Localphone Reviews 

170
TrustScore 2 out of 5

2.1

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Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I have been using Localphone for quite a while but often only sporadically to call abroad. My £10 credit would often last me a couple of months. I had a Localphone email to tell me my credit was... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Finally its time to say bye to localphone. Thanks for the problems that came up recently. Firstly the expiry of your account with your third party provider and the recent one with ios upgrade. It made... See more

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

When you try to top up your account, they will charge your credit card immediately, but it takes several hours before they add the credit to your account. This means if you run low during a call, y... See more

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Staff used *my* calling credit to diagnose a technical problem, without my permission. They could have used my account, with their own money. But no. And when I asked why they did so, they had a mou... See more

Company details

  1. Electronics & Technology

Information provided by various external sources

Localphone have slashed the cost of international calling! Each contact gets their own local number - no contracts, no hidden charges, and no monthly fees! We can save you up to 90% on calling internationally than the normal network providers in your country.


Contact info

2.1

Poor

TrustScore 2 out of 5

170 reviews

5-star
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1-star

No recent history of asking for reviews

This company hasn't invited customers recently, so reviews may not be representative

Replied to 18% of negative reviews

Typically replies within 24 hours

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2.1

All reviews

(170)

15 reviews in the last 12 months

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Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Been using this for years

Been using this for years. A call to a mobile in Alaska just cast 7p for 18 minutes. That's amazing, and quality was crystal clear. We had a local number in Spain so my grandson could call home. that worked great too.

10 June 2019
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

SCAM

Fake, scam company! i charge 1$ to try their call back service! they never call me back and take away my credit! Big scam ever!!!

30 May 2019
Unprompted review
Localphone logo

Reply from Localphone

Sorry we are not a scam company, we have hundreds of thousands of customers that use us everyday without issue. Maybe it would be better if you ha contacted our support rather than posting a bad review with out any claim to what you are saying.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Sterling Service!

I've been with Localphone for many years now. I've recommended their service to many friends and family
I couldn't be happier, I've had only sterling service!

I ported over the best Phone Number of a Carrier's range recently and the Carrier didn't relinquish it easily but Localphone together with their suppliers persevered and ensured that the number was ported over.

7 April 2019
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I have used this company for at least…

I have used this company for at least the last five years. I’ve been very impressed, all of the features just do what they say they will do, call quality is as good as any other service I’ve tried. The main benefit is the price and I can’t seem to find anyone that can compete on that, especially calls to UK mobiles.

I do use the local numbers for my business line and found that it saves us a lot of money with no drop in quality.

There are a few quotes for example I can’t access my voicemail via my ATA some of the overseas calls also cheaper with other providers.

Having said all that I would definitely recommend.

11 March 2019
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

looks Fake - No Service at all

- take up to 14 days for ordering an Incoming Number.
But only told it after paying for it!!!
- when trying to add Credit its takes over 24 Hour till its add on Account (even by paying with Secure Paypal)

12 February 2019
Unprompted review
Localphone logo

Reply from Localphone

We say can take upto 14 days, most orders for incoming numbers are filled the same day. We state this timeframe to cover any issues that may occur from certain destinations.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

No possibility to call.

No possibility to call.

I have the Balance €8.16.
And every time when I try to call I get the message: "You don't have sufficient credit to make this call. Please, add credit and try again."

No info - how much should I have, no info why I can't call.

No answer from technical support.

Thanks.

P.S., In the end, it was fixed but I waited for half a day. Anyway thanks for help.

22 January 2019
Unprompted review
Rated 4 out of 5 stars

I've very surprised at the low overall…

I've very surprised at the low overall star rating.
I have been using Localphone for years and rarely had a problem.
On the few occasions I did have a problem, they were eager and quick to find me a solution.

The only (minor) thing that stopped me giving a 5-star rating was that I had some problems with the original Localphone software on my Mac and had to use X-Lite instead, which wasn't such a nice interface.

11 December 2018
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

I'm only writing this review to balance…

I'm only writing this review to balance things out a bit. I'm not a regular user of LP, in fact, I only used it once about a year ago to make a series of about 6 calls to the US. Everything worked smoothly, the calls went through, the sound quality was good, and I had no problems whatsoever.

