tr

{ 05/16/2012 }

I got their phone in the mail. It wouldn't recharge. They sent me another, same problem. When the third one wouldn't recharge I asked for a refund. What a total waste of time and effort.

Stefan

{ 05/15/2012 }

There is nothing good to say about this outfit.Decided to cancel right after starting activation of their junk refurb phone that they have shipped to me.

Alex

{ 05/08/2012 }

I have nothing but positive things to say when it comes to PlatinumTel support. It's by far the best you could find with a cell phone company!

A few days after I received my first PlatinumTel phone, I browsed around the mobile store on my phone. I was curious about what the purchase process was like, just in case I wanted to buy something in the future. I didn't plan on buying anything that day, but I accidentally did. A screensaver. (The day before, I had set the browser's preferences to not load images so I'd save bandwidth whenever I browsed the Internet. I didn't know that I had clicked the "Buy" button because it was an image.) When I logged into my PTel account and learned what happened, I started freaking out. I didn't mean to buy a screensaver! I decided that I'd call PTel's customer service to see if there was anything they could do. I was hoping that they'd be able to help, but I was afraid that they wouldn't be able to. Well, I explained my situation to a lady on the other end and, when she told me that all mobile purchases are final and non-refundable, my heart started to sink. Thankfully, that feeling didn't last long though, because immediately after, she told me that because it was an accident, she'd credit the money right back into my account! No questions asked! And it was so fast, too! Not counting hold time, I was on the phone with her for just 45 seconds. That's not an exaggeration!

I guarantee, you'll never find customer service like PlatinumTel's. You just won't!

Kev Dawg

{ 05/08/2012 }

This is a good way to go for people that use tons of minutes a month. I do the pay as you go method. Customer service has always been prompt and helpful when I have dealt with them.
What kills this is the service areas suck. I am in Tennessee in a city of over 100,000 people. I get decent coverage when I am in the center of town, but the service in my own home is non existent. I am right by a huge university of over 20,000 people and I constantly get no service. AND when I do, it will disconnect all the time, thus defeating the idea of cheap minutes, because I have to use more minutes to reconnect again.

Keeady

{ 05/03/2012 }

Platinumtel let me connect to my family abroad with the cheapest rate available.It's affordable for me because i only pay for what i use.

alex

{ 05/02/2012 }

Platinumtel not only offers cheap texting and minutes, but also ways to get free texting and minutes by doing simple promotional gigs. One of them was to write a good thing on this wall!

Miora

{ 04/26/2012 }

I love platinumtel. It is affordable and I can make make cheap international calls with it! Now i can stay in touch with my family abroad! thank you platinumtel!!

John

{ 04/26/2012 }

I don't understand why some of you say that PlatinumTel has the best rates available. PagePlus has 2,000 minutes for $80. and a year to use them. That's .04 cents a minute, the cheapest rate I see on the internet. (I am not associated with PagePlus or any other cell company.)

Babar Khan

{ 04/22/2012 }

Platinumtel it best cell company for me and my son. It saved us lot of money. It runs on Sprint network without high fees. Their real paygo rates are the best.

seabee

{ 04/21/2012 }

Ptel has the best rate plan available, great phones at decent prices. And from personal exp. the customer has been good.

Real

{ 04/19/2012 }

I am giving it 5 stars because PTEL works great for me & my 2 boys. We had some issues & they were all cleared up by the helpful people in customer service. We use the annual RealPayGo Plan and we do not have to worry for a whole year. Once a year we renew and were good for another year & unused minutes roll over. Thanks for this inexpensive product PTEL

JoAnne

{ 04/16/2012 }

I do not recommend Platinum Tel! I thought it might be to good to be true, and it is. I purchased one of their cheaper phones because we are on a tight budget. It would not hold a charge more than 8 hours! I emailed customer service and they sent out another old battery, that that was no better at all. Now I am stuck with a phone that does not even stay charged through the workday!Big mistake.

Judi Seiber

{ 04/14/2012 }

Great Phones at a great price. Very friendly and helpful customer service. I like that they offer a variety of plans. I started out as pay as you go and now plan to sign up for unlimited.

Lilvys

{ 04/14/2012 }

I changed to PlatinumTel half year before. They give me highest prepaid phone service.
Attractive and convience plans, i do not need to warried about contract period for phone anymore, i can switch between Real PayGo(pay as you go) plan and unlimited plan by myself. And, can use international call at a good price too!

Leoluke2010

{ 04/14/2012 }

I had PlatinumTel Real Paygo for more than 2 years. It is really cheap for light phone users. The customer service is good: I called them for porting phone number, and change phones over several times on my account.I would strongly recommend Platinumtel Real Paygo plan.

Troy

{ 04/13/2012 }

Not much data? Buy the $60 unlimited talk & text with 1G of data. They have four plans, not just three!!

Alanis

{ 04/13/2012 }

I really like ptel and I think their phones are great, I have had no problems with them...and I think their prices are great too.

Tim

{ 04/12/2012 }

Checking back in after using Platinumtel for over two years now. My wife and I both use the Real Paygo (prepaid) service and couldn't be happier. It's easy to top up on minutes online, and the pricing is incredibly simple and cheap. I have been averaging about $12 per month. Sometimes I use my phone more than others, so it's nice to pay for what I actually use. If their price for data drops a bit, I will start using a smart phone on their network, too, but until then, I'm happy with my simple phone. I don't normally write reviews, but after chatting with a customer service agent today about a new phone for my wife, I couldn't help it. They have great service and a well-priced, easy to understand product. If they went public, I would buy stock.

Jim

{ 04/11/2012 }

I've been on Platinumtel's Real Paygo plan since November '11, using their Sanyo Zio phone. The comments about customer service on here are ludicrous; I've had many communications with them, and they never fail to be response and helpful. Their phones are second-tier, so if you want a great new smartphone, look elsewhere. But for anyone interested in keeping costs down, you can't beat Platinumtel. I pay less than $10 a month. By the way, I researched prepaid plans for 3 months, and I'm satisfied that no other company comes close to PT in terms of value and reliability.

eva santiago

{ 04/04/2012 }

I purchased the Platinum Tell 2 years ago for $100 Dollars + $50 Dollars (phone + minutes). As I live abroad it all was paid with my abroad Credit Card. Once 180 days later my account was expired because I did not refill, as I was abroad! I did not receive any email nor did they keep my records. Now I called to get a new number and to pay with my abroad Credit Card I was surprised because Platinum DO NOT accept abroad Credit Cards and DO NOT have my records or payment. Customer Service is not efficient as it takes a long time to answer the phone. Online customer service also takes a long time to answer. I now have an overpaid wasted phone. Buyer be aware of Platinum Pre Paid Policy.

Kimber

{ 03/29/2012 }

I purchased a phone through Platinumtel and they sent me a phone with a broken screen. They sent me a new one and it broke in three months. Their phones are junk! Expect a phone through Plantinumtel to crap out in a few months and you are done!

Luis

{ 03/23/2012 }

Although the customer service is pretty bad, their service and prices are by far surprising for their low costs. I just bought a Samsung Intercept phone for only $60.00 and it came with a free $50.00 card and even free shipping!!! I can't wait to receive it!!! I used to have the Samsung M800, and yes its really mediocre. It was my first touch screen phone so it was fine for getting adjusted to a touch screen!
Bottom line, Platinumtel has what you need for less! My average monthly cost runs about $10.00, there is no way any other carrier can top that!!!

Pangit

{ 03/23/2012 }

No issues at all... purchased $100 and came with qwerty phone and it lasted 8 months, in short you only use what you actually use. That is an average of $12.50 a month compared to your $50 plan and you only use it for 200 minutes or some texts... Platinumtel is reliable and affordable.

Albert

{ 03/16/2012 }

Worse customer service ever. Service stops working without warning and when you call them (if you are lucky they will answer), they don't even know the reason for the disruption. Lately, I have tried to send messages and they don't go through. Again, customer service does not know why. You get what you pay for.

HORRIBLE

{ 03/14/2012 }

Phones are used that they sell and claim to be new. None of the phones work longer than 30 days and get this, the warranty on the phones is only 30 days! What type of warranty is that! If your phones actually worked why not give a real warranty!

Dean

{ 03/13/2012 }

Bad company, bad news. The not so unlimited text was an issue. There is a limit. We switched to Air Voice and have not had any problems. True unlimited talk/text.

lkwms

{ 02/15/2012 }

"If it seems to good to be true..." I have looked over the negative reviews and did not see my problem. I have used TMobile service for more than 5 years on a pay as you go basis. I use so few minutes that 100 dollars lasted more than a year. When I topped up yearly, I always had minutes left over. I paid 10 cents per minute.
So imagine my surprise when I paid $100 and the minutes ran out in 3 months. I think that I was being charged for calls that did not go through - calls that were never picked up by my intended receiver. When I called customer service they did not give me a straight answer on whether I was charged for unreceived calls - just a lot of circular talk - usually that does not happen I was told. When I asked when it does happen, I did not get a straight answer.

Daniel P Zambrano

{ 02/02/2012 }

I have had service with PlatinumTel since 2009. Never had any issues, except it would be nice if they had more of a variety of phones available. I have upgraded two times. But when I go by my local store i hear " We are sold out and except new phones in a week" yet never got the newer phones. Its a shame. But I have never had any issues with service or dealing with issues with PlatinumTel. I used to have Verizon but was paying 180.00 for the services that were offered. Now I pay 50.00 for full service. Kudos to PlatinumTel for being competitive. They just announced new service options loweing their rates. It is a PlatinumTel world!!!!

unhappy platenium user!

{ 01/15/2012 }

this phone service sucks! i got a sanyo 2700 in october about 4 months ago. at first it was working great. good signal, although it never had good internet (didn't need it for internet). during christmas break it kept going in and out of service area and i was in my own house! now its about one month later and it doesn't receive calls or texts it just sends them.

