GTL Reviews

Global Tel Link or GTL took money from me. I deposited it into a prepaid account to receive collect calls from a Connecticut correctional facility.After the account, I spoke with their representatives several times and faxed them letters to close the account and return the deposited monies but they never did. This is a horrible company, if you can even call them that. The service they provide is a tool that allows people to speak with family, etc. who may not have any other means of communication. Instead, this is the biggest scam to take people's hard earned money. It seems as if this company has the blessing of the BBB and state regulatory agencies since they have not yet been significantly fined, sued or shut down.

It is a total ** rip off. This has no connection to your loved ones or what so ever. They just make repetitive calls to get your credit card and take your money, with no results. Don't do it!

My complaint is against Global Tel*Link. I have purchased your service to speak with my boyfriend in DOC in Smyrna, De 19977. Phone connection was terrible. I spent the whole call trying to hear each other. For the cost of the service, the phone connection and/or phone equipment should be almost perfect. Price of $50 to talk on three calls and not be able to complete a sentence with the connection dropping is ridiculous. I was just charged $9 again today for a three-minute or so call. If he moves the phone, it loses connection. The service you are providing is not worth the cost you are charging. But you know that we as a FAMILY or the inmates have no choice in the matter. I believe your company is taking advantage of the situation, causing undue hardship to the families.

I deposit plenty of times in my boyfriend’s account and looks like my phone is always blocked. He is trying to call everyday and I feel upset already. Please do something. They are just taking people's money and staying with the service charge for no service, too bad.

I am being harassed by Global Tel Link. Thursday morning at 1:20-1:30 AM, I received 4 calls; and today from 6:34-6:44 and later at 8:30, I received a total of 4 calls from a supposed prison inmate to accept the collect calls. I hung up, and I tried to block the calls to no avail. I contacted AT&T. Their blocking equipment does not work on my phone. Help! What can I do! I do not know anyone in prison.

I have collect calls on my local phone service, but they say that I don’t. So I had to purchase a prepaid account in order to speak to family in the Minnesota DOC facility. For a collect call from Global Tel, they charge almost $4.00 to connect and 50 cents per minute afterwards—what kind of absurd business is this? This is highway robbery and their doing it legally. Why? My children weren't able to speak to their father—that's huge.

Everyone answers to someone except God. Go on line and e-mail your complaints to the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). They are the ones who may be able to remedy this con game that Global Tel Link plays.

I’ve had messages left on my phone, recordings: “to accept charges from a prison inmate.” So far there’s been 2 calls, but it looks like there will be more! Help! How can I block these calls since they are coming from different prisons? Last night it was another number, so I can't block each and every one. There has to be some way that prisons themselves can eliminate cell phones. They can be traced electronically by the towers they are bounding off of.

I have a prepaid account. I was told to disregard any invoices, however, I'm being billed $11.00 for calls I should be paying for. If it's prepaid, why am I paying more? I have had much stress over this matter. And I have reported this to the BBB!

My boyfriend was arrested on Oct. 24, 2010. I knew that he would try to call me so I made sure to have money on my Visa. Global Tel Link charged my credit card for the $25 prepaid fee and I received all of one call from him on Monday, the 25th. The jail released him on October 26th. So I called Global Tel Link on the 27th and asked them to refund the balance of my money--whatever was left after the processing fee and paying for the one call.

My daughter is in jail in Waco, TX and I started getting these collect calls through Global Tel Link. I signed up for the account as I have not been able to find my daughter in over a month. It cost almost $5.00 to set up the account. I was only able to get three calls from my daughter until the funds ran out. I received eight minutes and 21 seconds worth of calls. All for $25.00! Outrageous! I am filing a complaint with the TX BBB, TX State Attorney General and the FCC. This kind of extortion should be criminalized! I am unemployed. My daughter is in jail in another city. Now, I can't talk to her. I don't have another $25.00 for calls that aren't even ten minutes! This should be considered as an extortion!

