Telestial Inc. Reviews 

Total waist of money. Reception is extremely poor (used their SIM card in UK, Ireland and USA). My phone kept disconnecting and searching for network. In UK and Ireland sometimes I had EDGE connection (so the speed was so slow that I couldn't even send a message in a chat).

Extremely disappointed.

Waste of money, SIM card does not Work poor customer care. No body responds or talk respectfully.

DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY. I bought this phone and extra time to use while on a 2 week vacation in Italy, including a cruise. It came with the SIM card already in it. I called to verify if this was correct and if I could use the phone on a MSC Cruise and was told "yes" it was ready to use once it was charged and I was in Italy. It never worked. I kept getting messages to insert SIM card. When I tried to take out the SIM card, it fell apart and would not properly go back together. Once home, I called TELESTIAL and was told I needed to process return/refund within 15 days and since I was over the 15 days there was nothing they could do. They said their SIM cards come in pieces and it should have snapped back together and I should have called or emailed them while I was on vacation. I explained that to purchase an internet plan or make a phone call would have cost me more money and since I was already out over $70.00 USD I should not have had to do this. I should have just paid for international coverage with my cell phone company or purchased an European calling card. WHAT A WASTE !

I used Telestial about 4 years ago for a Europe trip and despite a bit of a surprise at incoming costs (low as they were) I thought it was good. Now, there's a lot of different options around, local sims upon arrival are still competitive but riddled with setup issues and limitations on support unless you're in an English speaking country. You need to look into the details on all of these, but Telestial has become even cheaper, support was fine, great reception most areas. Make sure you're more than 1 day prepared and know the details of what you're getting, because compared to the other options I've tried recently, Telestial has no hidden crap whatsoever and is far less of a headache.

The phone was 2 days late. It didn't work, after a half-hour phone call with their tech support (who didn't sound the LEAST surprised). I sent it back. They said it DID work; they would send the phone BACK to me. I emailed them my mailing address; they said they never got the email. After another phone call (hold for 20 minutes), they said they'd mail it back to me

Telestial used to be a good company but they have changed. For us in North America we used to get a U.S. number with our U.K./Global number. They changed that so the US number is $2/month and they make it difficult to keep your balance active to.
When they made their service change they said they sent us an email (which I never received) about my old sim being inactive and having to get a new one.
There are better international mobile services out there. Telestial also refuses to refund my balance to me as well. Go with a different company.

Absolute joke with regards to pricing. 3x days into my European holiday (30 days)
and $50 credit has already been maxed. My phone is not constantly roaming and I ensure to keep mobile data off until required. My time on mobile data has also been minimal with only a few photos posted and social media feeds refreshed. Refusing to recharge and give this company more of my money. Would have been cheaper to use my Australian Sim card and pay the roaming fees...
Giving 2 stars as reception is adequate.

Currently trying to use the phone and data plan on travel worth limited phone success and zero data success. This means I'm stranded with no navigation tools in a completely unfamiliar city. After dark. Woman alone with my daughter. Not okay.

I bought an ITALIAN SIM CARD. My order clearly indicates "Italy SIM Card" but when I received the SIM Card it came with a UK phone number. Called customer service. They claimed had I read the description more carefully I would have seen I was purchasing an International SIM card. It is purposefully fraudulent and misleading, as there would be no other reason to describe the product as an "Italy SIM card" as opposed to an "International SIM card that works in Italy." SCAM ARTIST THIEVES! STEER CLEAR OF THIS COMPANY.

it's liar sim card seller only for uk people.
imagine you buy sim card for colombia and when you're in colombia the local people need to call +44 so expensive.
amazing bad description sheet and no totally refund.
please everybody change website

I bought the JT travel Buddy Worldwide usage. The price is reasonable and I only wanted it for a few calls. I am also not very phone savvy.

First of all, the users guide is not very complete - for example, the phone will lock up and there is no information on how to unlock.

The big problem though is that the battery lasts only 12-15 hours if the phone is on. I charged it overnight and it had died by the time I was supposed to receive a 9 PM call.

Their customer service answered my emails promptly - I give them that. Also beware that if you use the help button on the phone, the time is subtracted from your minutes.

I bought an international SIM card from this company in 2011 because my daughter was going to Europe, and I planned to do some traveling in the near future. My mother became ill in the meantime, so I have been unable to travel. If you do not use the card at all within a specified period of time, they take away the balance on your account. They send you an email warning you that if you do not use your phone within a month, they will take your balance. The last time I went to send a text so I could keep my balance, which was supposed to expire the next day, they took my balance a day early, so my text was not sent. I called customer support, and they said to send them a copy of the email and a screenshot of the text I tried to send with the date and time on it. I did exactly that, thinking they would admit their mistake and restore my balance, but they basically said I was out of luck anyway. I finally had to complain to the BBB (apparently the FCC has no jurisdiction over this type of cell phone provider), and FINALLY got my balance restored. It was restored on June 24, meaning I have until Sept 24 to use the service again to avoid losing the balance on my account, but they sent me an email on Sept. 14 telling me I have one month to make a call or send a text to avoid losing my money. I called customer service to see if I really actually have until Oct 14 to use the phone to avoid losing my money, and the lady said no, you have until Sept. 24. So, I said, the email you sent out was a lie, and possibly an attempt to trick me into losing my money again? She just said you have until Sept 24. Beware that this company's definition of "one month" is not the same as a normal person's definition of one month, and when they make a mistake, they will not admit it. By the way, I just sent a text from the international phone to my US cell phone (a brand new iphone with a good signal). It has been over 30 minutes, both phones have a good signal, the text shows up in the sent box on the international phone, but has not arrived at my US phone, so I may have to start the whole process of convincing Telestial that I sent a text all over again.

The Ireland & Europe SIM Card does not work well in Ireland. It works in the cities in Ireland but not in rural areas. Telestial Inc. should be aware of this and inform potential customers. My sim card only worked in cities and I had no coverage outside them. In an emergency you would be stuck for want of a connection. Telestial Inc. should refund me the balance on my account, if they are a company that operates in good faith.

Just setting up the phone. Seems OK. Somewhat surprised to see that there was no call or text time included with the card. Looking forward to being able to keep in touch with home in the USA while traveling soon...

They do not make it clear that the rental period INCLUDES transit time. Then they try and charge you double the daily rate if it arrives later than expected. This is NOT stated on receipt, so I'm sure Visa will credit the erroneous 'late fee'. Customer service seemed like they get these inquiries all the time. This is a very shady business practice, and will never use this company again.

I've just received my SIM.
Despite the international shipment, it arrived very swiftlly.
I can't hardly wait for arriving in Europe and testing it.

In my area (Pagosa Springs, CO) There are only two service providers with antennas; Verizon and AT&T. It is my assumption that the Telestial Passport SIM uses AT&T as a service provider since Verizon does not provide GSM service. I also have an H2O SIM card that definitely uses AT&T. When I have both SIM cards enabled on my dual-SIM phone (BLU Advance 4.0) the signal strength bar graphs sit side-by-side. The H2O signal strength bars show 3 bars consistently. The Telestial Passport signal strength bars continually vary from 3 bars all the way down to zero even to the point of displaying the "X" symbol. Since I'm new to Smart Phones, I don't know how to resolve this problem. Any suggestions?

Best deal I found on the net before I travel to overseas, will use it again every time I travel.

I'm 10, and my mum got one of these SIMs for my first overseas trip. I feel better having this in case I get lost.