Yugeen

{ 01/06/2012 }

My $100 phone is broken in 40 days, they said they provide warranty for 30 days only! I ordered other one cheapest and it's broken in 2 and a half months too! They are just scammers

Maverick874

{ 12/26/2011 }

I signed my two daughters and my wife up for PayGo nine months ago. I purchased their $100 pre-paid minutes plan and we received three Samsung M800 phones. The phones have worked reasonably well and we have only spent three-hundred dollars for nine plus months of cell service for three phones. With a traditional plan, I would have spent that much in two months!
We just purchased $50 more in minutes for each of the kids and took advantage of their new phone promo. For ten dollars I bought the kids Samsung M910's with the slide out QWERTY keyboard, they love them. I made it one of their Christmas presents, along with other gifts obviously.
Platinum runs on the Sprint network, so your getting Sprint mobile service for a fraction of the cost. Platinum PayGo has worked perfectly for our situation,
controlling cost and providing nice phones and phone service. As a side note, we previously had Boost Mobile, which was much more expensive. I also shopped Platinum Tel against Cricket and Metro PCS. This program made much more sense for us.

Kevin York

{ 12/17/2011 }

Their prices are excellent!
I really wanted to switch to this company.
But there are just too many short comings.

1) Cannot use your current unlocked cellphone.
2) Must buy their CDMA cellphones. (which is a useless protocol since 2005)
3) No conditional call forwarding.
4) NO CALL FORWARDING OF ANY KIND.
5) No 4G
6) No Trial Period
[I found these problems in 15 minutes of research. So, I would assume few other problems too]

Don

{ 12/15/2011 }

Getting a free phone on prepaid was a great deal. My 100 dollars in airtime lasted me almost a year, and the service quality has been excellent so far.

caulsh

{ 12/12/2011 }

100% satisfied with this service until we had to work with customer service. They are TERRIBLE! Wasted THREE HOURS of my day! My phone died and we still have $60 prepaid but they won't replace the phone OR refund the prepaid money. They did NOTHING to meet me halfway to replace the phone, only stated like a broken record that the warranty was expired...WHO only offers 30 day warranties?! RIDICULOUS!

Bob

{ 11/29/2011 }

So far so good. Best value. Where else can you get 2000 min for 100.00 that lasts a year. T mobile is twice as much!!!! Very happy so far. Only con is Very poor phone choices.

wle

{ 11/29/2011 }

pros-
cheap
works
web site is simple and functional
good customer service
they speak english and usually know how to help

cons-

samsung m800 phone is cheesy
it was the first smart phone and it has bugs
=world;s dumbest smart phone
web pages don;t display right usually
stuff like google maps does NOT work
-usually when a keyboard should appear to enter stuff, it doesn;t and you have to exit the app
downloads are cheesy and cost $
ring tones are cheesy
phone isn;t loud [ringers]
can NOT remind you of voice mail more than one time
i had one freeze and die
-ptel sent another one but really
-this was in like a month
battery life is awful
-don;t know if it is because of a design flaw, or they are just old phones [maybe sprint gave them to ptel for a REASON..]

sprint coverage isn;t great off the interstate or out of the city

Bob Weekie

{ 11/18/2011 }

I switched from TMobile prepaid. I LOVE Platinumtel. I was able to get a Android phone on the Real PayGo plan. The minutes are very cheap and it's great to have data on a prepaid plan. (Very hard to find elsewhere.) I've been happy with the coverage and service. No complaints so far.

RonB

{ 11/18/2011 }

This company sucks,, I bought a refurbished RUMOR phone in August 2011 and it quit working in November 2011, Called the company to try and figure out what the problem was, they accused me of getting this crappy phone wet. The phone has never been around water and never dropped. They said the phone was not under warranty and wanted me to buy another phone. I'm stuck with buying another phone because I still have 735 minutes out of a 1,000 original minutes. Once I use my minutes I will never buy another piece of crap phone from this lousy company AGAIN!!!!

Bizz

{ 11/15/2011 }

My wife and I switched to Platinumtel almost a year ago from AT&T. We could not be happier with the service we have recieved! We live a few hours north of Seattle and we get great reception on our m800 phones. I have had to contact customer service a few times in the last year with questions and got right through to a person with no problems. As for all you "scam" people... READ ALL THE FINE PRINT...everything is in there...they do not hide anything...if you have questions or do not understand something call and ask. Platinumtel or any other company for that matter can in no way compensate for STUPID PEOPLE! I was paying almost $100 a month for our 2 phones with AT&T ... my $100 airtime has lasted me almost a year..no brainer to me. Thanks PTel!

TL

{ 11/15/2011 }

After two months, no gripes with the plans. The phone is okay (Harrier 6601). Make sure you by a phone from a reputable dealer. I bought mine on eBay, but first had the guy call me to work out any and all questions. I am happy. Just read the vendor reviews and make sure you are buying from a good guy if you do not buy the phone directly from PlatniumTel.

shawn cohen

{ 11/06/2011 }

Phones have too many problems, customer service never picks up, the company is extremely deceiving! I never heard of this company should have stayed away.

William Yates

{ 11/01/2011 }

I've had PlatinumTel for about year now. I LOVE it. The flexibilty you have is wonderful. To have a smartphone without a data package is hard to come by these days. My bill usually runs about $15 a month on the paygo plan. I've never had an issue with coverage- but I don't stray off the highways a lot either. The only gripe I have (which is not PlatinumTel's fault) is that I wish more phones were available. (All non Sprint owned MVNOS have the same issue). One thing to be aware of is that the blackberry phones do not allow MMS (picture messaging). I don't have one so it doesn't affect me. I'll stay with them until something better comes around if that ever happens.

Jq

{ 10/27/2011 }

like the phone well enough, better features than on my previous tracfone. However, in the Chapel Hill - Raleigh area of nc, Srprint is useless. Back to the no frills tracfone for me

Anne

{ 10/20/2011 }

Phone took days to be "activate" but still couldn't get it to make calls.Customer service non-existant.So I have a phone that doesn't work at all, customer service that refuses to refund my money until I send them back a phone which now has my $100 added,phone couldn't "activate" without having the minutes added and my phone # ported over.They billed me at point of ordering and now want me to send back phone with my # and $100 worth of minutes all unused and just hope that they then refund my money.I will be reporting them to the Attorney General in Illinois for selling defective merchandise and a service whice turns out to not be a service. Anybody else who has had a similiar experience with them would be well advised to do the same.That should get results.

Disgruntled Customer

{ 10/18/2011 }

Topping up is insanely difficult if you have zero balance, and the customer service (if it even exists) is uncontactable. The phone signal is all right when it works, but the amount of time that the phone doesn't work makes owning this phone extremely stressful. I want a phone I can rely on, not a phone I cannot add money to, with a customer service I can't contact.

I don't use my phone that much so the price is good.

hemfutuff

{ 10/17/2011 }

I'm waiting for the 4th replacement phone to arrive. At least one advertised feature on each of the previous phones did not work. Mostly they won't access the web; one would not turn on.

I have spent hours with Customer Service/Technical Help programming the phones, then reprogramming them, then resetting the web. I've stayed home days just to ensure I was home when a replacement phone arrived.

I have been far more patient than I thought I could be. I think I really want the service PlatinumTel promises. Maybe the fourth phone will work.

Holly

{ 10/13/2011 }

Bought the phone in April, worked great until October, just a short time after I purchased a $100 card. Phone is totally dead, new battery did nothing. Customer service said they only guarentee their phones for 30 days. So I am trying to decide if I want to invest more money in this company. A new phone every few months, not to mention the inconvenience of being without a phone is something to consider.

Rick

{ 10/09/2011 }

I purchased platintumtel back in June of 2010 and i really don't have one complaint. recently i had an issue with my picture messaging and web, but i called customer service and they were able to help me fix it right away. they were very friendly and helpful as well as being U.S. based which is a big plus from nightmares I had to deal with in the past. i am under the unlimited plan and they haven't shut my service off like others have said happened to them. i pay $60 a month unlimited minutes and web and i am very satisfied

Alexander

{ 10/01/2011 }

I have only ever used the prepaid option from phone companies since my family never have a phone growing up. I used to be using Virgin Mobile and ended up switching after I found out the great prices the Platinumtel has to offer. They are way cheaper and even more reliable. I love it!

Plutonium

{ 10/01/2011 }

First, I want to tell you guys that I've been using At&t prepaid phone. I had a bad experience with Att so I switched to Platinumtel. Platinumtel offers the most affordable prepaid plan and I think it's a good deal for poor college students like me. Some of my friends had a bad experience ( I guess they were unlucky) but I think all the companies have good and bad side. With Platinumtel, I did not have any issues so far. Customer Service is great; they have some cool phones. And it is cheap.

Mike

{ 09/28/2011 }

I'm a recent Platinumtel member. It's great! With my previous service with T-mobile alot of my money would go to waste because I mostly texted but rarely ever made calls. With Realpaygo I save $15 a month or $360 during the length of a contract.

Chernobyl

{ 09/27/2011 }

I don't see why anyone wouldn't love PlatinumTel? You get MORE MINUTES, MORE TEXTS, and AWESOME SERVICE!
it's perfect for me because i'm a teen and it's something I can finally afford [i don't get an allowance]

KP

{ 09/15/2011 }

I switched over from Sprint. Former Sprint customer for 9 years. When my phone broke, Sprint offered me only a little bit of money on their expensive phones for contract renewal. So, I decided to look elsewhere after that, even though I found a really cheap replacement Sprint phone (LG rumor) which I would have liked to have kept. Not going to pay Sprint 50 dollars each month and have them treat me poorly.

However, I was reluctant to leave Sprint, because of the pretty decent cell phone coverage and no problems with calls. I felt Ptel would be a good compromise, since it is Sprint's system.

I've had my Samsung 800 from PTEL now for 9 months. The switch was pretty painless. Got all my messages after the switch. One issue I had was with the battery, which didn't seem to hold a charge for very long. Customer service sent me another one. It seems just the same, but I can deal with the battery lasting only a couple days.

I paid the 100 dollars for the phone and 100 dollars of worth of airtime thrown in (special deal.) In 9 months, I've only used 40 dollars of that. So, I'm saving a lot of money versus Sprint--around 400 to 500 dollars. I'm very happy about that.

Coverage wise, it is not as good as Sprint at my house. I can deal with that. Also, sometimes the notification that I have a message is delayed. So, I check voicemail pretty often. I can deal with that since I don't have really time sensitive messaging. Some of the features on the phone don't seem to work. Haven't called about that, since I don't really need to check email or web via my phone.

All in all, I'm pretty happy to decent phone service while saving so much money. I give them 4 stars for value for money and decent coverage.

