GTL Reviews

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.