Reply With QuoteI filed a dispute with my bank as well, but they said it would take up to 90 days for a resolution.
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Where's the dialtone?
You might try again. Today, I called my credit card company (VISA) and I disputed the last Mingo credit card charge made in Sept 2012. It was $100 for 2000 min. They agreed to reverse $90, which was fair.
Phone fan
I filed a dispute with my bank as well, but they said it would take up to 90 days for a resolution.
I have a blue tooth
You can't be serious.Originally Posted by KRO
Yes, your in a place that stinks and you very well may take a small financial loss because of it.
Advocating bombarding his wife's website is a no no. She has nothing to do with Mingo it seems and has no standing in the matter with no reason to be harrased. Maybe a letter from her lawyer to you would help you understand.
I don't blame anybody for trying to recover but threatening Federal involvement seems silly at this point.
If Mingo is an LLC, a sub-chapter S or standard corporation what are the Feds going to do if they legitimately went into receivership or are filing for bankruptcy?
What they will do is nothing other than making sure the filing is legitimate and the liquidation of any assets go to secured creditors first.
The customers will get nothing (usually) like in a class action lawsuit.
This is a hard lesson but when you deal with these little mom and pop operators it's certainly not out of the question that it can't happen again.
Last edited by martin_j001; 11-19-2012 at 06:17 PM. Reason: removed offending info from quoted post
Registered User
Buy a Tracfone at Walmart. I have been using them for over a year with NO problems. I live in Milwaukee Wi.
Phone fan
Oh yes, I'm extremely serious. I don't think you fathom the issue here at all. A phone is an essential part of a person's life and often a person's business.
I, and probably many, many others have an investment in cards and stationary with my number on it. In fact, I own my number and have the right to access it without it being impaired as long as I hold up my end of the bargain, which means paying a company to provide a service tied in with that number.
For a company to go out of business or even disrupt service of MY number WITHOUT any notice or explanation is a gross violation of our contract. I completely paid up front for service in good faith that the service I had paid for would be provided under the conditions mutually agreed upon.
What did we get? No e-mails of explanation, nobody answering of phones, no return calls. NOTHING. And then making it very, very difficult to get back control of the number that I own? This is abandonment of responsibility and all gloves (that are legal) are off at that point.
I absolutely think that contacting the appropriate regulatory agencies is called for, justified and is exactly what these agencies are there for in the first place. Suggesting otherwise is suspect to me.
As far as "Bombarding" the wife, I've no problem at all contacting a spouse of an official of a company that has something of mine and has not made any provision for letting me know how I can get what I own back.
The only message to the spouse was a VERY polite message (which included an apology for the means of contact) for her husband to check his Facebook messages, which from me, where very polite.
It was clear that he was on the run and had taken down his information the week that people were trying to find the executives of the company for some kind of explanation and relief and the release of our numbers.
When somebody that has something of mine is running, then he is fair game to capture, again, within the boundaries of the law, even though he was violating other laws.
To suggest this is "harassment" is way off the mark and not close to any reality. However, I would have welcomed a letter from their attorney (as you suggested they should do), but I can guarantee you there is no standing for such a letter. If there are any legal letters, it would be they who would be on the receiving side.
And lastly, I find it curious that within 48 hours all of these actions which you find offensive, threatening or silly, the service was turned back on. Although, again, with no explanation, leaving us in limbo still.
I would call my actions, legal, proper, within boundaries and...let's see... what else? Oh, yes, EFFECTIVE.
I have a blue tooth
You really are not giving yourself credit for service being restored are you?
Sorry, but you don't own your number. It would be nice if we did.
It's great you can get your number ported over to another carrier since service is back up but will you stay out of principal since you paid them 100.00? Do you not agree that something's not right? Your stuck between a rock and a hard place. You can port out while the porting is good but if you do you will loose any funds in your account. You filed a dispute with your CC company that now seems pointless since they seem to be back up and running. There seems to be no good option.
Contract, what contract do you have with Mingo? Please post it here.
No company is under any law to give you advanced notice if they file for bankruptcy. The lawyers could very well be preparing the paperwork now if they are going under. What part of the bankruptcy code do you not understand? Has there been any official announcement from Mingo on all of this?
Your new around here and over time there have been several cases such as this (Nations PCS comes to mind) that one day they closed up shop overnight and everyone got screwed. Don't think for a minute you can't also.
Phone fan
Sounds to me like you may have more interest in this that you are letting on. I find your defense of Mingo, as off target as it is, is interesting. And how is it that you know that they have or are preparing to file for bankruptcy?
Yes, I do have control of my number and in a sense I do own it as long as I keep it active or paying a parking fee.
As far as you suggesting that I (and all other customers) have no contract with Mingo and you wanting me to post it: This is, well, I'll be polite, provocative, but uniformed.
Any first year law student or any lay person remotely involved in business life knows that a "contract" in the legal sense can be any agreement between to parties if certain conditions are met.
You seem to be incorrectly seduced by the phrase "no contract" phone service. This is a marketing term unrelated to the situation here and not a legal definition of the circumstances.