Rita

{ 08/29/2011 }

This is by far the very worst phone service we have ever had! I purchased 3 phones and paid $300. This included talk time. When we tried to use the text feature, it did not work on any of the phones when we were at home. Customer service said they would look into it. Many e-mails and phone calls were made. They finally told us the phones were defective, but they would not refund the money. They told me to buy new phones! I feel that we were really scammed on this one. Buyer beware! Read all the fine print, since they told me it was somewhere in the fine print that the phone was only good for 30 days! Also, picture messages never worked on these phone. This was a total ripoff!!!!

Elvis

{ 08/26/2011 }

If you run out of mins and take more than 30 days to recharge the phone, they cancel your account and give your number away. Phones are crappy loking, with crappy sound quality and ringtones. Softare on phones is rickety, and phone occasionaly locks up and needs battery removed. Ptel is cheap and you get what you pay for, I guess.

EJC

{ 08/25/2011 }

Took advantage of the free Samsung M800 with $100. airtime card purchase last February. The phone and service have been excellent--a true bargain. The only downside has been in remote, rural areas, Sprint towers are scarce. The best thing about the phone and the service is how little data is used to receive emails. It's awesome!

frank

{ 08/05/2011 }

Phones don't work, call quality is horrible, customer service is non existent.

JC

{ 08/03/2011 }

Last February,I purchased the $100 RealPay Go plan with the free Samsung SPH-M800 phone. I've been super happy with the phone and service plan Platinum Tel provides. There simply isn't a prepaid or contract cell phone plan out there that offers this caliber of a cell phone with a the best rates around. To sum this up, I been using the Platinum Tel service daily for the last 6 months and still have about half of my RealPayGo minutes left. At this rate, I'm averaging about 10 bucks a month. No other cellular plan can touch that.

Re:a.green LAWSUIT

{ 07/26/2011 }

agreen I totally agree with you, between the used phones and deceptive unlimited calling plans I cannot believe these guys are still in business such an obvious scam.

Magyarboy

{ 06/23/2011 }

Here's a follow-up on PlatinumTel from Magyarboy:

In my experience, PlatinumTel customer service has been quite good, but poor network coverage in West Seattle has made it necessary to return two Samsung SPH-M800 phones and go to another provider. Our son and his family live in West Seattle. We can't tolerate nearly non-existent service where we spend so much time. Good customer service is important, but what is no service worth? No busisness.

We have switched to AT&T gophone prepaid service. It is more expensive than PlatinumTel service by double, but it works. In fact, I learned that AT&T has a tower only 3½ blocks away from my son's condo. No wonder everybody in the neighborhood swears by AT&T service.

I'm here to tell you that even AT&T makes a practice of charging for services that appear to be included. AT&T Navigator service is pretty good, but it costs an extra $10 per month, something not mentioned on the AT&T website. AT&T customer service told me that I could expect the service to stop working after about two weeks. They don't know why it happens, but it does. So I have been charged $10 for a month of service they know I won't be receiving.

Then there is the extra $5 per month AT&T charges its prepaid accounts for email service over and above the cost of associated data wervice. Again, this charge doesn't aeem to be mentioned on the AT&T wireless website, but they took the money out of my prepaid account anyhow.

The prepaid providers seems to offer only a lower class of service to prepaid vs. postpaid customers. I am doubtful that is really a good business practice, but I do know it makes then look cheap, cheap, cheap.

a. green

{ 06/15/2011 }

If it were possible I would not give this company any rating at all.

Platinum Tel is currently operating under, at least here in Illinois, the Lemon Law. The Lemon Law was a law passed to help protect consumers from car dealers selling used cars that were defective. Under current law, even after a warranty expiration, if the car is found to be defective and was known by the dealership to be defective, the dealership is held liable.

I think in this case which is in direct reference to my fiancee especially, and those who have posted on this site regards to defective phones, this Lemon Law should be broadened to include practices that prey on consumers. The mere fact that Sprint is the carrier does not release them as co-conspirator. It would seem pretty clear to me that with the vast number of complaints on this board as well as call-ins to customer service, that they have to know what is going on.

The bottom line with this ordeal is that this is a money making scheme hosted by Sprint conducted by Platinum Tel. A class action lawsuit is the only way to shut this kind of practice down.

My suggestion is to contact Lisa Madigan, Attorney General for Illinois and file a complaint. If enough of us on this board follow suit, this will become a national headline and will hopefully do one of two things: (1) Embarrass Sprint into taking action. (2) Create such an issue as to cause Platinum to close shop because there have been far too many complaints leveled against it through the BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU. Lisa Madigan was recently elected as our Attorney General and I highly recommend that she is the next step in resolving these issues if Sprint, much less Platinum Tel, is not willing to work this out. My perception is that they know they are soaking consumers and are taking it as far as they can to gain as much profit as they can before the number of complaints to local officials becomes too great.

Here is the information we need to have to start the process:
f you’ve been victimized by fraud, deception, or unfair methods of competition, the Consumer Protection Division of the Illinois Attorney General’s office may be able to help. Although our attorneys cannot represent an individual in a lawsuit, our limited mediation program can assist in resolving disputes or complaints filed by individual consumers. Promptness in making a complaint decreases the likelihood that a fly-by-night operator will move, leave town, or go out of business before consumers can gain assistance.

For your convenience, the Office of the Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has posted downloadable complaint forms on our Web site. These forms may be downloaded and returned by regular mail to the appropriate bureau within the Office of the Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. To ensure that your form is processed efficiently, carefully review the form you have downloaded, supply all information requested, and include supporting documentation. The Attorney General's Office does not require that you provide your Social Security Number or information as to your citizenship status in order to file a consumer complaint.

The information you submit will be used by attorneys, investigators, and other members of the Attorney General’s staff involved in carrying out the functions, programs, and responsibilities of the Illinois Attorney General.

It is important that your consumer complaint is complete and that you provide copies of any supporting documentation to this office. We will send your complaint to the party with which you have a dispute unless you advise this office not to do so. This information may also be shared with other governmental enforcement agencies responsible for consumer protection and other laws.

Magyarboy

{ 06/14/2011 }

PlatinumTel gets good marks for customer service, but the coverage is inadequate for our purposes. We got good reception at home in Central Oregon. Then my wife took the phone with her to West Seattle's North Admiral neighborhood for a few weeks of tending our inffant grandson. The parents do not have landline phone service, so she needed a cell phone for the duration.
As luck would have it, there is an isolated area of marginal coverage in thatneighborhood and my son's place is right in the center. The service was somewhere between abyssmal and non-existent. I contacted PTel about the situation. They offered to reprogram the phone, but that didn't help at all.

But for this single fatal flaw, we would have stayed with PTel. As it is, we've signed up for AT&T prepaid service because AT&T has a tower only 3½ blockes from my son's place and has the only good coverage in the neighborhood.

Bottom line: PTel is a bargain if you can only get the coverage you pay for. Providing tthe best service is prevented by PTel's business plan. They sell airtime that would otherwise remain unused. Those second class minutes are just a part of the plan. PTel is worth a try, but don't expect postpaid service.

Jake

{ 06/14/2011 }

I had unlimited plan however after making a monthly payment AND buying a new phone, they discontinued my service saying I use too many minutes. So why do they even offer an unlimited package??? Now I have a phone I can't use, no cell service and am waiting for a refund for the payment I just made. Customer service there is also a joke!

Magyarboy

{ 06/04/2011 }

I bought PTel's Samsung Instinct M800 deal: free phone if you buy $100 worth of service. The phone has be heralded as an iPhone killer, but it isn't. A number of the services it has have been disabled. The biggest problem is inability to sync or wholesale load contacts without third-party software. On the other hand, the bluetooth implementation is excellent. With more experience, I think I can get the phone to do everything I need. It is worth far more than I paid for it.

The only real complaint I haave is network support. My wife took the phone with her to West Seattle. Right in the heart of the district, she got a very poor signal and experienced sever dropped calls. I am watching the phone's performance closely because I'm thinking about dumping my Verizon account. Once this has been decided, look for further comments from Magyarboy.

The

James

{ 06/01/2011 }

I just started with PlatinumTel. The phone I recieved became defective after 40 days. They said that they do not have any warrenty on online purchases and there exchange policy expires after 30 days.
This is insane - I have discontinued service with them and will never use then again. I would recommend finding a more reputable service.

Lacus

{ 05/23/2011 }

I bought the Samsung M800 from Platinum website. At the first few days, the phone and service is good. But when I tried to charge the battery, the charger does not fit my phone at all. They sent a charger for a LG phone. So I am not able to use the phone any more. Contacted the customer service, they said there will send me a replacement charger. Now 3 weeks have passed, I did not receive anything. And my phone and the plan are totally garbage now.

DC

{ 05/19/2011 }

Platinumtel is the best prepaid phone company out there. Their real paygo plan is a great deal with 5c a minute and 2c texts. I love their qwerty and touchscreen choices

Larry

{ 05/17/2011 }

This is some of the fine print off of PlatinumTels website:

UNLIMITED SERVICE INTENDED USE.
Subscriber agrees to use our Unlimited talk service strictly for live conversations between two people for personal use. Subscriber agrees to use the Unlimited text service for text messaging between two people only.

HOWEVER....

PlatinumTel reserves the right to deny unlimited talk, text and web services or cancel existing service to subscribers for any reason at any time at PlatinumTel's sole discretion.

PlatinumTel reserves the right to terminate, restrict, limit, block or alter service or eligibility for service .... as compared to other subscribers on the same plan.

Services are provided at our discretion and we may change or cancel services at any time for any reason.

With normal talk and text they DO suspend your account and you do NOT get any type of refund nor is any credit given.

Larry

{ 05/17/2011 }

P-Tel is the by far the worst cell phone company I have ever used. I should have taken note of the feedback concerning the "unlimited" part. As stated in a previous post--this company needs to learn the definition of the word "unlimited". The Customer Service was fine since she evidently could care less whether they have you for a customer or not. Maybe she was just having a bad day or really hated her job. I would NOT recommend this company to anyone who needs to use their phone on a daily basis.

Amy

{ 05/09/2011 }

I've never had a cellphone before, but decided to try out a prepaid plan. I bought the $100 phone plan with the free M800, and it has worked out very well. I had no problems activiting it, but it takes some time to figure out how to work everything. Since I don't use it much, it has been a learning curve! But on the plus side, it is really cheap! In 2 months, I've used less than $10 (only using it for calls & text at this point). When I've had questions, it isn't hard to get help, and I've found info. online. So try it, you'll like it!

