Virgin Holidays ForumTel phones

[catherine]

I don't know whether anyone else has used the phone rental scheme from Virgin Holidays. You can use ForumTel phones for a small charge and then pay lower rates for calls and texts in the US. We thought that this was a great idea and decided to try it out! It was so easy to order the phone and they sent it in plenty of time, so we were really pleased, little did we know!!

Once we got over to OKW and unpacked DH thought it would be a good idea to set up the phones before we did anything else.... OMG it took forever to set them (we had 2) up and DH is usually really good with such things. Anyway to cut a long story short the phones were totally unreliable. half of the time they didn't work properly, for example, I would phone DH and it would sound to me like his phone was ringing, the only problem was, his phone wouldn't be ringing! What really tipped me over the edge was when we were returning home. It states on the website that you cab return them to Virgin checkout at the airport, but no Virgin wouldn't accept them! We were told by Virgin Atlantic staff that we had to return them to Virgin Holidays staff. We then waited for the Virgin Holiday staff to arrive at House of Blues only to be told that the only way that we could return them was in the pre-paid envelopes that had been provided with the phones, which I don't think that I kept because it stated in their terms and conditions that they could be returned at the airport!!! Complete nightmare!!!

 

[wayneg]

Reviews I have read are 50/50, half the posts say they are a waste of times, others thought they were great. Probably not worth the risk. Shame because it sounded a good system.

 

[magicgirl]

We used them in September as my OH had to keep in contact with his office. We were very happy with them and would deff use them again

 

[catherine]

We used them in September as my OH had to keep in contact with his office. We were very happy with them and would deff use them again

Wow!! We were only using them in the parks to contact one another and they were so unreliable we ended up laughing about it! The only thing reliable about them was that they were unreliable! Plus I believe that we've been billed for the calls that didn't connect properly and texts that were sent but never received!!!

 

[2Tiggies]

Wow!! We were only using them in the parks to contact one another and they were so unreliable we ended up laughing about it! The only thing reliable about them was that they were unreliable! Plus I believe that we've been billed for the calls that didn't connect properly and texts that were sent but never received!!!

Print out the web page where they say you can hand them in at the airport and quote them on that. It is their responsibility to foot the bill of the return with or without the bags they came in as they did not deliver the service as advertised. Nothing shuts a company up like being pulled up on their own T&C's. Just had an issue with my Credit Card company from when I was away. Sent them a whole wack of paperwork including their own written terms and statements .... they figured I was going to be a headache so they paid me to shut me up Not the first time either. Print that page before someone else complains and they remove it

 

[magicgirl]

We were told very clearly that we had to send the phone back, it was also on the paperwork and a pre paid envelope was provided. The calls cost a lot less to the UK than if we had used our own phone.

 

[catherine]

We were told very clearly that we had to send the phone back, it was also on the paperwork and a pre paid envelope was provided. The calls cost a lot less to the UK than if we had used our own phone.

Taken from FoumTel's FAQ page
16. Where can I return the phone?
You can return your Forum Tel phone in its original packaging to Virgin Holidays desk at the airport or by postage to:
Forum Telecom
PO Box 592
Staines
TW18 9FY
A return label is enclosed with your phone for your convenience. The phone must be received within 15 days of your return or you will be charged for its purchase. for the purchase of the phone.

 

[catherine]

Well we've been back a week tomorrow and we still have the phones!! I contacted Forum Tel and they were very apologetic about our not being able to hand the phones back. The customer service rep that answered my e-mail said that she'd send out two pre-paid envelopes to return the phones. Well the enveloped arrived today and they're not pre-paid and only one of them had a return label on it! Anyway I've e-mailed them to say that no way am I paying the postage...so as they say watch this space!