Written on: 20/04/2013 by Jason768849
First review I've ever written. I've been using this company on and off for years, one could argue that I should have changed at this point but you just get used to using one method. I'm busy and don't have the time to research other companies. Until today that is, I will never use this dreadful company again. I never connect first time, more like 6-7 attempts and I may get through. That's if I haven't given up due to the fact that I'm so frustrated I give up as I'm at a point where I want... (read more)
Written on: 21/02/2013
I never write negative reviews...BUT, I have to this time! This company is a HUGE piece of garbage! People, please do not buy their product!!! (read more)
Written on: 28/01/2013 by Mamntuwayo
Every time I use penny talk to call southern Africa ,which is what I got it for the calls get dropped for no reason at all.I talk for five minutes and the call gets dropped.Then I redial and get told the call cannot get through at the that moment. I dial again get connected ,talk for three minutes and then the phone goes dead.in addition the line is not good.I can hardly hear the person at the other end.I shall be leaving pennytalk and finding another alternative. (read more)
Written on: 14/12/2012 by PhoneGuy (1 review written)
PennyTalk offers low-cost calling. It works from my house and my iPhone. I use a mobile app, and they waive the connection fee. I did some price comparisons against other phone companies. Compared to the usual big companies I can make my calls at about 10 percent of the usual cost by using PennyTalk. They even have a feature called Saveorites where I went online, gave them my frequently called numbers, and now I save even more. I love their product! (read more)
Written on: 04/11/2012
That's what I kept hearing over and over. First the system kept prompting me to add more money. When I did, a recording informed me that I now needed to add another digit to the number I was trying to reach. After adding the extra digit, the recording kept saying "we are sorry - we can not connect your call at this time" When contacting support I got a returned email asking me to send them all my account info including password and security question/answer over an unsecured email so... (read more)
Written on: 12/10/2012 by Litskie
Be Careful with PennyTalk, They promise me additional "bonus" minuites. And I never get them. (read more)
Written on: 09/10/2012 by Mediauser
I tried to make some calls to Brazil from my cellular phone to a cellular and it couldn't make a call. So I called customer service and they told me that there are some providers in Brazil that don't work with Penny Talk. Not only there is no such information on their website but they were really rude to me on the phone. I would NOT recommend at all. (read more)
Written on: 26/05/2012
This SCAM company STOLE over $24 from me and I would NOT RECOMMEND these crooks to anyone. They sucker you in with a cent a minute bogus charge and when you agree to have them take $25.00 off your debit card, it's impossible to stop these crooks from hitting your debit card except to CANCEL the card and you're when you do that,,, you can't reach customer service. THEY ARE BIG TIME THIEVES. Do NOT TRUST these SCAM ARTISTS with your Debit Card. STAY away from these modern day Rogues. They... (read more)
Written on: 13/06/2012
Sounds like a lot of PennyTalk customers have the auto-recharge option ON. PennyTalk never took money out of my bank account unless I logged in and topped up my balance. Check your account and make sure you have that feature turned off. Then when your account balance gets low (i.e. $5), you won't be charged another $25. If I remember correctly that was part of the sign-up process, asking if you want auto-recharge. As for still charging for calls that didn't connect...well I don't know about that unfortunately. Only happened to me once.
Written on: 18/05/2012
tried to get through to england at least 15 times each time could not connect load of rubbish but keeps taking my money (read more)
Written on: 26/05/2012
Terrible service. Of the many times I tried to connect my call to mexico, I was only able to connect two times. They discounted my available minutes from one try to the next, even when their system was not able to connect the call. This company is point blank stealing your money. DO NOT USE THIS SERVICE.
