Freedom Pop

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Freedom Pop

Post by Dude » Tue Oct 10, 2017 9:49 pm

This is a really confusing service, they keep talking about data packages, and free 2 GB Trial data,

they also say they will not start your service until they ship your device?

and they are very coy about what they are actually selling, after many internet searches I can not find any place where they say they are using AT&T cell phone towers, or anything like that.

It almost looks like they are using wifi and maybe cell phones as internet data hot spots only.

Their website just says send us money, but for .99 cents I might just send it to them to see what I get, in the fine print it says if you don't cancel in 30 days they will bill you $99 for 6 months service.
I need to sign up with a credit card I am planning on canceling, so I can avoid that problem.

They have a plan where they give you a LG phone for $29.00

I tried to buy it and it wanted my phone IMEI number, I entered it and it said they are having problems and I have to call them.

Update:

Just read a review that said - The company uses the Sprint network.
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https://www.freedompop.com/

Post by Webscout » Wed Oct 11, 2017 6:40 am

https://www.freedompop.com/

FreedomPop At A Glance
FreedomPop provides disruptive mobile services including the world's first 100% free mobile plan so that no one is left off the "connected grid." Founded in 2012, FreedomPop is rewriting the rules of the global telecoms industry accelerating the convergence of Internet models and technology with traditional Telecom. It has closed more than $109 million in funding from Intel Capital, DCM, Mangrove Capital, Partech, Axiata and Skype Founder Niklas Zennstom's Atomico. In addition to free mobile service, the company offers a suite of devices, digital services, and innovative social sharing allowing users to share data across accounts. Services are currently available in the U.S. and U.K., with plans to expand to a dozen more countries this year.

The FreedomPop Team consists of seasoned web and telecom entrepreneurs who are committed to providing to customers free mobile services in the same way Skype provides free voice, Dropbox free data and Spotify free music. Through its innovative model and approach, FreedomPop currently offers customers free 4G mobile phone service, free wireless internet, and free home broadband.

For more about FreedomPop, follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
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Freedom Pop

Post by Dude » Wed Oct 11, 2017 12:54 pm

Exactly... mobile services, 100% free, expanding, lots of countries.
what does that even mean? and what do I get?

I was able to find one source (no idea how reliable) that said they give you 200 minutes a month for 1 year for free, if you go over or sometimes just get close to going over then you get a big charge.
at the end of the year then you start paying full price.
and it is on the Sprint network so you probably need a sprint phone of some kind.

I have an old sprint phone, if I can find it then I am going to try and sign it up.
the phone I tried yesterday was an AT&T phone so that may be why it didn't work, it's not compatible with sprint.

Still a little worried when I read stuff on their website like:
The free trial lasts for 30 days, after which you will incur the regular charge for that plan or service.

that does not sound like 100% free to me.

anyway, they say you can sign up your old sprint phone, so I tried and it didn't work, but then I dug up a list of phones that they say will work and the one I was trying was not on the list.

I have a sprint optimus and that was on the list, so I am going to try that next.
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Freedom Pop

Post by Dude » Wed Oct 11, 2017 1:26 pm

the 2nd phone that was on their list got me to a page where they wanted my credit card number to charge me $19.99 to activate my phone.

if I got 200 minutes per month of cell phone service that I can talk on, for a year I would do it, but I am not sure I can trust that site,
and I don't want to throw away $20 bucks, for $5 I would probably do it.
ok, this is what it says:

for $20 I get
500 MB
200 minutes
500 Texts

so the 200 minutes would make you think you were getting cell phone minutes to talk on, but it never actually says that.

this is a tough one, for $20 I would probably fight with my credit card company if they cheated me, for $5 I would probably just let them keep it.

found another page where I can buy:
A slick Smartphone equipped with one of the sharpest displays. Backed by a powerful processor and fast network speeds.
for $30 that seems like a better deal than paying $20 for activation.
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Freedom Pop

Post by Webscout » Wed Oct 11, 2017 1:51 pm

Go for it and see if you can beat them and live to tell about it.

Do it for the little people......all of us. If I could do it I would.

If they try and $rew you over tell the world.


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Freedom Pop

Post by Dude » Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:11 pm

ok, I think I have decided, I am going to try the sim card for $1
but I am going to wait until I have a credit card that I am about to cancel and then buy it with that card,
to avoid this deal:
Be careful. I got a Freedompop sim card for a spare phone. I believed I was getting a free service. In fact I was signed up for a paid service, which after the "free" trial ended cost me $100. It actually costs money to transfer out of the paid service to the free service, and this process is obscured throughout. Only after the first charge will you know what happened, and then it's too late. Customer service is non existent. There is no phone, chat, or email anywhere. This is a dishonest company out to scam people.
this seems to happen to a lot of people.

but when they try to burn me for $100 they will find out that I have already pre-burned them.

there are a lot of red flags, one is that they start your free trial the day the device ships,
then later they tell you that shipping takes 14 days (or more).