Mingo accepted my money for a years worth of service and in return for that promise of service I gave them not a promise but a full payment. Here is just one definition of a contract which very clearly holds in this situation.
Please note that even oral contracts are binding and the injured party can sue. However, my contract with Mingo is much more than oral.
Contract 1) n. an agreement with specific terms between two or more persons or entities in which there is a promise to do something in return for a valuable benefit known as consideration. Since the law of contracts is at the heart of most business dealings, it is one of the three or four most significant areas of legal concern and can involve variations on circumstances and complexities. The existence of a contract requires finding the following factual elements: a) an offer; b) an acceptance of that offer which results in a meeting of the minds; c) a promise to perform; d) a valuable consideration (which can be a promise or payment in some form); e) a time or event when performance must be made (meet commitments); f) terms and conditions for performance, including fulfilling promises; g) performance. A unilateral contract is one in which there is a promise to pay or give other consideration in return for actual performance. (I will pay you $500 to fix my car by Thursday; the performance is fixing the car by that date). A bilateral contract is one in which a promise is exchanged for a promise. (I promise to fix your car by Thursday and you promise to pay $500 on Thursday). Contracts can be either written or oral, but oral contracts are more difficult to prove and in most jurisdictions the time to sue on the contract is shorter (such as two years for oral compared to four years for written).
Oh yes, I'm "new here" a you put it (that really put me in my place). But it dos not change the facts, your Eminence.
And I'm not a lawyer by any means. My legal experience is limited and you might say it is even modest. It only involves me spending 2 years as a legal investigator and 8 years as an elected official where duties required acting as a judge in only a few hundred judicial hearings, the executive supervision of a City Attorney and overseeing of 15 municipal attorneys.
No sheepskin to hang on the wall, but I think I've got a fairly decent handle on basic first semester "contract" definition, which even the most uninformed person can usually understand after reading. In fact, this is such a basic legal concept and considered so rudimentary and easy to grasp that it is often the first thing law students are taught so they will not consider law school overwhelming and bolt in the first semester.
In conclusion, your Honor, Mingo and I have a contract, no matter how much you protest otherwise.
I have a blue tooth
Mingo Sprint is dead. Most users are using Eco Mobile, Platinum Tel and Prepayd Wireless using their BYOSD capabilities with a direct line through Sprint to bypass trapped accounts by Mingo. Contact Hofo member ACRS. He is a Ptel and Prepayd master dealer and has helped a number of in trouble Mingo Sprint users out successfully. That way you can keep your phone and your number and account. Whether you keep the money Mingo owes you is another story. The bottomline is to get your phone and number and get them out safely , especially if the number is important to you. Deal with Mingo's Chapter 11 or whatever at a later date. There apparently is a time limit like 30 days or something since this disaster first occurred to be able to wrap it up or numbers end up in Sprint mvno account limbo land.
Sad ending for a once promising little mvno but it does happen. Does make me question the validity of a lot of the new mvnos that just keep popping up (and fading away). Remember, there's an 80% chance a business will fail in the first one to five years. This applies to mvnos too...
Why yes, that is a bag phone
Yeah, looks like Mingo is gone for good. That would mean you have a contract with the dead.
Since Mingo has been around for awhile, I will assume they were not in the business of scamming people. What typically happens when a small business goes under is that somebody probably shut them off for non-payment. Hence, they can do longer provide service to their customers and close down for good. If these guys have no money to pay their own bills, then it is unlikely that Mingo themselves will refund your money. That is why it is best to go through your credit card company and hope you get something back.
Now if someone has evidence that Mingo was doing well, and they are just taking everybody's money & running off, then that would be another story. Honestly before this thread, I have seen nobody recently even talking about them. I would be surprised if at the end Mingo had many customers at all.
I've climbed a cellphone tower
For some reason, I'm getting Amp'd flashbacks.... and Sunrocket flashbacks too (they both went belly up within a couple or so months of each other). Although I think that those on Amp'd at least had a bit of notice so that they could port out with minimal disruption of service. And with Sunrocket, if I remember correctly, one day the customer and tech support lines just all of a sudden stopped answering calls but the service continued to function for a while after the CS/TS were let go.
That was about the time I stumbled upon HoFo and read a thread (or threads?) about the mass exodus from Amp'd to Page Plus and first heard of Page Plus.
I really feel for you on Mingo... sounds like your *service* just stopped working with *no* notice... that totally sucks. I hope this never happens with PPC... I think PPC is just too big and strong for this to happen (or at least happen without some notice)?
Phone fan
Well service is working for now. I am personally moving to T-Mobiles 30$ a month 4G service, and My Bro who does not care about his phone number is staying with Mingo as long as there working. He added 75$ in September and my Contract is running out in January. So for me its best to move on asap and keep my number. They are going down its only a matter of time. If they go down we will get nothing back so get out now if you want your phone number.
I have a blue tooth
If you decide to stay parked on Mingo you are going to risk loosing your number and certainly the monies you
paid will evaporate anyway.
