Jitterbug Cellphone Reviews and Complaints (New! December 2009 from Consumer Affairs)

Jitterbug

Deana of Midland, MI December 9, 2009

I too purchased two phones. One for my elderly mother and one for my husband. My mothers phone sat on the charger for over two months while I tried in vain to get the number from her old cell phone switched to the Jitterbug. The Customer Service is awful and the people are rude and nasty. They would never let me finish a sentence, they would continually talk over me. When my check did not reach the payment center on the due date they immediately cut off phone service and left my elderly mother without phone service. The bill's that have come are never the 14.99 plan that I signed up for. The last bill was 86.00 and I still can't understand why. I would not recommend this phone company. They have horrible customer service and I believe they are trying to con money from the elderly.

Karen of Roswell, NM December 1, 2009

I called about a Jitterbug phone for my elderly father. The first question I asked was about service where he lived. I was told it was the best. I also asked about the return policy and was told if I was unhappy for any reason I could return the phone within the first 30 days for a full refund.

I ordered the phone and had it shipped directly to my father. He was so excited to receive it until he tried to use it. The reception was horrid. He could hear us but be could not hear him it was breaking up so bad. There were several calls made to Jitterbug in an attempt to fix the problem. At one point he was "switched" to another carrier and was totally unusable for 6 days out of the 30 day return period. It still didnt work.

I called to cancel the service and return the phone within our 30 day trial period. Had to return with a RA number on the outside of the box or would not take it. We did that. Received at Jitterbug on November 12th and still have no refund. As a matter of a fact on November 20th they deducted another 49.00 from account. Clearly their mistake. According to them they forgot to stop the automatic withdrawal upon cancellation. So sorry for the inconvience.

Called them again today November 30 and still no refund. Refund of the phone takes 21 working days and 5 working days for the additional amount taken after cancellation. The 5 days will start from November 30th not the 25th when I made the first call about the "Mistake".

There are also "rules" about returning the phone. Only 30 minutes could be used, no scratches on phone, and the list goes on. They will adjust the refund accordingly. Here is the best one. When I asked for the number to the financial department I was told from customer service they don't have that number. Their only communication is e-mail or fax. Are you kidding me!

Anyone considering a Jitterbug my advise DONT. I added my father to my Sprint plan of shared minutes for an additional 9.99 per month and it is great! Phone works wonderful and Dad has no problems with it. He is once again happy.

Janis of Arvada, CO November 30, 2009

I recently purchased a Jitterbug phone with a Simply 29 plan (250 anytime minutes, 500 evening/weekend minutes) for my elderly mother. She tried using it for a month but was unhappy with the service for several reasons, so I decided to get her a landline. My mother has difficulty dialing numbers due to the rheumatoid arthritis in her fingers, so she used the Jitterbug operator service to dial her numbers. Little did she know, every time she dialed the Jitterbug operator, she was billed for 5 minutes of Jitterbug service! She though that this was a free service provided by Jitterbug. NOT! Be sure you READ THE FINE PRINT!

Then she gets her bill and she was charged for 120 minutes for dialing the Jitterbug voicemail retrieval number!!! After seeing the initial bill from Jitterbug, we decided that Jitterbug is definitely not "elderly friendly" as had been described, so we got a Comcast landline and changed the Jitterbug service to a basic plan (50 minutes per month for 14.99) for emergency use only. We made this change on the last day of the current billing period.

Here comes the next bill.....WHOA! We received a bill for 86.00 when we were expecting a bill for 14.99! Ends up they treated all the calls in that billing period (400 minutes) as if we had been on the 14.99 basic plan the entire prior billing period! We were never told that we should wait until the first day of the next billing period to downgrade our plan! UNBELIEVABLE!

In my opinion, Jitterbug preys on the elderly population. Many of the elderly will not be savvy enough to read the FINE PRINT and to question what is going on with their bill. Oh, and talking about the bill, did I mention that the bill does not include a call detail list that shows each call made? This information is not available on their internet site either! You have to call the Jitterbug operator (which you WILL BE BILLED FOR!) and ask for a call detail list to be emailed to you; it took them 72 hours to email it to me!

I cancelled my mother's Jitterbug service today. BYE BYE JITTERBUG! GOOD RIDDANCE! I'm out 200.00 for a phone and various accwessories that I purchased, plus an additional 71.00 in phone call charges that I should not have had to pay for.

Karen of Santa Cruz, CA September 24, 2009

Here are things I believe greatly need improvement with Great Call's Jitterbug's billing and website: The monthly bill needs to show ALL calls made to help the customer reconcile the minutes used and be on the same page. Currently it only shows the minutes used and cost, but not itemized as other phone companies do. Isn't it a regulation to do so?? It takes 48 hours for the used minutes to show up on MyJitterbug?? The change to the phonebook can be put in right away, why can't not this technology be applied to the minutes?? The used minutes on the phone show TOTAL usage of the phone, not the recent minutes purchased - it's too confusing to NOT show usage of the CURRENT minutes last purchased only. This would greatly help in keeping track of current minutes used.

