Customer ReviewsforTech Friends, Inc.

JailATM . My husband requested a video this morning will I did the vist we could bornget connected because of poor connection. I tried two times to video call again didn’t work Try the third time and it tells me I had no money in my account which I did have money account so why will they take it out if my video visit never started

Marcella, Our records showed that the 2 calls in question were a direct-dial call that did connect. Though your card may be billed to fund your JailATM account for the video call, your JailATM account is billed on a per-minute basis during direct-dial calls. This means that you were only billed for the amount of time that you spent on the call. For this reason, direct-dial calls cannot be credited back to a JailATM account. We apologize for the inconvenience. If you experience technical issues when on a direct-dial video visit, we recommend disconnecting immediately and troubleshooting both the device being used and your internet connection before attempting the visit again. For more information on this and other issues, please feel free to check out our Support page at any time by clicking the Contact tab at the bottom of the JailATM web page. Thank you

I hope this gets in the hands of upper management. If not, I will continue to ensure it does. I waited on hold for 30 minutes before someone came to the phone which is perfectly fine. My issue was the many attempts I made last night for purchases but the system kept declining but taking the money. The customer service rep answered sounding not so friendly at all!! I explained my issue and he told me it’s my address. I explained that my sister had the same issue and he got smart with me. I asked if he can check my acct and he said very nasty that he did. I told him may I state one recommendation and he blatantly said” have a nice day”. I am NOT an inmate. I do not deserve to get treated with disrespect. He is not a standard for customer service. I am hopeful you are able to locate this gentleman and explain what customer service is because what he portrayed was poor training. He didn’t mention his name but he answered my call on 2/19 at 12:04. He claimed to access my account so I am hoping you are able to locate him that way. Horrible horrible customer service!!!!

Ebony R*********,

I found that your order was declined due to suspected AVS fraud. Address Verification Service checks (AVS) are performed by credit card associations and issuing banks typically when you request authorization for a credit card purchase. AVS checks work by comparing the cardholder’s billing address (street name and number, ZIP code, etc) against information in the credit card issuing bank’s databases.

Any funds that were taken out of your account were placed on hold by your financial institution. We have not and will not receive the funds. They should be released back to your account within 5 -10 business days of the hold taking place. For more information, please contact your financial institution. To Edit Or Remove Your Payment Method
Click My Account
Click Settings
Click Payment Methods
Select The Payment Method That You Wish To Edit Or Remove
Click Edit
You Can Change The Details Of The Card Here Or Click Remove To Delete The Card
For more information on this and other issues, please feel free to check out our Support page at any time by clicking the Contact tab at the bottom of the JailATM web page.

Thank you

To add to my previous review, jailATM is a subsidiary of Inmatesales. I didn't know this until I researched a number for the "phone provider" the rude rep from jailATM told me I had to call. Instead of explaining how this all worked, he was just rude and said they aren't the phone company. I have no problem dealing with Inmatesales, they are always so helpful and patient. This whole thing is ridiculous.

Gail M*****, We are not a subsidiary of Inmate Sales or its parent company. We do not provide phone services and are unable to provide support or information about phone systems. It is not possible for our technicians to explain how other companies' systems work or what services they offer. For assistance with any services or features outside JailATM, please contact the company providing that service. We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience this has caused you. If there is anything that we can assist you with JailATM, please let our support team know. Thank you

I would LOVE to file a class action lawsuit against JailATM for the various fees that are associated with its "service": 1) the $3.50 fee transaction fee, 2) the cash advance fee credit card companies charge, and 3) the fees that are taken from a balance if it isn't used on particular days.

Deposits on JailATM have a fee, which is added onto the transaction itself. This fee does not come out of the money that the resident receives, but is rather added onto the final price of the transaction. With deposits made from a facility's kiosk using cash, the fee is taken out of the amount of cash inserted. The fee for a JailATM deposit varies depending on the amount being sent and is either a flat rate, which varies by facility, or is 10% of the deposit amount if this would be higher than the flat rate. For example, if a facility's flat rate is $3.00 then a $20.00 deposit would cost $23.00 while a $100.00 deposit to the same facility would cost $110.00. This fee varies by facility. Regarding cash advance fees, if you check your statement or contact your financial institution, you can see this fee was not charged by JailATM.com. Rather, it was charged by your credit card company due to this type of transaction being considered as a cash advance and it being their policy to charge a fee for this. The money collected for this does not go to JailATM.com. Instead, it is collected by your credit card company, so it may be more appropriate for you to lodge your complaint with their customer service. The possibility of this happening is discussed in the terms you agreed to when making the deposit, namely, the paragraph stating "I understand that certain card issuers may charge additional fees including "cash advance" fees as a result of transactions processed through this service. I understand that neither Tech Friends, Inc. or the JailATM™ service is responsible for any fees assessed by the card issuer." These terms can be viewed by clicking on "Terms of Use" at the bottom of each page or in the link given when you check the box to agree to the terms. JailATM does not charge fees "from a balance if it isn't used on particular days." Once you place money on JailATM on your own account for messaging/video calls/gold passes, those funds remain on your account until you use them. If a resident receive daily, weekly, medical or other various fees that deduct from their account balance at the facility, that is not controlled or done by JailATM. For any deductions on a resident's account, please contact the facility for information.

