The Worst? Helio customer service needs big-time help

Thursday, May 15, 2008I have helio, and i dispise it! It sucks. My bill is always obnoxious. And my phone has broke 3 times, and i've gotten the same phone three times. a white drift. bllahhh

Wednesday, May 14, 2008Well, at least I'm not the only one with problems with helio. HORRIBLE COMPANY......FRAUD, SCAM....call it what you want....In Dec my son went to a kiosk at the mall and needed a cell phone for OTR driving....his credit wasn't good, the man said he needed a cosigner and he called me and asked if I would cosign, I said I would but I wouldn't be able to get in there for about a week, the rep said, "no problem" just fill out your mom's info and make sure she comes in to sign within 10 days or your service will be terminated, I heard him and told my son not to worry. Well a few days went by and he started having trouble with reception in the basement, the garage and decided, driving over the road, he needs something more realiable and decided to call and cancel his contract. The trouble begins! Well, here's a problem (after being on hold for 1/2 an hour, he's told he's not authorized to terminate the contract because it's not in his name. He called a few more times because he had trouble understanding these reps who can barely speak english, and each time they put him on hold and never came back. He called again to be informed that "I" was the account holder....he told them no, "she didn't get the phone, I did". They told him he didn't and that it belongs to me. I called, now i'm mad, (I never went to the mall to sign as the cosigner), I was told I am not authorized to terminate the phone because it's not in my name. OK, I'm confused and frustrated. Come feb 2nd (the bills are dated between the 4th and 3rd of each month) my son calls one more time and says he wants to terminate before the 30 days are up and he's really upset with all the trouble to terminate this darn phone, they put him on hold........then they disconnected the call. Well, all of Feb went by...no bill, they must have finally took care of it. Um, no. March comes along and he gets a bill for over $400.00! Well, he's on the road, so I have to call, OH JOY! I give the name of the last person, of course they don't know who it is even with their ID #, and begin explainig to this one, well it'll have to go up 3 tiers she says, and call back in 2 weeks. (DUMMY ME) So, I did, no help, I ask for a supervisor who was rude, loud and yelled at me, I tried to find out why my son couldn't cancel his phone, why its in my name and not his, but the bill came in his name, and I dont have a contract with you, that I was supposed to cosign for him and never did. Well 1st she says, there's no such thing as a cosigner with their company, but in the same breath tells me if I spoke to the rep at the mall and agreed to cosign then its binding....???? I didnt speak to the rep, my son did, she said it didn't matter. Well it matters to me! Then she proceeds to tell me there are no records of either of us ever calling them. BULL! I have the phone and the call log proves it! She gets nasty, yells at me and demands I pay it. Of course I told her I don't have a contract with you and I'm not paying it. Well, that was 1 1/2 hrs of my life i'll never get back. ONE hour later, I started getting calls from a collection agency...Corporate Collection Services! Now what do I do? These people are just as bad, yelling at me, trying to intimmidate me into paying this bill, giving the information to someone else who answered the phone without asking who they were speaking to, like they didn't know, I'm female, they were talking to a man....violation of the FDCPA! They called me every day sometimes 2 and 3 times a day, they dont want to know anything except when they're getting the money. Well, I sent a certified letter to them disputing the bill and that I did not want them calling me anymore. They received it....track and confirm said so. They called for a month after they received it! The bill is now almost $700.00! My son is still getting bills for this phone from Helio, but I'm getting bills from the collection agency for the same phone which was never mine to begin with. Well, I've complained to the BBB in California and I'm going to in Buffalo New York where I live and any OTHER place I can find on the internet to complain. Their rep fraudulantly put this phone in MY name. I had an investigative reporter here today for channel 4 news to do a piece on this company. Any one else with co signing issues? Do they allow cosigners? DID ANYONE OUT THERE COSIGN FOR SOMEONE?!! You may want to check who the phone REALLY belongs to! PLEASE email me.....tweetiegab38@excite.com......(Seems the rep in the mall had to meet a quota or just didn't want to lose a sale)....I have a feeling my nightmare isn't over.............

