Lingo

Like many people, I chose Lingo because they offered cheap pricing; however I forgot that old adage "You get what you pay for".

I haven't even started using their service and the problems became insurmountable. I followed their protocol for applying for and approving a change over from my current VOIP provider to Lingo and everything appeared to work well. I received a phone call (as I was told I would) verbally confirming my switchover and agreement to host my VOIP service with Lingo. About a week later the equipment for the new Lingo service arrived at my house; so far, so good.

Then the problems began. I received an email stating that I had to provide an electronic letter of authorization or a faxed copy of the letter of authorization. I tried logging on to the Lingo website to do it electronically, when I realized I had not been provided with a Lingo user ID or password; so I printed a hard copy letter of authorization to fax in. As I was filling out this document I noticed that it required a Lingo account number.

Hmmm? No user ID, no password, and no account number; I'll have to call and get it. So I call in and find out I'm too early as their business hours are 9 AM to 9 PM EST, M-F and I called at 8 AM EST; a portent of things to come.

I wait until 9 AM EST and call in; this turned out to be the first of 5 phone calls in the next 45 minutes. The first CSR after verifying my pin number begins to give me my Lingo account number; she gives me 6 of 8 digits and then disconnects the call. I'm beginning to get concerned about the service quality.

Next I call back and I'm given a User ID and password to log onto the website by another CSR, who also gives me a case number. The CSR stays on the line long enough to confirm that I can access my account. When I asked him where I could find the electronic letter of authorization, he responded with "I don't know"; he said he would transfer me to someone else who might help, but during our conversation I found it under their support section of the website, it's a cryptically labeled link called 'eLOA'.

So I tell this agent that I'll try to fill it out and will call back if I need additional help. End of call number 2.

I begin filling out the form and I find a requirement to provide a copy of my most recent bill (seems reasonable) which includes my name, address, phone number, service provider name and current amount. Well, I do electronic billing from my current VOIP provider, so the monthly statement I get doesn't include all of this information. So I call back again. This time the agent says hello, then hangs up the phone. (Oh no, what have I gotten myself into?) End of call number 3.

Just in case I'm having VOIP issues, I call back using my cell phone. I am once again forced to go through an explanation of why I'm calling and what I'm trying to do. When the CSR asks me for an account number, I tell him I don't have one but do have a case number. I read him the case number and he responds "Oh, I just talked to you!". (I'm getting real nervous now, I haven't even started using their service and it's already this hard?)

I explain to him my problem (my current bill doesn't provide all the information Lingo is asking for), so what do I do? Again, I get the "I don't know" response and he asks me if he can put me on hold. Before I get a chance to respond, I'm on hold; 5 minutes tick by and no answer. Finally after 8 minutes, he comes back on and tells me he's still on hold himself waiting for assistance and asks me if I can remain on hold. I told him that I couldn't as I was on my cell phone and was being charged for the minutes I'm using while on hold. So he asked if it was ok to call me back once he got someone else on the line; to which I agreed. End of phone call number 4.

Less than 2 minutes later, the same CSR calls me back and tells me to hang on a second and puts me on hold. Approximately 2 minutes later he gets back on and tells me he is still on hold and will be right back. He puts me on hold again!! I let the call run another 5 minutes before I hung up. So ends call number 5.

So after 5 phone calls and 45 minutes I still have not gotten the issue resolved. Every person I spoke to was from India and having worked in the IT industry and having dealt with other customer service organizations hosted in India I know that this is only the tip of the iceberg. It has been my experience that companies from India promise the earth and the moon but just don't have the ability to deliver. I am not a racist but experience has taught me that it's only going to get worse from here.

Consequently, I cannot recommend LINGO to anyone regardless of the prices they charge. What good is a low cost service if you can't use it?

As a consumer, it is my opinion that there are far better service providers and it would behoove you to do your research and avoid companies like this. Perhaps in the future, Lingo will be able to provide quality service, but at present they just don't measure up!

Customer service staff at Lingo really know how to make a customer mad. I called their customer service line to get help and did not get a resolution but only apologies. Was promised a callback but this NEVER happened. Few days later called again and wanted to speak to a supervisor. The representative failed to understand and kept asking me to tell her the issue. DID NOT GET TO SPEAK TO THE SUPERVISOR AND STILL DON'T HAVE MY ISSUE RESOLVED. Their staff are incompetent and have no clue of what they are saying ........ What is Lingo up to these days????? Their service does not work and they still expect customers to pay ....... Are they out of their mind ? There are many alternative providers out there!

I checked with my colleague who referred me to Lingo and learnt that only if a call is made to their senior management do issues get re-solved. The number I was able to get is 703-902-2810. Call this number and get your issues resolved.

Lingo needs to get people who know their product and how to help a customer on the phones. Maybe this will help and fix the pain the customer service department is causing.

Back in March 2008, I decided I was getting tired of my $40+ phone bill with my landline company and decided to give Lingo VOIP a shot. They sent me the kit and I was all set up under a 1 year contract. Then the problems began! The call quality was horrible, I’d say a 2 out of 10 on a quality scale plus I would get frequent dropped and lost calls. I called and complained about it and it continued to be bad. Then I had issues with the Lingo service not detecting the touch tone dial buttons from my newer phone on many different occasions when calling various companies. This issue was never resolved as well.

Now the billing nightmares begin! The bills started out at around $25 but kept on creeping up to about $35 a month which was getting close to what I was paying with a landline with much better quality and service. So around November of 2008, I decided to get rid of the service but did not want to be charged a cancellation fee of $100. So, I downgraded my package to the smallest one which was supposed to be around $10 a month to hold out until March came along when I can get out of contract. Lingo continued to bill me my regular rate of $35 a month even after I downgraded! I called and complained for them to credit my account. Never done! So, I was desperately awaiting March to arrive and I cancelled and thought, finally, I get to dump this crappy company. But oh no, they decided to still charge me a cancellation fee about a month or so later! I called and complained every week for 3 weeks and they told me they would credit my account (within 3-5 days) and it was an error. They lied, still no money! Being paranoid that I was dealing with the mob version of VOIP, I cancelled my card so they wouldn’t get any more ideas and bill me. I then called one last time and told them to send me a check or I will sue. Still no refund to this day!

You can view more fraudulent cases against this company at www.lingofraud.com

I cancelled my account in October 2008 and I have confirmation email stating that I do not have to pay cancellation fee and do not return phone adapter since I was their customer for more than a year.

Still, Lingo forwaded my account to collection angency in May 2009 and they are going to put negative feedback on my credit history for $99.95 (ninety-nine dollars and ninety-five cents).

Lingo is very bad.
Do not use this service.
They do not honor their own email communication of cancellation of service.

Account Number: 84021285.
Lingo Number: 16094540746.