I have been battling GTL for over a year. One thing I know is that they make up their rules as they go. I've sent numerous complaints to the FCC and ICC about their behavior. The "kickbacks" to the state correctional facilities pretty much drive their business model. I know in Virginia that each vendor to the VADOC has to deal with corrupt officials and politicians. The FBI is conducting an investigation concerning the state's business practices involving interstate contractors.

This company is ** rip off; it's a shame that you can't speak with a loved one in jail without being ripped off. My husband is not a criminal but being detained under immigration status. I called and spoke with an operator and he asked me how much would you like to put on the account. I said $50. He never said the fee would come off the 50 dollars. Now I didn't mind paying the fee but I wanted to start of with a $50 balance because one phone call cost $25. This is a shame that this company is allowed to do this and no one has been able to put a stop or have this business closed down for good.

GTL blocked my home phone from receiving collect calls from the jail my son was in. My private phone! Does anyone remember Ma Bell? And why are she gone and GTL isn't? Ma Bell wasn't slipping profits to the prison union! All their hidden fees, etc. A 15-minute call went from $5.65 to about $11.00. But the worse of it is their mistakes and poor service interfered with receiving some real important calls and interfered with helping my son’s legal defense.

Global Tel Link stole my money!

I first contacted Global Tel*Link on October 17, 2010 and they were not available to speak with at the time I called. The reason for my call was I had made a $25.00 payment per the automated system that advised if I would like to take a collect call from an inmate, that was holding on the line for me, which I had done and successfully completed two calls without any issues. The next call came through and the Global Tel*Link automated system advised me that I needed to make another $25.00 payment which I knew was not correct. I tried to contact the 1-866-230-7761 because I know I should still have funds available, however, the automated system was giving me false information and I was forced to make another $25.00 payment instead of being able to use the remaining of my $25.00.

As a lot of people before me reported, this company is ridiculous. Many of the inmates are broke or depend on the funds that their families or friends send them. To slam these people with no justified cost for the collect service is unbelievable. I would understand that a collect call would be more than a usual call, maybe up by 50% but $25 for 5 minutes is not justified by any means.

They put a block on my phone. I later figured out it is because they want everyone to have a prepaid account because you spend more money that way. If I put 25 dollars on the account, it's all gone after 5 minutes. There has to be a way to stop them.

The only way inmates in Los Angeles County Jail can communicate with family is through collect call on the Global Tel Link network. On three occasions, my daughter has tried to contact me. Each time the connection has had so much static that I couldn't make out what she was trying to tell me. When I called Global Tel Link about this problem, I was told that they couldn't discuss it with me. I think it's time for an attorney. I haven't received the bill yet but I'm sure I'm not alone in this problem. I'm certain many families are experiencing similar difficulty.

This company is a rip off. My provider is AT&T and inmate calls have always come through. My nephew was moved to Cuyahoga County, and the service is asking for a prepaid account. If he is moved prior to the money being used, refund will cost $5.00. I do not want to change providers, and it is unfair to make people prepay. The other comments: there are hidden fees. The prison system charges the family for supporting their family members while incarcerated, the cost of food, essentials, etc. are triple what it is out in the "free society". The prison system purchase in bulk, at a steep discount, so what gives.

Global Tel Link is a rip-off. I paid $50 vis my debit card on 6/16/10. The inmate was released on 6/17/10. Subsequently, the inmate was placed back in county jail on 9/17/10. The inmate tried to make a collect call using the balance of the account and Global Tel Link now claims there isn't a balance left on the account. When called they cannot explain the discrepancy, only offering me to place another $50 on account for their services. Plus they want to charge another $15 as a courtesy to set the account back up after charging a $15 original set up fee.

On August 7, 2010, I called the prepaid phone number and I entered my debit card number in to put $25.00 on my account. My first transaction was declined by Global Tel Link so I called back right away and the second transaction was accepted. When I looked at my bank statement, there were two $25 transactions deducted from my bank account. When I called Global Tel Link, they said I needed to fax a letter from my bank stating that there were 2 transactions on the same day deducted from my account. I did this on August 16th. I gave them time to respond but never heard from them. So I filed a dispute with my bank and Global Tel Link then sent back $25 out of my current account and blocked my phone.

