My husband rented a satellite phone because we were going to be off the grid and I have some health issues that possibly could result in needing a satellite phone. It comes with a flimsy clip that you put on your belt well guess what it broke and the phone was lost and heavily forested area. We spent 4 hours looking for it and the pouring rain. We got back to cell phone range and phone the company and reported it but all we got was a recorded message saying they were only open in the middle of the night so my husband left a message. Then we went back a few days later and tried to look for it again in good weather with no luck so we went ahead and phoned the sales department because we figured they would pick up which they did. They said they got our report and to send back whatever we had. We had paid for the insurance on the phone but the person talking to my husband could not tell us what the deductible was so they said we would have to wait a couple of days. Well after a couple of days 750 was taken out of our account. So we called the sales department again because they're the only ones that pick up the phone and said we needed a itemized receipt. So basically we paid for the week the shipping the insurance and they charged us a $750 deductible. So they're very unclear about what things cost and also they never pick up the phone unless you phone the sales department. So I would not recommend this company and I won't use them again. Mainly because of the flimsy equipment. If the phone had been a different color other than black and it had a secure way to carry it we probably wouldn't have lost it. But in retrospect it should have been put in a backpack. read more

Rented me an iPhone with a dying battery (which only lasted for 3-4 hours at a time, at best). Then, they overcharged me $60!!!

I was advised by a Verizon executive that Verizon rented SAT phones so I rented an Inmarsat IsatPhone for a week to go off grid for our annual fishing trip from https://www.vzwsatellite.com/. Cellhire (https://www.cellhire.com/satellite/) is the rental service provider and Verizon is obviously the SAT carrier for the satellite signal. Unfortunately an act of God (California forest fires) shut down all national forests and we had to cancel our trip. I received the SAT phone on Monday and I immediately advised Cellhire of our situation on Tuesday and had the phone in FedEx's possession to ship back by Wednesday morning. That means I had the phone for one day and never even powered it up once. Despite my explanations, Cellhire has chosen to charge me $48 of the $69 rental when I immediately informed them, returned the phone after one day and never used or received any satellite service. They claimed that Verizon was still going to charge them for the entire service even though the SAT phone was never powered up. I confirmed this with some relationships at you know where and they called B.S. So, they charged me for 69% of the total rental regardless of my swift return or the cancellation being an act of God. I completely regret ever using Cellhire through Verizon and they will obviously not be around for long given their shady business practices. I have alerted all other respective channels of their terrible service and I would advise to never use this company. Take a look at the other similar reviews. Bad business... https://www.vzwsatellite.com/ https://www.cellhire.com/satellite/contact read more

See all

This July, got SIM card for Canada from Cellhire - didn't work. Said "AT&T" on card. Got card that worked after getting to Canada - phone company in Canada told me AT&T doesn't have operations in Canada. Last year, got a SIM card for France from Cellhire - minutes would magically disappear overnight without any use by me. Two tries at phone company accomplished nothing. Avoid these folks. read more

If there was a zero star rating, I would have chosen it for this company. They are absolutely the worst. I rented a phone to use while I traveled in England and they sent a phone for France. I returned the phone immediately and never activated it to use. They refused to refund my money. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY UNLESS YOU WANT TO LOSE YOUR MONEY. read more

Similar experience to others regarding billing issues. They sent me an invoice estimate of charges before I used the phone. I questioned one of the charges and they (Shawn-female representative) said, "don't worry, that won't be charged". I should of requested an updated invoice estimate without the charge. I should have been more diligent as they ended up charging me the greater amount and stated, "It's right there on the invoice". Ugh. They also gave me incorrect directions on how to use the phone and ended up charging me for the calls I made while trying to get the phone to work. Their tech department when I called said, "oh, those directions are wrong. Here's what you need to do." Ugh. I won't use this company ever again. read more

3 weeks after returning the mobile hotspot I rented from Cellhire, they sent me an invoice for over $125.00 on charges they said I authorized. I never authorized them to charge anything to my card. I prepaid for the equipment and sent it back upon my return from Europe. These guys are a ripoff! I'm sorry I did business with them and I caution you to look elsewhere for the rental of mobile phones or mobile hotspots. read more

