Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/03/2025

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Paid money to talk to my loved one. He was transferred to another facility and did not use any of the money. Just want my money back

  Business Response

  Date: 03/08/2025

  Thank you for the opportunity to assist this customer with her issue.  After investigation, she originally called us on March 3 requesting a refund.  We submitted her request at that time.  It was successfully processed into the national credit card system on March 4.  We advise all of our customers that refunds can take up to 7 to 10 business days to process through the credit card systems and actually post to their bank account and we have no control over that process.  Hopefully, her refund has processed and posted by now.  We tried unsuccessfully to contact her on March 7 to review the process with her again and see if she had received her funds yet.  If there is still an issue or a concern we ask that she contact our customer service department so that we can assist her.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/16/2024

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I received an email from this company saying that I deposited money into an inmate account. Also I received a password reset button. I did not make an account and I’m not sure why I am receiving these emails. I am worried that I am being scammed or hacked. I am concerned that my personal information is being used as an inmate scam or to send money to an inmate I do not know.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/26/2024

  Thank you for the opportunity to assist this customer.  We have investigated the issue and have contacted the customer.  For privacy reasons, no information is being shared however the issue has been resolved.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/08/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Chirps don't work . contacted them twice .inmate can't reply to my chirp.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/22/2024

  Thank you for the opportunity to assist this customer with his issue.  We have investigated the issue and have been in contact with the customer.  This is an ongoing issue that is caused by traffic on the telecom networks.  It comes and goes depending upon the volume at any given time. Due to the recent damages caused by the hurricanes, there are many severe network outages that are contributing to the issue and there is no eta at this time.  We will continue to monitor on our end and work with the various carriers towards a resolution.  This customer has been advised that we will contact him as the status of the issue changes. 

   

   

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/11/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  There were several occasions where I add money into my account, the transaction is processed and accepted but when I open the app to do my video visit with husband our call can never go through even when funds are available, even though the call never connects the funds are somehow taken off and the little times the call indeed does connect it’s always cuts off 10-15 early instead of getting the the full 25 min.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/13/2024

  We have researched your account and did not find any indication of funds being deducted for visitations that did not occur. Our system is set up to only charge you for the time that you are successfully connected to your visit, so although there were a few visitations that did not connect, we can confirm that you were not charged for this time. There could be multiple reasons preventing a visitation from connecting, which include poor internet connection, technical issues, and/or the called party not being available to answer the call however, if this happens again, please contact our Customer Service Department at the time of your visit and we would be happy to help troubleshoot the visitation.
  
  In regard to not receiving your full visitation, this facility does allow 25-minute visitations to be scheduled however, the visits have a set start time and end time. If either party is late to the visit (which is what happened on several of your visits), this will cause the visitation to end at the scheduled time and will now allow for the full visit to occur. If you have any additional issues or questions, please contact our Video Visitation Customer Service Department at *************

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/22/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  07/19/2024 I put money on my phone and chirps. And for some reason he can't call me or chirp me now. When he calls it says restricted. Please fix this. I do not want to be restricted from his contact pin 9897. I've called 7 times and the call won't go thru. So how can I contact customer support.

  Business Response

  Date: 07/25/2024

  Thank you for reaching out about this issue. We have not received any additional reports of our phone lines not working on, 7/19/24 however, we apologize for any inconvenience you have experienced.
  
  During our investigation, we were able to confirm that the funds you purchased for phone time and chirping have posted successfully and are currently being used by the Inmate.
  
  We were also able to confirm that since being notified of this issue, that you have successfully received and accepted calls from this Inmate.
  
  In regard to not being able to receive Chirps from this Inmate, it does appear that the messages are being rejected on the customer’s end. In order to resolve this, please chirp the word, “ACCEPT”, to the Inmate and this should allow the messages to come through again.
  
  If you have any additional issues or questions please contact our Customer Service Department at 702-829-3001 or you can try our toll-free line at 877-998-5678, should this number continue to give you issues. ...

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/17/2024

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Today I received 3 texts thanking me for using Inmate Sales. I received 3 different validation codes. I have never heard of this company before, let alone used it. Spam or something to be worried about?