The Global Link telephone lines are a monopoly, and a violate consumer rights on how to receive collect calls from inmates in custody. There is only one telephone service allowed and its through Global Link, which returns some of the funds back to the jail. This is a money making monopoly, high price phone call. Instead of letting consumers with telephones pay a lower price the jail via Global Link is charging an amount that is deplorable. The smallest amount of minutes that can be purchased is for $35. From that $35 dollars a processing fee of $5.99 is taken. Then when you do receive a call the first minute is $4.99 and $85cents each additional minutes.

The previously named company above has, on multiple occasions, charged my card for calls I did not receive. It would tell me my card was declined and then refuse to let me speak to my husband. Then I would see that I was actually charged when my bank statement came, even though no money was added to my account. My bank, which is a national bank, attempted to contact the company for fraudulent charges and to have my money refunded. The company insisted there was nothing they could do to refund my money.

My husband is currently in prison. We have no choice but to use Global Tel link to talk. My phone calls just went from $6.44 for 20 minutes to $8.77 for 20 minutes. I nor his children did not go to prison, he did. So, tell me why I have to pay so much just to talk to him. This is a car payment! It is awful that this company is taking advantage of the families of Alabama inmates. What is even worse is that our state is allowing this!

Our son tried to call us collect through Global Tel Link from the Volusia County jail in Florida. Although we were charged, we could not understand anything he said. There were multiple calls. There was no other way for my son to call me. There were collect charges and there was mental anguish for my son and for me.

On July third 2010 Scam! Alert! Global Tell Link is a scam, do not use or give credit card number, they will not help you after they charge huge fees for each call and Be ready to talk fast! $25.00 = about 5 minutes plus your card can be billed more than once and you will be lucky if you ever talk at all. Problems with service and took so much of my time. I only got recording for help and it didn't help.

Globe Tel is a prepaid phone service for inmates. For $25, there's a $5.25 service charge, and then they charge almost a dollar a minute. This is not right! There's also no way to track your minute and cost. I called, and they yawned when I complained about the cost. There are no other choices to be able to speak to inmates at certain prisons. If you're lucky, you get 20 minutes for $25, and the number comes up as a local phone number, so it's not because of the miles between the prison, and the home. I have spent hundreds of dollars in 3 weeks of time, with these outrageous costs.

I keep refusing calls they keep putting through. I have had Verizon, put a block on for collect calls and their calls still keep getting through because of Global Tel Link. They call and get my answering machine. I am billed because it picks up a voice on the answering machine. Someone needs to do something to stop Global Tel Link from this practice.

I've been billed fraudulent. I neither have nor know anyone in Houston, TX. I have a loved one who's in Carson City, MI. They have billed me for calls I have not accepted and no one else lives in my household or stay here while I'm gone. Therefore, I will not be paying this bill of $109.26 to Global Tel*Link. I see they have complaints of people not receiving calls from their loved ones so maybe they've crossed their lines, in any case I did not receive any calls from Houston, TX, and I will not pay for them!

Global Tel*Link placed a block on my phone for no reason. I have been told it was because of a new system. This was only after waiting 4 hours for a call-back from their automated system the second time I tried. The first time I never got a call-back. I was told to fax a copy of my phone bill because they will no longer bill my phone company directly "because of their new system". After waiting 7 days, I tried to call them again. Guess what, I waited 2.5 hours for a call-back and asked for a Supervisor. When I questioned the Supervisor, she told me to hold on and never came back. Someone picked up the phone after 15 minutes of waiting and apologized and told me there was nothing she could do to speed up the process. My loved one is in prison and can no longer call me collect because of them.

My daughter was arrested on June 11, 2010 today is June 19 I finally was able to complete a account after many, many attempts to complete a transaction only to say my credit card was declined which was not the case they gave me the automotive center. That was no help like I mentioned I was successful in completing an account I was never informed about how much the service charges would be or how much it was for each min Global Tel link is a major scam.

