Joseph F.

I tried H20's pay as you go 3 month plan this year for a stateside trip. Upon activation and attempted use in Marietta, OH, it provided no working cell signal from its AT&T tower system. For my first month, I never had a working signal and thus was unable to use the phone at all for calls, texts, or data. I not only kept my data turned off (as I always do), I kept the phone turned off since it offered no service.

When I moved on to Cincinnati a month later, I picked up a cell phone signal and tried to make a few calls and texts, but still had no service. Seven tedious, difficult, phone calls with H2O reps eventually revealed that I had no credit. They detailed 5 dates and details of usage from the time I was in Marietta with no working signal, including one time when I was certainly in bed sleeping (with the phone off). In other words, all of the charges were for use that I didn't and couldn't have made.

I can't explain how bogus calls got added to my phone account, only that they were not valid charges for my use of their service. OK, so did the company try to make things right by cancelling the bogus charges in order to maintain my account? No, they insisted I add more money to the account. If I can't trust them with $10 in the first month, why would I trust them with more payments in the future?

My case reveals two problems with the company's service. First, it's susceptible to false charges, and second, the customer service is unwilling to correct such mistakes in order to retain customers. This is a bad combination worth staying away from.

Another account access problem from overseas required me to make a call to customer service. This time, the phone number provided by the website's "help" > "contact" tabs worked - a noticeable improvement over the last effort in 2020. Upon entering a code received from the website, I went through a reasonable maze of options and was promptly rewarded with live help from a patient, helpful, excellent customer service rep.

Upon answering 4 reasonable security questions, the rep changed my account details as needed - something previous reps refused to do.

Finally, it appears that Paypal has added an international phone number option for receiving 2FA texts - something unavailable for me before as a U.S. resident. I don't know whether the "home address must match prime phone number area code" requirement is still policy, but the rep was able to enter my intl number and test it with a text.

Paypal's 2FA process may have improved with the international number option, but some long term verification is still needed. Further, if an email option is allowed, as I elected some time in the past, it did not prompt such an option for me in this case.

Paypal is expensive but necessary at times. I give them credit for hopeful improvements by upgrading my rating.

After using Trip Advisor extensively for worldwide travel the past 3 years, I offer an assessment of the company's reviews, listings, bookings, and payment protection policy:

Review Positives: 1) The characters for writing a review aren't limited, allowing for more detailed reviews than several other sites; 2) The site seems to publish all reviews, good or bad, allowing for accurate ratings of the businesses; 3) The site continues to be the largest and most respected source of reviews, providing an invaluable resource for those willing to put the time in for research.

Review Negatives: 1) The computer's "bad word" screener is picky and intolerable, taking no account of word context nor providing a list of banned words; 2) The rejection of a review does not include a reason, nor a copy of the draft to attempt a rewrite; 3) Reviews of new places are discouraged via unjustified rejection of such reviews, including ones that meet the detailed requirements.

Overall, I'd judge TA's reviews to be more inclusive and detailed than booking.com or any other travel site. And while its true that some non-critical reviewers are too generous with their 5 star ratings while others are too unreasonable with their 1 star ratings, the totality of reviews provides immense help and details in determining the suitability of an establishment. I wouldn't book any new place without using it.

Listing Positives: 1) The website's pictures, details, map locations, and reviews for each site are usually clear and user friendly to navigate; 2) You can open and review a specific listing without losing your spot in the prior listing of places.

Listing Negatives: 1) Some of the owners' pictures are very poor quality, suggesting a low standard for photo representation; 2) Some owners submit a rediculous number of un-related photos, covering up a lack of relevant ones, or trying to hide the grim accommodation being presented; 3) Some of the map locations are shown as big, general circles, rather than specific locations which is vitally relevant; 4) Some owners hide mandatory fees in the lower narrative without reflecting them in the listed price, allowing their listing to appear higher in the general listing's order; 5) Many of the prices listed in the specific listings' price details are noticeably higher than the summary listings' prices.

Overall, I'd judge the listings to be useful, helpful, and adequate, but with multiple flaws that could and should be corrected.

Booking Positives: 1) The process is simple, clear, and user friendly; 2) The final cost and details are usually provided on the specific listing page; 3) The payment process is usually easy via credit card or Paypal. 4) Follow-up emails are always provided concerning the bookings and payments.

Booking Negatives: There surely are some, but not to my memory.

Overall, I've found the booking system to be excellent.

Concerning payment protection, I can pass judgement based only upon one recent case incident where I prepaid $1400 (non-refundable) for a month's stay in a specific room. Upon late check-in, I was provided an alternative cruddy room worth half the price. With the private condo owner completely unavailable, I checked out the next day and pursued a refund from Trip Advisor - my first such encounter and test for them.

Payment Protection Positives: 1) The TA staff attentiveness, care, reasonableness in understanding, and status updates on my case was excellent. 2) The resolution of the booking mistake was fairly handled with consideration for both owner and guest. 3) The warranted refund was timely credited within 11 days.

Payment Protection Negatives: 1) The lack of contact telephone numbers on the website was an unnecessary, initial annoyance. Only after my initial messaging did they provide numbers of *******015 and *******539 for assistance; 2) The handling of my case by 7+ reps and 3 email sources contributed to unnecessary confusion, stress, and worry.

Overall, I was impressed with Trip Advisor's response, action, and prompt resolution. It's good to know that they do hold the money, at least for awhile til after check-in, so that a guest isn't completely vulnerable to a condo owner's mistake (or a dishonest one). In this sense, the TA fee does buy some insurance that is worthwhile.

My recent use of airbnb for a hotel stay turned into such a disappointment that I will never use the service again and would not recommend it to others. First of all, know that the map locations of many of the host sites are entirely wrong. In fact, for my Bangkok search, I found virtually all of the locations to be significantly wrong, making a hotel location preference difficult and unreliable. Second, know that certain hosts are listing the same hotel/apartment building as multiple sites in different areas. This is deceptive, if not fraud, in my view, and airbnb does not seem to check such things. Third, many of the hosts misrepresent their properties, including descriptions of their walking distances to popular features that clearly contradicts measurements on any google map. Fourth, airbnb's cancellation policy is far too stringent for any long term reservation. For example, my 3 week reservation for a Bangkok studio costing $40 a night ended up costing me $185 when I checked out the next day and cancelled the "flexible" policy reservation. I was charged $80 for 2 nights, $90 for the non-refundable adm fee, and $15 for cleaning. Airbnb's moderate and stringent cancellation policies are even worse. And finally, airbnb does not allow reviews on any reservation stay that is cut short. This virtually guarantees bad properties not being called out - which helps airbnb's booking fees of course. For example, I booked a 3 week reservation for a 32nd floor view studio in Bangkok's Sukhumvit Suites, located on Soi 13. Through prior emails, the owner assured me of its location and access details, its cleanliness, and its definate lack of bugs. He lied on all accounts. The place was plagued with multiple problems, but my finding and killing 11 cockroaches the first night is what prompted me most to move out the next day. Now, it's bad enough that airbnb screwed me out of $185 for a ($40) cruddy place that was misprepresented. But, I cannot do a review on the property - because, as per their policy, any reservation cancelled negates the option for a review. How convenient for them. Travelers, realize that airbnb's bad lodging reviews are being suppressed by this policy. In summary, their business concept may be excellent, but their unacceptable management policies make it unsuitable for the knowing traveler. You may find a good deal on airbnb, but its not a business source to be trusted - in lodging information or booking policies.