  Business Response

  Date: 06/18/2024

  We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused. It appears that someone with a phone number very similar to your phone number was trying to set up an account with our company and presumably typed in your phone number instead of their own in error. In an effort to confirm that this was a legitimate phone number, our company, Inmate Sales, had attempted to send a validation code to the number that was entered, which is why you received the text messages. Since you were not attempting to set up an account with our company, you can disregard those text messages.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/18/2024

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Over the past two weeks, I have received multiple calls from supposed inmates within prisons. Inmates from prisons in Kentucky, SC, GA, Kansas and other states. I do not have anyone that I know that is an inmate in any prison. I let the calls go to voicemail- within the recorded message it states that an inmate is trying to contact me and to press 1 to accept the call and/or the charges. Also within the voicemail, it states to contact Inmate Sales or *************** if I was attorney and did not want the call recorded. Every call is by a different number and the area code of the number does not match the location of the prison. I had three calls today, two yesterday and more last week. I would like Inmate Sales and/or prisons to stop contacting me. Attached is one of the numbers that called along with the voicemail.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/02/2024

  Thank you for bringing this to our attention and we apologize for any confusion or frustration that you may have experienced. We were able to search the calls and confirm that an Inmate being housed in one of our facilities was trying to call your phone number. Due to the number of jails that we service, we do have several routing numbers that will show up on your caller ID, which is why you were seeing calls from several different numbers and states however, we were able to confirm that the calls were only coming from one facility located in Chesterfield, South Carolina. As requested, we have blocked your phone number from receiving any future phone calls, from any of our facilities however, if you ever needed to remove these blocks, or if you wanted to find out which Inmate was trying to reach you, please contact our Customer Service Department at, ***** ********, and we would be more than happy to assist you further. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/11/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  They took the device back because they said I waited too long to put minutes on it. I have now deposited money for the chirping text message but after saying they would give him the device back once minutes we're put on it, they're now simply ignoring the request.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/18/2024

  Thank you for bringing this to our attention and we apologize for the frustration. Unfortunately, we at Inmate Sales, have no control over the assigning or unassigning of Chirping devices as this is controlled by the policies, procedures, and purview of the facility. Upon our investigation, we were able to confirm that the funds from your recent purchase have posted successfully to the Inmate’s Chirping account and are available to be used once he gets a device assigned to him. At this point, we would recommend having the Inmate reach out to jail staff to let them know that he now has funds on his Chirping account, and request that he be assigned a Chirping device, if he has not yet already done so. If a Chirping device cannot be assigned, please call our Customer Service Department at, (702) 829-3001, with your transaction information, and we can process a refund for the remaining balance on the Chirping account.  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:02/12/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I paid this company for correspondence with my son they took 30.74 for his tablet and gave it to another inmate who was a girl so i disputed the charges with my credit card they blocked my account and the money i put on there which was an additional 89,58 which he did not get to use. We opened another account to communicate. I called two days ago for a refund of the money still left thats owed they said they dont owe me nothing. They owe me my money they closed my account for no reason BECAUSE they screwed up and now want to keep the rest!

  Business Response

  Date: 02/16/2024

  We have investigated this issue and this customer chose the wrong inmates name at the time of her purchase.  By the time she realized that and called us, the incorrect inmate had already used all of the funds that she had purchased so there was no balance to recover and apply to the correct inmate for her.  It is not our responsibility if someone chooses the incorrect inmate's name at the time of purchase and if the funds are spent there is nothing we can do.  We have explained this to this customer but she refuses to b****ve us.  She has disputed this payment with her bank and the bank has refunded her funds to her and back charged CPC.  She now owes CPC for the disputed refunded funds as well as the associated bank charges.  She has since this started also disputed a few other payments she made to CPC and so now owes us for those payments and associated charges as well as the funds were spent by her son.  Unfortunately, until she pays CPC what she owes there is nothing that we can do to assist her.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/17/2024

  
  Complaint: 21272355
  
  I am rejecting this response because:They  took the orignal complaint money from the account PLUS all remaining money from the account which was 89.00. I disputed the charges with my card company BECAUSE they took all monies on the account which did not belong to them. Inmate Sales closed that account on my first dispute so the remaining money should have been refunded. You take something that doesnt belong to them.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Brenda *****

  Business Response

  Date: 02/20/2024

  Here are the complete results of our investigation.  We do not b****ve this information should be posted for the public to review but this situation is very involved and this is the only way to clarify.  While we sympathize with this customer there is nothing that we can do until she pays back the debt she owes us. 