My first experience with Global Tel*Link was a nightmare. Their automated sign up never finished with the full instruction recording, so the jail gave me their number. I called with no human response, setup up a prepaid account with no instructions on how much minutes would cost, how much setup fee was. I'm so frustrated I cannot go on; it was just unbelievable what took place. One accept call from my son, the first time in jail (5 minutes) used up the card and they wanted more. I cannot afford this at $25 dollars per 5 minutes. I'm wondering if this city’s county jail systems are getting a kick back from Global Tel*Link as I have a hard time believing they support a scam like this.

I place 25 and 50 dollars on prepaid account with GTL and every two or three calls they take money off of the account by saying that I only have 90 seconds left on the call as soon as I accept it. They charge the same amount for 90 seconds as they do for the 15 minutes that I am supposed to get for each call. Then there are times when there is money on the account and when my calls come through, the same that I do not have enough funds on my account. Even when I turn around and call to check and the money is there, they do not allow the call to come through. Is this company so powerful that there is not an honest lawyer out there willing to take this on?

I never get to talk to anyone. There is an automated system that will not call anyone back. None of the numbers have live people answering. Are there really people working there? I do not know how much I am getting charged! Why do these DOC facilities get away with ripping off people? They can charge anything they want, because they know that there are so many young men in prison that have mothers who need to talk to them. This is ridiculous and unconstitutional.

I keep calling to find out how much I will be charged for long-distance calls from a correctional facility. But I get routed to an automated callback. Why are all these DOC-calling facilities all crooked as hell?! I do not get calls back. I have no Idea what I am being charged.

I think the state of California is missing out on a lucrative money making opportunity. They contract through this service that continuously rips people off. Where are the crime fighters on this issue? If California is so broke, maybe they should consider getting into the prison phone business. It seems to be doing well. Why do I have a phone company for collect calls when I have to go through this fraudulent company?

I am not sure if it is the customer service or the company, but it has the worst service ever. I was charged for a call made four months ago and I was trying to find out why. The customer service rep's respond was to just pay it. My issue was, is it a legit call and why did it take so long to post? The rep's exact words, "I do know but you need to pay for it." I was then transferred to ILD, their billing department or billing company. ILD's resonse was, "We just send the bill, you need to call Global Tel Link about the charges." It was one big circle of blame. After three hours of phone calls, I gave up.

I received a call saying it was from an inmate at a certain location wanting me to accept a collect call on my cell phone and it was using a company called Global Tel*Link. I didn't accept the call. I just hung up but they tried it again and I did the same thing.

This company is a scam at its finest! I was told in order to receive collect calls from a loved one that is incarcerated for a short time, I would have to open a prepaid account with Global Tel*Link. I did and added funds to the account in the amounts of $25 and $50. The first call I received cost me the entire $25 to talk maybe six minutes.

When you talk to Global Tel Link, all you get is a different information about what you need to do to call a loved one. It is a very horrible experience. I never had done this before, so I started by my first call on 4-30-10. Mind you I have no credit cards or debit cards, so the lady told me to get a re-loadable card at Walmart, which I did. Somehow when I activated the card and called Global Tel Link, this is when it started. Everybody kept asking me different things and I dealt with a lot of numbers these people kept asking for so somehow the numbers got mixed up, and they were declining my card. Not knowing what to do next, I kept calling. Most of the people were so rude that I wanted to cry, so I asked to speak to a supervisor.

Provides fee for service telephone communication for correctional facilities. I received automated collect call from Riverside County Jail (California). When accepted an inmate posing as a "volunteer" stated he was given my phone number and a request to call me as I was his relative and needed medical help. I was then asked to dial *72 and another phone number. I later found that the inmate can then make phone calls and charge them to my phone number. When I contacted Global Tel Link, their only response to this fraudulent use of my phone account was that "well, you accepted the collect call". I was billed for 5 long distance phone calls.

