Truphone Local Anywhere quietly increases pricing

[petkow]

Originally Posted by bartolo5

Well hopefully Truphone will bring Canada soon as a local anywhere country and then you will have a very very competitive product.

Yes, sometime in the next 10 years I suppose!

I very much doubt that even the "coming soon" countries will be here before the end of the year. I just noticed that Australia has moved back to this pile again.

[masr4779]

Thought I'd follow up on my prior post...

I received the TLA SIM from an online vendor last Thursday. After several phone calls and emails, I was finally able to activate the SIM this morning. The only issue now is that the credit card authorization is still not working. The truphone website is still saying that the activation is not accepted, while my bank is telling me that they are authorizing the charges. Seems like truphone has some problems with their online payment systems. I've emailed the helpdesk a couple of times to see if they were still looking in to this problem, but I received no response yet.

As far as the phone service goes, it appears to work well. Dialing is very simple, and there is no callback process (as advertised). Here in the US the reception seems to be strong. It looks like it uses T-Mobile bands, and it gets equal reception as my regular T-Mobile phone/account. I have set it up with my google voice number, and that seems to work well. So, when I travel abroad now, at least the phone service appears that it will work well. The only problem is that when I run out of my starter credit, I may be out of luck. Hopefully truphone fixes these glitches. If not, I cannot see them lasting long.

I'll post back if something changes regarding the payment process and report how the service works for me abroad.

[bartolo5]

Originally Posted by masr4779

The only problem is that when I run out of my starter credit, I may be out of luck. Hopefully truphone fixes these glitches. If not, I cannot see them lasting long.

I'll post back if something changes regarding the payment process and report how the service works for me abroad.

Actually now that I remember last time I recharged the SIM, I was in Greece and I did it simply calling 404. Pressing '1' after it tells you your remaining balance will directly charge the credit card on file instantly. Worked for me first time and without problems. Maybe you could try that?

404 is a free call no matter where you are in the world. neat.

[masr4779]

Originally Posted by bartolo5

Actually now that I remember last time I recharged the SIM, I was in Greece and I did it simply calling 404. Pressing '1' after it tells you your remaining balance will directly charge the credit card on file instantly.

The problem is adding the initial payment card. For some reason the system is rejecting it.

I was able to add credit to my account though. Someone at Truphone was able to take the credit card on file with my "application" account (the same card I have tried to add to my "SIM" account). Top up the "application" account, and then transfer the money to my "SIM" account. Worked well. The only problem is that it has not resolved the adding a payment card problem. So, I am unable to call 404 and top up using the automated system.

Just to be clear, the people I have spoken and emailed with at Truphone have been very eager to help. They eventually (after a lot of persistence on my part) were able to get my account up and running. I do appreciate that. The problem is that there are still some obvious glitches in their online system. Hopefully that will be resolved soon.

One interesting thing I noticed. I was charged for half a minute of an incoming call that I did not answer. I don't have the voicemail activated so I don't believe that is the issue. The charge was $.09. It did not happen again when I tested it.

[bartolo5]

Originally Posted by masr4779

I was able to add credit to my account though. Someone at Truphone was able to take the credit card on file with my "application" account (the same card I have tried to add to my "SIM" account). Top up the "application" account, and then transfer the money to my "SIM" account. Worked well.

So this basically proves they have an issue with their payment system. Not good.

Originally Posted by masr4779

Just to be clear, the people I have spoken and emailed with at Truphone have been very eager to help.

I second this. The times I've called them on the phone they have been very quick and understanding solving my issues. No script involved, just smart people who listen. If you've ever dealt with customer service reps in the USA or Spain this is totally a breath of fresh air.

Not let's just hope they can get the service running in places we can use it, and of course that they gladly let us pay for it

[Sophia]

You know... I just tried to add some credit to my account, for the heck of it. I did so in the past with no problems, my credit card is on record, but now the system flatly refuses to even show an amount to upgrade with. I tried on two browsers ( Chrome & IE8 ), both the same result. I hope Truphone sorts out their site soon, I fear for the worst when the simplest things are impossible... and I do want them to succeed

[bartolo5]

Originally Posted by petkow

Yes, sometime in the next 10 years I suppose!

I very much doubt that even the "coming soon" countries will be here before the end of the year. I just noticed that Australia has moved back to this pile again.

I noticed that.

Seems like they botched the Australian launch? I mean, they had a big banner on the front page announcing Australia as a new country, most of the stuff on the TLA section was updated, you could get a number .. and it has all been rolled back .. without saying a peep, which makes you question the seriousness of this company.

Searching on Google for "Truphone Local Anywhere" gives also a pretty bleak picture about the traction of all this. Seems like no one is talking about it, at least online, which is not too surprising anyway given its supposed to be a global product that only works in two countries.

Hoping for better news from TLA soon, I really want them to succeed.

Just went back to their press release about launching Spain and Netherlands which you can see here and it says there: "The service will become available to customers in the Netherlands and Spain in the autumn.". So technically Truphone still has until december 21st if they want to abide by their own press releases