In a month or so I will have a credit card ready to cancel and I will buy their $1 sim card the day before,
because... I like to live life on the edge like that.
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Freedom Pop

Post by Webscout » Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:21 pm

[QUOTE=Dude;919418]

In a month or so I will have a credit card ready to cancel and I will buy their $1 sim card the day before,
because... I like to live life on the edge like that.[/QUOTE]

Thanks you James...James Bond...

I agree...strange company. Kind of a bait and switch operation.

Some (SCARY)comments

Terrible company. Basically they try to scam you in so many ways that even when you pay close attention to everything they still find a way to screw you. Then you get the charges reversed and they cancel your service and you are left with useless devices that are impossible to unlock and use anywhere else.

jajones16 Sep
I've used FreedomPop's Free Plan for a couple of years but I maintain an AT&T pay-as-you go phone for times when I may NEED to make a phone call. The FreedomPop service is not reliable enough, and call quality not always sufficient, to use it as a primary phone for calling. Texting is also sometimes spotty, but 500 text messages a month is enough for me. The 500 Mb per month of data is o.k. since I use WiFi a lot, but as was pointed out by someone else, once I get below 100 Mb, (20% of my monthly allotment remaining) ALL SERVICES are stopped until the monthly cycle renews. That is a significant problem when it happens and really FreedomPop is falsely advertising that you get 500Mb a month, since you do not.

afrimax27 Apr
This review is not accurate. I have a PAID FreedomPop account with 'unlimited' calls and texts and 1GB of data per month. However, when you have less than 100mb of data left- regardless of how much time is left in the month- FREEDOMPOP TURNS OFF YOUR CALLS AND TEXTS.

That's right, the 'unlimited' calls and texts are only good so long as you have data. And not just some data, but more than 100mb of data remaining. 2 weeks into our month, my child could not call to get a ride home because he had only 80mb of data left, so they shut off calls and texts.

There are tons of complaints about this and I have emails to tech support to prove it. Engadget, you should do a better job of investigating.

AmberBoumanEngadget Staffafrimax27 Apr
Those are some pretty important details you're sharing -- I'd like to point out that this review was not written by an Engadget staff member, writer or editor but was part of our old Public Access community content section, as noted in the top banner, so this review was contributed by a reader/fan/community member who has no association or employment whatsoever with Engadget.
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Freedom Pop

Post by Dude » Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:09 pm

I could tell after looking at their website for about 30 seconds that they were really stretching the heck out of the truth.

I noticed several things they said, and also what they didn't say.

but everyone should know that you can't run a cell phone company and just give away free phones and air time and stay in business very long, unless your Google or someone like that.

So this company offers you a free phone then charges you for every thing they can think of to charge you for.

When I tried to sign up it said if you click here then we will sign you up for two separate services each free (for 30 days)
So if it's free for 30 days then what do you think happens after the 30 days?

it is possible that after you pay $40 or $60 they might give you 200 minutes a month for a year, if you keep the 100mb of data on your phone,
(thanks Webscout I didn't know about the data thing)
so I would be getting 200 minutes for around $5 a month, which is not a bad deal, if I can keep their hands out of my pockets for a whole year. I would do that.
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Freedom Pop

Post by Webscout » Thu Oct 12, 2017 7:42 am

Most people except those that want to see and expose the practices of this company should probably stay away. Perhaps they should be exposed by some government communications dept.
But if you like the game, have the time, are tenacious, inclined, then perhaps you might outwit them and get a decent deal. If anyone can it's Dude.
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Freedom Pop

Post by Webscout » Thu Oct 12, 2017 7:42 am

Most people except those that want to see and expose the practices of this company should probably stay away. Perhaps Freedom Pop should be exposed by some government communications dept.

But, if you like the game, have the time, are tenacious, inclined, then perhaps you might outwit them and get a decent deal. If anyone can, it's Dude.

Utopia has at least brought this 'questionable''dubious' company to your attention.
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Freedom Pop

Post by Dude » Thu Oct 12, 2017 10:25 am

they really need to change their website to say:

"We cheat the other guys and pass the savings along to you."

if your smart and crafty and can dodge all the hidden charges.
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Freedom Pop

Post by Webscout » Thu Oct 12, 2017 11:33 am

[QUOTE=Dude;919449]

"We cheat the other guys and pass the savings along to you."

[/QUOTE]


I bet these guys would do well in a Pyramid scheme.
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Re: Freedom Pop

Post by Dude » Sun Jan 06, 2019 2:22 pm

I just checked freedompop again and they are now charging $9.99 for the sim card and a total of $14.75 for activation and the card to get your service started.

I am also looking at PagePlus which sells Verizon network service, they charge more but them might be a little less shady.

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Re: Freedom Pop

Post by Webscout » Mon Jan 07, 2019 7:03 am

Keep us posted... :)

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