This review is for their prepaid European SIM data card that they sell through their website. The service worked great for a 3 week vacation in Europe. The speeds were fast in all major cities and areas in the several countries that I visited, and the price for the SIM card was excellent -- much less than I paid several years ago from another company. However, if you do go with this service, watch out for unexpected and unauthorized charges. First of all, after I ordered, I was charged $6 in sales tax, but this was not listed on the checkout page. I figured it wasn't a big deal because it's only $6. Then I paid $65 to "top up" my data plan two weeks into my vacation. Service continued to work great. Finally, several weeks after I returned home, I was charged $65 again -- this time, unauthorized! It took 3-4 emails and 2 threats of starting a claim with my credit card company to get them to begrudgingly refund my $65 charge. So their service worked great, but watch out for unauthorized charges. If I were you, I would get a prepaid Visa card or something and order with that, to ensure you won't get charged more than you expect to. read more

Rented an Iridium 9555 from Cellhire - it's almost the size of a brick and about as useful as one, given that the device was not once able to get a signal or connect a call. Then when I went to return the device, the USPS would not take the package, even though Cellhire's instructions said they would. $70.00 down the drain - thanks for nothing. I would give no or negative stars if it were possible. read more

If I could choose 0 I would. This is the worst cell phone company in the world. They over charge and they charged me twice for every month used. If you can avoid them please do. Do not get scammed like I did and my phone did not work the whole time I was in Europe, so I was robbed. read more

DO NOT USE PHONE COMPANY they do not respond to emails and they are not 24 hr service via phone as advertised the data does not work on the Simsmart prepaid sim card in the uk as promised (simsmart is one of their companies) and when trying to reach out with multiple emails for support there was no response. You are better off finding a better company that might be a bit more expensive but will respond when you have issues.... best bet buy through amazon because if there is an issue they are reliable and can help rather than this company read more

Kirk at Cellhire is among the best when it comes to customer service and professionalism. He can't be beat. Cellhire always assists our travelers with their international cellphone needs. This year we had a traveler whose cellhire phone as well as their US T-Mobile phone stop working. Cell hire contacted the individual sooner and troubleshot the issue hours before T-Mobile. Not say T-Mobile has bad service just to say that Cellhire beats it. I order phones for 2-10 people at a time per year and Cellhire keeps it simple. I love their ease of ordering and billing. Great all around service. read more

Terrible. Extremely unprofessional. Complete lack of attention to any kind of detail. No regard for customer service. Shipping information and cost on website was wrong, they said they know but refused to honour the price after I booked. Charged credit card despite product being sent back. I sent several e-mails and called 3 times from Europe to find out how to check usage, never provided the information. Contract indicated the rental would end on the date the product was picked up to be returned by UPS. After I shipped the device back, they charged my credit card, and continued to send harassing e-mails for a week, despite me calling them to confirm it was sent back. They respond to customer service e-mails after several days (or weeks) with 3 word incomplete one line answers. Do yourself a favour and skip the headache, take your business elsewhere. read more

I rented a satellite hotspot from them for one month to us in the Cancun area of Mexico. I wanted to stay off the resort wi-fi for doing my banking back here in the state When I tested the hotspot here stateside it performed great but when I got to Mexico it was streaming slow that my bank websites would lock me out. When I returned from Mexico and returned it I asked for a partial or full return since it did not work there. They would have been able to see that I had used almost no bandwith when looking up the unit. They informed me that they would test it and get back to me which is the last time I ever heard from them. read more

Very bad experience. We have rented mifis for trips for the past five years. On a recent trip, we apparently went over our data however, the company NEVER notified me that we went over. Had I known, I would have stopped using it. Instead, I was charged $9 for every additional gig. Not to mention that they never contacted me to offer me an upgrade for data. I probably would have done it - had I known that I went over. When I contacted them to dispute, they 'claimed' they notified me every day and that they called. I never got an email or call. If they called, they never left a message and my phone works abroad. I feel very unfairly treated and now am having to dispute the charge with my credit card company. I reached out to the company initially. After speaking with them twice, the the rep said she would speak to her manager about the issue. I never heard back from them. I shared every single email they sent me to prove that I was never notified but they still 'claim' they notified me. Just be careful if you use them. If you go over, they too might 'claim' they notified you but instead you will be charged an absurd amount of money. read more