EJC

{ 05/03/2011 }

Took advantage of the free refurb Samsung M800 with purchase of $100. top-up card. I'm very pleased so far with the phone and the service. Once you have your email set up with the phone's email function, it uses very little data to check your email. Another plus is it's easy to check your account usage on the Platinum Tel website. The only downside I see is Sprint Towers (which Platinum Tel uses)don't have as good a coverage Verizon's do (at least where I live). If you live in a strong Sprint coverage area, it's hard to beat Platinum Tel's pay as you go plan.

GARBAGE

{ 05/01/2011 }

I DONT KNOW WHO USES THIS JUNK, TRIED IT FOR 2 WEEKS THREW IT IN THE GARBAGE! I WOULD NOT USE THIS FOR FREE!

DG

{ 04/19/2011 }

I have the Pay as you go plan and love it! I have had their service for around 6 months now in Michigan and it has been flawless so far. I think the people who hate the company are on the UNLIMITED plan which does not seem to get good reviews from people on here. BUT I am not on that plan and PLATINUM TEL rocks for me. I also got my parents a cheap Sanyo 3100 phone and $30 worth of minutes for a florida phone for them and it works great in Miami area. Bye bye land line for them in FL.

ronin

{ 04/16/2011 }

Bought a phone. It registered on Sprint's network here in area code 575. It would not receive or place calls through network. Tried for two days.. spent all toll 2+ hours chatting with tech support.. they kept testing.. and never could get a call to me.. yet all their screens showed working fine. It's a problem with Sprint and they cannot or will not resolve it.. so when i said forget me.. they happily gave me UPS return label to send it back for full refund. They did that. But I wanted the plan and phone with them.. but they apologized sayi8ng they could not make it work through Sprint.. even though Sprint network verifies the number and signal... but would pass calls to the phone or out of phone. My conclusion is Sprint.. and for some reason, a reseller like Platinum and STI as well cannot fix.. have no access or process to get a cell phone working even though all else is as should be.

So both Platinum and STI are Sprint re-sellers... with no ability to fix a problem residing on Sprint. In other words, they sell services that are not there. I filed a com[plaint with FCC and the nasty person there said they never heard of Platinum or STI so why was I bothering her? Welcome to America where we are treated like mushrooms... kept in the dark and have manure heaped on us... so the economy will grow.

ptel forever:)

{ 04/16/2011 }

i've been postpaid customers for more than 10 yrs, wasting money. i don't talk,text, surf the web constantly like others. with ptel i pay around $5/month now, as oppose to other major postpaid companies, i/ve spent at least $40/month. thru facebook coupon codes i was able to get a new sanyo pro200 for free. the other day i washed this phone(full cycle)accidentally.nonetheless, it's still working!!!! i'm in love w/ ptel. i'm spreading word & leaving 5 stars. thank you so very much ptel. god bless.

Vik

{ 04/13/2011 }

Yet to try PlatinumTel service!

My first PlatinumTel phone arrived very quickly. Could not be activated online. Had to call customer service. The phone died in few days.

A replacement PlatinumTel phone came about three weeks later. Could not be activated online as well. After an hour on the phone with CS and numerous reprogramming of the phone still could not make any calls. Hear "if you want to place a collect call dial 1...". Trouble ticket was supposed to be resolved in 72 hours according to their promise. Weeks past and no change. PlatinumTel is a good scam, sell you a non working phone and wait till your prepaid time expires.

Art J.

{ 04/12/2011 }

Service is fine but phones are very restricted and out of date. They have a very dated UI and no SMS gateway. Even their smartphones are less useful than my old flip phone.

new platinum user

{ 04/01/2011 }

I don't know why i was with verizon for so long. The platinumtel service is excellent. I would recommend it to every verizon customer who is in the sprint service area. The coverage may not be as great as verizon in every remote area but in most cities it is pretty good. Also I can't say enough about the customer service. Which major cell phone carrier gives u instant customer service chat. I can go online and chat with a platinumtel rep instantly. This is so much better than pressing a hundred keys for verizon.

slaterson22

{ 03/31/2011 }

This is by far the most reasonably priced phone I have ever had. The m800 samsung is not bad, but the cost of using it is AWESOME!!!! I am going pre-paid and it cost 5 cents/minute and 2 cents/text. I am going to save about $50 a month with this phone. For $100 I got a pretty good phone and about 5 months of cell service, compared to 70/month I was paying with verizon. The cell service is really good too, I have not had one dropped call or lack of reception. I was skeptical at first, it almost sounded too good to be true. It's true, and it's awesome. If you are on the fence about this, I hope my review persuaded you to get the phone, its totally worth it and you will be happy you made the switch.

KP

{ 03/21/2011 }

Great phone, great service, great website to check minutes/usage. Switched from Tmobile, they will merge with AT&T, I will not miss them. I purchased a your basic cellphone, don't need all the bells and whistles, the sanyopro200 works just fine for the price! Thank you PT. Will be purchasing another one for my daughter!

victor

{ 03/13/2011 }

Received a m800 telephone and 1 year of service for only $100. Reception is good where I am (Mobile Alabama). Great MP3 player also! Web Browser isn't great but it works!

Alex

{ 03/09/2011 }

PlatinumTel's customer service is by far the best you will find with a cell phone company! You simply won't find a cell phone service provider with employees more eager to help you!

RIP OFF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

{ 03/03/2011 }

THEY DISCONNECT YOU FOR TALKING EVEN THOUGH THEY SAY IT IS UNLIMITED. STAY AWAY!

steve werks

{ 03/03/2011 }

I use the pay as you go service. Basic phone was about $40. Factor in phone cost and I pay less than $10 per month, no tax. Same service and coverage I used to pay Sprint over $55 for.

Re: Gotduped

{ 03/02/2011 }

Re: Gotduped
"everyone should contact the state attorneys office, and make this company pay!"

AGREED!

Maggie I agree with you as well this is a scam!

Carl1949

{ 02/19/2011 }

Happy customer, I got the M800 touch screen phone with $100 credit for 1 yr.
Great for e-mails, SMS(2cts) and talk for 5 cents/min. I get push e-mails, very cheap!, good service outside, not so good indoors (NW IN)

Maggie

{ 02/17/2011 }

For the reviewers who do not have high phone usage, PlatinumTel may very well be a great company for you.

That is not what the the problem is. The problem is their FALSE advertisement of "unlimited" services. Like a former president we had who had to have the word "IS" defined, a dictionary is needed by PlatinumTel for basic, simple words.

The definition of "unlimited" according to Merriam-Webster, is: boundless, infinite (unlimited possibilities), not bounded by exceptions, unrestricted (unlimited access), without any limits or restrictions, not limited in number or amount.

The limitations are the problems. They take your money and decide to punish you for using your "unlimited" plan. They are rude to you when you inquire as to why. Your service is shortened or turned off at their whim even though days or weeks are left which have been paid for.

Basically, if it is advertised as being a certain way then the customer should expect to receive the service as it is advertised. Individual plans may not be considered a big loss of money on a "one on one" basis but add the amount you lose yourself by being penalized by a few thousand customers a month and it add up quick for PlatinumTel.

JC

{ 02/12/2011 }

signed up on the 02/03/11..free phone with $100 top off..received phone on the 02/09/11..after over two hrs on phone with a very nice customer service lady..phone would not make a call..phone was one that was activated in 08 and had not been recondition..was told that they would send me another phone and to return that one when I received it..no tracting number so far...reading all these bad reviews had me worried..JC..texas

Gotduped

{ 02/10/2011 }

This company left a friend of mind with to babys to take care of with out a phone, they told her that they were cutting off her phone at 3pm, that's like leaving someone stranded on the side of the road, in this case a woman with two babies, everyone should contect the state attorneys office, and make this company pay some hefty fines!

Matt Graberek

{ 02/04/2011 }

I purchased platintumtel back in June of 2009 and i really don't have one complaint. recently i had an issue with my picture messaging and web, but i called customer service and they were able to help me fix it right away. they were very friendly and helpful as well as being U.S. based which is a big plus from nightmares I had to deal with in the past. i am under the unlimited plan and they haven't shut my service off like others have said happened to them. i pay $60 a month unlimited minutes and web and i am very satisfied

Diamondback

{ 01/29/2011 }

Awesome Service! Just recently found out about the service. Ordered the Sanyo Pro200 phone and a $10 card to try it out. Setup is easy following instructions on site. Signal is really good for my area. Texting send/receive is very fast! Price can't be beat if your only an occasional cell phone user like me. Love IT!

Ronin

{ 01/21/2011 }

As a Sprint reseller, PlatinumTel places the prepaid buyer at a disadvantage. they cannot fix a Sprint problem that i have discovered with two prepaid companies... Sprint cell network blocks incoming and outgoing calls.. with no ability of reseller support to fix as their test capability is limited. I recently bought as a new subscriber with Platinum tel.. the phone loaded, programmed and showed all signs of working. Plat support verified with their test capability.. yet Sprint network intercepts calls and says "You must dial 1 to make a collect call" in one's home area code, rendering the phone service useless. I experienced the same thing with another Sprint reseller, different handset, same voice intercept. Lat tel says sorry, we can't correct the problem.. it's a Sprint program error.. two different area codes.. two different handsets. All their te4sts at both resellers render an up and running verdict.. yet the Sprint network blocks usage with no ability to fix, just refund your purchase. How aggravating.

Middle Aged Guy

{ 01/21/2011 }

I'm a pretty tech-savvy middle aged guy but this is the first cell phone I've ever had. I just never had any great need for a cell phone, and the disappearance of pay phones for the few times a year when I need one was in large part what prompted me to 'go cellular'

I figured I'd be a low-minutes user and I wanted a cheap and simple pre-paid plan for voice only, for use in emergencies, and for the occasional non-emergency use.

After extensively researching the pre-paid plans, I settled on PlatinumTel. What I liked about them was the simplicity and transparency of it all, at least for my needs. I wasn't interested in web surfing from my phone; I don't see myself texting; I'm not going to download any ringtones, or other apps, or play games. I liked the no-frills availablilty of 5 cent minutes no questions asked.

They even state on the website that there's a 50 cent charge/month for the mandatory federal line portability charge. Most of the websites omitted that little bit of information.

I also liked the straightforward simplicity of their website.

I ordered a Sanyo Pro200 phone through PlatinumTel for $30, and a $10 card, found a 10% off coupon on the web, and did it all on-line. The phone arrived (no shipping fee) in about 3 days, and was a cinch to activate it on-line.