  On 11/27/2023, Brenda ***** called us claiming a purchase she made on 11/24/2023 for the product “IEE”, which is minutes to be used on a tablet device, did not post. She had made two purchases that day on the website, a chirping purchase for Daniel ******, and a tablet purchase for Erica ******** ****, both for a total including the processing fee of $30.74. We realized that she had intended the purchase to go to her son, Daniel ******, but she did not choose the correct inmate. Unfortunately, within the time period of when she made the purchase on 11/24/2023 and when she called us about the purchase, 11/27/2023, Erica **** had already used the funds from the purchase in their entirety and we were unable to process a refund. Brenda took issue with this, as she b****ves that our system chose the wrong inmate, but our system has never, to our knowledge, purchased for an inmate that the customer did not click on and submit for, and, from our testing, when you type in Daniel, Erica ****’s name shows up since her middle name is ********. When we explained how we b****ve this happened, she disconnected the call.  
  On 12/1/2023, we received a fraud dispute on a charge that Brenda made on 11/24/2023. However, the payment disputed was the purchase she made for her son’s chirping account rather than the purchase made for Erica ****’s Tablet account. The purchases were made the same day for the same amount, so her intention was likely to dispute the tablet purchase. When the payments are disputed, we accrue the debt of the disputed charge ($30.74) as well as a $30 chargeback fee charged by the credit card company, in this case Mastercard, for a total of $60.74. Brenda is responsible for that debt, given that the fraudulent charge happened on her account. 
  When an account is under fraud investigation with our company, in order to be unblocked, the customer would have to settle the debt with us and complete a credit card verification in order for their account to be unblocked and for them to be able to continue to make purchases, use our products, process refunds & transfers, etc. At the time of the dispute, she had $89.44 on her Direct Pay (phone time to one phone number) account, so $60.74 was debited from that balance to settle the debt on her account due to the dispute, which left a remainder of $28.70, but account was still blocked until she completed a credit card verification.  
  On 12/1/2023, Brenda ***** called in, and we explained her situation to her, and informed her that she would need to complete a credit card verification in order to unblock her account and filled out a credit card verification form with her, and at that point, it would be possible to submit a refund for any remaining balances not used. She would still need to fax information to our secure fax line in order to complete the credit card verification. 
  On 2/6/2024, Brenda ***** called in upset due to her account not being unblocked, and we again explained that while we filled out a credit card verification form, she would still need to fax information to our secure fax line. She did so later that day, and we unblocked her account later that afternoon, keeping the $28.70 on her number available for her to use for phone calls connected to her number.

  On 2/9/2024, Brenda ***** called in for a refund and upset due to us explaining that we could only refund remaining balances – the $28.70 – but not the funds used to pay back towards the original fraudulent debt on the account – the $60.74. She asked for a manager to call her back, but her phone would not allow call backs.  

  She called in the following day, on 2/10/2014, and we further went into detail. While we tried to explain we could still refund the remaining balance, she did not agree that she was responsible for the fraudulent debt accrued on her account, and did not agree that the $60.47 went to that debt and could not be refunded to her. She then claimed that she would be disputing the rest of the purchases made on this account.  
  On 2/13/2024, we received a dispute of other transactions made on her account – a Direct Pay (phone time to her phone number) purchase she made on 11/14/2023 for $31.92, the aforementioned other transaction made on 11/24/2023 for $30.74, and a tablet purchase she made for her son on 11/27/2023 for $30.74, as well as the $30 chargeback fees we receive for each disputed purchase. She then had a debt accrued on her account due to this fraud of $183.40. We debited the remainder of the funds off her phone number – the aforementioned $28.70 – to pay toward that debt, so now instead of $183.40, she owes $154.70. No refund can now be given for the $28.70, since those funds we applied to her debt.  
  .

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/20/2024

  
  Complaint: 21272355
  
  I am rejecting this response because:YOU can not charge me more than 30.74. At this point you have made fraudlant charges to me. I will let my credit card decide you can not charge me YOUR FEES because you lost with my credit card. Inmate Sales has no right to take advantage of the public people. I feel this is NOT the first time Consumers were taken advantage!! I will forward this e-mail to my credit card so they can see in your own words how you ripped me off for fees that were on you!
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Brenda *****

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/30/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My phone number has to been sold to marketers and scammer. I have received acam calls multiple times a day since, November 2023, which is right after I started using the company's website. This is illegal and I want it to stop immediately!

  Business Response

  Date: 01/30/2024

  Due to the nature of our business, we keep all of our websites and apps extremely secured.  We do not currently and have never sold or provided  any of our customers information to any other companies.  If she has set up an account with us to receive calls from an inmate and the calls that she is receiving originate from inmates at one of the jails that we service we can block her number.  For this she will need to contact our customer service department at ************.  While we can understand and sympathize with this customer's irritation, we can guarantee her that we are not responsible for her receiving these types of scam and marketing contacts.  We would encourage her to verify any other companies or purchase websites that she may have provided her information to in the past several months.  For additional information we encourage her to contact our customer service at ************.  Thank you for the opportunity to assist this customer.