Monday, May 12, 2008 STAY WITH YOUR CURRENT CARRIER!! I HAVE BEEN WITH HELIO AND HAVE HAD NOTHING BUT A HEADACHE OF NUMEROUS OVERCHARGES AND COUNTLESS HOURS INVESTED INTO CUSTOMER SERVICE CALLS THAT LEAD TO ME BEING MYSTERIOUSLY DISCONNECTED ON (FROM BOTH MY CELL AND USING A LAND LINE), GOING AROUND AND AROUND IN CIRCLES GETTING NO WHERE AND BEING PUT OFF ON HOLD FOR AN HOUR AND FORTY EIGHT MIN "YES I WATCHED THE MIN GO BY". I HAVE THEIR 99.00 A MONTH PLAN FOR UNLIMITED AND HAVE BEEN CHARGED 9/07 150.00 AT THE LEAST , ALL THE WAY TO 3/08 696.07, WTF?? 2/08 573.32, 4/08 360.68, 5/08 369.08 AND EVERY MONTH NOT ONE SERVICE REP CAN EXPLAIN TO ME THE BREAKDOWN FOR WHERE THE CHARGES GOT TO BE THIS SUM, INSTEAD EXPLAIN TO ME " IT SAY HERE YOU OWE ($$$.$$) SO YOU MUST PAY ($$$.$$) CAUSE DAT YO BILL FO DIS LAS MONTH!!" AND THAT IS THE MOST INTELLIGENT EXPLANATION I'VE YET TO GET. I HAVE TRIED TO CALL THE CORP OFFICE AND HAVE ONLY BEEN ROUTED TO VOICE MAIL BOX AFTER MAIL BOX AND AM STILL WAITING FOR MY MESSAGES TO BE RETURNED, I HAVE EMAILED COMPLAINTS REQUESTING HELP IN REGARDS TO MY BILLING ISSUES ASKING FOR A BREAKDOWN IN THE CHARGES AND I GET NOTHING I HAVE NOW FILED A COMPLAINT WITH THE BBB WHOM IS CURRENTLY LOOKING INTO THE MATTER ALONG WITH HAVING NOW HIRED AN ATTORNEY TO DEAL WITH THE ISSUE ACCORDINGLY BECAUSE I CANNOT TAKE THE RUN AROUND BS. OF BEING TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF AS THE CONSUMER. I SHOULD HAVE NEVER SWITCHED FROM AT&T WHOS SERVICE NEVER FAILED ME AND HAD CUSTOMER SERVICE 24/7/365 TO HELP ME WHENEVER I WANTED NOT JUST BETWEEN THE 9-5 HOURS WHEN YOU DON'T EVER NEED THEM. WEEKENDS HOLIDAYS AND EVERY AT&T REP I EVER SPOKE WITH WAS HAPPY TO HELP, RESOLVED WHATEVER ISSUES I RARELY HAD, DID NOT LEAVE ME ON HOLD AND IF EVER WE GOT DISCONNECTED THEIR CS REP ACTUALLY CALLED ME BACK. NO KIDDING THEIR REPS EVEN SPOKE ENGLISH. I REGRET EVER SWITCHING INTO THE HELIO NONSENSE OF FALSE ADVERTISING WHEN THEY SAY "TOTAL HAPPINESS GUARANTEE" IF THAT IS NOT THE BIGGEST LIE, THEY HAVE SHOWN NOT ONE ATTEMPT TO BETTER THE SITUATION WHEN NOT ONE EMPLOYEE FROM THE CORP OFFICE CAN EVEN HAVE A INTERN E MAIL ME, HOW HJARD IS IT TO PROVIDE A CUSTOMER WITH A TALLIED BREAKDOWN OF CHARGES SHOWING HOW THE SUM ADDED UP, I KNOW ON LINE I HAVE PRINTED EVERY BILL AND EVERY PAYMENT DOING BASIC ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION AND I SHOW HELIO OWING ME A FEW HUNDRED DOLLARS IN OVER CHARGES! IF THEY CHOOSE TO BEG TO DIFFER I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO SEE THEIR HUDINI MATH SKILLS CONSIDERING THE ONLY THING I HAVE SEEN OUT OF THIS COMPANY IS FALSE ADVERTISING, POOR BUSINESS LIKE MANNERISMS AND THEIR NAME BEING LIT UP AS SCAMELIO. THIS COMPANY IS A BIG ZERO IF YOU HAVE YET ENCOUNTERED THEIR POOR TACT HOORAY FOR YOU STAY AWAY AND IF YOUR STUCK IN THEIR TRAP BEST OF LUCK I HOPE YOU DON'T NEED IT!

