so-called' tech support no less than 8 times over next 2 weeks and was told one of 2 things Everytime: your Freedom Pop Messaging app is not up to date OR youneed to do a carrier reset. So, after 'updating' and resetting about 5 times each phone did seem to be working for 2 weeks. The reps seem top be trained to direct people to do only do these 2 things!! Now phone will not even boot up -meaning their freedom pop App is not loading, so I can't call, text or browse - can't do anything with the phone that I paid $150 for and am paying $8 / month. Called yesterday telling rep phone would not even boot up and she kept telling me to connect to the Play Store to update my Freedom Pop App. She was not even trained well enough to understand that if phone woul not boot up, I could not do anything much less connect to the Play Store. After trying to explain this to her for no less than 15 minutes, she gave me an 800 number for Google to call them and tell them that i could not connect to the Play Store - HUH ????? When having just the texting issues 2 weeks ago - I phoned another carrier trying to get my phone switched over so I could actually use it - they got Freedom pop on the line and Freedom pop told me they would noy Unlock my phone because i did not haave 6 months of their 'so-called' service !!!!! So, i am waiting until the end of April which will be my 6 months and then they will probaably tell me they will not unlock phone until I have their useless 'service' for a year. Seems like I will have to buy another phone and get service from a reputable company - SUPER SCAM !! Definition of RIPOFF - FREEDOM POP BEWARE !!!!!!

I first spent about $60 for the Netfuse device and startup fee. Upon ordering I was lured into thinking there was some free offer for a MIFI. After I received everything I realized I did not need the MIFI - a redundant upgrade but now had both. The MIFI was billed to me for an additional 29.99. Hence it cost me $100 to get started.

I have now been using FreedomPlop for a week. It was my first experience with a wifi service. Without anything to guide me about how quickly the data goes and what it actually cost I opted to just use the internet in the usual way: email, surfing, some very minor streaming just to see if that worked.

Result: now that I have had a little bit of experience and have had to keep upgrading to now the 10gb plan of which I am on day 7 I have used 60% of that data plan. The reality is that it is costing roughly $10 per 1gb. Or, to break that down, .10 per mb. 

So, when FreedomPlot lures you in with "Free Internet", the reality is that it will cost you at least $60 for the setup (assuming you do not fall for the $29 MIFI). The free 500mb is really the bait. They are donating the first $5 worth of data to get you on the hook. Get the drift of this? 

So, as long as you are aware of what you are getting for the $60 setup - which includes a proprietary device that they configure to only work with their system, and that the first $5 of data is free, you are golden. Just don't let them turn you into their JUNKIE. 

I am on unemployment and needed a connection without a committment. I though I was getting a FREE connection. The reality is that I have now been them for a week and it has cost me $200.

First off, I have FreedomPop but do not have the large data plan like this user does. I have 1GB for $4/mo. I use my data for my tablet, but also watch my data.  And yes have gone over my 1GB and been charged for the extra data.  But they only bill you on the extra amount you use! So they tell you that they are charging you $10 for extra data, but charge you only for what you used at the end of thee month.  Next, I don't watch movies or play Playstation games using my device. So using your device for that reason you will be using a large amount of data regardless of your connection speed. Movies and games require large packets of data compared to reading a news article! My point is doing blame FreedomPop for your naivity!  If you use large amounts of data, you will be charged for it!  My suggestion, don't watch movies or play Playstation games, and keep your eye on your data usage!

this person filling this report really doesn't understand how much data a movie or PlayStation online use. I feel bad but i have to expose the truth. Freedompop is awesome so I can't let someone lie to ripoff report or themselves. I can burn through 10 gigs in one sitting using my PlayStation. uneducated is not Freedompops fault.

I agree with the woman above FreedomPop un-customer service is the

North Korean Prison Guards of customer service ! !  my 1st. experience, I went to set

up what billing plan service that I wanted to use, what happened ? ? my free indroductory

10 G plan got wiped out and that put me on the 5G plan that I was going to use the next

 month... Well it took days to get this fixed, after being lied to over the phone by some

Indian Phone Jockey that the problem was solved, WELL, it was'nt..I finally got to plea

my case and ask them " who in the hell drops a free, introductory 10G plan for a 5G

basic plan ? " , my next adventure with the North Korean Prison Guards of customer

 service was about getting the money refunded to my bank account, that did end well..

the next issue is about earning bonus data ... this is the biggest crock of s^%86

that they do, and the India support crew gave out my information and I became a

ID theft victim because of these uncontrolable pieces of sh78 that FreedomPoop

employs their RadiumOne customer un-service is the biggest pack of criminals

 on the internet ! ! / Planet / Galaxy....THE PRODUCT ITSELF ???

the hub box works great, too bad that I cannot say the same for the service..

First of all, the one of the reasons I am writing this is because of another comment, NOT because the original complaint had an error. I completely agree with the original report. . It was saying how good FreedomPop was and it ended with this:

The only surprise might be your nephew's game will stop in the middle of shooting spree.