Written on: 10/05/2012
It worked fine while I used it, though it was very expensive because it charged a connect fee for every new call. So I stopped using it, and then I noticed that it continued to charge down my balance ... for a monthly service charge. I ignored that, but then I saw that it was charging me $25 to refund my balance. So in essence if you forget about this and don't cancel your account as soon as you stop using it, it'll go on charging you forever. That's probably in the fine print somewhere,... (read more)
Written on: 18/04/2012
had the misfortune to need assistance, email box was constantly full( with complaints?) when i did get through to them tjey did the exact opposite of what was needed. Avoid like the plague (read more)
Written on: 23/02/2012 by yulchitay (1 review written)
Every time I buy this product, they can never "connect call at this time"! I spend almost 40$ and didn't talk at all!For all this time they connected me once and nobody could here me on the other side=( So I tried to call customer service, I was waiting about 10 min in line and even when you call customer service, you can not hear anything there clearly!TERRIBLE! (read more)
Written on: 12/10/2011
*Service is VERY inconsistent. *Customer service was either terrible or non-existent *Calls constantly got dropped when I did have "service" *Service range was horrible *WAY overpriced! .50$ to connect every time plus .1$/minute plus other monthly maintenance and service fees (read more)
Written on: 25/03/2011
This is a fraud network. Dont opt for this. I have almost my money. I have purchased an unlimited plan to India from Penny talk. It gets activated immediately. But we will be charged local call rates. When I call customer care, they said to wait for 2 days till background verification gets completed. After 2 days when I place a call through penny talk, my service provider was charging per call rate. When I called them, they told to send across my mobile bill statement which states that i... (read more)
Written on: 17/03/2011
So far, no good.
Just bought a card, tried to set the app on my android phone, which they say gets you out of the .49 conenction fee. Downloaded the app, then tried to access it many, many times, each time said could not log in.
Called customer service over and over, biggest joke going.
One guy just put me on hold for 10 minutes then hung up. Another lady gave me an 888 number she said I had to call. I told her that was the SAME number I had just dialed to get to HER. She insisted. ...
(read more)
Written on: 03/03/2011 by Nalby0513 (1 review written)
This PennyTalk is a piece of garbage. My minutes were completely eaten up with two phone calls where I just left a brief message on my friend's voice mail, less than a minute each time. Trying to call customer service is a joke. First I was told they were doing maintenance on their system and to call back. Then other times I tried, they kept saying they could not process the call (a phone company yet), and just said goodbye to me and hung up. Happens every time I have tried to call. PLEASE... (read more)
Written on: 22/07/2011
Well why dont you just report them yourself instead of saying "theyshould be reported" durrr!
Written on: 23/02/2011
I just bought a calling PennyTalk calling card for $10. The card says "Only 1 cent per minute Anywhere in the U.S.!" When I got home and read the fine print there is a whopping 49 cent connection fee per call and a monthly 99 cent service fee. That's a whole lot more than 1 cent per minute, what a ripoff. (read more)
Written on: 04/02/2011
I've had PennyTalk for over a year and have never had a problem calling overseas. It works as advertised. I do call land line to land line though. 2 cents per minute to Australia and the UK. There is a $1 per month account charge and a 49 cent per call charge but if you look at an AT&T phone charge for the same call it is so very much cheaper. The gov taxes and fees eat you alive if you look closely. I only make 2 to 4 overseas calls a month which makes this service a bargain for me. (read more)
Written on: 24/01/2011
Deceptive advertising for sure!!!!!!!!! They publicize low minute rates but MANY PEOPLE WILL NOT NOTICE THAT THERE IS A $.49 (49 CENT) CONNECTION FEE FOR EACH CALL UNTIL THEY SIGN UP!!!!! AVOID THIS SCAM!!!!!!!! (read more)
Written on: 31/12/2010
I agree with the others - Penny Talk is a rip off! I tried to renew my minutes on-line and their software didn't register my first attempt, so I went through the process again, and ended up depositing $50.00 on my account. I tried calling Penny Talk, but kept getting disconnected. In a matter of 4 months, the $50.00 had disappeared, even though my husband had only used the card twice, and the billing showed that we had only spent $13.00. Once again, I tried calling Penny Talk, but my call... (read more)
Written on: 24/07/2011
ive just had the same happen to me! it was really good till i went to put more money on it then it just set up 50 pound that i couldnt take off and reset to 10 pounds now i cant seem to call anybody even though i have this 50 pound on there I dont know what to do now? I have been framed for sure!!!!