I don't really have any need to call overseas any more but if I did, I wouldn't hesitate to use LP.

8 December 2018
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Too many occasions being unable to get my calls placed...

Have been a Localphone user for at least 4 years. In the beginning it was fine but the last 2 years I have had repeated problems getting connected on international calls. When I dial the 03 number assigned, I get a UK dialtone instead of the one in Japan, and after a few rings it goes dead. Or I get through but it cuts off immediately. I used to be able to get a person on the support line who could help me right away but over the past few months, certainly, I have had to communicate through email to get help. So I miss the timing of making calls when I want to, especially with the time difference. It's a shame the service has gone downhill.

6 December 2018
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

I have been using local phone for over…

I have been using local phone for over 5 years. Never have major problem until these months. There is so hard to make call completely and successfully. Scenario 1: keep trying to make long distance call from US to Asian but no one answers. Turned out that just ring one tone and stop on another side. Scenario 2: call got thru but it would drop by itself. That happened 8 times in a row! Extremely disappointed. I am trying to look up to other service providers...

28 November 2018
Unprompted review
Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Going out of business???

I am constantly trying to get in touch with them for a week and all their phone numbers say "please use the contact page on the website".

I left a message on offline live chat as well about a week back and no one has come back with an answer.

What is going on???

This is not a good sign at all. I have been with them for more than 4-5 years and never had such bad service experience..

28 September 2018
Unprompted review
Localphone logo

Reply from Localphone

Thank you for the review Sanjiv.

We are in the process of moving office with our back-end support and phones systems. This has taken longer than expected.


You can always contact us through https://www.localphone.com/contact and this is monitored at the moment and will get answered or you can contact me directly at mpickering@localphone.com.

Regards

Mark

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Can Now Make Calls On Windows XP Computer

I joined Localphone on Friday 21 Sep 2018 and was not able to make a call until 5 October 2018. This was due to my PC running old Win XP, that, I assume, software developers a lot of the time are not bothering to provide sufficient compatibility for. When using Localphone software on my system to make a call, I can hear the person on the other end and they cannot hear me.

Localphone support has been helpful in recommending different solutions for the problem. These solutions involve using third party software with my Localphone account. The first software suggested I could not install latest version because there was no support for XP. I than installed an earlier version and than ran the software, getting a message informing that my copy has expired. The second did not have sufficient compatibility, as could not register account. The third Linphone 3.7.0 solution is working, where I can hear the person called clearly and they hear my words in a different and loud unclear voice. On the latest call, the call quality was better for the person on the other end.

I am now benefiting from Localphone low call rates and you can also, even on an XP computer. If you are running a PC with this old operating, the Linphone solution should work for you.

Good customer service and call quality OK.

26 September 2018
Unprompted review
Localphone logo

Reply from Localphone

Hi Robert.

I was the person speaking to you and yes i missed you saying Windows XP and asked for clarification. I should have noticed this but I did not the issue I have is that you are running such an old version of windows it is hard for us to test this as we have no platforms now to test Windows XP to work out what is causing you issues. Happy for you to voice this on trust pilot or in person.

We are committed to giving the best service possible but at the minute we are just trying to troubleshoot your issue.

Thank you for the review good or bad.

Regards

Mark

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Very Happy With Localphone

I have been with Localphone for around a year. I mainly use it when travelling and I love the flexibility it has when compared with Skype.
Three examples:
When travelling in the USA I usually get a local Sim to put in my phone. With free 'local' calls I just set my location to the USA and all my contacts in the UK immediately have an individual 'local' USA number via which I can call them for just a half-penny a minute.
Similarly, when in the UK I just reset my location to UK, and all my American friends suddenly have a local UK number to call, again for such a small cost it is almost free.
Thirdly, it saves a fortune on UK landline calls to UK mobiles. My landline phone provider charges 30p a minute to call mobile numbers. All my mobile contacts have a localcall number, and I just dial that instead (1.5p per minute).
What's not to like! My experience is that it works well (just an occasional dropped call) and is VERY inexpensive. My experience couldn't be more different from the experiences of some of the reviewers here. I would recommend.

