Mobal Communications Reviews

(1) Credit Card Fraudulent Activities. In a year, all three credit cards that I used to pay Mobal ended up with "Fraudulent" activities.

(2) Made-up charges. Mobal made up non-exist activities. For work reimbursements in Japan, the practice is to provide detail communication logs per client. In the process, those "made up" charges started to show. The buggy "MyAccount" page was designed to provide only ONE-month statement but charge for TWO-month period. This trick allowed Mobal to ask for what you did not call or text (e.g. international text messages at insane rate). The "small-print" stated a technical but laughable explanation. Apparently, script can generate non-exist activities for money.

(3) Excellent misleading Ads. Unlimited call was only for "domestic" incoming calls even though the rate was online but hidden under an "intentionally" buggy MyAcount user page. The "termination" button was "conditional", only showed under their "preferable" conditions like after certain amount of time, info completion, pay status and etc. Hope you don't need to go thru what I went thru.

In short, Mobal Communications Inc. is:- totally virtual, run by automation scripts, "intentionally" buggy web interfaces, proxy offices (i.e. no visitor allowed), zero Customer Services, operating under few owners/developers with "excellent" commercial skills and "cunning" business tricks. You cannot terminate unless you paid what they asked for -OR- you let go.

The other big problem was that I ordered the data package because we were going to visit a small town and wanted to use maps and just use my friend's unlocked iphone from the states like we do normally. The data package did not work and when customer service responded, they blamed me. I followed all their instructions. The $39 data package didn't even show up on my account until a few days before we left to come home. We were in Germany for 25 days. I did receive an email after I returned home that the $39 data package would be refunded.

So I emailed back and this continued for a number of days with different customer service employees asking all the basic questions like "check that your phone is unlocked and able to take this Sim." Throughout this time 3 members of my family are without any phone service and had to rely on roaming charges from their supplier back in Ireland. I eventually gave up corresponding with their customer support as it was infuriating and rubbish. I went out and bought an over the counter 7 day unlimited data plan for €30.

You also can’t use your phone as a hotspot so I hope you don’t have other devices. If we go back we will either rent a Mifi at the airport or use the free ones that nearly every hotel and Airbnb offers. I did have my bank reverse the charges and after their extensive investigation (2.5 months) they did rule that Mobal grossly misrepresents their product and sided with us.

This past week, on about April 4th 2011, I received another message from this same company, but this time from a live voice named Jemma. I was asked to call back and was told that I could also log into my account online at www.mobile.com. (This was spoken, not spelled out). When I typed in this URL, I was sent directly to a different website. I called the website to see if they were associated with this company or had any record of this company. I had a helpful and lengthy conversation with their fraud and IT department. They recommended that I not speak to Mobile Communications as they were most likely a phishing company trying to get my credit information; confirming my own suspicions.

It was shortly thereafter that I remembered an old cell phone of more than five years ago, that I had purchased from a British company with a New York City address, Mobal Communication, back in 2006 for travels abroad. When I typed in mobal.com, I found the company's phone number. I suspected some kind of fraud or breach of my credit information, and attempted to contact the company to be sure that my credit information and personal information were not being misused. Again, they were very difficult to contact, their NYC number routed me overseas, and I hung up after being suspended on hold and told that I would not be charged if calling from my mobile cell. I suspected I was being charged for my call overseas, hung up again out of fraud concerns, and finally, with a good deal of persistence, was able to locate an email contact for this company.

I explained in a written complaint to this company on their website, that I was not a current customer, as my phone was long out of service and my account closed five years ago. I was contacted by the company via email and was told that there was fraudulent activity on this phone. After an email exchange, the company stated since I did not report this phone lost or stolen five years ago, that they wish to hold me responsible for the fraud charges on this phone of $235.50.

Although I have described to the company the suspicious nature of their methods and attempts to reach me and have stated my due diligence and difficulty in reaching them, they continue to hide behind the original terms and conditions of the five-year old phone purchase. The company has stated that they do not have any obligation to protect their consumers from fraud, and that all fraudulent activity belongs to the customer until the phone, regardless of dormancy, is reported lost or stolen. This company does not appear to have any kind of fraud department, since I have only been contacted by their credit department asking me to update my credit card information. This company acted irresponsibly by not immediately suspending the phone when attempting to charge an old out-of-date credit card and allowing five days of chargeable activity to accumulate on this old, out-of-date account.

I believe the company, Mobal Communication, is culpable for the fraud associated with this phone since they did not have an identifiable procedure or process to determine fraudulent activity on this phone, for acting in a manner closely associated with phishing tactics when trying to reach its customers, for being delinquent in its responsibility to professionally and respectably notify its customers, and by making no customer service attempts or efforts to resolve any differences.

Mobal Communications is unwilling to discuss a compromise and reach a fair settlement, even after I have pointed out that had their company's attempts to reach me has been less suspicious or my attempts to reach them been less difficult, then the charges could have been stopped immediately. I find Mobal Communication's business conduct to be suspicious, uncooperative, manipulative and disreputable.

I would never recommend doing business with this company. They take no interest in the customer, charged exorbitant rates, and make no efforts to deal with fraud. Consumers should note that inexpensive international phones can be purchased in Europe and England for a fraction of the cost of Mobal's rip-off plan! Mobal is a rip-off!