For your information, I am a happy user of Freedompop for 3 months now. I used it for mobile devices.  Instead of paying verizon or ATT $50+ or more a month for voice and data, I only paid $10 for prepaid phone and $20 for freedompop data, and it works on phone, tablets, and computer. So on the phone, I use Skype and other services to make the phone works just like a $100 verizon plan. My home internet (comcast) will sometimes go out, and I use the freedompop at those times. Freedom Pop has been great, and I can only use at most 1.3G or the 2G a month that I subscribed.

If you do not know what you are doing, please at least act like an adult. Screaming and complaining will only get you this far. Good company like freedompop might pity you and give you back your money so that you can buy more video games, but your life won't be any better if you do not grow up, young lady.

One thing I have to mention is that this person has TERRIBLE GRAMMAR.  "Good company like freedompop might pity you..." Seriously? Why would I trust what you say when you can't even say it? Screw you, you're probably an illegal immigrant who can't even speak english. 

The second thing was that FreedomPop is bad. It just is. They charge you fees for doing things you didn't even know were going above your data limits. So I might use it someday since it's free if I'm careful, but don't get me wrong; they are a HORRIBLE company. I don't want to hear otherwise. 

Sincerely,

DP, a proud American who can actually speak english. 

Can you comment on the following:

1. According to FreedomPop customer service there is a “3 hour delay” in calculating the data used.  In my case this “3 hour delay” (at a cost for Extra data $0.02 / MB) yielded a surprise charge of $89.55 USD on my credit card. 
2. According to FreedomPop customer turning off the FreedomPop 'Automatic Top-Up' feature and trying to cap the potential for overages will not  prevent open and unrestricted billing for (3) three hours .
3. According to FreedomPop customer service there is no way for you (as a user) to prevent the open and unrestricted billing for (3) three hours other than turning your device off/not using it.
4. There is no reference to an open and unrestricted billing for (3) three hours in their “Terms of Service” Last updated on 8/20/2012 freedompop.com/terms.htm
5. If you dispute a bill from your credit card and they will simply cancel your FreedomPop account and render your device unusable.
6. When calling FreedomPop Support (888-743-8107) expect a 45-60 minutes hold time before speaking to a billing representative.

See:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/FreedomPop-wwwfreedompopcom-/Los-Angeles-California-90064-1652/FreedomPop-wwwfreedompopcom-Ripoff-over-billing-Los-Angeles-California-1201244

Warning for Customers!!!!

The internet service at FreedomPop is setup such that you WILL incur unexpected overcharges (so expect  to be dissatisfied). 

According to FreedomPop customer service there is a “3 hour delay” in calculating the data used.  In my case this “3 hour delay” (at a cost for Extra data $0.02 / MB) yielded a surprise charge of $89.55 USD on my credit card. 

According to FreedomPop customer turning off the FreedomPop 'Automatic Top-Up' feature and trying to cap the potential for overages will not  prevent open and unrestricted billing for (3) three hours .

According to FreedomPop customer service there is no way for you (as a user) to prevent the open and unrestricted billing for (3) three hours other than turning your device off/not using it.

There is no reference to an open and unrestricted billing for (3) three hours in their “Terms of Service” Last updated on 8/20/2012 freedompop.com/terms.htm

If you dispute a bill from your credit card and they will simply cancel your FreedomPop account and render your device unusable. 

I would not be surprised to see a Class Action Lawsuit over these billing practices.

When calling FreedomPop Support (888-743-8107) expect a 45-60 minutes hold time before speaking to a billing representative.

FYI – I have the device: Freedom Spot - LTE Hotspot

ripoffreport.com/r/FreedomPop/internet/FreedomPop-SCAM-Internet-1036778

I've read up on a lot of products like freedompop. My suggestion would be to look at other products. If you are going to use it for movies and games I would suggest a company called Clear 4G. It is $60/month last time I looked. With movies and gaming you would want unlimited internet, not prepaid internet. Just like the difference between Tracfone and MetroPCS. Both are good products if you use it right. (I wouldn't buy a Smart Car to drive thru the mountains. That is a job for a truck.)

I'm sure you remember that it was 500MB a month for free and 2GB a month for $18 a month. There are charges for using more than your purchase is for. I'd agree that the ripoff could be that it is unclear about the automatic payment system that you are able to turn off. You wanted it to cut you off after you used your data of 2GB.

Personally I see it as a hindsight mistake to not repeat and an example for others as a warning. I don't see any reason to not use this company though. Just make sure to turn off automatic payments. I personally enjoy this service but know that is it for simple email and internet use only. I'd definitely would not use it for games and movies or anything else that would eat up my data. Just be aware of what you are getting into and don't get upset for having to pay for data that you are using.

It is so annoying, and laughable, to see how this reporter had no idea how much bandwidth a movie cost, and just decided to have her nephew "played playstation" on her internet. My suggestion is, sell the playstation to earn yourself some money back, save those violent video games, use the money to take some classes and understand how basic internet works, and how much is 1MB, 1GB, 1TB. No matter which company you choose to use, if you are on a budget, turn OFF the automatic topup setting from your account, so you won't get these surprise.  The only surprise might be your nephew's game will stop in the middle of shooting spree.