Being a first time user, it took me a while to figure out how to use it, but you can download the owner's manual for that phone from multiple places on the internet. Through mostly trial and error, I disabled the web and text functions, uninstalled the games, and so far it works like a charm.

I had a few questions that I e-mailed to the company through their 'contact us' link on their website and I received an answer in minutes.

If I was into web surfing, playing games and all that I'd probably go with another (contract) plan but for a no-frills no hassle cheap way to talk occasionally, I don't think you can beat this service.

BTW, I tested the battery on a 'smart charger' I have here, and it held a fantastic 1144 mAH. Disabling the sound functions that eat up electricity might be shortening the talk time people were referring to in other reviews.

I can't vouch for the less-than-unlimited service individuals referred to above.

Flako

{ 01/18/2011 }

Yep, I got disconnected for using too many minutes, never heard of such a thing. Its cool I got Boost now, alot cheaper and real unlimited.

Platinumtel FRAUD

{ 01/17/2011 }

Maggie I totally agree with you, this company knows EXACTLY how many minutes and texts you use, but they do not tell you what the limit is because they want to continue to advertise it as UNLIMITED. That seems so illegal to me, abuse of services should be like 30,000 texts, not 2,000 texts. And abuse of unlimited calling should be 20,000 minutes, not 3000 minutes which is only 100 minutes a day, less than 2 hours! THIS COMPANY IS A CLEAR FRAUD, SOME ONE HIT IT WITH A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT ALREADY!

Vince

{ 01/15/2011 }

This is a bogus company. Bad customer service. The lady talked in circles and refused to assist me in my problem. This company does have limits as others have stated. I read these reviews but did not heed them. I only used their service two months but it was two months of headaches. It may be the company for you if and only if you seldom use your phone.

Maggie

{ 01/13/2011 }

Horrible, horrible, horrible company. I have two teenage children and thought this would be a good "family plan" for us (on the surface--individually it was still cheaper than your average family plans with major carriers). In this case saving money with this company cost us more in the long run. Well, they lost 4 active accounts due to the lies they lure you in with. They have probably lost numerous prospects from the family, friends, co-workers, blogging sites, facebook, etc., I have related our legitimate troubles we have had with this company to. It is not the world of 20 or 30 plus years ago. In this current world children do text. Working people text. Business people text. In some cases grandparents text. That is unless you are using PlaninumTel as your carrier. There is a limit on the amount that you can text. I could not get a definite accounting relating to it from customer service. It was based on a secret formula that no one knew about. We were put on a 7 day restriction where our ability to text was completely shut down. Of course there was no reimbursement for the lost days. They take your money and at their discretion they put you on restriction and keep your money. There are probably many smaller companies that DO stand behind their advertisement and not hide in the extremely fine print that they put the blame on to cover themselves. In the fine print it refers somehow to excessive texting (both out-going and in-coming)but they are unable to tell you what constitutes or how much is excessive. Maybe they do not have the equipment to handle what they are advertising and want to try to compete with the ones who do. It seems technology has left this company in it's dust. This company should be ashamed of itself.

david

{ 01/12/2011 }

I got an old refurbished Blackberry from them a year ago and it's worked great. I activated it myself online. I've been on RealpayGo since then with no problems. I've never had to call customer service. It sounds like most of the people having problems signed up for the unlimited plan. Now I'm getting a free touch screen phone for buying a $100 card. I hope my experience with this phone is as good.

Robert

{ 01/12/2011 }

I have had platinumtel For A mouth now And I LOVE IT! Cheap mins and Txt and Web And I have never had a droped call Unlike T-mobile

Leoluke2010

{ 01/12/2011 }

I have used Platinumtel Realpaygo for half a year. The prepaid plan is the most cheap one I can find. The custom service is good that I never wait long to reach them. My port-in from ATT experience is good and quick. The IT people are also very friendly :)
You may have some trouble through some dealer, the the overall Platinumtel is the best.

Real

{ 01/12/2011 }

I am no professional about phones, but so far PTEL has done a great job. Good service online and by phone. They have a great easy to use website as well. You can actually get a phone for $40 per year if you do not use it too much. How great is that. That is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks PTEL

MsPennySaver

{ 12/24/2010 }

I switched to PlatinumTel 6 months ago and have no complaints. I have had no issues with their service to date. I do have one small area where my calls are dropped, but come on which carrier doesn't have those. I've never had to call them for any service or phone issues just yet, but I'd say that's a good thing. I was a Verizon customer for 10 years and got tired of paying $90 a month for 900 minutes and 500 text messages. I took a chance on the small company after having an issue with the big company (Verizon) and I ended up breaking my contract and paying the hefty $120 fee. The amount of money I've saved in the 6 months has paid for my phone and the $120 Verizon early termination fee and I'm only half way through the year. I wasn't quick to put up a review because I wanted to be sure about their service, but after 6 months I can honestly say that I have no regrets.

dd

{ 12/12/2010 }

This is the best prepaid company I used their prepaid plan and have had no problems over 1 year. Their rates are great and they have good phones. I am not sure about people calling this a scam. Just read the fine print before you sign up.

Stella (mt)

{ 12/10/2010 }

A very important point I left out in my earlier ranting....you may have PlatinumTel and not realize it. We did not know until the problem arose. We went through a dealer who has PlatinumTel as ONE of the companies they sold for. When we had the "NOT unlimited" problem, the dealer did not have any idea what the "code" meant and said that they were instructed to have the customer call PlatinumTel. He said that a few others had the same problem and when he inquired about it PlatinumTel said for him to have the customers contact them, they would handle it, they would not give him any explanation. He asked for me to let him know what the code was. I did. He was shocked that there was limits and genuinely seemed upset that the customers had been misled. Needless to say "customer service" is an oxymoron as far as PlatinumTel is concerned. As with everything, "buyer beware".

WC

{ 12/09/2010 }

Ordered phone and signal strength was too weak to make or receive calls. Customer Service incapable of arranging refund.
Totally incompetent.

CellPhoneContractFreeInAmarillo

{ 11/20/2010 }

Phone problem, but positive customer service experience. In September, after years of giving piles of cash to AT&T (and before that Sprint), I finally decided give pre-paid cellular service a chance. Of course, the first question was which company? No need to recount the list of the many alternatives that are out there. If you are on the internet you are equipped to do the research and form your own opinion. For me, the decision ultimately boiled down to cost. AT&T’s pre-paid plan was selling time at 25 cents per minute. Others offered cheaper talk time, but I found the array of different schemes (talk, text, data, monthly fee, no monthly fee) to be confusing. So, when I read about Platinumtel’s RealPayGo plan, I decided to give it a try. Fortunately, I’m getting older and I’m long past the time when keeping a phone pressed to my ear engaged idle chatter was fun, and texting is something that I find useful for brevity, but I’ll never be 1000 message a month person. So the plan is working well for me. Of course, my latent fear was truly the fear of the unknown. As frustrating and monolithic as the behemoths might be, they always provided good service, reliable equipment, and professional customer service. So, when I purchased my Samsung Seek 350 in September, I did so with my fingers crossed. Flash forward to November 9th. To that point both phone and service had worked fine. I was on my second $30 phone card. Then, inexplicably, the phone quit taking a charge. Every other feature on the phone worked without flaw, but despite everything I tried, I could not coax the battery to recharge. When the last bar disappeared, I powered down the phone and left it resting on top of my work PC. There it remained for a week while I was busy trying to beat deadlines. When I finally had the opportunity to return my attention to the phone, I placed a call to Platinumtel. My call was answered on the second ring. After explaining my problem I was briefly placed on hold. When the customer service representative returned to the call she told be that I would receive e-mail contact from a manager in no more than 3 days. 3 days came and past with no contact. At that juncture, I called again and obtained the e-mail address for a manager. I then composed a civil, but demanding e-mail. To my great dismay, I had a positive response from “Mari belle” early the following morning. Moreover, she had already put a fix, which included shipping me a new phone, into action. Haven’t received the phone, but expect to next week. Bottom line? Severing the ties with the big boys almost certainly means giving up something in terms of reliability and/or customer service. But hey, they can provide that “J.D. Powers” experience because they are financially raping their customers. So, when one casts off the shackles and tries something new with a dramatically smaller (and cheaper) player, it is only reasonable to expect that expectation should be lowered. Mine were. But I have to say, Platinumtel’s response to this my first pre-paid cell phone crisis, was inspiring. Sometimes a risk is worth the reward.

unitedhybrid

{ 11/20/2010 }

BOOSTMOBILEFAN: Just remember not to miss a payment even though it IS prepaid. That's the way it works. If you miss your payment due date, it resets. So if you are on month 5 and have to choose between your phone and food for that month and you choose to not starve for a month, you will be reset and will go for another 6 months until you get that $35/month. I was reading all the fine print on their site and might get it... don't know yet.

BOOSTMOBILEFAN

{ 11/17/2010 }

frankie and stella i could not agree with you more, if a class action starts im in! The reason they do not tell you EXACTLY how many minutes you can use on the unlimited is because its only 1,000 minutes! I cannot believe this is a real operating company, so many things I can talk about here its such a sham! Work with a real company, not some guys out of a basement calling themselves a company. ALSO, after leaving their service I bought the sanyo 2700 phone from boost mobile for HALF THE PRICE! guess what else? I got unlimited talk text web and walkie for $50! and boost rep told me if I keep account active for 6 months goes down to $35! Best of all its real unlimited, talk all you want they will not turn you off! WISH I KNEW THIS BEFORE!

Stella (mt)

{ 11/11/2010 }

I would give them zero stars if that was possible. It is NOT "unlimited". As previous reviewers have stated, there are limits. When asked about the limits you are told that the limits are based on what the average customer uses and it is calculated on a daily basis. Today it will be one amount of talk/text and tomorrow it will be another. If the customer rarely uses his/her phone then they are fine, if a person has a hectic life and are connected with the world through technology then they suffer by having their phone blocked. In their usage agreement, which at the time of set-up I failed to read carefully since I was getting UNLIMITED service--OR SO I THOUGHT, states "PlatinumTel reserves the right to deny unlimited talk, text and web services or cancel existing service to subscribers for any reason at any time in PlatinumTel's sole discretion." So as a paying customer, going on their advertisement, you are screwed. Even though, in good faith, you pay for a service, if they decided to cancel you because someone is having a bad day, according to their statement, they can. I question the legality of it.

frankie J

{ 11/04/2010 }

This is horrible service!!!!! I wonder if we can start up a class law action suit. I will be back on this web site after I contact legal services. They false advertise and take you money. Shame on them.