Slyphojx is correct. I actually had Sun Rocket a (start up) VOIP provider for a small business I started and when they went belly up there was a short window to get your number ported out but all monies paid were lost. Lesson learned for me on using a start up.
And yes, you being new here is not an insult however this "I have a contract" crap has been played out time and again with these operators. Seems like every time there is trouble in paradise new people flock to the forums (and there is no better place than here) for answers or to offer their legal advise or opinions only to find out in the end differently.
It's been played out over and over and over. Even those on the old "Blue" plan with AT&T found out that even on a postpaid provider they had no contract being month to month. At best there is a TOS agreement but for some reason it's not on the Mingo website. In the TOS with every one I have ever read you agree only to arbitration in the event of a dispute. Good luck doing that with a skeleton. Even AT&T won a no class action can be taken against it by its users decision.
I'm all for David taking on Goliath but it never seems to work out here.
But you go ahead and remain steadfast in your opinion of this. It's your right but I disagree. I have no insider knowledge of a pending bankruptcy filing but if this place is in fact going to close up shop you can be assured the filing will soon follow.
If that happens, let us know how you make out. You paid via credit card, you might have some ability to recover but VISA (for example) doesn't just take it on the chin without being able to recover the funds from the merchant I don't think.
Those that paid in cash may be out of luck.
As fonefonz indicated (and he usually has an inside track) this company is done and it's time to move on. It's up to the users to decide what to do.
Users are in a bind as I see it. You can file to have the charges reversed and by doing so it should trigger your account being closed with no ability to port the number.
Or you can port the number (if you still can) but that automatically closes your account with no chance of a refund.
It's not a good place to be in at all.
Last edited by billm261; 11-19-2012 at 10:45 AM.
I have a blue tooth
Mingo is toast but I'm wondering if related (and older) prepaid airtime refill company Babblebug is going down with it? A call to their toll free number just rang and rang. Question mark there too. I just bought Two Air Voice pins on them two weeks ago (went through, no problem). They had the most hassle free operation but right now Pinzoo and Calling Mart might be safer.
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Phone fan
Just got this Email form Mingo.
Dear existing mingo customers,
We sincerely regret to inform you that mingo will be ceasing operations after more than 3 years of business. We are sorry to have to share this news with you. We know we had many loyal supporters at mingo and we appreciate the patronage over the years.
We are sure many of you are wondering what happened to mingo. In a nutshell, mingo has been facing headwinds for quite some time, including operating in an increasingly competitive industry, rising operational costs, and turbulent economy. We put up a good fight to continue operations and sought opportunities for growth and potential partnerships. We honestly tried our best to keep mingo going, even toward the final days and worked toward a different outcome. But in the end, we were not able to overcome these external forces.
Although mingo is going out of business, we have been able to restore service temporarily until the end of the calendar year December 31, 2012. You may continue to use your minutes until this time, but would recommend that you transfer your service to another provider as soon as possible. You may also port-out your cell phone number as required. This should allow you sufficient time to do so. After Jan 1, 2013 all accounts will be terminated and all remaining phone numbers will be lost forever.
At this point, we are providing options to help our existing customer’s transition to another provider.
Porting out your number – If you need to port out your existing mingo cell phone number to another provider, you will need to initiate this with your new provider. For a port out request, the new provider will ask you for some basic information. 1.) Account number (same as your 10 digit mingo cell phone number) 2.) Your account pass code which is “1234” (This is a default pass code assigned to all Mingo customers) 3.) Your home zip code (zip code you registered with Mingo wireless). If you experience any issues with porting out your number, please contact us via support ticket at www.mingowireless.com/contacts or email us at [email protected]
Releasing your ESN (no port out) – If you do not need to port out your cell number, but would like us to simply release your ESN from the mingo system so that you can activate your device with another provider, please contact us via support ticket at www.mingowireless.com/contacts or email us at [email protected] and ask us to release your ESN. We will do so within 24 to 48 hours. (If you choose this option, please be aware that your current mingo phone number will be disconnected and lost forever)
If you would like to still use your old deactivated mingo phone, we have confirmed two new providers which will be able to re-activate a new account with your old phone. Keep in mind, we have no affiliation with either provider. Although they will be able port-in your old mingo phone number, they cannot transfer old remaining mingo minutes or balances. If you are interested in their services feel free to call them directly at
Kajeet: 866-452-5338
Eco Mobile: 855-825-8855
To those of you, who feel that a refund is in order, please understand that we are experiencing a difficult financial situation at this time. We are working hard and have every intention to refund everyone for the outstanding minutes remaining on their account at mingo. Unfortunately, this will take some time and we ask that you be patient as we work through this tough situation.
Contacting mingo
Although we are no longer operational, we will open up telephone customer service starting Monday 11-16-2012 for limited hours each day between the hours of 9 AM to 12 PM PST. Please keep in mind we only have a minimal staff on hand. They will be available only to help assist mingo customer’s transition to new a wireless provider. Alternatively, you may also contact us via helpdesk www.mingowireless.com/contacts or at [email protected].
Best Regards,
mingo Management
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