For your information, I am a happy user of Freedompop for 3 months now. I used it for mobile devices.  Instead of paying verizon or ATT $50+ or more a month for voice and data, I only paid $10 for prepaid phone and $20 for freedompop data, and it works on phone, tablets, and computer. So on the phone, I use Skype and other services to make the phone works just like a $100 verizon plan. My home internet (comcast) will sometimes go out, and I use the freedompop at those times. Freedom Pop has been great, and I can only use at most 1.3G or the 2G a month that I subscribed.

If you do not know what you are doing, please at least act like an adult. Screaming and complaining will only get you this far. Good company like freedompop might pity you and give you back your money so that you can buy more video games, but your life won't be any better if you do not grow up, young lady.

Here is feedback - doubt you care or will respond but here goes because I believe it could be a great product and value if managed and marketed correctly.

Your customer service and response is way below average - out source and train your your people.  Telling someone they went over their bandwidth because it was a "very good connect" - currently in a Ripoff Report only makes matters worse. I still have yet to get a response from anyone saying - sorry, your device was shipped, there was a problem somewhere - TY for using us!!! Simple basic customer support.

Post everything - minimum use and why, overages - examples and explanations.  As you know - everything is out there on the Web - one search or click away - better people find it on your site in bold than on a Blog bashing you because they did not read the fine print or follow a link to read a disclaimer.

The home rates for usage is different and posted than mobile - your cost is the same, yet you charge different rates - why???  Come on...my 14 year old grandson asked why there was a difference when the same technology and networks were used (not how he said it - but he got the gist of it).  Create one product with several different access devices and set reasonable caps before you start changing a reasonable price per MB $.007 on the "Home Product" is probably reasonable and if the cap on the $18.99 say 60 GB and post an fyi "how to get the most out of Netflix and Hulu" that shows how to get the default data rates so they go get the most value - I would buy and recommend it to everyone!!   Don't assume we are too stupid to see you charging different rates for the same product and setting caps so low the average user over simply because today's social media sharing.

Make Freedompop popular because it is a great value with honest upfront disclosure of what standard tasks use on average and educate the consumer about ways to optimize the value they receive.  You may find many customer that got you for an "emergency" to sign up for far more.  Yes "Free" is going to attract a lot of people - value will keep customers and get them to spend more.

I spent many years in the wholesale Voip Telecom carrier word - volume is the key to profit, you will never gain market share and volume with your current business practices and that really is a shame because Freedompop could be great for the consumer and profitable.

 From FP's website:
"
Fastest
8X Speed
$18.99 / month

Up to 8Mbps
Ideal for photo sharing, gaming, and video streaming

10GB per Month
Extra data ½¢ per MB
"

Their website does in fact mention video streaming.

 How exactly are they a ripoff then. It sounds like you got the use out of their service. ANY movie you stream is going to be between 1-3 GB depending on what format you stream in. And you also let a CHILD play around online with your internet connection. Allowing them to play a online game without knowing the amount of data usage they would be using is irresposable on your part. You didnt wonder why your family member came to play a online game at your place??

Sounds like you did not read your contract and you did not take responsability for the use while you had it. Sour grapes much?? Try acting like an adult and realize that the problem occured because of your incompetence. Not the company you did business with.

I did say that Freedom Pop gave me $40 back from the $130 I was charged in overage fees AFTER 2 TIMES OF USE. If that's the best you can do, I'm not impressed. I feel that your company relies on vague output of information and according to your advertisements Freedom Pop IS INDEED presented as a alternative to home internet.

I am a developmentally disabled adult on a fixed income.  I ordered FreedomPop because I thought it was free, and received an email with charges of $0.00 from this company.  However, as soon as I got the device and started using the service, I went to their website because I got an email about $10.00 in credit, and learned that FreedomPop had charged me more than $30 (in 2 days) because I had 'overused' my data!  I have sent them messages but I have yet to receive even the courtesy of a response.  I am going to cancel the service ASAP and find another company, because I have online classes starting in May and I cannot afford to be charged $50+ a month just to get on the web to do my classes.  This company is a ripoff and I recommend to anyone to go with Clear or some other worthy company.  I thought adding $10 to my account meant that FreedomPop was crediting me, not debiting!  They are definitely a scam of the highest caliber.  

Jessica,

FreedomPop strives to provide affordable high-speed internet to its users, including a free 500MB of data every month. Our paid plans range from 1GB to 10GB a month, with pay-as-you-go options after that. These MBs and GBs are real measures of data. You mentioned that you watched a movie while using the device; the typical file size of streaming a movie is several GBs of data (as opposed to downloading an email, which is just a couple of MBs). Online gaming, as you mentioned your nephew doing, also eats a large amount of data - the longer you stream, the more data it consumes.

After trying to explain the situation, our agents did decide to extend a partial refund for this heavy usage as a courtesy. We do not recommend heavy streaming, especially with online gaming, on our current data plans. Our devices are best suited for typical, lighter usage - casual websurfing, checking email, streaming music, streaming an occasional movie, etc.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you would like to discuss this further. Thank you!