Written on: 27/12/2010
I've been using a penny talk card, bought in a store, to call the UK whilst I am here in the US. I have only had a couple of occasions the call could not get through due to busy networks, but the call quality once connected has been excellent. It's a fairly simple process really, read the instructions CAREFULLY, and you will be fine. Also be aware of the 49c per call fee, but if you're talking for a long time it gets diluted into the overall cost of the call, on average I have had calls to... (read more)
Written on: 15/12/2010
I have used Penny talk for years. I just recently started to use it on my T Mobile phone for calls to the UK that I make each week. I have never had a problem. The technician advised me to be sure to do a test call before doing a longer call to make sure that the call was being routed through Penny talk. I did that the first time and never had a problem since. I have not comparison shopped so I don't know if there are other services that are more effective or less costly since Penny... (read more)
Written on: 15/06/2011
I have Tmobile also - so you are saying your experience was that when you followed their directions, you were able to call from your cell and not incur charges from Tmobile?
Written on: 15/11/2010
This product is a rip off. When I set up my account the non english speaking tech put my billing info in wrong so my cc would not go thru. She tried it 4 times and I was charged $1.40 for each try. They would not refund my money because I didn't catch it within 12 hours. They also over charged me on connection fees. So it ended up costing 39 cents a minute. So please do not use Penny Talk. Unless you have money to throw away. (read more)
Written on: 14/10/2010
OMG this card is pure Garbage! I started off with $25! I am now down to $11, and I have not spoken to any1!! It always says, this call cannot be completed! Customer service is even worse! Just hangs up after u press 6 for custormer service! The worst Calling card on the market! DONT TRUST THEM! Please beware! Just pay extra for a different card! Trust me! Its a waste!! I rate a -0 for this useless cr*p! (read more)
Written on: 17/09/2010 by rojai (1 review written)
Used Pennytalk on my iphone whith the iphone application and I had to pay $ 120 dollars to my carrier for international calls that Penny talk did't routed to their service but to my iphone carrier.
Very Upset
(read more)
Written on: 07/09/2010 by william poxon (1 review written)
Great value if it would work. Calls to Thailand just ring and ring which means you are charged a connection charge. Also, when you do hear your party, they can not hear you so another wasted call and monies. On 8 unconnected calls, Penny talk would only credit back 2 charges. On 7 Sept. 2010, I was advised that their technical department has been working on the problem for two week. Calls to Thailand and China are not working but I was not told that when I called a week ago. I am now a... (read more)
Written on: 13/07/2010
I have been using them for the last 5 months and I like the low rates and the feature not to enter my pin every time I call. I had a few poor calls but customer service credited me for the calls with no problem. Overall I am quite happy with the service so far! (read more)
Written on: 10/07/2010
I use PennyTalk on TMobile cell phone (TMOBILE) and landline, I've had the card for 7 months+ (still using the same $25 that I first deposited). I make USInternational calls rarely, but as a translation agency once in a rare while I'll need to touch base verbally with a translator (my calls last less than 5 mins usually). I haven't had an issue with PennyTalk, after registering, my account was confirmed within minutes. Talk quality was fine, no dropped calls. When my minutes finally run... (read more)
Written on: 24/06/2010
Penny Talk did not pick up a long distance call to Europe and I ended up being charged $24 by Verizon for a 6 min call. Customer service at Penny Talk was unintelligible and not very helpful. (read more)
Written on: 29/05/2010