I have been trying to get my cell phone line approved to receive collect calls from a CA State Prison. So far, I have been unsuccessful. I have faxed my info 3 times that GTL has requested to approve my phone line and I have emailed my info to GTL 2 times. Each time this is done, I have to wait a total of 5 days just to find out whether my phone line has been approved. So far, each time I have called, I am told by GTL customer service that my account has not been set up yet because they have not received my information. It's been roughly over 45 days now and it's upsetting because I am unable to give my emotional, mental and spiritual support to a loved one.

I was forced to make an account to speak with my son. I paid over $300.00 within a two-week period and received 6 calls. When I asked to have this account cancelled, I was told they could. However, my son would not be able to call me on my home or cell (since I did the same with it and paid $250.00) phones. For over 15 years, my son's call was paid through my phone bill. My Global part of the AT&T bill was between $30.00 and $50.00 tops a month. This company should be brought to justice quick.

I paid for the inmate calling service in December 2009. Yesterday, I received a call that my account had no money on it. I received no calls from December till present. I put another $25.00 deposit because I was getting a call. The call didn't go through. The person called me again; again the message said I needed to place another deposit so the call could go through. I called two numbers and sent an email to GTL. Message says we're experiencing a high volume of calls, call later. This message remains for the whole day. The other numbers listed for company transfer to the message to call back. No response to my email. I lost $50.00. My girlfriend is not able to contact me and receive my emotional support.

I receive calls from a correctional institute. MCI was a mess. I thought Global would be better but it's actually worse. After paying my bill on time for three months, my calls were increased from 5 to 11. My calls were blocked because I was told that I went over my spending limit. I just finished reading complaints from other customers. We need help. Where do we start? My son is seven and a half hours away. I can't see him as often as I would like, so I rely on phone calls. It's depressing to wait for him to call and find out that they (Global) put a block on your phone.

I have been using Global Tel Link to speak with my husband for the past 3 months with no problems other than the cost of the call, which depends on the facility. However, I am a "single" mother of 2 and can only afford the $25 phone calls a couple times a month. I noticed on my most recent bank statement three $50 charges from this company in one day no less. I know I did not make these purchases but have been unable to contact anyone and am losing hope that I will ever see that money again. $150 is a lot of money to someone especially if you're basically giving it away. This ordeal has cost me great economic and emotional stress. I honestly felt physically ill when I found this out. I have to have some contact with my husband and this is my only option as far as phone calls go. But I feel leery to continue to give these people my credit card information.

I think Global Tel Link prepaid calling is illegal. You get to talk to your loved one twice for $25.00, this is truly a rip off. I am on a fixed income and I have to pay $25 or $50 each time I want to talk to my son. This is outrageous to be in the United States of America. This has caused stress, high blood pressure, pain and suffering, and economic hardship just to talk to my son.

I was extremely upset that I couldn’t receive collect calls because of a block that GTL put on my phone even though I never went over their "limit." And my phone bills were paid on time every month. I work for a major phone company myself and we would never get away with the ** GTL is pulling. I was told to set up a prepaid account which I did and it worked from September thru December; then all of a sudden the auto system wouldn’t let me use the same debit card I use every time. It was saying my expiration date was invalid. It’s not! Then all of a sudden it worked like 2 weeks later. Now, once again my same expiration date is "invalid."

Persons with inmates in prison are being ripped off. I have AT&T and I have to pay 2 long distance companies for use of my telephones. That makes no sense. Our terms of conditions of telephone service is not being honored..Why did I have to pay Global Tel Link for what I already have on my telephone? That is too much and I see no need for it. I pay for phone call through my own phone service. I'm paying more for this than my telephone bill in full. I am being ripped off.

My fiance is currently incarcerated, and it is very hard for me to talk to him through this company. I researched their fees before I put any money into it. I was told the calls were $3.75 a piece, and there was a $4.00 fee every time I recharged my account. This was very steep to me, but it's the only way I get to talk to him. I am currently 8 months pregnant and don't get many hours at work, so my paycheck is small. Twice so far, I have put $25.00 on my account, and I can usually stretch 6 phone calls through 2 weeks, until I get paid again.

