On the 13th of October I found a new online prepaid mobile phone deal called iSIM. The rates looked good and they provide GPRS access on their prepaid plan.
You can find out all about them here http://www.isim.com.au/Prepaid/Home.aspx
BUT WHATEVER YOU DO DON’T SIGN UP WITH THEM.
FIRST READ THIS….
So I signed up and paid $19.95 on my credit card
I promptly got this reply (personal details removed):
iSIM - Powered by Optus Welcome - Invoice
Dear Dr Roodyn,
Thank you for choosing iSIM. You can now enjoy the great competitive rates, which include:
• 39c a Minute (per second billing)
• No flag fall on calls within Australia
• 15c per SMS (up to 160 characters)
• 19c voicemail retrieval.
You also have the convenience of recharging your account 24 hours per day, 7 days a week online or via SMS.
iSIM would like to confirm your user name and password are correct when you signed up with iSIM:
User Name:
Password:
If the above details are incorrect, please email us on:
mailto:help@isim.com.au
We hope you enjoy your service with iSIM. For further information, please visit www.isim.com.au today. If you require help related to your account or services, please read our FAQs at:
Frequently Asked Questions
Please find attached your Tax Invoice for future reference.
Once again, thank you for choosing iSIM!
Kind regards,
The iSIM Team
So I thought that’s great – and expected to get my SIM card in the mail.
A couple of days later I decide to go to the iSIM website and check the status of my order – I wonder if my SIM card has been sent to me yet.
I discover that the order has been cancelled so I wrote iSIM the following email:
Hi,
My user name is NRoodyn.
On October 13th I used the web site to order an iSim card for my phone.
There were a few issues with getting the website to accept my details – maybe because I am not an Australian resident?
Anyway eventually it seemed to be accepted and I was notified that my transaction was complete,
Now when I look on the web site it states that “Your iSIM order has been cancelled.”
Please can you contact me so that I can use your services?
regards
Dr. Neil Roodyn
Increase the value of your Software Business
Neil@Roodyn.com
To which I received this prompt response:
Dear iSIM customer,
Thank you for your enquiry.
This is what we have been informed by the credit department as below.
CANCELLED BY CREDIT DEPARTMENT. CANCELLATION: SIMplus may immediately cancel the Service in a variety of circumstances, including: if, there are reasonable grounds to suspect that you provided incorrect information to activate the Service; there has been fraud or misuse by you in relation to the Service; you transfer your SIM to another party without obtaining SIMplus' consent to do so; or you breach the terms of the SFOA. You may cancel the Service if SIMplus breaches the terms of the SFOA. Upon cancellation, you must promptly return the SIM to SIMplus.We hope you enjoy our service with iSIM. For further information, please visit www.isim.com.au today.
Kind regards,
To which I replied thus:
Ok, so how can resolve this?
I would like to order a SIM card for use in my phone.
Is there a way you can call me and get this happening?
My phone number is:
regards
Dr. Neil Roodyn
Increase the value of your Software Business
And their response was:
Dear iSIM customer,
Thank you for your enquiry.
Unfortunatly there is nothing that we are able to do now, credit have cancelled the order, we are unable to change this. if you have been charged for this transacion a credit will be reaised with in 72 hours to your credit card.
We hope you enjoy our service with iSIM. For further information, please visit www.isim.com.au today.
Kind regards,
iSIM Team
To which I responded with:
I understand that this order has been cancelled and there is nothing you can do about this particular order.
The question I am asking is how do I go about placing another order for an iSIM card when the web site doesn't accept my details?
regards
Dr. Neil Roodyn
Increase the value of your Software Business
And they came back to me with this:
Dear iSIM customer,
Thank you for your enquiry.
Unfortunatly if you have had a order cancelled you wont be able to sign up for a service with isim. We suggest that you do seek a mobile service with a different service provider.
We hope you enjoy our service with iSIM. For further information, please visit www.isim.com.au today.
Kind regards,
iSIM Team
One thing I was interested in was how I was supposed to ‘enjoy our service with iSIM’ when they refused to do business with me.
At this point I thought, ok fair enough I’ll get my money back and stay with Vodafone.
So when 5 days later my $19.95 had still not been refunded I thought I should contact them again:
Hi,
I have been told that my account has been cancelled. I am not sure why this is. It appeared at first to be an issue with my credit card, but I now see from my credit card statement that you have taken the money from my credit card.
The money was taken on 13th October. It is now 20th October and neither has the money been refunded or my iSim card arrived.
I would like to receive an iSim card. If this is not possible then I would like to know why my money has not been refunded.
I would appreciate it if someone could call me to work this out on
regards
Dr. Neil Roodyn
Increase the value of your Software Business
Of course they did not phone me but they did get back via email again:
Dear iSIM customer,
Thank you for your enquiry.