Pattyrn

{ 10/27/2010 }

I have been with them for a year they have the cheapest low use plan for talk text and data. It is a goo back up phone. The pro-200 although
A basic little phone has a loud ringer and alarm. You can also download bolt browser (unsigned version) as well as opera mini. I can do online banking with this. The phone is Evdo rev a and with the above browsers are very fast. Activation was simple online. Payment is easy as well online. Might be hard for some to re up as In my area it is hard to get a card so you have to have some sort of debit/credit card. Customer service is stellar and they set the standard for prepaid cs. You can access cs online on chat or voice. They are in the US and speak American English. They use sprint towers and are restricted to native sprint coverage. However you can get a 911 call out on other towers. You can keep any of their phones (even smart phones) alive for 10 every 3 months. After so far 15 months no complaints.

Rocker

{ 10/22/2010 }

I have had Platinum tel for about 6 weeks and I am happy with it its pretty good i Bought the lg lotus in purple and its has a qwerty keyboard and personally i think its awesome because my dad doesn't want me involved with my cell phone to much so this is perfect. BUT later will get Metro PCs cuz that's the best unlimited plan you can get.

Ricardo

{ 10/13/2010 }

My wife and I switched from AT&T and could not have been more happy. I was worried about the Sprint network, but I should have known that anything beats AT&T network. Way better reception. I have the Sanyo Katana phone and it is a great little phone (although mine is pink). I may get the Samsung Seek phone in the future. Then there is the cost. For what we paid a month under AT&T, we are getting a years worth of minutes. I recommended Platinumtel to a co worker and he likes it too.

BackT

{ 09/25/2010 }

I noticed It's low rates comparing other Pay as you go providers and I wanted to give it a try. I ordered a phone and top up card online and received it after a few days (10$ for shipping). When I received the phone it wasn't working. It was getting stuck at the Sanyo logo after turning it on and nothing was happening until removing the battery. I called customer service and requested to exchange the phone with another one. After two calls I finally received new phone and return label within 2 days after the second call with no extra charge. I'm happy with the way that exchanged the phone but one thing that I'm not pleased is that they didn't have any number with my area code in Los Angeles, and they gave me a number with another county area code. And they told it's a randomly selected Number and I can't choose the area code that I prefer.
Now I have to use it for a month to see how is the service and coverage.

Ray

{ 09/19/2010 }

I bought a Sanyo Pro200 and activated it on the Real Pay-Go plan. Phone works well, feels good in your hand (size and shape of Krazr K1m), and has very fast Rev A EVDO internet. Email client is nice and fast - no need for browser. I love the rates for text and web - much less than my Pageplus phone. Coverage is good in my area, but this will be an issue for many, since you only have service on the native Sprint network, with no roaming (like Virgin Mobile).

ldj

{ 09/09/2010 }

Great service. Best rates I could find. five cents a minunte talk, two cents for text message. On Sprint network.

Tim

{ 09/06/2010 }

I bought the cheapest LG phone and went with the Real PayGo plan. I screwed up and didn't select a plan when I ordered my phone, but customer service was very friendly and helpful and got me set up. The reception (on the Sprint network) is excellent (where I live anyway - check the Sprint coverage map for your city). I love the simplicity of the pay-as-you-go plan - 5 cents a minute, 2 cents per text message PERIOD. I have tried T-mobile, which was good but cost twice as much, and I almost went with Virgin, but their prepaid plans are ridiculously confusing, and PlatinumTel is cheaper in the end. I would highly recommend this company, especially for prepaid. Vote with your dollars. We need more simplicity and lower cost (voice over IP costs very little to operate, and these savings should be passed on to the consumer).

Janice

{ 09/03/2010 }

OMG! Horrible, horrible, horrible to deal with. They steal $ from your balance and are very unproffesional. Like a bunch of kids running the company when you call and ask for help. Holds time is 40 mins, are you kidding me? Threw my phone in the garbage and went with T-Mobile.

CRAP-A-TEL

{ 09/02/2010 }

SERVICE IS HORRIBLE! PHONES ARE JUNK! FALSE ADVERTISING! RUN!

Robert

{ 09/02/2010 }

I ordered an LG LX150 from Platinumtel. It was my intention to just use it for internet. I was not happy with the internet ability of that phone. At the time, there were no other choices in the same price range, so I contacted them and asked if I could return the phone. They said that I could and emailed me a UPS label for returning, which enabled me to at no cost. I shipped it and in a short time, I received a credit on my Visa card. It included my original shipping charge and the cost of the airtime card which I had activated and used about $2. IMO, they were generous to return the entire amount. I wasn't expecting that. Hence, I gave them a good rating, even though the product did not fit for my needs.

Your Dad

{ 08/05/2010 }

I've been using PlatinumTel's service for about 10 months and haven't had any problems. I reconcile usage against the balance and have yet to find any inconsistencies. Although it took awhile to wade through the "terms of service", I understood what I was getting into *before* I signed up for their service.

mharris127

{ 07/30/2010 }

BlackBerry phone and service seem to work great here (I do not use either BIS or BES, so I cannot comment about that). I like the 5 cent minutes, 2 cent texts and 10 cent megabytes (billed by the penny with no rounding according to the company). At 10 cents per MB, their data is the cheapest around that does not require either a contract or an "unlimited" plan. I just surfed the web for at least three to four hours for about 30 cents! Special thanks to Germain at ACRS (the master dealer) for the excellent customer service!

Also, the blurb at the top of the page needs to be updated to reflect their new pay go plan.

THE "DO DA MAN"

{ 07/28/2010 }

THANX EVERYONE FOR UR REVIEWS.AFTER READING THE REVIEWS ON THIS SITE I WOULD NOT SPEND A "PLUG NICKLE" WITH THIS COMPANY!THEIR WHOLE SETUP IS A SCAM!THANX AGAIN FOR THE WARNING!

LeRoy

{ 07/21/2010 }

I will never use this service again, just outright fraud!

Matt

{ 07/20/2010 }

Victor, I had the same problem this company is not legit. As far as the positive posting here and there its obviously the owners of platinumtel. Its a very small company with nothing better to do than sit here and give themselves good postings. They advertise unlimited but kick everyone off, the phones are all used and break in weeks.

victor

{ 07/16/2010 }

Zero stars... Absolutely terrible- I also was kicked off their Unlimited Talk and Text Plan for talking too much. I was notified around 12pm and was told that my service will be suspended at 3pm on the same day... wtf!!!

David L

{ 07/15/2010 }

As I stated previously, PlatinumTel works for my needs, have not had a problem contacting
CS, & $100 for a years worth of 2000 minutes. Hard to beat that, and I have used for various members of my family over the years Net10, Virgin Mobile, PagePlus, & H2O, & I had very little problems with any of these. My wife uses PP and their 1200 minute plan, and once you figure out how the particular system works, it's a great provider too. VM was great for my daughter with unlimited text plan, but she wanted and earned a better quality phone, so now she uses H2O with an unlocked smart phone. H2O so far appears good too. Just be patient, be polite with CS no matter what, do research on the providers, learn the system, learn from others mistakes from postings, do what you can online, and be realistic. David L from Texas
S no matter what, do research on the providers, learn what to do & what not to do

David L

{ 07/13/2010 }

I am very pleased with PlatinumTel and its Real Paygo plan. Been in the plan since June, and the plan suits my needs. 5 cents talk and 2 cents text can't be beat for a minute plan. The phone is adequate with no problems, and customer service is satisfactory. I do not know about all the listed problems. I think people are just impatient and expect to much from cell phone providers. Please be realistic.

GuyinCHI

{ 06/30/2010 }

Platinumtel is crap, if you want to get ripped go right ahead and sign up. This is a very small company, WAY TOO MANY PROBLEMS!

RG

{ 06/29/2010 }

Found PTel here. Purchased a refurb Sanyo MM9000 online and set it up with Real PayGo. Phone works fine and customer service has been great. They just halved their per minute rate to 5 cents and they're good for 90 days instead of 60 days. Only one problem. Last month I ran my balance a few dollars into the negative using the web, a service I seldom use, so I wasn't familiar with how fast the cost can go up. Seems they "can't" shut you off if you're on the net. That's something I should have been warned about.

But for a plain vanilla phone with the occasional text, I couldn't do better for the price.

PTel has hinted on facebook that they will be adding one or more touch phones soon, depending on how it goes this will make or break them.

Samantha

{ 06/24/2010 }

HORRIBLE SERVICE, CRAPPY PHONES, AND VERY VERY VERY MISLEADING ADVERTISING.
STAY AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
Go with boost, $50 a month for call,text,web,walkie,and ring tones.

James

{ 06/12/2010 }

I feel your pain, I bought a platinumtel phone from a store in Chicago, my phone got suspended for talking too much on an unlimited plan. When I asked the store for my money back he said that he no longer sells platinumtel because of all of the customer complaints and headaches with this company. I believed him because he did take down all of the posters and signs he had before. I called platinumtel for a refund and they told me they had nothing to do with the stores who sell their service. I ended up going to Boost mobile and I am very satisfied, it is alot cheaper than platinumtel, they gave me unlimited calling, text, internet, and walkie talkie for only $50 per month!

Tim

{ 06/12/2010 }

Had to exchange my phone 4 times in a row to get one that worked! I should have asked for a refund right from the beginning. After using the phone for two weeks they shut my service off for abuse, even though I bought the unlimited calling plan! I only talk 1 hour a day, how is that abuse? My son has boost unlimited talk text and web for only $50, he talks like 10 hours a day and never got shut off! That is false advertising from platinumtel, I am never going to buy another phone from an unheard of company again! This platinumtel stuff is a scam. Stick with the bigger names like Tmobile, UsCellular, and Boost. Im sure these guys will be out of business soon and you will be stuck with a worthless phone. I wish I found these reviews before I purchased this service, wouldve saved me alot of headaches.

Another Page Plus?

{ 06/10/2010 }

What's going on? People being kicked off for "unlimited" plan "abuse"? People getting phones that fall apart? People having their money taken with no merch in return? I thought Page Plus was already over.

Looks like Ptel is going through the same phase as PPC did.

