Truphone/Truphone Local Anywhere rebrands it all to 'Tru'

[bartolo5]

Well, change is coming.

As i write these lines I can see that Truphone Local Anywhere is rebranding the whole operation to simply 'Tru'. Check out the new site www.truphone.com to see the fresh look of the company and the services.

Glad to see that the mobile app is being pushed aside and now its called 'Tru app'. I've always felt that truphone is wasting time with their phone application service given the fact that there are zillions of services out there that do the same or better (Skype!??)

Their main differentiator should be their global SIM service, and from the looks of this rebranding seems like that's where they are going.

At this time the website is in total flux and I can't access to many sections of it. Will try to update this post when things stabilize.

[rfranzq]

bartolo5, thanks for starting a new thread--I would have been too timid and added to the previous live one.
They seem to be mostly finished with the website--I could not find anything undone or too broken.

They are marching on into new countries, it appears:

Within 18 months we’ll be in over 20 countries, now that’s an offer not to be sniffed at.

This image shows them currently and 'coming next' to Australia.

I believe both are true [pun realized] right now in some sense. They do not yet offer a phone number, but they DO show member rates for Australia. Also, on a different page they show Australia 'coming next'.

[bartolo5]

Originally Posted by rfranzq

bartolo5, thanks for starting a new thread--I would have been too timid and added to the previous live one.
They seem to be mostly finished with the website--I could not find anything undone or too broken.

Previous thread was about their incorrect rates, which by the way they are STILL incorrect. Incoming calls in Europe is still showing at $0.70 when Truphone itself confirmed it's wrong. Actually if you select to see the prices in GBP it shows ok on their site.

Just wanted to make sure people know there is movement on the Truphone front, even when we haven't got any real news in terms of countries or pricing which is sort of sad

If you look through the site this has been a total change of their brand, from the name of the product, now simply Tru to a much more focused approach on their SIM business. From my point of view they are just laying the groundwork for what's to come. 'Tru', let's start calling it like that, can only gain traction if more countries are added to the service, and an interesting count of countries is still far away.

But it's good to know they are working hard at it. My life will be a lot simpler if Tru is able to deliver on its promise.

[Stu]

The problem is that Truphone started its prices too high and is only now getting them in line. You're correct that the Truphone VOIP app isn't overly compelling right now. What they should do is fold their membership rate and their VOIP rate into one and combine the phone numbers so the two services are integrated.

[Sophia]

Hmm... this morning I got an SMS asking me to confirm renewing my "local membership"... and foolishly, I replied "YES" thinking I had missed my monthly call last month (I had). All of a sudden I received an email thanking me for renewing my local rate (what rate??? I'm in Canada, no local rates here or probably ever!) for another month(!) and got charged $15 for it

Anyway, I sent them an email asking for clarification, I hope they have just been messing up transferring to a new website & all. Now, to stay on topic, I STILL can't change any of my settings, nor top up. I really love Tru(phone) in so many ways, but they REALLY need to improve a lot of things as well...

Don't tell me Local Anywhere charges $15/month now? In that case, I have no choice but to buy a *shudder* local sim card...

[rfranzq]

Originally Posted by Sophia

Don't tell me Local Anywhere charges $15/month now? In that case, I have no choice but to buy a *shudder* local sim card...

No. See quote below. Call them and ask nicely [iow beg] to undo the local membership charge.

From tru's web site:

Even if you’re not a member, your Tru SIM card will still give you local rates in your home country and Tru standard rates around the world (which are still rather good).

Your home country rate does not expire. Also, they gave everyone who already had the sIM 'free' local membership' for a 'month' [They actually extended it at least once.] that in my case expires 12/10/2010.

Since they seem unable to communicate the local rate thing they should really refund the charge for you.

[Sophia]

Haha thanks for the quick reply and PM I promise not to hijack this thread but I asked them to transfer the $15 to my credit, since I am unable to upgrade using the site

They really do have a problem communicating though, because I panicked when I read their new explanation:

Tru membership
Tru membership costs just $15 a month and gives you local rates in all countries across the Tru network.

( Tru for You - TruPhone )

I guess I saw red at that point and forgot to read on

Even if you’re not a member, your Tru SIM card will still give you local rates in your home country and Tru standard rates around the world (which are still rather good).

(emphasis mine)

[rfranzq]

Originally Posted by Sophia

.....I asked them to transfer the $15 to my credit...

Did you have a credit balance over $15.00 or did they charge a credit card on file?

[Sophia]

They charged the credit card on file

[Bossman]

While there are certainly advantages to having a credit card on file with these companies, this is certainly one of the disadvantages. With a credit card on file, even a mistake like this can be costly to the consumer, if for some reason they refuse to do a refund.

Another example, to use TelnaMobile, one needs to have a credit card on file. Well, they charged me their $19 yearly fee in July and they have been temporary out of service since sometime around July or so. I hope TelnaMobile can come back though.

Originally Posted by Sophia

They charged the credit card on file