Friday, May 09, 2008Helio has the absolute worst customer service. I have been a customer of helio for over 2 years. My phone recently stopped working properly(no drops or waters). I had the insurance $7. per month. Insurance wanted to charge me an addtitional $50. for a new device. Helio currently has devices for less than $50. if I sign back up for 2 years. I contacted customer service. They said no problem, just go to a retailer and by a phone, with no extended contract. I go to the store and they basically say no, they contact Helio and there are no notes to confirm this. I call back talk to several managers for over 6 hours in a 3 day period. One service representative refused to let me speak to a supervisor. One supervisor refused to let me talk to a assistant manager and gave me a consumer report phone number. Another supervisor told me a assistant manager would call me back and this still has not happened. Currently, Helio has shipped my new device to an address I no longer live at even though I have corrected my address with Helio over 4 times in the past 2 weeks. Do not sign up for Helio if you expect good customer services. I will be searching for an alternate company.

Friday, May 09, 2008I started with Helio in Jan. I went to the actual store they have not a kios. I brought another family in the same day to sign up but did I get my referral "NO" I went back twice over the past month and they said yes they messed up but still nothing on my account for a referral. When I call customer service they do nothing. When I email customer service nothing. It was on the contract and all done at th same time also. Besides that it took 4 months to get them to put the correct name on my friends account. Their customer service does nothing at all.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008The accents that you hear from helio's costumer service happen to be from the Philippines. I confirmed it by asking and I know a philipino accent if i ever heard one. Im not racist or anything and i am philipino myself, but they do not know what they're doing at all, ive wasted 5 hours of my life trying to fix the issue with costumer service and still havent gotten my phone activated. DELAY DELAY DELAY..so now im waiting. If I knew i would of never signed the contract.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008So just to add on to the bad CS that Helio has to offer. YES its true, there CS is HORRIBLE. Helio really needs to fix they're CS department and i mean NOW, there is no way there gonna get any further with all the problems in CS. Ive googled and read so many complaints about Helio's CS department I didnt believe it and i honestly didnt care. until i had to call CS and BAM i should of listened to you guys. Now im stuck with a 2 year contract and for 3 days now my phone has still not been activated. Regardless of what the problem is, the issue should be fixed before 24 hours or less, 3 days is too long its just plain and simple, Helio really needs to be selective on who they hire for customer care, because its screwin this company big time. On a good note the helio ocean is freakin SWEET and thats there only hope right now, they really need to do somthin my suggestion would be to fire whoevers in charge of customer care as well as the people who deal with the activation issues. it takes less than an hour for verizon to switch someones current number to they're account. why cant helio do it? somthing has to be done. Helio can get rich now but they can be ridiculously rich if they fix these issues right away. They can take over the world considering the featers they have to offer, for example myspace, youtube, messeging and 3g internet, those are the strengths of the helio ocean in my opinion.

Thursday, May 01, 2008I had an Ocean-actually it took the fourth replacement to get one that worked without shorting out. The last one worked great. Its almost perfect for the non-techy people like me. But the customer service and billing practices will be downfall of this company. Reps speak almost English. International calls are a nightmare because everytime you call, you get a different response. Member value offered me a settlement and when I called back the next day to accept it, they refused to honor it-even though I had the rep number and confirmation number. I bounced out after six months-its well worth it to not receive bills way over the plan. I had the all-inclusive plan and was still charged for incoming international (Canada) calls. The member value refused to adjust the bill at all and now refuses to talk with me at all since the matter is in a dispute mode. IN SHORT-THE OCEAN IS ALMOST PERFECT-THE CUSTOMER SERVICE IS LIKE TALKING WITH A BRICK WALL.I AM OUT AND WILL ARGUE WITH THEM OVER THE CONFISCATION OF THE DEPOSIT WHEN IT THEIR FAULT. MAYBE A CLASS ACTION?