Your refund was raised on the 15th October and approved by my Manager on the 18th October. so your refund will be processed in the next few days.
We hope you enjoy our service with iSIM. For further information, please visit www.isim.com.au today.
Kind regards,
Marlene
iSIM Team
Great so I should my money back in a few days, but I wanted to clarify this os I wrote them another email:
Hello,
Just to be clear, I want to make sure this is correct.
The payment was made on 13th October, on the 15th October I am told that for credit reasons the account cannot be opened, and yet iSIM still deducts the money from my account. It then takes 3 days to get the 'refund' approved and then from today (20th October) it takes another 'few days' for me to get my money.
Is this correct?
How does this equate to the 72 hours I was told previously it would take to refund my account?
regards
Dr. Neil Roodyn
Increase the value of your Software Business
To which they responded:
Dear iSIM customer,
Thank you for your enquiry.
The funds are deducted at the point of sign up, it is only after this that you did not meet the criteria for credit.
Unfortunatly we need to follow procedures, this refund has been processed and sent to the banks, it can take the bank a few days to process this request.
We hope you enjoy our service with iSIM. For further information, please visit www.isim.com.au today.
Kind regards,
iSIM Team
Another 6 days go past and no sign of my money so I figure it is time to write to them again:
Last week I was told I would receive my refund for the iSIM account that could not be activated for credit reasons. I still have not received the refund.
Will you please advise as to when this is likely to happen?
regards
Dr. Neil Roodyn
Increase the value of your Software Business
To which they responded:
Dear iSIM customer,
Thank you for your enquiry.
You should recieve the refund with in the next working week. I will look into the credit today to make sure this has been done for youWe hope you enjoy our service with iSIM. For further information, please visit www.isim.com.au today.
Kind regards,
iSIM Team
Well I have still not received the refund and right now I don’t really expect to see that money again. So I am posting this here in the hope that some other folks read this and don’t sign up with iSIM.
9 comments:
Hi Dr Neil,
I found a link to your blog on Imobile's comments page and I found it pretty digusting how you've been treated. I signed up with Isim about 3 months ago for $1 for $20 credit. Everything went fine until I ported out. They won't remove my account details and keep sending me promotional emails about a service I no longer have. I've just emailed them about how I can no longer make calls on my phone and how it's really annoying. Maybe then someone will realise I'm no longer a customer and remove me from whatever crazy mailing lists they have me on. They also keep sending me emails relating to someone elses account which is very disturbing.
I'm now with Revolution Telecom (revtel.com.au) who I think are fantastic. Cheap call rates and no BS (their words, not mine). Anyway, I hope you get your money back and if you don't I hope everyone knows about it. Good luck. -Charlie
Unfortunate circumstances no doubt, but, for every 1 disappointed customer, there are 1000's of satisfied ones of which I am one. iSim has saved me on average some $40.00 per month and I have not had one issue from the time I signed up, to this day. I would recommend the service to anyone.
iSim Fan.
Hi Dr Neil,
I feel for you, not being able to become an ISIM customer. I run a
business, www.thephonereport.com and after looking at the alternatives I decided to use and recommend ISIM.
I have not had one complaint with ISIM so far and the customer service people have been excellent.
I also have a credit card consultancy company and I am aware that credit card fraud is a major issue. I can understand why companies take a "broad brush" approach to rejecting certain CC transactions but I would have thought that it would be possible for ISIM to take a "human" approach and look into this on a case by case basis. It seems to me that they probably need to have a look at their systems and procedures to take these situations into account.
I will note this in The Phone Report.
Cheers
Graham Michell
Hi Dr Neil, I have to agree with your statement, as I have regretted using simplus for more than 2 years. After my original contract ended, I decided to accept the deal (No contract Plan) when their sale representative keep calling me. Recently, I decided to switch to vodaphone since they provide better customer service and prices compared to simplus. I was shocked when I recieve the bill, requiring me to pay a 'Port out Admin Fee' since I transfer my number to vodaphone. In their terms and condition, clause 10:2, it's written that a charge will be imposed if I end the service prior to my contract. Worst of all, my vodaphone service was activated on 20th April (means I can start calling out), on my bill, there was sms charges from 30th Apr to 2nd of May. I wrote to them and their reply was :
When your contract was finished you were charged on a month to month basis and the admin fee for porting out has nothing to do with the original contract. It is charged whether you are in a contract or not. The charges
on the account past the disconnection date are SMS promo and you will need to cancel these by contacting the company that is sending them. This is something you have subscribed to.
Frankly speaking, I do not understand what they mean. In the end, I still have to call them...hope I can get an answer later. Cheers-Al
I also use iSIM and cant fault there service I suggest you email them again if you have still not received your refund as I am sure it is an oversight.....
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well no wonder you could not get an isim, you need to be an Australian Resiedent and get it shipped to an Australian Address
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