Complaints

This profile includes complaints for Impact Telecom, LLC's headquarters and its corporate-owned locations. To view all corporate locations, see Find Local Branches.

close

Find a Location

Impact Telecom, LLC has 5 locations, listed below.

*This company may be headquartered in or have additional locations in another country. Please click on the country abbreviation in the search box below to change to a different country location.

BBB accredited

Near

Country

USUnited States

Please enter a valid location.

Filter

• 

  Impact Telecom, LLC

  Irving, TX 75039-5654

• 

  Startec Global Communications Inc

  7361 Calhoun Pl Ste 650 Rockville, MD 20855

• 

  Matrix Business Technologies

  102 Brookwood Rd Atmore, AL 36502

• 

  Startec Global Communications Inc

  PO Box 7266 Gaithersburg, MD 20898

• 

  Impact Telecom

  11300 Rockville Pike Ste 900 Rockville, MD 20852

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:01/31/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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 a bill from Vartec for *****. Upon calling to inquire about these charges, I was told that I made a long distance call to Frankfort KY for 9 minutes to ************. My area code is 502 and I called a 502 area code. So how is this long distance. Also, long distance is included in my spectrum phone bill. I never signed up for anything with Vartec.

  Business Response

  Date: 02/04/2025

  We have reviewed the account and see this customer has had direct dial long distance service with Vartec since 2006. She is on a plan that only bills if long distance calls are placed. The service has not been used in several years, so the customer has not received an invoice from us. We have not made any changes to the account, so the customer is still set up through her local provider to have Vartec as her long-distance provider. We can close the account on our end, but the customer will need to contact their local provider to choose another long-distance carrier, or they will not be able to dial 1+ for long distance calling once our account is closed. The charges are valid charges but we have credited them  as a courtesy. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/05/2025

  I have reviewed the business response and accept this resolution. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/17/2024

  Type:Billing 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.

  When I signed up I was told I will get charged only for the minutes I use but I have not used it for more than 2 months and I am getting monthly charges in tha mount of $7.50. Thanks

  Business Response

  Date: 06/20/2024

  We have reviewed the account and see this account was initially set up via an online order request, so the customer chose the plan that was assigned which has a $2.99 monthly fee. The account has had the same plan during the lifetime of the service from 7/18/23-6/17/24. The customer did reach out to us in September '23 to change the main telephone number on the account but the account was left on the same plan. We are sorry if the customer was not satisfied with that plan, but the plan itself was chosen by the customer when the account was originally set up online and we have made no changes to the amount of his monthly fee.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/20/2024

  Assuming they are correct(which they are not!) they stated $2.99/ month. When was it changed to $7.52/ month? Wher is their reported of the change? Where is my agreement?

  Business Response

  Date: 07/09/2024

  Per our previous response the customer's plan was $2.99/month. That fee also incurs regulatory fees and taxes which we are required by local governments and the *** to bill. Once these charges are added the customer's balance is $7.52. The customer has canceled his service and as a courtesy we have issued a credit for the final invoice. Again, we apologize that he did not understand the charges incurred.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/08/2024

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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've been a Startec customer for at least 25 years however I haven't used their services for the last several years. But I still had an account with them. In May 2023 I mistakenly transferred $183.37 (********) into my Startec account. I contacted the company immediately and was told that I will be reimbursed. Since then I've been contacting Startec every month or so and each time was given different answer. First that I need to wait for 120 days (however I was not told when these 120 days start). Then I was told that I have to close my account to be reimbursed which turned out to be not truth. Once 120 days passed I was told that their refund processing system is under refurbishing and there is no date when it will be operational. Then I was told that my name was included in the spreadsheet for reimbursement and I have to wait for 120 days (again?). This was in January. Then I was told again that their refund processing system doesn't work (no mention of 120 days). Several times I asked for the contact to the management and of course I was not given it. I've been waiting for almost a year now and I still don't know when, or if, I will get my money back.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/09/2024

  We have reviewed and do show this customer has a credit balance awaiting refund. Unfortunately, we have been in the process of restructuring our refund process for all brands and that has caused the long delay. We do have this customer's refund on our pending list for refund and will ensure that it is sent to the customer as soon as the new guidelines are released. I am being told that this may hopefully be by the end of this week which would put processing in place for some time next week. We do apologize for the extremely long delay, but assure you that the account does still reflect your original credit balance and is awaiting completion of the new process so that it can be refunded.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/09/2024

  I am rejecting this response because: Although I accept the response that I will finally receive my money I strongly believe that the response is insufficient. its been almost a year since I first asked for the reimbursement. In my opinion it is unacceptable. Furthermore the communication with the company was terrible. Each one of customer service reps had a different answer, I could never get in touch with anybody who would actually be able to give me a straight answer. I strongly believe I deserve an explanation  of this kind of treatment. 