Saturday, April 05, 2008I loved my Ocean, but dealing with customer service made it worth eating an early termination fee. When the call center was in the US, you had to deal with a bunch of kids with no concept of customer service. When they moved the call center overseas, you got a group of very polite reps who had no clue on what to do if the issue were not scripted. Trust me..Helio will NOT survive, at least in the US.

Friday, March 07, 2008I actually have a helio ocean and I love the darn thing. I agree that helio cs is pretty bad, please don't complain about the devices and plans. Everything I've heard on this forum makes me sick because you guys should read the fine print before accepting any contract. For the person that was waiting for the ema slip, if you were so unhappy with helio why couldn't you just pay the damn postage yourself to send back the device? All you needed to do was write the rma# down and it wouldve been credited to your account. I have never had to call cs because everything I need to know wnput my device and service is on helio.com People you need use your head and stop complaining. Helio rocks and I don't give a damn what you people think. You need to be smarter than the device

Friday, March 07, 2008So i called today to place a order for the helio but not on a contract more for thier pay-as-you-go plan for my sister. The rep that was assisting me was clueless that they don't offer the pre-paid plans as it said on their website, this made me very knowledgeable that they don't know shyt about the service they offer. The rep also could not get my name right after 5 tries and it was just an overall uncomfotable experience when they shut-down the website to place orders so you would have to waste time calling in to place an order with them. STEP YOUR GAME UP HELIO!!!!!

Wednesday, March 05, 2008I have the exact problem that has been going on for almost a year excuse after excuse and they still have not sent me my refund check so i have just gave up i'm so tired of the hour waits they suck... This Company SUCKS.......

Sunday, December 09, 2007DO NOT BUY HELIO!!! I have had nothing but straight issues since I have signed up for their crappy service. Where do I start? 1. I got two lines, one for me and my mom. I ported my number from another service first and my mom tried to port hers soon after. My port went fine, when it cam time to port her number, Helio CS ported her number onto my line and kicked my number back into the number population. So, I had her number and they lost mine's. They told me it could take up to a month to get my number "resurrected". So, I say fine and take a temporary number they gave me. 2. My mom called in to get her online password sent to her phone after trying herself thru the website 5 times and no text came... So she called Helio CS and someone wound up cutting my line off instead of sending a password reset text to my mom's phone... What the h*ll does that have to do with turning a phone line off?! (Mind you I live in another state ALONE and my cell phone is my ONLY form of communication!) 3. When I finally got my number back, I couldn't make any phone calls. A message kept playing asking me to enter credit card information to make a phone call because I wasn't registered on the network. Well, that's because I had to get my Ocean reprogrammed with the number I was supposed to have had initially that got ported out accidentally and had been resurrected... Can you follow?! I know, CONFUSING! 4. My bill still has not been prorated from my original plan (I had one line with the unlimited all in, then I added a second line and changed to the family plan.). I had to make them waive my activation fees. 5. Every time I call, I'm on the call for at least 30 minutes minimum and it could be for the simplest issue/question. 6. Every time I call, I get someone who doesn't speak English fluently and they are hard to understand. So I say... the award for crappiest cell phone provider in HISTORY goes to... (drum roll) Helio! Congrats, you guys have sure worked hard to be hated. Thank goodness I'm still in my buyer's remorse because this phone is going back. And thank goodness they don't have my credit card info, because if the charges aren't adjusted... then a part of the bill will be paid and they will have to "sue me" to get the rest.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007i've had the same issues. i went to visit korea for the summer but before i went, i called the helio company to ask how much it'd cost for international calls, because i have an all-in plan. they told me if i get all-in plan i can use free international calls. well, they tell me it'd cost 10 cents per min so; i thought hm... that's pretty good. (i wanted to freeze the account while i visit korea, but they said i would still be charged). so i went to korea and used my cell phone to call friends in korea and my friends in the U.S. BUT, my dad calls me telling me my phone bill went up to more than 200 dollars! A month later, i got back to the U.S. and i called Helio, they tell me it costs 100 dollars to use international calls and additional 10 cents per min. i told them no one has ever informed me of the additonal 100 bucks. all they said was.. "oh someone should have informed you." they charged me another 200 bucks (more than 200 dollars). THEN, i wanted to change my plan from 500 all in min to 1000 all in min. so i did. well, i checked my bill online a few weeks later, and they charged me $501.41, so i call them again; and they tell me you get charged everytime you change your plans. and when you get CLOSE to going over your min you get charged for that as well. so i tell them no one has ever informed me. and again they say, "oh someone should have informed you." Helio is a horrible phone company, it's not EVEN a phone company. this is some sort of a scam!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007Must agree with other posters. The few issues I've tried to resolve with Helio customer service has been a nightmare. I wouldn't recommend Helio to anyone.

