grazing

I have been a long time frequent user of XCOM Global but read several glowing reviews of TEP, one on Engadget, of their new USA based service I decided to give them a try for an upcoming trip to Mexico. I placed the order on Wed, Jan 9. An email confirmation and receipt for payment said that I would receive the unit on Friday, Jan 11.

Unit did NOT arrive and was never shipped.

I emailed support on Saturday Jan 12 and was told in a response 24 hours later that they could not ship as they were out of stock on Mexico units. They calimed to have tried to contact me by phone... but I received no voicemail or email.

They offered to FedEx a unit directly to my destination when one was available... availability unknown.

So now I'm flying early AM Tuesday, no Wifi... and ATT will be a bit richer.

Renters beware that TEP is not yet ready for prime time.

TAHKUCT

Thanks for the heads up. I have also been using Xcom Global and was planning to try Tep wireless secondary wasn't 100% satisfied. I guess I will stay away from Tep for now.

uppereastff

I used TEP recently in Europe (because they offer multi country Mifi). But found the customer service awful and website downright deceitful

TAHKUCT

Just fyi, Xcom Global also has Multi Country service

AMRivlin

TEP is offering 50% now

Rent a pocket wifi by February 1st and get
50% off with discount code “Jan50”!

sonofzeus

Please elaborate. Currently weighing the costs/benefits of TEP vs alternative strategies.

uppereastff

I took an unlimited plan for two weeks in Germany, Italy and France. The first thing to note is that although the website trumpets "unlimited," if you read through the fine print, it's not "unlimited" at all but severely limited. Tep says it should be enough for all your emails,but what if you have presentations? The service in my case stopped desd in the middle of my trip. It gives uou the option of paying an additional fee to get it turned on again, and while they chsrged mu credit csrd for this, the service never came back. Which raises the otjer point-- although they have customer service numbers in the UK, they are a Czech company and NEVEr answer the bloody phone or answer email. At one crucial point Igot a warning from the unit in Czech!

tiev

I recently tried to rent with TEP for a few day trip to Mexico for a wedding. I was departing on the morning of 2/20 and realized on 2/18, I hadn't received a tracking number, which was supposed to be delivered by close of business on 2/18. I initially wasn't too concerned as FedEx has normal delivery on Presidents day, but after an email response from TEP they indicated there was a logistics error and they hadn't shipped the device. While disappointed, I will say their customer service went out of the way to help, contrary to other experiences. Initially they looked into how many days it would take to ship to my location in Mexico, 2 - 3 so that would be too late for a quick four day trip, and then offered a refund. By the time I came home the refund posted to my amex. Interesting aside, when I got home I saw a fedex waiting for me...it was the device but according to the Fedex website wasn't delivered until 2/22, almost a week after it was promised. After a few email exchanges from confused TEP support on how this could happen they sent me a prepaid label and I sent the unit off.

Bottom line, I would try TEP again given their competitive pricing and helpful customer service but not in a situation where I absolutely needed internet abroad. Their logistics need serious work and the unit I was sent was not a Huawei E585 as pictured on the website, it was an older ZTE MF30. I have always used Xcom up until now and will likely continue to use them for situations where we need data abroad but TEP still remains an option for me as I didn't have the same customer service nightmare others did.

Mofessor

add me to the dissatisfied TEP users...

1. they were supposed to send it to my house in the US before I left. It never shipped.
2. They then offered to ship it to one of my hotels in Europe. It arrived five days early.
3. Once I received the unit, it didn't work. After over 10 phone calls and four hours with tech support, they said they would ship me a new one at my next hotel.
(by the way, I think most of them work from home because one woman seemed very distracted while helping me and I could hear a dog barking and child crying in the background)
4. My new TEP wireless unit just arrived in London and... guess what?... it doesn't work with my Iphone, Ipad, or windows laptop.
5. Oh, and tech support is closed.
#awesome

g11

anyone has any experience with taking out the sim card from their mifi device and putting it in their cell phone for data only coverage?

fwb

Used their service recently for my Europe trip including UK, France and Germany. Not recommended.

- Device didn't work when I receive it in London
- No one answer my call at the support hotline. Keep calling until the next day and no one answer my call until 11 am of the next day
- The required me to visit their pick up location to replace the device on the second day
- Connection speed is fine, if you are connected. Many places in downtown are out of signal (service provider's issue instead of Tep)
- If your device was disconnected from the network for whatever reason, you need to restart it manually before it can get connected again

The funniest part is the staff at the pick up point was annoyed by Tep's messy arrangement too. They had to keep calling Tep and open all of their packed devices to make sure which of them is the correct one.

I sent them an email and requested for 1 day rental refund (since device didn't work on 1st day and no one answer my call that day), reimbursement of the cost of public transport (tube) to visit their pick up location at Paddington, and the cost of calling them for a few hours before my case was solved. They simply ignore my email.

I understand that technology stuffs are not reliable sometimes, but I can't accept their awful service.

Their advantage is the rental price. Price is very attractive. But what's the point if the service provided is not reliable and messy?

That's just my experience. Maybe I was just out of luck.

abaheti

BUMP: Any recent experiences with TEP? Am considering as the price is way below Xcom for what I need. Thanks.

SeriouslyLost

I tried it in the UK a couple of months ago. Ordering was fine. Unit was there when I went to pick it up (not the clearest of instructions on where to go for that unless you already know that part of Heathrow). Unit worked almost everywhere I was in the UK, although it would lose signal while on trains, which these days is a bit dubious.

Contrast with Xcom which I rented for use in Mexico, Chile, and on Easter Island which simply didn't work at all. Xcom support never returned email. They did give me a refund, but it took them almost six months to process it - they promised it almost immediately, but didn't pay it for ~6 months.


As an aside, anyone know a WiFi provider that offers service on the Cook Islands? Tep & Xcom don't.

abaheti

Awesome, thanks. I just pulled the trigger for Europe and will report back. (Sorry, don't know about Cook Islands!)

abaheti

Rented in December. Unit arrived as planned two days before departure. I made sure it turned on. Included USB cord, European plug cord, extra battery, instructions. Password is on back of unit label. Worked pretty well in Italy, Prague, Budapest, Frankfurt (but for some reason is not valid in Austria/Vienna). When I had used half my data, got an email warning. Before arriving home received an email asking me to post the unit back by two days after return. I replied that I had and received a thank you within a few hours. No need to call customer service. No complaints. All worked as advertised.