RIP OFF MERCHANTS...DO NOT USE!-I used these folks for a couple of years and then realized I was being ripped off as I was using their toll free number to call my family but when I then diaLed MY FAMILY number, it was picked up by someone who asked who I was looking for, asked me to wait while they went to call them (the only people who should hAve been answering those calls were my parents!!) and then rested the phone, with TV noise in the background- and so I waitied for 5 minutes or so... (read more)
Written on: 16/05/2010
After some 7 years just informed pennytalk that i will no longer refund my account . For some time there has been a problem with dropped calls to europe which requires redialing in order to continue your conversation .Each redial is billed at 49 cents .previously pennytalk would credit these redial connection costs on request but no longer .they have informed me that if the call stands for more than 1 minute and they drop it and you have to redial they will charge you for the redial as a new... (read more)
Written on: 16/05/2010
terrible product--could never use it as i travelled thru out different countries-- a real scam!! avoid (read more)
Written on: 09/05/2010
I just got off the phone with a customer representative and the experience was less than one star to be honest. I have been trying to call my mother in Brazil to wish her a happy mother's day for about 2 hours and I kept getting the message "Sorry we can not connect your call at this time." And after several attempts my credit went from $23.02 to $22.40 (but I was not even able to leave a voice-mail) It did not connect with Brazil at all! So I called and the person that took my call seemed... (read more)
Written on: 14/10/2010
OMG I get the same message> Sorry your call cannot be connected at this time. I went from $25 to 11 dollars on trying to connect!
<br/>All it does is steal your money. And it is the calling card! Because with a different card, the number went right through. Iwant to call customer service for a refund, but even that is a hassel getting through to!
<br/>Im so upset with this!
Written on: 14/10/2010
I found this review very helpful because...I agree. Penny talk is a rip off!
Written on: 28/04/2010
PennyTalk sells calling cards at 7-11 Stores and are worthless because there is no way to redeem the minutes for the amount you paid for. If you have an account with pennytalk you can only use a credit or debit card to purchase minutes. If you follow the instructions on the back of the card and scratched the silver backing to reveal the pin code. You then call the phone number on the card and then asked to enter your account# and pin. You have to have an account with PennyTalk to do this.... (read more)
Written on: 05/04/2010
Their rates are NOT what advertised. I was told that my international calls would be 2 cents and turned out to be more than 30!
DO NOT BUY TIME THERE. There are many other call card companies through the internet whose service is cheaper and better
(read more)
Written on: 22/03/2010
I just bought my first and last $5.00 Penny talk card. What a rip off. The card should read talk less for more not talk more for less. .49 cents every time you make a call.If you make nine five minute phone calls your card is toast. It cost 10.8 cents a minute for those calls made to US and Canada. Any other card on the rack is a better deal. There is a warning on the card about the .49 cent charge per call but don't forget to bring your magnifying glass with you to the store, you will never... (read more)
Written on: 13/01/2010
I've been using Penny Talk to call the UK and Europe for two years from the U.S., and it's worked out very well for me, cosistantly.
With Penny Talk, it does take some frustrating practice to figure out all the numbers you have to dial at first, but all you have to do is call customer service if you need help figuring it out, and they are very helpful. Once you do get this worked out, as long as you are using a land line, rather than a mobile phone, and you are calling a land line, there...