Thursday, November 08, 2007Im having the same problem. I have only been with Helio for about 3mos and everything was fine until this month.I set my acct So they could withdraw the money from my acct each month, well I was told I could cancel @ anytime which I did.I called and canceled the service and ask if they could send me a paper bill and i would mail my payment. Well I did just that I sent my $90.00 in and they still took an extra $90.00 out my acct against my authorization. so of course im getting the run around ive called several people and getting no where. the CUSTOMER SERVICE IS HORRIBLE!!! DO NOT GET WITH THIS COMPANY

Thursday, October 11, 2007I mistakenly ordered a Helio from their on-line website, and decided to return it by refusing the FedEx package (as instructed by Helio). By doing this I would assure myself their money back guarantee, since the phone would be returned within 30 days. I talked to 6 different people from the help desk and billing department, and got a different story from ALL OF THEM! Finally, someone told me they would give me the credit back onto my credit card the day they got the package back at the company. So, I tracked the package, they got it … I waited two days … no credit placed back on my credit card. I called, asked to talk to employee such and such, they said the company was too big for them to find any one individual, and that they could help. I told them what happened, and what I was told, and this person said, “Uh, no. You have to wait 5-6 weeks to see any refund. I said, Why? I don’t have you product or use any of your services. How can you charge me for something of yours that I don’t have or use? “That’s just how we do things here”, they said. And I said, Oh. I see. It only takes you five minutes to charge my credit card electronically but takes 6 weeks to electronically credit back the charge. That makes sense (sarcasm). A week later, I called to see where things were at. ANOTHER employee told me that my account was never cancelled, that I had forgotten. I told her I had cancelled it the day I had ordered it! She said, yeah, you’re right, that’s what it says right here in your record. But, since it didn’t get done and I’m cancelling it for you know, that will add another week for your refund to come back. HELIO SUCKS!!! DO NOT TRUST THEM WITH YOUR MONEY!!!!

Tuesday, September 11, 2007I share the above opinion with the author. Helio has the worst service that I have ever experienced. Here are the main problems that every potential customer should be aware about. 1. Helio deducts your plan minutes for Checking your own voice mail. 2. Helio informed me that I cannot cancel their service today, September 11, 2007 because my service started on August 11 and expired on September 10, 2007. This happen because August HAS 31 DAYS and their “Happy Customer clause” is valid for 30 days, not for the first month. 3. Helio phones have such a SMALL font that you cannot use internet or email or any other web service without the magnifying glass. 4. They change prices of their phones day to day and you never know what to expect. Ocean was $195.00 30 days ago, then it was $225.00, today they charge $295.00. 5. The phone reception is terrible. I live very close to Chicago, Illinois and I get disconnected very ofte. DO NOT buy HELIO and warn your friends. I am stuck with the phone I cannot use and with the plan that I do not like and with the service that I hate.

Monday, August 13, 2007I have had no help either. Several bad issues with the Hero (Pantech 8300) which I notice is no longer available, no suprise there. Can't connect furthur than the front page onthe internet wthout recieving error 502 or parental/child access denied, or the server is to busy at the moment and will return you to the previous page. I paid $200 in advance for the $65 monthly rate because I knew I was going to be hospitalized/laid up for a time. NEVER DEDUCTED from my Bill,BUT WAS DEDUCTED FROM MY CREDIT CARD. Buyers Beware..

Tuesday, July 31, 2007I have also had the same issue about the customer service department. There phone service in the Chicago area is awful. They insist it is because I do not live in a large populated area..Chicago is not a populated area. Some one will start a class action suit against them and they will end up refunding or rebating.. Keep watch for that.