I recommend: Avoid their "unlimited" plan. It isn't. If you want unlimited on the Sprint prepaid network, get Boost cdma, Boost iden or Virgin Mobile.

Use another Sprint mvno/reseller's phone. Buy a cheap Total Call, Ready Mobile, STI, Kajeet, Air Link or other Sprint mvno carrier phone and find the msl/unlock code. Have a Ptel dealer activate it. It should work most of the times for talk/text. Avoid crummy quality phones if you can. Ptel's refurbs seem shaky (like Liberty Wireless's).

I would use Ptel's paygo, use a dealer to avoid headaches and use other prepaid Sprint mvno phones. That's what I would do to handle Ptel's emerging weak points.

Oh, and only use topup cards. Never credit/debit cards. Virgin Mobile has the same issue. They overcharge.

Tiffany

{ 06/04/2010 }

Platinum Tel are Rip offs and I'm looking into a case right not with them I bought two phones one I barely talked on a one I talked all day!! They turned off the phone that I barely used and said it was due to over usage!!!! How is that possible???

sarah

{ 06/03/2010 }

this company sux!!! do not use it if you like to text.. they tell you unlimited texting, but its not if you go over a certain amount its considered to be text abuse and they shut u off from text for 7 days also my credit card was declined becasue the addresses didnt match they still took 200 from my card and it was on hold until i had to go through and call my credit card company their accounting dept and so on just ridiculous there are better places out there dont go thru this one!

John

{ 06/02/2010 }

This company ripped me off bad, the phone they sold me stopped working after 2 days and they would not exchange it or credit me. I am filing a complaint with the district attorney today. I suggest everyone do the same instead of complain on a blog.

Taylor

{ 05/28/2010 }

I just realized that my account was switched from the old plan i was on to a new plan where the minutes cost half of what they used to. 5 cents a minute and 2 cents a text. Thought I'd share

platinumtel user

{ 05/25/2010 }

Great prpaid service. Their new service plan RealPayGo is one of the best packages on the market. 2 cents per text and 5 cents a minute, pay as u go. u can't get any better than that

masimo

{ 05/24/2010 }

Great deal, Real paygo plan the cheapest prepaid plan in US and the coverage is excelent, highly satisfied.

andrea connally

{ 05/21/2010 }

i dont wanna give this company ne stars at all...a swift kick in the crapper would be more my aproach to such a rip off compnay. i also purchashed a phone paying 2 bills to get the phone and a mnth of service excluding internet...my first month i couldt recieve fwd or pics but they sure charged me the stuff..and then here i am not even at month 2 yet and my phone messes up..it turns off one night and wont come back on. and of course because its a prepaide plan they dont wanna do nething about the phone. even though they tell u when u purchase the phoone that if nething happens to it and its not not damages done by u yourself if its the phone they will do wat they can. well thats where the rip off starts. then u buy the phone and have a 14day warrant they fail to mention when u purchase the phone. i even tried to tell them if they could let me mail my phone to them just to see wat happened and let me know thet damage repair and ide pay if not too much...but they wont even do that. now if this platinum tel has been in service for going on 10 years now how come they havent even try to offer and extended warranty on these prepaide plans. i think its only fare due to the fact we r paying so much for the phones. boos is rated lower then ptel yet thier phones have at least a 3 month warranty. yes the servuce for ptel is more accurate the boost. but boost at least offers to help u figure out wats wrong with your phone so u can see if your better off going to another phone or its a minor fix...it would be nice if these ptel people did wat they say and put the satisfaction of the paying customer first. that aint how it is at all. to be honest all prepaid plans kinda rip you off when it comes to getting ur monies worth...i guess if ur lower class and cant afford a plan n have to resort to prepaid then u get ripped off. u send money i really cant afford and then most of it gets waisted with prepaid. im on the verge of doing watever i gotta do to get these damn prepaid companies a run for thier money. even if that means law school!

JM

{ 05/14/2010 }

I signed up for their service with a blackberry 7130e. The phone took several weeks to arrive and when it did it was non functional. Platinumtel refused to do anything about it and told me the only option I had was to purchase yet another phone.

clocks

{ 04/30/2010 }

I really like this carrier so far. Been using them for a few months, with no issues at all. Their website has a nice chat feature that makes getting a CS rep easy. The CS reps also seem to be US based, which is a big plus after dealing with some Net10 nightmares. Unlike Pageplus, this company replies to emails. I get great coverage in the Chicagoland area, and have yet to drop a call. I finally ported my number, which they handled without issue in a few hours time. I have tried a few prepaid carriers, which mostly amounted in frustration, but these guys seem pretty solid so far. Their rates, while not the best, are solid.

lonnie

{ 04/22/2010 }

im in chi.got the moto q internet is great can send sms cant send mms dealer talks to me like im nutty and this is just my problem.ptel has no idea i think there is one lady there per shift...man this prepaid crap

Joe

{ 04/19/2010 }

Platinumtel is a rip off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This company is a total rip off, stay away from this company unless you don't plan on talking that much!!!!!!!!They just suspended my account because I talked too much!!!So it's not really unlimited like they claim to be. Never had this problem with PagePlus...I'm going back to page plus the coverage is better and they are cheaper...

Jeff

{ 04/18/2010 }

About six months ago i decided to switch to platinumtel despite some of the reviews. My experience has been great,however i didn't use the unlimited plan witch most people are complaining about. I'd recommend platinumtel to anyone who wanted a good phone, affordable service, and no contract. It has been great to me.

crapTEL

{ 04/17/2010 }

Call it CrapTel that's what it really is. They say the phones are BRAND NEW when they are REFURBS. They say the service is unlimited when its not. They say you get 30 days when you don't! What the hell is left? These guys are going to end up in court on FRAUD charges soon, you remember you heard it here first!

Ally

{ 04/16/2010 }

Worst experience of my life, very unfair people they think your phone service is a joke. Used them for 3 days, way too many issues each day. Got rid of the horrible service after 3 days, don't waste your time or precious money on this. Buyer beware!

Erica

{ 04/15/2010 }

HORRIBLE SERVICE! Phone kept turning off the same day I bought it, returned and same issue! I paid for 30 days of service and only got 23 days? They could not explain why its off, they told me just buy another plan.

Finally decided to go to the store instead of calling their horrible customer service and the store owner to my surprise told me "THIS COMPANY HAS BIG PROBLEMS". Enough said, he recommended I go with Boost Mobile and I have not had any serious issues with them so far.

Daniel

{ 04/15/2010 }

This company seems like a fraud, they suspended my so called unlimited service after using it for 8 days because I talk too much on the phone? Would you like to know how much I talked? I talked for an average of 113 minutes a day, NOT EVEN 2 HOURS! What kind of service can say its unlimited but if you talk 2,000 minutes a month they kick you out? Correct me if im wrong, but that is fraud. When I called customer service they said there is nothing they can do. This does not seem like a legitimate company, I really would love to know who owns it and their backgrounds.

Josh

{ 04/13/2010 }

Platinumtel user for about 6 months. Have used both the Samsung Ace and Moto Q9c. Great company, great service! Highly Recommend.

musse

{ 04/10/2010 }

If you are a heavy talker and want unlimited, this is not your company!!.

They suspended me of using what they call excessive minutes!!.

And remember , i had the 50 dollar plan which had unlimited minutes and texting!!.

To add insult to injury, they suspended me in the first ten days of my bill!!.

They told me to give them my address to send a cheque of my balance.

They didn't give me to finish the month even.

never seen something like this!!.

Nathan

{ 04/08/2010 }

Excellent pricing, but coverage is spotty. Not really their fault, but Sprint's. Older phones, but like any MVNO, not a big deal. Most Sprint phones with clear ESN's can be used. Dumb-phones are easier to activate. PagePlus has more coverage and is cheaper, but overall both are good companies. Just check coverage first...

monika

{ 04/04/2010 }

the customer service is great but the phones are not that good...i like the service though

Rob

{ 04/04/2010 }

I use my mobile phone for short calls as well as for occasional longer conversations, sometimes international. I have been using platinumtel's dot.10 plan for half a year, and I am very satisfied. Coverage is as good as of any other service I have used before, and the rates are very reasonable. Setting up the phone was no hassle at all. When I received the phone by mail, they had included a complimentary $10 prepaid card since I had not purchased any airtime yet, which was nice. Altogether, I am happy that I have a phone that meets all my needs while costing considerably less than all contract-based plans I have looked into.

ahmed

{ 04/01/2010 }

i had unlimited plan!! yeah right!!!.

they suspended me after few months for "execive use of minutes", what?
i said:i have unlimited plan: they said last month the system flaged you for long coversations about an hour long!! or more so simply i was suspended, they will send me back half of the bill, my money became a repay!!!.
this is not a good company at all.

Unlimited no!!

Jim

{ 04/01/2010 }

I have had my phone since October 2009, and just wanted to submit a follow-up review. I don't make a lot of calls and they are usually short - I just want a phone that I can use in case I need to call someone or be called. For me, this phone is perfect. The price can't be beat, and I have had great service when I called in to activate the phone. I just topped up with $100 for a year, and the minutes I had left also rolled over for another year. It was very easy and the phone has always worked great. No problems, a good deal for someone who just needs a phone.

Have to keep it Undercover

{ 03/22/2010 }

Ok, I am a dealer. I called to activate a Sprint Handset for a customer. I know the rate of success is 60/40 so I call Ptel Customer Service FIRST to ensure that the ESN will activate.

I was told by the first CSR after checking, no problem. Called the customer back and had them pay for plan and activation.

Next, I pull a pin for the customer....they wanted Dot 10-$100.00. Called back to customer service (dealer portal was giving me issues with applying the pin) to activate service. After being on a SILENT hold for 4 minutes with this CSR, I was told REALLY...GET THIS...

This Pin was loaded on to a plan in 2004? 2004, are you serious...keep records that far? I proceeded to tell him that I JUST pulled the pin from my provider 15 minutes ago and it should be fine (this is a huge pin provider). Regardless, I decided to pull another one.

Wouldn't you know it....another 2004 applied pin! At this point, I was more than a little angry. Was my provider selling me used pins...so I thought. I told the CSR, I would get back with them after a call to Huge Pin Provider.

Huge Pin Provider stated....no, no...are pins are good. We will refund you for these, pull another one and call Ptel back. I did....suspect at this point, but I did.