  Business Response

  Date: 04/09/2024

  We apologize for the timeframe. In normal circumstances you would have received your refund quite some time ago. Your request came at a time when we are trying to merge companies and processes and this has delayed your request for quite some time. The agents you spoke with had no intention of misleading you as they were providing the information they were given. I don't believe anyone expected to have a delay of this magnitude. I completely understand your frustration. We will process the request as soon as the guidelines are released.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/09/2024

  I have reviewed the business response and accept this resolution. Just one comment: the customer care representatives should be better informed of the companys issues and should be able to give the customers the right answers. This is an issue of management. The management should inform them. I also asked multiple times for a contact to management and was never given one and was never contacted by management. For almost a year!

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/25/2024

  In the last reply to my complaint the Business wrote:

  "I am being told that this may hopefully be by the end of this week which would put processing in place for some time next week. We do apologize for the extremely long delay, but assure you that the account does still reflect your original credit balance and is awaiting completion of the new process so that it can be refunded."

  It's been two weeks since I've received this reply. Since I haven't received any updates I contacted the business again on April 24th and the customer care person told me that she'll put an "urgent" note on my account and that the update to the system is complete. She asked me to call the following day to check the status, which I did. However there was another customer service person who told me that not only she doesn't know when the system will start working again but she also told me that I will have to wait for 120 days but she didn't tell me when this waiting period starts. This is the third 120 days waiting period I was told about in the last 11 months. 

  I was also told today that my request for reimbursement was sent to the business under the previous rules and since then the rules have changed so they will apply the new rules now. If it was received under previous rules shouldn't it be dealt with according to the previous rules? Just curious!

  So here we start again, the same treatment I received during my 11 months of waiting for the reimbursement. Each person tells me a different story and nobody gives me the real information on when I will finally receive my refund. Maybe for  people who are running this business $180 is just too low sum of money to bother about, but for me it's a lot! I really want this story to end as I really don't want to deal with Startec/Lingo ever again. 

  Business Response

  Date: 05/08/2024

  We apologize that it has taken so long to process your request while we were awaiting confirmation that all new processes were in place. I did receive confirmation yesterday 5/07/24 that we are good to begin submitting requests for your brand. That request was submitted today, and you should receive your mailed refund within the next three weeks. Again I apologize for the extended timeframe.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/06/2024

  The case has been solved. Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:03/07/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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.

  For the last two weeks I keep getting phone calls from people telling me they missed my call and are calling me back. The problem is I have not called these individuals and someone else is using my business phone number of ************. What can I do to stop this?

  Business Response

  Date: 03/08/2024

  It sounds like someone is "spoofing" the customer's number, a technique used by others to disguise their own identity by altering the caller ID on the calls.  Unfortunately, there is not much a carrier can do to stop this annoying issue. We can try to investigate and report it to the carrier that is processing the calls if we are able to locate that information. The calls are not processing through us so that is what makes it difficult to stop. We have forwarded to try and determine how the calls are being processed so that it can be reported. We apologize for the inconvenience. We will try our best to assist in resolving the issue but cannot make any guarantees.  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 03/09/2024

  I have reviewed the business response and accept this resolution. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/26/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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 account with ********************** global communications was hacked and used by unknown/unauthorized party resulting to charges of $194.00. Upon communications with the company, company agreed that the account was hacked and agreed to refund the money which had been withdrawn from my debit account via autopayment. I was told that a refund would be issued to my account and the money will be deposited back into my debit account. None of the above happened. On top of all, the company phone numbers and help desks result to an automated service which any other option than pay your bill online result to "the number is no longer valid" and a disconnect. After rigorous efforts on my part, I was able to get someone on the phone who claimed that the only way to get my money back is to disconnect my service so they can issue me credit in 8 to 10 weeks from today. Upon requesting to speak to a supervisor I was told (after hiding for half an hour) that no supervisor was available and that the supervisor will call me back at a later time. To this time I have no received a call back. My account number is #***********.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/27/2023

  We have reviewed and show this customer was a victim of fraudulent calls. There was a credit issued in September for the fraudulent calls. The account does have a credit balance however we do not show that we have received a request to close the account or to refund the credit balance. At this time the customer's account is still active and available for use as usual. We will submit to have the remaining credit balance refunded to the credit card on file with this week's refund requests. 

  We apologize for the inconvenience and the misinformation.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 10/27/2023

  I have reviewed the business response and accept this resolution. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/31/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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.

  This Business is a service provider for long distance calling. I took the service of the prepaid account in 2015 and at that time there was no mention about the expiration of the prepaid account. They have changed their policy and not informed me (The Customer) and they all of a sudden have disabled/expired the prepaid account with all the amount in the account.When requested for a reactivation, they asked me to open a new account and they would not give the amount in my original account $7.49 to me. I asked for a refund and they keep replying to me assuming that they had informed me 3 months in advance and they would not refund me the money.I asked them a proof of the communication, which they never provided and they keep forcing the Terms and Conditions to me, which they changed after I had opened the account and never informed me.Now they are not ready to refund me my money $7.49 back to me. Also they claim to be some LINGO Company operating in the name of Startec. When I opened the account the agent never informed me about the expiration details and nor it was in their terms and conditions. Now there is another agent from some company Lingo claiming to be owners of Startec imposing the rule without informing. They discontinued and expired my account without informing me and took the money, and are not refunding the same. Also they are not providing the proof of communication.My Prepaid account was attached to my phone number.Either this business is operating in ****** without proper licensing and are not scared of BBB as the agents do not care or this business has a bad practice of cheating the customers by taking their moneys without informing the customer.Please help me by sorting the issue and getting the refund from them.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/01/2023

