For the last several months my son has been calling me from a correctional facility in Virginia who has a contract with Global Tel* Link. The charges were astronomical so he inquired about alternatives for calling. It was suggested we contact Local123.net via the internet and set him up with an assigned number so he could call me for $1.98 for 20 minutes instead of $7.98 from Global Tel* Link. I was able to post money on his phone account over the internet and he could call as many as 3 different phone numbers, including cell numbers. Local123.net is a ligitimate program set up for offenders and correctional institutions. Suddenly he started getting an automated message when he would try to call me stating the numbers were blocked.
I contacted Local123 and the problem was not on their end so I contacted Global and not only was repeatedly told Local123 was performing a service that is a violation of institutional regulations, but that they did not have my numbers blocked. They informed me I needed to set up an account or he would not be able to call me anymore. They confirmed the rates are just as high as they used to be. They were rude, unhelpful and could not seem to explain to me why he was able to call for several months through Local123 and now suddenly was not other than "Well, I guess we just now caught up to it." They could not explain why other inmates are still able to use Local123 either. It's going on two weeks now and I can not seem to get this straight anywhere and my son is over 3 hours away from me.
It's very disturbing and out of my control, as if there are any things we do have control of when someone we love is incarcerated. It devastates me not to be able to talk to him so I can only imagine how frustrated he is.
Global Tel* Link has requested I fax them a copy of my home phone bill and wait 3-5 days then call them and set up an account. You can no longer set up account online. I would do anything not to have to give them another penny but still receive phone calls from my son.
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