So another call to Ptel (time spend on a should have been 5 minute activation at this point...1 hour). The FIRST question I asked is for them to check the PIN. CSR took 5 minutes again to check this...then she stated the PIN was good.

Great...PIN good, phone good....we should get the customer activated right? Wrong! After another 20 minute wait for the activation process...it turns out that the pin and phone could not be activated because of the Phone ESN is not a Ptel handset!! WTH!!!

This was question number ONE already!! Was told it was fine by slow CSR number 1 and now being told not fine by CSR number 2....after 30 wasted minutes.

In the end, I just hung up. refunded the customer and told him to consider Page Plus (a little better and easier for SURE to activate).

Oh yeah....to port a number, you MUST fax in a form (if you are a dealer) with the customers' signature to approve the port....even if you have ALL the customers' information like Current Carrier Account Number and Passcode. How would a dealer obtain a customers' passcode if the customer did not approve of the PORT-IN ALREADY? Fax paperwork for this....you GOT to BE KIDDING Ptel!

This company needs to GROW -UP to hang with the MNVO big boys. Porting a number into Page Plus does not require this much work. PP has many other problems but this is not one.

Very negative on Ptel until they get their act together. Be warned....

James

{ 03/14/2010 }

I cannot believe how false the editor rating is on platinumtel. Never heard of the company until I came on this site. I purchased a phone for $150, and paid an additional $50 for the monthly plan. I used the phone for 3 weeks and they sent me a text saying my service is going to get suspended. Why? I paid for a full month of unlimited service. After being on hold for nearly 1 hour (I am not exaggerating either), finally someone picks up and tells me that my service is being disconnected because I used too many minutes. I thought it was unlimited? They told me they cannot help me in any way. I asked for a refund for phone that I paid $150 for they said they cannot refund it because I already used it. Really, what kind of company is this? You guys sold me a phone I cannot use with anyone else and Im out of $150 now? I find it so hard to believe these guys are legitimate. I shouldve know the comments from people like "Matt" are from platinumtel themselves when I bought it, seemed very fishy to begin with. They disconnected my service but I dont care, this entire service is a scam. Will never come near this company again.

Rodger Dodger

{ 03/08/2010 }

WARNING !! Incredibly HORRIBLE customer service, both by phone, email and live chat. The guy, "Dan," on the phone was clueless about basic info like whether I could send a check because their online billing wouldn't accept a PERFECTLY VALID debit card (I had my bank on the phone while I was getting rejected). After waiting for over 15 minutes listening to his heavy breathing, I finally asked for a call-back and was promised a return call within "a few minutes." NEVER HAPPENED. 2 days later I tried the email support and they were equally unhelpful, saying "it looks like there is a problem with accepting debit cards," and not answering my main question about paying by mail. I ended up paying with a regular credit card (which meant juggling my finances). When the phone arrived, it couldn't be activated by the online system - the "Activating" progress wheel just kept spinning-and-spinning-and-spinning... The live chat help took OVER 35 MINUTES to become available. The phone finally works but they still haven't transferred my phone number to this one, so forget what their site says about the speed of porting your current number to your new phone. The service is a really good deal money-wise, but GOOD LUCK GETTING STARTED !!

Jenni

{ 03/07/2010 }

ARGH! Unlimited? Yeah right! I purchased $50 month plus $10 for internet service. Yet I get charged for "off peak" minutes? How is that unlimited? Maybe I am not getting it. Right now my phone is not working. No signal. Customer service is terrible! This is my 3rd problem with this company. I think I will be looking into a different service.

Anson

{ 03/07/2010 }

This company is a big rip off! Will never do business with you guys again!

Jessica

{ 03/05/2010 }

HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE. Bought a phone from the website, Platinumtel shipped me 4 bad phones! They made me pay for the return shipping and each time had a different issue with the phone. Finally the 5th phone was working. After using the service for 3 weeks they suspended my service for ABUSE? Meaning I made to many calls on it. I THOUGHT IT WAS UNLIMITED CALLING? All they did is refer me to the terms and conditions on their website that says if you talk a lot they will suspend your service. STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY, WHAT A MESS! CANNOT BELIEVE THEY ARE IN BUSINESS.

Bill

{ 02/20/2010 }

I won't consider them either at this point as it SEEMS that their employees are lurking and posting fake comments. See comments by 'Chris'. Terrible. For a basic phone it's Page Plus or the wife's Boost. Page Plus is a bit cheaper at .05/.06 per min but phone has ext ant and is rated as horrible CS. Boost is a flat .10 min. We'll see.

michelle

{ 02/19/2010 }

hi i am thinking about getting this service does anyone know what the coverage is...i saw a post earlier that said it was off sprint network...so does that mean that where ever sprint coverage is plat coverage is? im new to this stuff...thanks for the help

sasha

{ 02/09/2010 }

I was just wondering are the phones unlock...

Me

{ 02/08/2010 }

@Chris: I hate to tell you this but most customers are dumb. They ask questions that they could just as easily answer by doing just a small amount of work. And, you took a person's comment out of context. Downrating a company that supplies phones that are not the latest but comensurate with the prepaid industry really is not fair. Have you checked your own attitude at the door?

Daniel

{ 02/03/2010 }

I am currently shopping around for a pre-paid phone. However, I am giving this 1 star for the simple fact that "Matt" or "DaMattster" is obviously under the employ of PlatinumTel. I don't appreciate coming on a site to read USER reviews of phones and phone service, or anything for that matter, and finding some chode who thinks everyone who reads his posts is an idiot who will just take what he has to say for granted (when in reality he is the idiot and everyone who knows him knows it). All totaled now "Matt" has given Platinum Tel 5 stars 6 times, and three stars once! Beginning on 11-05 and ending on 12-31. Who monitors a reivew page for two months after they have "purchased" a phone? Simple, NOBODY. I will not be purchasing a phone or service through Platinum for the simple fact that I think it is a dirty business practice to either pay someone or to go on the internet yourself and submit CONSUMER reviews for your product. F U Platinum, if you are already trying to fool people what will you do when they buy your service...?

jj

{ 01/27/2010 }

I like the service very well

Jenny

{ 01/23/2010 }

MotoQ user. Nice phone. Customer service I would give a 3. They don't seem to have answers to my questions and when they finally retrieve one, I am dozing off. Perhaps, someone here can help me. Why can't I set up my email?

david astor

{ 01/20/2010 }

I purchased a q9c from platinumtel, which worked for 2 days then it wouldn't turn on. Customer service kept me on hold 20 minutes. After I got another phone my service got shut off for abuse? This company is a scam!

John

{ 01/13/2010 }

Horrible support, had to buy 4 phones before one worked! I bought a 30 day unlimited plan and they shut me off after 26 days! I never called 411, or used the web. All they can tell me is "Sir, I apologize but we cannot do anything about this." Thanks for nothing CrapTel!

pattyrn

{ 01/01/2010 }

have the q9c with everything unlimited for 60 a month, saving 50 a month vs att, data is faster than att 3g. service aways polite and helpful, wished I knew about them sooner.

Matt

{ 12/31/2009 }

PlatinumTel is a bit more expensive then some of its competitors but you get one important piece: US based customer service. What is 5 to 10 dollars more per month anyway? An extra 0.34 per day and so much better quality.

Cougar

{ 11/26/2009 }

Service is just great! Price is right nothing 2 complain about,Thx Platinumtel!!!!

Matt

{ 11/24/2009 }

Had to downrate platinumtel by a bit. Their website indicated that coverage would be available in Alaska and was not.

Dave

{ 11/19/2009 }

Oops, I meant $60/mo.

Dave

{ 11/19/2009 }

Unlimited everything for $6/mo, stellar customer service (especially for an MVNO), and sometimes even 3G QWERTY smartphones in stock. If Sprint reception is tolerable in your area (and I know that that's a big if), definitely consider Platinumtel.

Me in AZ

{ 11/18/2009 }

2 weeks and still excellent. Friendly, US based customer service. A company that contributes back to the economy! I use PlatinumTel when I am in an area that Page Plus considers roaming. A happy customer

Will J

{ 11/16/2009 }

My first order was billed to my AMEX card but failed to process. After a week this was fixed and my Mastercard order went through. I got the phone and the minute card in the mail about a week later. The phone didn't have a battery. I only purchased the phone for a vacation and could not use it because of the battery delay. They promised to overnight the battery, which took 9 days to travel the approximately 300 miles to my home. Since I no longer needed the phone I called and asked for a refund. I was put in touch with a manager who said she would mail me a return label so I could return the unused phone and card. That was almost 8 weeks ago. I have called and emailed about 10 times. I was last told a week ago they were mailing my label.

They are located in the US, had good reviews and good prices. I was excited to support this US company. I find the customer service to be absolutely horrendous. Since they have my money they have no care to process my refund. I am filing a grievance with the BBB.

Matt

{ 11/12/2009 }

Oh and don't forget - PlatinumTel's customer service and sales are in the United States. It is so refreshing to be able to talk to our own boys and girls in the states!! That alone, is worth 5 more starts

Matt

{ 11/11/2009 }

PlatinumTel continues to impress. I have one suggestion for the website. Please allow customers to switch between plans on the website instead of having to call CS

Niko

{ 11/10/2009 }

This is part of service, quality of service.

Matt

{ 11/08/2009 }

@Niko - Why did you downrate them based on phones? All prepaid providers use older model phones. That isn't really a fair review of PlatinumTel.

Niko

{ 11/08/2009 }

The International calling rates are perfect.
Services are very good so the prices and plans.
The only problem is old MODELS OF PHONES.

DaMattster

{ 11/06/2009 }

I recieved my phone today and the activation was smooth as silk. I could do everything on PlatinumTel's website and even choose the area code that I wanted. I even have a high signal strength in an area that indicated it should be a little bit lower. I am looking forward to great things.

Matt

{ 11/05/2009 }

This is a great deal! Try being able to do all this with Straight Talk. I ported my number away from them for PlatinumTel. I'll miss the free 411 calls but won't miss the problems.

Jim M

{ 11/03/2009 }

I don't make many calls, and when I do they are short. This service is great for me. I can pay $100 and get 1500 minutes that are good for a year. The same coverage as Sprint, which is very good for me. Reception is good, the phone is fine, not as fancy as the Katana I used to have, but it is nice and small. Customer service has been great - two calls so far to get service set up, waited about 5 minutes each time. Nothing to complain about, a great inexpensive service!