  We have reviewed the customer's account. ********************** was purchased by Lingo over 5 years ago. I have been with the company as Startec and Lingo for over 20 years and our terms and conditions for prepaid service have been the same throughout that 20-year period. The terms and conditions are posted on our website when the account is requested to be set up and the customer must check that they agree to our terms and conditions. This has also always been this way. There have been no changes to the terms and conditions during my tenure with the company. I apologize if the customer did not read the terms and conditions. We are as a courtesy going to request that the customers amount of $7.49 be refunded to the customer via a check as the customer's credit card on file expired in 2022. The last recharge on the account was in 2020.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/05/2023

  I have reviewed the business response and accept this resolution. I will wait for the **** for $7.49

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/18/2023

  Type:Billing 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.

  Startec using different name ( Lingophone ) has been harassing ** by sending statements for service which was requested in Dec.2023 and was cancelled on Jan.3rd 2023. We cancelled because the company made a mistake on registering our information and as a result we never were able to use the service. However we paid $12.30 for the first bill using my online banking by **** of America. They received payment on De.22 ***** but keep sending us statements ignoring our calls and email which shows that cancellation.

  Business Response

  Date: 04/25/2023

  We have reviewed and are working directly with this customer to resolve their issue. We apologize for the inconvenience. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/12/2022

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore 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 have requested multiple times to cancel my account. My first request was Feb 21, 2022. I have emails from April 24th. What can I do to cancel the account and get a refund? Thank you for your help.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/08/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/10/13) */ We did review the account and show this customer contacted us for the first time on 8/17/22 regarding closing the account. Perhaps they were calling their local provider prior to this. There are no notes or any other indication that anyone has accessed her account prior to 8/17/22 requesting a cancellation. The customer requested cancellation on 8/17/22 and the account was closed that same day. They did receive their final invoice on 8/27/22. The account is now closed and will not generate any further charges. We apologize for any inconvenience, but did process the request as soon as we were notified to do so. Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2022/10/14) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) I have no paper trail of my phone conversation when I cancelled the account February. 21, 2022 (after several interminable holds). I sent an email, April 24th and there was no reply. When I sent an email in August, stating I want a refund, and I said I was notifying the Better Business Bureau, I received a reply and the account was finally closed. Thank you Better Business Bureau! The nightmare with Startec aka Impact Telecom is finally over.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/29/2022

  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.

  Date of Transaction: 08.05.22Amount Paid: $117.82The business committed to provide me a full refund of $117.82Nature of Dispute: I had an arranged payment with Aspire. They took the initial $117.82 and then a day later tried to draft it a second time. As soon as I noticed, I called Aspire and told them they needed to stop payment on the pending payment, instead of doing that, they turned my autopay off, which then proceeded to deduct the money from my bank account. So, not only did I get hit with an overdraft fee from my bank, but I was also hit for the $117.82.Aspire very poorly attempted to resolve my issue. Every time I talked to someone new, I was told something completely different than the last. Initially, I was told I'd be issued a refund in 3-5 business days, the next time it was 7-10 business days, then I was told I'd be receiving a refund check in 10 business days. The final time I was told I wouldn't be receiving a refund at all. They refuse to take accountability and seem far from interested in helping me resolve this matter.Account Number: XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

  Business Response

  Date: 10/26/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/09/01) */ We are unable to locate an account for this customer with the information provided. We are not affiliated with Aspire. We did call and leave a message on the contact number for the customer to call us back with any account information that would aid in locating an account.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/27/2022

  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.

  Been using Impact Telecom/Lingo for 10 years. Recently ported my number from Impact to Sonic three months ago. I was expecting my bill to reflect the cost of one line less. However Impact Telecom continued to charge me for both lines. I tried calling customer service about 6 times on 7/26 to resolve issue - but call dropped every time after someone would pick up. Once they said they need to transfer to another department and just kept me on hold. Tried to get cancellation details via website but got HTTP error. Chat representative frist said they cannot cancel because it is primary number, then said I need to call in to cancel, which is what I was tyring to do when I called customer service. Also, if the number is no longer with Impact telecom, what service are they charging me for? This is a completely unjustified charge and i am requesting a refund/credit in the amount of $44.97 + tax.

  Business Response

  Date: 09/07/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 6, 2022/07/28) */ We have reviewed the account. The customer did not contact us to cancel the additional line at the time he ported to another provider nor did the new provider contact us to let us know they had taken the service for that line. We have no way of knowing of changes without one of the two things happening. There are notes indicating the customer attempted to chat with an agent and the chat apparently dropped as the chat did end abruptly. The customer did speak with someone yesterday 7/27/22 and the account was closed per his request and also credited back to 4/20/22 which is the date his additional line was taken by a new carrier. The credit amount for the one line back to April was $59.96 which is more than the customer is demanding. There will be one final bill for the remaining line after the account cancellation. That invoice will generate on 8/21/22. We apologize for any inconvenience.