DONT SIGN UP WITH MINTSIM.com - "Unlimited" (voice) IS A LIE!

[VirtualLarry]

I had my service terminated by them, for "AUP violations". They advertise "Unimited" voice and text, with their plans.

Well, that's a LIE! I was terminated for calling my Mom too much. (8-10 hours, a day)

Worse yet, their lying, evasive CSR, when I kept pressing them for a total number of hours per month that would be considered "excessive", they just kept referring to their service, claiming it was "Unlimited".

I was like, if it IS unlimited, then why is my service being term'd?

I was pre-paid for 10 more months, too.

I feel like this whole thing is a scam. Their AUP basically says, they take their top users every month and term them, if they "use over the average". (Which, would, likely bring their average DOWN every month, resulting in more fresh term's every month, until they are left with users that barely use their phone at all.)

There's no indication on their user control panel, 1) How many voice minutes that you've used, nor 2) When your voice minutes are getting close to the threshold of "abusive" network usage.

This is all a huge pile of bull. I was a T-mobile pre-paid subscriber before, and I haven't appreciably changed my calling habit, and I never had my service suspended by them. MintSim is a T-Mobile reseller. So, presumably the underlying network hasn't shrunk in capabilities, right? So what I'm using now (voice minutes) should only be a drop in the bucket compared to data usage on the network.

I've set my phone to "Wifi calling ONLY", so if they term me again, for excessive voice minute usage OVER MY OWN PAID-FOR INTERNET CONNECTION, then they are a bunch of cow-F'ers.

Edit: I can understand, for $14/mo for service, maybe they can't afford to actually provide "unlimited" service to customers. If so, THEN THEY SHOULD NOT ADVERTISE IT, and they should be like tracphone, and have some mechanism whereby their customers can track their minutes usage, and not go over whatever limit there might be.

Btw, T-Mobile themselves sell a no-data, unlimited voice/text service, pre-paid, for $25/mo., month-by-month. $14 isn't outside the realm of possibility to provide that same service, if I pre-pay FOR A YEAR. (Same network, after all.)

Edit: Should be noted, that the number that I call frequently and rack up a lot of minutes on, is another T-Mobile number. So it's on-network traffic, not off-network or long-haul or long-distance or anything. In fact, it should be the same tower.

 

[Raduque]

lol.

Nobody has unlimited anything. If you believe in unlimited anything, then I have a large bridge in the middle of the desert to sell you.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Oh look, the corporate apologist stepped in.

So, you agree with me then, that advertising any service as "Unlimited" should be illegal, and punishable by a daily, punative fine, by the FTC?

Remember, limits that are not explicitly defined, is not the same as no limits whatsoever. (As much as corporations try to conflate the two.)

 

[Red Storm]

8-10 hours a day? I don't even get to sleep that much!

 

[VirtualLarry]

Maybe it's more like 4-5 hours a day. I was just giving some margin.

Still, their service is hardly unlimited.

T-Mobile never termed my service, for the same kinds of calling patterns.

 

[XavierMace]

Oh look, the corporate apologist stepped in.

So, you agree with me then, that advertising any service as "Unlimited" should be illegal, and punishable by a daily, punative fine, by the FTC?

Remember, limits that are not explicitly defined, is not the same as no limits whatsoever. (As much as corporations try to conflate the two.)

And that's how we end up with caps.

Do I agree that the "unlimited" term is false and shouldn't be used? Yes. Would I have term'd you for excessive usage? Yes. I seem to recall having the same conversation about your "low income" internet that you immediately started abusing. You're going out of the way to get the absolute cheapest service you can, using it far above average, then you're unhappy that you get sub par service or terminated.

I had to go check. I've got 4 people on my plan. We used a combined total 525 minutes in the last month. You're talking about using that in 3 days. By your self.

 

[VirtualLarry]

seem to recall having the same conversation about your "low income" internet that you immediately started abusing. You're going out of the way to get the absolute cheapest service you can, using it far above average, then you're unhappy that you get sub par service or terminated.

Am I at fault, for attempting to use what I'm paying for???

And I never "abused" my low-income internet. I was only inquiring as to whether or not torrenting would work over that connection. I didn't actually use it for that. (Would have been pointless, at 2-3Mbit/sec.)

If they can't provide what they're advertising, at the price they're charging, then they: 1) Need to charge more, or 2) Set VISIBLE limits, that the customer can abide by. (And lose out on the advertising power and customer goodwill of the wording of "Unlimited".)

Would you willingly sign up for a crucial infrastructure service, for your lifestyle, if the provider basically said, "every day you use it, is like russian roulette, we'll shut you off arbitrarily, if we damn feel like it - and our AUP allows that!"

