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Several users in various online forums have recently reported that FreedomPop has automatically updated their free plan to a paid plan costing $3.99/month. Customers have stated that they received an email giving them the option to opt-out of the upgrade. Those that didn't see the email or respond to it, had the upgrade forced upon them.
BestMVNO obtained a copy of the email via a SlickDeals thread.
The email being sent comes with the subject line "FreedomPop News," which is not exactly eye catchy and does not clearly relay the significance of the email. It states to subscribers:
"Good news, you qualify for FreedomPop's Pro 500 MB plan which includes your current 500 MB of high speed data PLUS our new VIP customer service and data rollover. Your account will be upgraded to the Pro 500 plan at your next billing cycle at which point your new plan price will be just $3.99/month.
If you would prefer to keep your existing Basic plan, please use the following link and make selection to continue with existing plan:
my.freedompop.com/sprint-planNote: If you have multiple accounts, please make sure you are logged-in the correct account. You are required to do this step for each account.
- FreedomPop Support"
The FreedomPop free plan that customers seem to be getting upgraded from appears to be the one that uses the Sprint network. That plan includes 200 minutes, 500 text messages and 500MB of data. FreedomPop also has a free plan on the AT&T network that includes 200 minutes, 500 text messages and 200 MB of data. It doesn't appear that those on the AT&T based plan are receiving the same email and account upgrade.
It is not known why FreedomPop is forcing the upgrade on select customers. BestMVNO has reached out to several representatives from FreedomPop for comment but had not yet received a response at press time.
My daughter is a current FreedomPop customer, and says that she isn’t surprised that FreedomPop is pulling this. She doesn’t have credit card info on file with them (because she doesn’t yet have a credit card), but will monitor her email account closely to make sure she isn’t one of the targeted customers. (Once she has a full-time job, she plans to switch to a paid plan from another provider.)
FreedomPop is garbage and should be avoided. Trust me…you do not want them to have your credit/bank card info.
Avoid them. I made a mistake and ordered 2 Sims. Then I went online and made sure I was on their free plan. I didn’t even take the Sim cards out of their packaging, and then forgot them in my winter jacket. Until my wife checked my credit card statement and found 15$x2 charges each month. Getting money back is impossible. Getting a live person to talk impossible. Ended up disputing charges through credit card company. That went smooth ( I guess credit card company had dealt with this issue before) so avoid, check your cc statements. The only way to use them is with a free plan and a prepaid Visa or similar.
I recommend freeUP mobile. 1000 mins or text. And it’s free
FreedomPop has been taking money from my account
Freedom pop is a scam company. I ordered a computer through HSN in 2017. It came with 1 cent lifetime freedompop service. The service was terrible. I returned the computer and canceled freedompop. But freedompop kept charging my credit card. This went on for a year. I kept getting small random charges. Everytime I called freedom pop the automated service stated I had to reactivate my account in order to stop the charges. I called my credit card company to stop the charges. They were of no help stating they were valid charges and I would have to cancel through freedompop. I even took my credit card representative through all of the voice prompts showing there was no way to speak with a person to resolve the problem. Eventually i just closed the credit card account. Freedompop is a scam. Avoid at all costs.
I was considering them for their “free” plan and quickly realized that they were a scam/trap. I run as fast as I could.
Something very similar happened to me. And it’s like pulling teeth to try to get them to cancel my account. Not to mention the fact that I got NO refund for the chargers they weren’t authorized to process. FreedomPop is a horrible company with virtually no customer service, I urge people to not do business with them or they will end up regretting it.
They ripped me off after I decided to cancel my subscription to the tune of $30+ a couple of months ago. THEN when I tried to get in touch with them they blocked any & all numbers that I tried calling to speak with a live representative. THEIR excuses were PATHETIC as to why they wouldn’t return MY MONEY!!! I was paying over $40 each month for barely 3 GB of data!!! And more than ONCE they pulled money out of my account WITHOUT PERMISSION before my payment date!!!! I REALLY WISH there was a way to start a class action suit against them!!!!
If you haven’t yet started with them, THEN DON’T!!!! They lie through their teeth and then rip you off!!! ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE NO OTHER MEANS OF GETTING ON THE INTERNET!!!!
Theese guys typical scums. I had to call my Chase card fraud department and they returned all unwanted charges ASAP.
I’m currently fighting freedom pop. They charged me 100 without my consent. They “upgraded” me without warning and they won’t give me my money back! I reported them to the better business bureau.
FreedomPop has always been a scam with routine unauthorized extra charges.
I was a freedompop free plan costumer, I got my plan automatically upgraded to a 9.99 a week! Plan without any email notification whatsoever. I disputed the charge twice so my account got canceled. I guess they are a theft company.
thanks for this heads up. I went ahead and clicked on your link and checked and sure enough its set to pro account and about to Bill me 3.99 in a few days.
so I went through the entire process and chose
downgrade anywaythree times and on the last screen it says you need to top up in order to downgrade to the free account and that would be a $20 top up WTF.