GettingOut

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This app and the company behind it are the worst. As a application developer myself I can tell this was written very poorly. The navigation is poor, you often have to use browser back button to go to a page because the app or website doesn’t have have links to go back to certain places. The server that hosts the website and app crashes all the time throwing 500 errors. Basically, the app was designed poorly, the infrastructure for the website and app cannot handle the load and we have no choice because this is what the prison decided they would partner with. Their customer service is also terrible. They just try and get off the phone with you as soon as possible. I couldn’t change my primary number and had to call in. The website had already marked my number as the primary but I guess it was not really set as my primary. This prevented me from doing anything because the money I had added was tied to my number (marked primary) and not the other number. The company probably does not care to improve anything as we have no choice on providers.

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Only giving this place a 1 rating because I can’t give them a 0! Setting up an account online was a hassle and was not able to log into them from the website or the app, I could only log in from an email from them. Funds were deposited and I had a few messages that were sent back and forth without all of the content and pictures were also not sent. I also tried to get a refund of my finds when the inmate was released as they will only refund you on a calling card if your balance is under $50 AND you can’t get YOUR money refunded from an inmates account unless you have their booking number or pin which makes no sense as they can find the inmates not problem on the site or even when I was on multiple calls that exceeded the time they told you you would be on hold and also being hung up on after being on hold 15 min another time. This is a complete waste of time and money and it’s sad when all people want to do it talk to their loved ones.

The only problems we had with it. Is when I was first getting my laptop which is new. I could see him he could see me but we could not hear each other. I finally got my laptop audio to work. But they charged us for the full call. When we Close the call within a minute and a half because we knew it wasn't gonna work they did not refund him so he's out at least $12 which is an a lot but it is while you're incarcerated however I do love being able to just text him when I want I haven't had a problem with him not getting my text and I always get mine. Some days it buffers allot. All in all I love the fact that I can see his face every day. I'm sure Telmate will work out the kinks. It's a new program. Not sure why people always have to leave horrible comments. Thank you telmate for making today technology work. Doing time is hard. And this does make it a little easier.

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GettingOut is a wonderful way to stay in contact with your friends and loved ones while they are serving time. Both myself and those I care about on the other side are very grateful that this is an option. That being said, this app is horrible. It is very glitchy and difficult when trying to view the balance that you have - and you cannot see the balance of the inmates you are talking to from the app, however it is coincidentally very easy to add money to both. A message can not be more than 500 characters, however roughly 1/3rd of your messages will have the majority of the content deleted, leaving half of the first sentence and the last sentence to be sent. I would also love it if you could easily access photo albums and other services offered by GettingOut online. Their mobile website is plagued by very similar problems as their app, meaning that it is virtually unusable - but if you want to contact an inmate you don't have any other option. It is hard not to look at this company as anything other than predatory. They will take your money with ease, and then refuse to fix their service because they know that we have no other option! Overall I'm grateful for this service - but it appears that GettingOut takes advantage of the fact that people desperate for communication will continue to pour money into their bank accounts regardless of the quality of their service.

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First off my loved one was not found on the app but was found when I called. I have been charged and yet the deposit has not gone through and when I call customer service there is no way of speaking to a human, only automated messages. I have emailed twice and heard nothing back! Updated: I called the number on Gettingout’s website which clearly states “to make a complaint call” I called and the customer service rep was beyond aggressive and rude. He immediately told me to call the number I had already tried that led to an endless loop of automated prompts that have no option to speak with someone. His yelling was honestly the worst I’ve ever experienced with customer service, obviously Telmate and Touchpay know we who use these services are in a desperate situation to speak with our loved one and they don’t care if it works for us. At this point I have paid and the money has still not reached my loved ones account.