I appreciate the phone,it's easy to use for my mother-but the billing combined with the site, isn't, and these need some major improvements to catch up with the times. I'm only a consumer, and some companies would rather ignore than deal with the issues. I have used the comments area on the site to bring my concerns, but pretty much ignored. If Jitterbug/Great Call is now promoting a new phone, they had better improve their billing/website as well to accommodate, or folks will surely find other solutions!

Kevin of Glendale, AZ August 10, 2009

I bought Jitterbugs services for my parents as there phones are eaiser for elderly to use. I purchased 500 minutes for them, not knowing there was an EXPERATION DATE on those minutes of 1 year. Parents do not use phone much so 190 of those 500 minutes EXPIRED. In todays mobile phone business I thought those plans were history. Why would minutes EXPIRE? The only reason I can think of is take advantage of seniors?

lynne of Panama City Beach, FL August 5, 2009

We bought a Jitterbug for our 18 year old disabled daughter. She used a handful of times before it died. When it failed to recharge I made the mistake of calling the company instead of taking it back to the retail store. It was so new I could have returned it for a full refund. The service rep that I spoke to told me to send the phone in and against my better judgement I did.

After 3 weeks of not hearing anything from Jitterbug, I called them. They told me I would have to pay 150 for a new phone. I explained that it was a new phone. they basically told me tough! Shame on them. I am contacting AARP, the National Down Syndrome society, the national society for the disabled, retailers and advertisers. There are many stories similar to mine all over the internet. This company should not be allowed to cater to elderly and disabled. Shame on them.

Jeanna of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands (USA) June 8, 2009

I looked into getting a Jitterbug phone for my Dad. Jitterbug sent me a phone. Once received I called Jitterbug to activate to be told, that they do not offer service in my area, which is in the US Virgin Islands. They apologized and told me they would send me a prepaid enevelope in which to mail the phone back. After waiting for that envelope for about two weeks I took the liberty and sent the phone back using my personal funds for I did not want to be responsible if something happened to the phone. SO I mailed it back.

Dk of Choctaw, OK May 24, 2008

Dk of Choctaw OK (05/24/08)
Ordered a Jitterbug phone for my Mother that did not want a sophisticated phone. She simply wanted a product that would allow her the availability of emergency service, should she need it. I ordered a jitterbug phone for her, since the service that was offered fit her needs.

The equipment that was received was as expected. However, the service was not! It was virtually impossible to contact my mother when testing out the equipment to see how it worked, I ALWAYS received a busy signal. The Jitterbug rep that I spoke with apologized and said that, that does happen sometimes.

Unfortunately, I did not discontinue service at that point. It seems that if you do not cancel within 1 months time (after sign up), you will EAT the cost of the phone. SO, I have since cancelled my service, put my mom on my cell plan, and am stuck with a paper weight that I would even hesitate to try to hold down paper with! If you are contemplating a Jitterbug service for someone that you LOVE and CARE about... do not do it! Find an alternative! I have lost money on a service that I thought would be great for someone that wanted a simple, easy to use product. Thankfully, money is all that was lost! Buyer BEWARE!!

Read more: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/cell_phones/jitterbug.html#ixzz0ZNuPKQtu

Source: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/cell_phones/jitterbug.html

Jitterbug Cellphone Could Fail to Reach Emergency 911 in a No-Service Area

Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207

May 22, 2009

Alert #09-744

Samsung Recalls to Upgrade Certain Cell Phones; Could Fail to Reach Emergency 911 in a No-Service Area

The following product safety recall was voluntarily conducted by the firm in cooperation with the CPSC.

Name of Product: Samsung “Jitterbug” Cell Phones

Units: About 160,000

Manufacturer: Samsung Telecommunications America, of Richardson, Texas

Distributor: GreatCall d/b/a Jitterbug, of San Diego, Calif.

Hazard: The recalled cell phones that are in a no-service area and display an “out of range, try again later” message could fail to connect to emergency 911.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported.

Description: This recall involves “Jitterbug” cell phones model numbers SPH-a110 and SPH-a120 with standard key pads and version BB14 software. No other Samsung wireless phones or software versions are included in this recall.

Sold through: Directly to consumers through targeted national advertisements and publications, electronics and drug stores nationwide, and on the Web at www.jitterbug.com from March 2008 through May 2009 for about $150.

Manufactured in: Korea

Remedy: Samsung and Jitterbug are directly contacting consumers to schedule a free software upgrade. Consumers should call Samsung if they have not already been contacted.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Samsung toll-free at (866) 304-4980 between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, and on Saturday between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. CT, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.samsung.com

CPSC is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about it by visiting https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury, call CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or CPSC's teletypewriter at (301) 595-7054. To join a CPSC e-mail subscription list, please go to https://www.cpsc.gov/cpsclist.aspx. Consumers can obtain recall and general safety information by logging on to CPSC's Web site at www.cpsc.gov.

Source: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09744.html

Jitterbug Phone Has Made its Way to the RIP-OFF REPORT

Billed for phone for a month even after my Mother passed away. They did not care. They only want there money.

