Telestial Inc. Reviews 

317
•
TrustScore 2.5 out of 5

2.5

While we don't verify specific claims because reviewers' opinions are their own, we may label reviews as "Verified" when we can confirm a business interaction took place. Read more

To protect platform integrity, every review on our platform—verified or not—is screened by our 24/7 automated software. This technology is designed to identify and remove content that breaches our guidelines, including reviews that are not based on a genuine experience. We recognise we may not catch everything, and you can flag anything you think we may have missed. Read more

See what reviewers are saying

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

Total waist of money. Reception is extremely poor (used their SIM card in UK, Ireland and USA). My phone kept disconnecting and searching for network. In UK and Ireland sometimes I had EDGE connecti... See more

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

Absolute joke with regards to pricing. 3x days into my European holiday (30 days) and $50 credit has already been maxed. My phone is not constantly roaming and I ensure to keep mobile data off unti... See more

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

This is my second sim, my first sim got damaged and I had to get another one. I travel abroad frequently and like keeping in contact with family and friends as often as possible. My US line works perf... See more

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Ordered the phone, an eKit 4C, on Monday, and received it two days later as promised. I installed the SIM card, charged battery, with included charger, and things seem to be working - connected to US... See more

Company details

  1. Mobile Network Operator
  2. also in
  3. Internet Service Provider

Information provided by various external sources

Telestial.com - SIM card, SIM cards, International GSM Prepaid SIM cards, local SIM card, roaming SIM cards, and unlocked GSM World cell phones for a variety of destinations such as Italy, France, UK, United Kingdom, Greece, Russia, Spain, South Africa, United States, Canada, Mexico, Egypt, India, Australia, New Zealand etc


Contact info

2.5

Poor

TrustScore 2.5 out of 5

317 reviews

5-star
4-star
3-star
2-star
1-star

No recent history of asking for reviews

This company hasn't invited customers recently, so reviews may not be representative

How this company uses Trustpilot

See how their reviews and ratings are sourced, scored, and moderated.

2.5

All reviews

(317)

0 reviews in the last 12 months

Write a review
Companies on Trustpilot aren't allowed to offer incentives or pay to hide reviews. Reviews are the opinions of individual users and not of Trustpilot. Read more

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely seamless and instant-on SIM card for global use

Have been to USA several times and had to purchase pre-paid sims and the issue was all the time they would either not work outside the USA or they would expire in certain time. Once I ordered Telestial Explorer SIM, after being back to UAE where I stay, this SIM instantly works and the feature of a UK and US number is absolutely fantastic. This is really a great product and would highly recommend for a US/UK as well as global travelers.

August 18, 2014
Unprompted review
Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Great Service and Easy to Use

Fast service and my sim card arrived within three days of ordering. The set-up was easy and will soon find out how well it works in two days when I travel to the U.S yet I have no doubts about the sim as the company assured me that there will be no issues using the sim card whilst abroad. Only rating four stars as I have not yet used the sim card. Will write another review once I have used the sim card. So far so good so and would use again.

August 18, 2014
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Fast Service and Easy Set-Up

The company was really helpful in helping me find the best sim card for my daughter when she travels to the United States for two weeks and then onto Europe. Fast delivery and the sim cards were easy to set-up. Would definitely use again.

August 18, 2014
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Fast, Simple, Convenient

My order arrived super fast, the instructions were easy and I was up and going with my International SIM in a flash. So far I am thrilled with the service and phone and I can't wait to head overseas in 2 weeks to try it out. Super convenient for international travel. Thanks

August 17, 2014
Unprompted review
Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Overall a great option for an international SIM.

I've had mostly good experiences with Telestial. I've been traveling with their SIM cards now for about five years. I've been to France, Kenya, Haiti, Canada, Ghana, Ireland, United Kingdom, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Mexico. I've found each one of my trips boils down to one question: do I buy a SIM card locally (in-country) or do I hit the ground with a working phone? You have to answer for yourself.

So here's the positive: Telestial is great if you need a working phone when you hit the ground. Their SIM cards ship fast, the directions are easy enough to follow, and their recharge options are straightforward. I LOVE no hidden fees. You are charged per minute, and depending on the SIM you purchase, there is a connection fee. If you are going on a multiple country vacation, or on a cruise, or even need a phone for 24 hours in a layover country (Europe traveling to Africa or Asia) then these SIMS are the best as far as I'm concerned.

The negative: the rates on the SIM cards are still higher than buying a local SIM card. Also, I don't like that the more expensive SIM cards are represented as having cheaper calls. I'm headed to Haiti as I write this, and the One-Rate SIM card has cheaper per minute rates than the "Explorer" SIM even though the Explorer SIM is more expensive and marketed as having cheaper calls. Do your research on the country you're traveling to and figure out your local options. Sometimes you can buy a country specific SIM before you leave (Telestial's India SIM for example). So the negative, put simply, is that Telestial heavily markets their main three SIM cards when they offer more than that. Do the research and figure out which SIM is best--don't pay attention to their marketing of each card. Use the "Rate Finder" and figure out which one has the cheapest costs for your use.

As a company Telestial has been a breeze to order from. I've never been overcharged and the process of recharging is intuitive, in my opinion. If Telestial is the best option for your SIM, then purchase with confidence knowing they will deliver. I didn't give them five stars as they have always been great, but never awesome. They are getting there though. They have come a long way with customer service, online ordering, and ease of use in the past five years. If they keep up the good work I have no doubt they will be one of the biggest, simplest, and cheapest options for international SIMS.