9 August 2018
Unprompted review
Rated 2 out of 5 stars

They were good at the beginning.

They were good at the beginning.
Now, they are expensive and service does not work always.
If you send SMS through them, do not expect other side to receive it.
When they raised price for subscription, they could not just cancel mine, but they blocked me using it.
And they have very bad attitude.

3 August 2018
Unprompted review
Localphone logo

Reply from Localphone

Thank you for your honest review, I would be happy to look at any issues you have been having with our service especially SMS etc.

However looking at your account you have not had a subscription for two years and the price did not change on that particular one for the 11 months you had it. I would also like to know which one of our customer service you spoke to that gave you some bad attitude as we do not accept that here at Localphone.

Please feel free to email me directly at mpickering@localphone.com.

Regards

Mark

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Sometimes great, other times not so good

I've been a customer for years now. The idea behind Localphone is great, and there are many things about it I like, but it's hard to actually get it to work in practice.

I have 2 incoming numbers, and these work great. It's really handy to have a local number independent of who my provider is, and not have to worry about porting. It's also great to have an incoming number for the US, to use when I visit or for friends and family to call me on.

Customer service is also very good. All of my questions have been promptly and completely answered.

Their open architecture is also great. There is full compatibility with other VoIP providers and technologies. Nothing is locked down or restricted.

On the technical side things are not so great. I've had a lot of trouble getting apps to work well on my phone and getting a VoIP phone working in my house. These aren't necessarily always Localphone's fault, but at least for Android they don't yet have a fully functional and solid app, and there are no phones they sell as a package or recommend and fully support. Also like others have said, it's not uncommon that calls just don't go through, or the connection quality is unacceptably poor, and then you're stuck paying full price from your regular provider.

Since I don't make that many calls, I'm sure I've paid more on technical solutions than I've actually saved on calls.

Also Localphone doesn't support any privacy enhancement. There is no encryption whatsoever, on any level. There may be legal reasons for this, but I still find this really lacking.

Every time I use Localphone I feel like it's so hit and miss, I can only use it for calling very friendly people who have the patience to try a few times first before the call is actually successful. It's hard to use it professionally or to call strangers.

I suppose I'll keep using Localphone for what it is. I don't know of any other better, open and reasonably priced VoIP solutions.

17 July 2018
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Thought I should make some needed…

Thought I should make some needed comment in praise of LocalPhone. For some time, I was paying exorbitant phone prices to contact my wife in Nigeria. This because my TV, computer and phone provider also charged me as well as the phone company I subscribed to. Yes, this due to my lack of intelligence and trusting the money grabbing sharks of commercialism. Eventually, I found a “bypass phone provider” that reduced my phone bill quite a bit.
But then my wife moved to India to teach underprivileged children and again I encountered a few problems with my phone company due to all sorts of things I did not understand. I eventually decided to try a well-known computer-based phone facility that allowed my face and my wife’s dear face to be shown when I contacted her. But then distortions and odd cut-offs resulted. Not happy.
Brooding about my long period of mistakes I finally decided to try Localphone. A good man named Mark Pickering spoke to me. He listened patiently, told me lots of things about phone companies and other things that I only partially understood. He then kindly sent me an email in a more simplified explanation about something that went by the name of “Calling Card”. It seemed that this could be the answer to my problems.
I enlisted. When my phone bill became due for payment I was surprised, in fact, I started to mutter suspiciously. It was so low for the first few months I thought they had made a mistake. No mistake. Saved me a fortune and is simple, efficient, and quick to transport my voice to India daily with no problems whatsoever. Now my phone bill is really low.
What an idiot I’ve been in my fumbling and bumbling that wasted money. Believe me, these people are good. And NO! I do not work for them, have not got shares in their company, or have any ulterior motive. Am doing this solely to help you. This is a good and genuine service. None better.

Dave-of-Birmingham

25 June 2018
Unprompted review

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