Molly
Mpls, Minnesota
U.S.A.

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/404/RipOff0404480.htm

Nans
Irvine, California
U.S.A.
They lost the payment check for my fathers phone

They cashed the check and applied it somewhere, but never applied it to my dads account. They are now not responding to emails. They will cut off my dads phone service.

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/404/RipOff0404480.htm

Poetbroad says she is in trouble with the family now for choosing Jitterbug Cell Phone by Great Call Inc.

poetbroad (02/11/2009)

I think Jitterbug intentional targets an audience (seniors) that doesn't have much saavy about cellphones, and then proceeds to rip them off. I've reported them to AARP, FTC, and BBB and now here. We got one for my husband's grandmother and I've been in trouble with the family for the choice ever since!

http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=28563

Martha says in Jitterbug Cell Phone Review: "Coverage Poor & Customer Service Was Worst She Has Ever Experienced."

Martha January 26th, 2009 at 7:25 pm

I cannot recommend Jitterbug. The coverage was poor and the customer service was the worst I have ever experienced. You should google “Jitterbug complaints” to read about many, many people who have been very dissatisfied with this company.

http://www.mohttp://www.blogger.com/posts.g?blogID=8808086014191117410bilewhack.com/senior-friendly-cell-phone-service/

Lady At Airports says Jitterbug Phone Company Lies to Customers and Staff

Jitterbug Phone
Posted: 2008-05-31 by Sam

Rude Customer Service -- Poor Service

Complaint Rating: 100 % with 9 votes

I ran into a lady at the airport as I was fiddling with my mother's jitterbug. I was frustrated and trying to get a hold of a CSR to dispute the billing. She chuckled as she told me she had a friend that used to work at the company. Her friend would not buy a jitterbug for her mother due to the billing issues and lack of service. She told me that her friend was overworked and under appreciated -- and that she complained about the management that was notorious for lying to staff and customers. We had a delightful conversation and somehow I cannot forget her as I look at my mother's jitterbug. I have read the jitterbug blogs. I only wish I had done so sonner. Everything in these blogs is true! Jitterbug is really a scam. I am researching other handsets for my mother. In doing so, I truly don't believe the company understands their demographics.

From: http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/jitterbug-phone-c70538.html

Letter from Jitterbug Customer

DF said...

This is the WORST company I have ever dealt with. I have also found quite a few blogs with similar messages from people who have also had terrible experiences with this company. I'm a 50 year old woman who purchased a cell phone for my elderly parents last year. The HORRIBLE service began almost immediately. After countless months of unsuccessfully trying to get Jitterbug to provide me with service, I have begun to take other actions. I have many, many friends and hundreds of professional peers in my age range who are also looking to purchase cell phones for their elderly parents. I'm making sure they all know that Jitterbug should be avoided at all costs. I have posted on blogs; I have posted on my Facebook profile; I have sent out emails and talked personally to a lot of people. My sister, who purchased the phone with me for our parents, is a long-time teacher in a large school district and knows literally hundreds of other teachers in her age range who might be thinking about cell phone purchases for their parents. She, like me, is making sure they know about Jitterbug. As if the awful service and management of this company were not bad enough, the phone was purchased for my parents medical emergencies. During the time Jitterbug has held their phone hostage, my father passed away (my mother needed her phone -- which had already been paid for in full -- to contact people concerning this medical emergencies). Despite repeated promises that I would have the phone returned to me by last week (which was about the 10th promise I've had that I would get it back), it wasn't. During this time, my mother -- who is still recovering from the death of her husand, to whom she had been married for 53 years, fell in her yard. She was unable to get up and had no way to call anyone because Jitterbug won't return her phone. She was stranded for 30 minutes and broke several of her fingers. You can bet that story is what I'm telling people in my communications about the worst company ever. DF

New complaint about Jitterbug cell phone, Great Call Inc. Customer

Nickname: kimmjo

Says; "BE VERY CAREFUL WITH 'great call inc and jitterbug cell phone service of carlsbad, ca,' THEY MAY BE FINE - UNTIL YOU RUN INTO PROBLEMS. Watch them carefully.

Review: I needed a phone for my elderly parents. There isn't a lot out there and I ended up buying a Jitterbug, in spite of some negative comments regarding overcharging seniors and poor response when something went wrong (you can't please everybody). I bought a new phone through Craigslist and sent it into Jitterbug to be programmed. I tried the phone out before sending it in and it worked perfectly. Although the phone was brand new (still in plastic), they told me it had "water damage" and I needed to purchase aother phone. I checked the internet to find this is a regular scam with Jitterbug/GreatCall. People who relate favorably to this company seem to be the ones who haven't had to deal with them on hardware or billing issues. I have still not received the phone back from GreatCall. BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THIS COMPANY, THEY MAY BE FINE - UNTIL YOU RUN INTO PROBLEMS. Watch them carefully.

Date reviewed: Jun 23, 2008 10:17 PM

Source: http://app.businessweek.com/UserComments/get_reviews?productId=480