Someone is using JAILATM to steal money from my bank account. Over the past few weeks, $20 was removed from my account 35 times. I have nothing to do with this business, but this business has 'allowed' some thief to steal $700 from me. How did they get my card number and pass code? How could JAILATM not know what's going on? JAILATM contact me now. It shouldn't be too hard to see who's receiving my money.

Good afternoon,

If you believe that your card was fraudulently used on JailATM, please go to JailATM.com, select  "Contact" in the bottom left, select any subject, and then click "Contact Us" to submit a ticket to start a fraud claim process.

Thank you

JailTM is stealing money I sent three to four payments of $15 to $20 each They charged me $3.50 fees which is fine Not a problem But my credit card company charged me $10 for each transaction because it is considered a cash advance because JAILTM charges the CC company as cash advance Therefore, sending $`15 costed me $3.50 fees by JailTM and $10 cash advance fees by CC so it costed me $28.50 for a $15 sending to someone

Good afternoon,

If you check your statement or contact your financial institution, you can see this fee was not charged by JailATM.com. Rather, it was charged by your credit card company due to this type of transaction being considered a cash advance, and it being their policy to charge a fee for this. The money collected for this does not go to JailATM.com. Instead, it is collected by your credit card company; so, lodging a complaint with their customer service would be more appropriate.

The possibility of this happening is discussed in the terms you agreed to when making the deposit, namely, the paragraph stating "I understand that certain card issuers may charge additional fees including "cash advance" fees as a result of transactions processed through this service. I understand that neither Tech Friends, Inc. or the JailATM™ service is responsible for any fees assessed by the card issuer." These terms can be viewed by clicking on "Terms of Use" at the bottom of each page or in the link given when you check the box to agree to the terms.

For more information on this and other issues, please feel free to check out our Support page at any time by clicking the Contact tab at the bottom of the JailATM web page.

Thank you

I called jail ATM since I was having trouble sending my son money. I was successful every week up until this point. I was told by a representative I would receive an email and it would be resolved by the end of the day. Email: requested me to send a money order for $74 ... $55 some dispute amount and a $19 charge back fee. And until they receive this money order no one in the world can send this inmate money. I have no idea what they are talking about but I'm not paying for something that was not my fault. Every bit of this screams scam. There's the Fraud!

Lynnetta G******,

The inmate to which you are attempting to deposit has a locked account due to fraudulent activity on his account. To fulfill our fiduciary duty to our customers and fall within the confines of money transmission compliance regulations, we do not allow fraudulent activity to persist on our platform. The monies involved in the fraudulent transaction are lost, and the inmate’s account will not be unlocked unless those lost monies are recouped as explained by our customer support team in their email communication with you. If you do not wish to repay these monies to unlock the inmate’s account, please contact the facility directly for alternatives.

Thank you

Machine in Floyd County jail needs to be replaced! It is always impossible to use and has to have Out of Order sign put on it. It's not jail employees place to come out and try to make keys work or make machine take money ; this is responsibility of Jail Atm! Replace the machine in Bonding of Floyd County Ga. lobby or remove it and only take money online....it's become ridiculous!

Theresa C******, As physical equipment needs servicing, staff of the local facility should relay that information to their support in order for said servicing to take place. In lieu of using the physical ATM, deposits can be made online through the JailATM.com services. Thank you

Although JailATM does have it's use there are two very serious problems with it. 1. Their video visitation system requires that one use Google Chrome browser which, as a cybersecurity specialist, is one of the worst and most insecure browsers there is in the Windows world. 2. They only allow you to add funds when your account is getting below the amount needed to buy something. Since the options are $10 and $20 to load, and a video visit is $8.00 each (for the full 20 minutes) you then have to buy Golden Passes to lower your funds to get to a point where you can load enough for more video visits. You should be able to load funds through a separate process.

Thank you for your feedback. Chrome is the supported web browser for video calls, and while Chrome may not be your preferred browser, it is a secure browser. Thank you for your feedback on funding accounts. It will be taken into consideration for future changes on JailATM. Thank you