Global tel link quit letting me pay through my phone company. Now I have to prepay to talk to my husband. If he calls and I miss the call the first time, now he has to wait 30-45min to call back or else it will say that I have to add more money. The rates are exorbitant. It is ridiculous. We already suffer enough with our loved ones in prison and having to pay money to help them (store) and just to live without them, The phone prices are unnecessary and ridiculous. Not only are the per minute fees too high. It is ridiculous to charge a $5 fee just to add from credit card. Most of us who have loved ones in prison are already financially strapped, without all the stupid fees.

We had to start a prepaid account with Global Tel*Link after our home provider (Windstream) would not accept 3rd party calls. There was no other alternative. On Oct. 26, 2009, we paid via credit card, $50. To date, Dec. 29, 2009, we have only been able to talk to our son 3x for 15 minutes. According to Global Tel*Link Oklahoma rep, Craig **, after looking at our records, he told me that our son had called a total of 53 times. Other than these three calls received, the rest of the times he couldn't hear me, and vice versa. He then calls back and it's the same thing. Each time he calls and this happens, we are charged $4. Then when I call Global Tel*Link's customer service, they tell me that no inmate has called my number in the past 90 days. How is that?

They are scam artists! They rip people who have loved ones in jail off. They won't tell you their fees. I had a $17 credit and then after two failed attempts to get connected, they took my money and I didn't even get to speak with my loved one.

Why do I have to prove that my name is on my phone bill? Let alone Global Tel*Link knows to switch the phone numbers. I'm being refused to be unblocked for collecting calls from an inmate. I did what the agents at Global told me to do and even mailed a copy of my phone bill. The staff is rude and nasty toward others and refuses to let anyone talk to a supervisor or anything of the sort.

At the beginning of June 2009, I changed my phone provider for my house. I requested to keep the same phone number as before. When I signed the contract, I asked the guy if I have to call Verizon to cancel my contract with Verizon. Jamal told me that Globalink will take care about cancellation, but Globalink couldn’t port my number. Yet they started charging me since the date I signed the contract. However, I didn’t use their service. Since I feel not treated right by Globalink, I requested cancellation. They obligated me to pay a cancellation fee. Before I requested cancellation, I asked Globalink for a credit for the month of June because I didn’t use that service. The date of porting the phone from Verizon to Globalink was on July 27.

I had a block put on my phone from this company on June 28, 2009. I spoke with a rep and was told I had to prepay for calls. I did so and still being charged for my calls. The rep I spoke with on the 29th of June told me that I had to prepay now. The reps are telling me that the line wasn't blocked until the 13th of July. But when the calls tried to come through, I was given the number to call for prepay.

Because we don't have a choice on what phone company we can use to call our loves ones that are incarcerated, we are taken advantage of. I understand Global Tel wants to make a profit and a huge profit they do make. The prices should be against the law; they need to be incarcerated for what they are charging us. Something should be done about it.

I finally got my phone company to let us allow collect calls after my husband got incarcerated. Global Tel*Link told me it would take 3-5 days for it to show up in their system. It's been 3 weeks now and they're saying it's still not showing up. This is some bull **. And now, the last 3 times I've called them, they've put me on a call back list. They call me back, but they hang up as soon as I answer the phone. They're really pissing me off, because I can't talk to my husband, and we're having a baby any day now.

I set up an account with this company to receive calls from my significant other, who is in a correctional facility. For an initial charge of $50 on my credit card, I was told I would be allowed 6 calls per month; however, after only one call, I was "blocked" from receiving more calls and was told I needed to pay another $25 to receive the other 5 calls for the month, which I did.

They have stupid rules. When you reach a certain amount, they put a block on your phone. They tell you they can unblock it only once, and if you reach the limit again, it's over! It’s going to be prepaid from that point on! It’s dumb! How are they going to count my money? If I want to accept a thousand calls, that's my money! As long as I'm paying my bill, it shouldn't matter! I'm tired. I put $50.00 in the account, and they take $10.00 of that for fees! I'm mad.