Edit: Oh, and "we" hear in the trade media, about how much DATA, DATA, DATA that these new networks provide, and customers consume. Carrying Voice calls, is, from my understanding, a relative drop in the bucket compared to data usage, when it comes to the overall data capacity of the network.

So, tell me again why they can't actually provide "unlimited" voice calling?

Edit: And, at least your provider, provides (evidently) a mechanism for seeing how many voice minutes that you've used this month. MintSim provides NO SUCH METER, so that I could see for myself how many voice minutes I've used, and at least compare them with anecdotal reports over the internet, for when people had their service terminated.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I had to go check. I've got 4 people on my plan. We used a combined total 525 minutes in the last month. You're talking about using that in 3 days.

So, in that vein, just because I use my cell phone service for 10X the voice minutes that you do, that I should have my plan term'ed for "abuse", even though the service is advertised as "unlimited"?

How's that internet plan working out for you? Would you likewise, say that anyone that uses 100GB of data or more on a Comcast connection, should be term'ed for "abuse", just because the "majority" of their subscribers, only check their e-mail?

Aren't people that watch streaming video 8 hours a day, "abusing" the internet? What about people that use "Cloud backup"?

Again, on an "unlimited" plan.

Edit: So, tell me, how much data did those four lines use? If you used more than 512MB of data, damn right I would terminate your plan for abuse. No reason anyone should be using their phones for more data than that, I mean, that's why people have wired desktops at home, connected to wired internet. /s

 

[XavierMace]

I almost didn't reply because I knew this would be your response. That's why my very FIRST sentence was I agree they shouldn't call it unlimited. However, as usual, you're glossing over the main point of you get what you pay for. You already stated you had no trouble with the same usage pattern on TMo, but then switched to a company providing the same "service" using the same equipment/network at nearly half the price and you're surprised their service sucks.

Would you willingly sign up for a crucial infrastructure service, for your lifestyle, if the provider basically said, "every day you use it, is like russian roulette, we'll shut you off arbitrarily, if we damn feel like it - and our AUP allows that!"

No I wouldn't, but I also wouldn't go with the cheapest possible option. Maybe you've heard the joke "your equipment was made by the lowest bidder". This applies to service providers too. There's a reason they're so much cheaper. If it sounds too goo to be true, it probably is.

For the record (again), I'm against false advertising. I'm also against caps and I'm also against people using an abnormally higher portion of a service and being unwilling to pay for it.

Also for the record, each device on our mobile plan is usually around 1.2Gb/mo out of 4Gb/ea.

 

[VirtualLarry]

However, as usual, you're glossing over the main point of you get what you pay for. You already stated you had no trouble with the same usage pattern on TMo, but then switched to a company providing the same "service" using the same equipment/network at nearly half the price and you're surprised their service sucks.

This applies to service providers too. There's a reason they're so much cheaper. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Well, you're basically right. This company appears to be advertising something that they really don't deliver.

Some of this could be technical in nature too - I had my Wifi calling switched OFF for most of the month, because it wasn't super-clear, cell network calls came out better. Most of the prior months (including with T-Mobile), I probably had the Wifi calling enabled.

I guess I should have stuck with T-Mobile. Just the $50/mo was getting to me, and cell service (especially voice service, if you need little/no data), is getting REALLY cheap. I mean, it's definitely time for the industry to lower prices on real voice calls over their network. (But MintSim's AUP works against those of us that still make primarily voice calls over a cell network - I figure most people using a cell these days, use messaging, and whatnot, using data services.)

Edit: They do offer different price tiers for service, but all of those tiers are differentiated by the amount of 4G LTE data per month, and not voice minute limits (those are all advertised as "unlimited").

If there is a limit on voice minutes per month (BEFORE my account suddenly gets term'ed), then I would like to KNOW what that is, and if the different tiers of service, accommodate them being able to allow MORE voice minutes per month, and still make a profit, then they should advertise that.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Here's the other frustrating thing about MintSim. Their data plans, have a clearly-indicated limit, and they will send you an SMS when you get near to the monthly limit.

Their voice calling is "unlimited", but has a secret, phantom limit, that they won't disclose, and if you go over it, they terminate your service altogether, and NEVER send you an SMS that you are near the voice minute limit for the monthly cycle.

Does that make any sense? When the voice minutes arguably cost them less than the data.

 

[lopri]

Well, I agree that it is a false advertising. It is even more absurd in that Larry is using voice calls (that no one uses these days) using his own WiFi. His use should have little stress on the network as a whole.

 

[JeffMD]

You found something that sounded to good to be true and found out it was. Welcome to corporate america...

 

[dainthomas]

I like my mom, but 8-10 hours? No way, man.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, I was terminated again, a few days later, for "excessive use". This time, since the last time I was terminated for "excessive use" (of voice minutes), I switched my phone to WIFI CALLING.

