No surprise: Securus refund disaster
I waste 25 minutes for a visit that never happens, and Securus gets to keep my money anyway.
by Bernadette Rabuy, February 3, 2015
I woke up today feeling pretty irked. Back when we were working on our report on the video visitation industry in prisons and jails, I tried to do a Securus video visit with an incarcerated person in Texas. Even though the Securus interface said “Status: Ready,” and I could see my face on the computer screen, I waited for 25 minutes for a video visit that never happened.
As a result, a month ago, I requested a refund from Securus. Since it seemed like I did everything right, I was feeling fairly confident that I’d get a refund. I submitted the refund form a month ago and never heard back. Today, I called, and the automated attendant said I’d have a 4 minute wait, but after 20 minutes I gave up.
And then I noticed this: Securus changed the status of my video visit to “Status: You did not log in for your scheduled visit.” I just so happen to have a screen shot of the Securus website from last month when I was waiting for my visit. Do I look logged in to you?
Securus now owes me for two unacceptable video chats. On each occasion, my loved one and I were disconnected 4 times during the visit. I suggest writing to the CEO – Rick Smith, 14651 Dallas Parkway, Dallas, TX 75254. I did that last month and got a personal call back from a representative. Nothing was handled to my satisfaction, but I was able to get my point across – he suggested I call technical support (which, as you know, is useless). If we inundate them with feedback, perhaps something will be done.
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