Oh, and last piece of advice, if you have to buy one of their phones but finding unlocked phones is easy too. Shop around first.

August 17, 2014
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

So far so good

I am a student studying abroad and this plan is an easy and affordable way to have a phone and service when abroad. It is a nice phone at an affordable price. Was easy order and so far everything works well. Would recommend to other students studying abroad. Thanks!

August 16, 2014
Unprompted review
Rated 3 out of 5 stars

Nice phone with easy operation

The phone arrived on time and was easy to understand as far as setting up. We are travelling to Italy and hope it works well there. The only concern I have so far is that as soon as you turn the phone on it starts using data. If you don't know how to turn it off you have a bill right away or your data plan gets eaten up. There should be very specific instructions on how to disable this so the data isn't wasted on useless updates of pre-installed apps. I lost all my credit without even using the phone. Very upsetting.

August 16, 2014
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Works like a charm.

This is a great inexpensive way to stay in touch while traveling or just to have an emergency phone - just in case while traveling. My husband and I both have prepaid phones that don't have SIMs and don't work in Europe. Telestial was the perfect solution. He have an old Samsung we unlocked and purchased the international SIM and it works perfect. No hassle. Just pop in the SIM and follow instructions. All worked fine. The inexpensive ekit phone for $19 is a perfect backup phone for emergencies. Definitely worth it for piece of mind traveling abroad. I have already recommended to my travel companions.

August 16, 2014
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Very satisfied with service, will use again for future travel

My parents used an international phone through telestial for our last two international trips, to Europe and the Middle East. It worked great for us, and we had no complaints. I am going to be studying abroad in the Netherlands this year, and will again be using a celestial international phone and sim card. Very reliable, and would recommend to others.

August 16, 2014
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Customer Service

I had purchased a ekitV600 back in 2011 and wanted to reactivate. I contacted Telestial customer service and they stepped me through to getting a new SIM card to having to replace the battery. I asked so many questions and they took their time to explain them all.

August 14, 2014
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Quick and easy phone for international travel

Ordered the phone, an eKit 4C, on Monday, and received it two days later as promised. I installed the SIM card, charged battery, with included charger, and things seem to be working - connected to US carrier (ATT at work, T-mobile at home), and able to make and receive calls. Haven't tried texting but no reason to believe it won't work. I haven't used the phone where I'm going yet - New Zealand - but am pretty confident it will work. Great that it has two SIM slots in case I want to get a local one at the airport.

August 14, 2014
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Very good customer service

I just got phone today, installed SIM card, charged battery, was not sure of the "no service." I called the 1-800 number and got immediate attention which was helpful. I have not yet used the phone in Europe but I now feel confident it will work and if not satisfied I will have immediate access to support services.

August 14, 2014
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

SUPER EASY ORDER AND SET UP

I went through a large number of websites looking for an unlocked quad band phone for a trip to the UK and also for a winter long sojourn in the Caribbean. After looking at reviews and calling plan rates, telestial came up as the best by far. Placed the order and got it today - no delays or problems. Charged up the phone and inserted the UK sim provided. Got a US number and UK number, very easily. Tested it by texting a message from my usual ATT iphone to the US number. All good. Texted my UK number, no problem. For some reason though, can't seem to send a text from the telestial phone to my US phone using the sim toolkit app (which the enclosed instruction booklet says is the cheaper way of doing it), will continue to try various permutations of prefixes. The quick start guide to the JT smartphone is just that, not an instruction book, which would be handy. However, if you get this before leaving on vacation, then it's easy to check on google for any info you may need to operate the phone. I'm used to iphone, so will have to adjust to android - not a big deal, teaches me to be adaptable!

August 13, 2014
Unprompted review
Rated 4 out of 5 stars

Responsive Customer Service

Found it very easy to get through to customer service when I had questions during activation. Agents were knowledgeable and helpful. Wish more info would have been included in the printed instructions - such as turn off imessages if you have a iphone and turn off cellular data until you are ready to use the card for data. First day I activated, US numbers weren't working, Hope this doesn't happen while we are in Europe. Also, the US phone number given me by text was incorrect and I had to contact customer service to get the correct number. Four stars so far. Will update after I return from Europe.

August 13, 2014
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Quick, Easy to use, and Affordable, just what I, (and most people today) need.

Firstly I was unsure about if there was a microSIM or just standard SIM, so I emailed customer support and received an answer back in exactly 3 hours, pretty awesome! Then I went to the website and it seemed like they updated it to include the SIM sizes or maybe used a bigger font, again amazing. Now on to the best part my order took only 2 days! I ordered on the 8th received it on the 11th. Overall I am very satisfied.

August 13, 2014
Unprompted review
Rated 5 out of 5 stars

Easy and Quick

The sim card arrived very quickly and is really simple to set up. Their online account page is very straightforward and their customer services on the phone are brilliant, If your traveling to multiple countries then i would recommend them!

August 11, 2014
Unprompted review

The Trustpilot Experience

Anyone can write a Trustpilot review. People who write reviews have ownership to edit or delete them at any time, and they’ll be displayed as long as an account is active.

We use dedicated people and clever technology to safeguard our platform. Find out how we combat fake reviews.

Learn about Trustpilot’s review process.

Here are 8 tips for writing great reviews.

Verification can help ensure real people are writing the reviews you read on Trustpilot.

Offering incentives for reviews or asking for them selectively can bias the TrustScore, which goes against our guidelines.

Take a closer look