And yet, even though my phone says "Calls will be made over wifi", and I've had calls drop, when the wifi drops out, so obviously it IS using the wifi, the [deleted] on the line claim that I'm still using their voice minutes. That tells me that they can't tell the difference between voice minutes used using the cell tower network, and voice minutes used using wifi calling.

THIS COMPANY IS THE PITS. STAY FAR, FAR AWAY! AVOID MINTSIM!

Edit: The CSR was telling me that I should look on their web site to find out which phones are compatible with Wifi calling. My phone worked perfectly, with wifi calling, when I was on T-Mobile's network. And now that I'm on MintSim, which is simply a T-Mobile reseller, it should work too, right? I did fill out the APN info according to the brochure that they gave me with the SIM card.

Edit: CSR also said that I have to wait two days, for my "Unlimited" minutes to reset.

Edit: https://www.mintsim.com/wifi-talk-text/
My phone, a Galaxy Core Prime, IS supported for Wifi calling.

Edit: https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-27564
Here's the instructions for enabling it, with T-Mobile's network. I did register an E911 address in MintSim's control panel (which is a requirement for enabling it on MintSim).

 

[Raduque]

Wifi calling still uses your minutes, if you're on a plan that counts minutes.

Clearly, those guys do.

NOBODY HERE CARES ABOUT THIS. STOP BITCHING AND PAY FOR SERVICE THAT SUPPORTS YOUR LEVEL OF USAGE.

 

[VirtualLarry]

NOBODY HERE CARES ABOUT THIS. STOP BITCHING AND PAY FOR SERVICE THAT SUPPORTS YOUR LEVEL OF USAGE.

So, do you know any service providers that advertise "more than unlimited" voice minutes? Because, according to you, that's what I should be paying for. After all, I'm already paying for "unlimited", and clearly, that isn't a high enough level of service.

 

[Raduque]

It's a super low cost service. Stop being thick headed. You're not naïve enough to believe a $14 service truly zero limits.

Stop being cheap, pay for what you use, and get a real service provider or stop talking so much.

 

[Elixer]

Hmm, never heard of these guys before, and they seem to be just as shady as all the rest of them.

What about using project Fi? That is $20/month, and seems to be more inline with your usage pattern.

 

[darkswordsman17]

It's a super low cost service. Stop being thick headed. You're not naïve enough to believe a $14 service truly zero limits.

Stop being cheap, pay for what you use, and get a real service provider or stop talking so much.

Then they're literally committing fraud by claiming it is unlimited. It really is a simple as that, regardless of how much of a cheapskate or not you feel the OP is.

Oh drop the "poor telecoms" BS. I doubt it is costing them anything at all (above an average customer) to support the OP. Maybe if they had to be honest we wouldn't have this issue in the first place? You act like its some crime that the OP shopped around and found effectively the same or similar enough service (which by the way T-Mobile and the rest wouldn't license out their network to MVNOs if it wasn't profitable for them) for much less money makes him the bad guy. Stop being cheap? You're saying that in comparison to telecom providers? They've continually said outright that stuff like bandwidth caps and the like have nothing at all to do with actual network congestion, they do it simply because they can. Yet they at the same time will cry to the FCC that they have to put up with customers trying to hold them to their claims or even just not have crap service and customer service (and then have had countless FCC and even FTC claims made against them over their various practices, including fines of hundreds of millions of dollars over fraudulent charges they tried to slip by consumers). Give me a break.

 

[sweenish]

Big difference between frugal and cheap.

One makes sense, and the other enters deeply into "you get what you pay for" territory. At the post you quoted, did you bother to count how many whiny posts OP had made? One warning post is more than enough.

And last I checked, they weren't "defending" telecoms, just telling OP to shut up already. We get it. Obviously the company is shady, NO ONE is saying otherwise. I use Ting, can't complain. Fi is cheap, as is Republic and probably a bevy of other MVNOs. People aren't telling OP to sign up for a big carrier and throw money away, just to SHUT UP about this company and actually move on.

 

[Rifter]

I cant believe people are jumping on Larry over this. You guys are brutal. Hes paying for Unlimited service he should get unlimited service, full stop, period, game over.

If its not unlimited service its false advertising.

 

[Raduque]

If its not unlimited service its false advertising.

There is no such thing as "unlimited" anything.

If you think there is, you're either naïve or trying to game something.

 

[shabby]

Why don't you just use whatsapp, your mom has the internet right?

 

[bigboxes]

Hmm, never heard of these guys before, and they seem to be just as shady as all the rest of them.

What about using project Fi? That is $20/month, and seems to be more inline with your usage pattern.

I'm on Project Fi, but my mom would have hung up on me after 15 minutes, let alone 8 hours. C'mon Lar. I'm detecting a wee bit o' co-dependency here.