(read more)
Written on: 17/10/2009
The price of calls is not as low as it seems. There is a $0.49 connection fee every time one calls. So. the so called "low rate" might be valid only if you talk longer than 49 minutes. For example, a 3 minute call within the USA will cost $0.03 + $0.49= $0.52, which equals to $0.17 per minute! I can choose from many long distance carriers, no monthly fees, and ALL THE TIME low rates. (read more)
Written on: 22/09/2009
While PennyTalk Phone reception can be spotless, more often than not there is a lot of interference especially with international calling. Great price poor quality. I have not complained to them so am not sure if they help with service or not but the quality at face value seems poor. (read more)
Written on: 29/08/2009
I'm interested to read all the negative reviews. I've been using PennyTalk for over 3 years to call friends in Europe. I've never had any real problems with it ... the calls are always clear and the billing has been consistent ... however, I only use it with a land line, perhaps that's the difference. (read more)
Written on: 23/08/2009
Pennytalk and TMobile does not work together. I have been using Pennytalk to call Asia through my TMobile cell phone. I have noticed that for the past 3 months I have been double charged for all my international calls. TMobile has charged me over $100 for these calls that I have made through Pennytalk. I matched the bills up with the times of the calls and Pennytalk acknowledges that these calls are being made through them but TMobile also billed me for these charges. When I called to... (read more)
Written on: 08/08/2009 by jeffrey rucker
I signed up for pennytalk global calling card about three weeks ago. I charged my prepaid account with one hundred dollars. Everything worked well for the first two weeks and when my account balance got down to about fifteen dollars, I called the customer service number to recharge my account with an additional one hundred dollars. My account was never recharged and was soon disabled. Upon calling the customer service number to inquire about the situation, I was informed that my phone... (read more)
Written on: 01/08/2009
PennyTalk is the cheapest card to use from US to England. Excellent quality. (read more)
Written on: 09/06/2009 by eire82 (1 review written)
I have used Pennytalk for almost three years now and I have recently had some really bad experiences with them! First Off, my account is on auto-recharge but 2 wks ago it didn't recharge when I dropped below $5. I was not able to make a call until I manually entered my credit card over the phone, next thing you know they auto recharge me and charge my credit card so I had been topped up with $50 instead of $25.
I called Customer Service to complain and was told the technical dept would get...
(read more)
Written on: 31/05/2009
PennyTalk has been great until December 2008. I typically use it to call Malaysia, but of late it has a terrible time connecting, and if it make a connection, the line is really bad and I can only hear parts of the conversation, or the person on the other end has a hard time hearing me. When Malaysia calls me the connectionis completely fine and clear. I have contacted customer service twice, but the problem has nnot been resolved. (read more)
Written on: 14/05/2009
If you recharge with a credit card it take them a few days for you to be able to make calls.
They also automatically sign you up for account recharges of $25 every time you go below $5. So you have to make sure you uncheck the box before you make your call.
When I tried switching my funding source they charged both cards. When I tried calling customer service, I was on hold for ten minutes and then it took me back to the automated service. On the other hand most of my calls went through, but...
(read more)
Written on: 29/04/2009
i gave penny talk all my information, name, address, credit card number, etc. for them to activate my account and let me use the system without dialing all the numbers from home and it never happened. when i called customer service, i tried three times to get through and when i got somebody, he was in a hurry to hand up, did not talk clearly, did not have an anser to my question or did not care to look up the fee to the country i was asking about and told me to look it up at pennytalk.com.... (read more)
Written on: 27/04/2009
This is my first ever review on a product or service.
I'm so sorry I bought a Pennytalk card.
I tried 3 times a call to another country in Central America, they did not pick-up but my balance decreased $ 3.33 If I'm not mistaking, that is $1.11 charge each time just for trying!
The next day I was successful with my call, but the communication was so miserable that I had to apologize to my party abroad and hang up after 2 minutes of trying to talk.
Terribly connectivity and poor reception.
(read more)
Written on: 22/04/2009
Well I switched from one of my calling card to pennytalk so that I can save some money as per current situation. But I think the pennytalk is not worth a penny you spent on it. It is not only difficult to get connect but the voice quality is horrible. (read more)
As rated by real users
"OneSimCard Review" Read More
"No words describe how terrible..." Read More
"..they became big and stopped ..." Read More
"Dont waste your money" Read More
"Complete Rip Off" Read More
Phoneguy's Comment
Written on: 14/12/2012
Companies generally won't discuss a person's account without verifying whom they are speaking to. I see PennyTalk has a customer service phone number. I would call customer service for help.
Mech_02's Comment
Written on: 28/12/2012
I had the same problem. PennyTalk has a customer service, which they never answer (except on one occasion when a recorded voice told me to call back in one hour). When I contacted them via email I provided all the information and what they did was send me the dialing instructions (as if I hadn't done the procedure correctly!).
NOT recommended.