RedPocket Mobile
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WARNING: if you travel for vacations: Red Pocket made my phone useless while on my honeymoon in another country for 2 weeks—zero data, No apologies.
(Prenote: really curious about all these 5-star reviews here that refer to how "CS Name" was super helpful--uh, real people don't call the person on chat "CS something".... these feel faked) -- Why I plan to leave Red Pocket: Went for vacation in the European Union and Red Pocket refused to let me buy temporary tourist travel data, even though they didn't offer it themselves. So much for Google Maps, Translate, texting my spouse, or purchases via phone in another country. Bought an iPhone 14 Pro through Red Pocket last year. It came with a modest discount, which came as a Visa gift card and required autopay. Check. I knew this came with a commitment - that's how they get their money back. I'm also used to MVNOs, and they don't have international roaming plans. But this hasn't been a problem in the past. Was using Visible last year on vacation, and it was no problem to order a tourist eSIM for 7 days in a country, just to get temporary data coverage. iPhones can handle up to 12 eSIMS. When we landed, I immediately connected to airport wifi, and purchased a tourist eSIM for data. Much to my surprise, it gave me an error when installing. I thought something had just gone wrong, and tried again. Finally figured out that Red Pocket had things locked. I contacted them as soon as I could (difficult with only wifi in another country--had to wait until the airbnb and navigate on a bus the old fashioned way - just asking questions of nice folks on the street!) and asked for them to resolve the issue. They gave me the line that many are probably familiar with—that they would not, because the unlock policy says the phone needs to be on the service for 365 days. I assumed I had to stay on the service for a year as a primary eSIM. I even knew I'd be paying for Red Pocket data while I was gone that I'd never use while out of the country. But I had NO IDEA that they wouldn't let me install a *secondary* eSIM while traveling on vacation. I guess I was naive on this. I asked if they'd sell me data service. But of course they don't offer service in the EU (or pretty much anywhere). So even though I'm remaining a paying customer... and you have no ability to sell me data... you're going to BLOCK me from buying temporary data from someone else? While on my honeymoon for two weeks... you effectively brick my phone in another country? Red Pocket customer service has never been great. But the value has been decent and I've been willing to put up with it. Even the hiccups nearly every month (on my renewal day sometimes often these is a 2-3 hour gap with no data!) Was still planning on staying with them. But this soured everything. Maybe the final straw / whatever. They bricked my phone when we really needed it most, in unfamiliar territory trying to navigate in another language. I'm cancelling and gone in 10 days when my 365 days are up and my phone unlocks (oh yeah - that's fun kicker - i was only 20 days away and have already paid for a year... and it was still a hard no).