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Billing and Payment FAQ
Do you take any other method of payment
besides a credit card?
Lingo accepts electronic checks and credit cards. For credit cards,
they must have a United States billing address. For details on or
to sign up for electronic checks, click here.
How do I sign up for electronic check?
Please see our eCheck FAQ.
How do you bill for services?
Lingo offers convenient online billing. Your billing cycle
starts upon sign up. Your credit card is charged automatically
on a monthly basis, based on this billing cycle. Your bill
includes your next month’s subscription charge and any applicable
charges from the previous (including overage, international
calling and directory assistance).
I requested a credit for a call
that I placed, when can I expect to have a decision on my
credit request?
All credit requests are reviewed as soon as possible, but
you will generally receive a response within 72 hours. If
the credit is approved it will appear on your next invoice.
Does Lingo have a Money Back Guarantee?
There's no risk to trying Lingo's VoIP service. Our Money Back Guarantee
policy ensures your satisfaction. If for any reason you wish
to cancel service within 30 days of purchase, we'll refund
your activation fee and if applicable your first month’s subscription
with no questions asked.
What are the Terms of the Money
Back Guarantee?
- You must cancel your service within 30 days of the activation
of your account.
- You must not exceed 500 minutes of usage in the first 30
days of service.
- If you exceed 500 minutes, you will not be refunded for
the first month of service.
- You are responsible for any charges for overage, international
or directory assistance calls.
- All returned equipment must be in the original packaging
with the UPC or bar code intact within 30 days of cancellation
or the $39.95 cancellation charge will not be credited.
- All components (including the Lingo VoIP adapter), manuals and registration card(s) must be
included.
- You are responsible for return shipping. Please include
the return merchandise number (RMA) with the package. Equipment
returned without a valid return authorization number will
not be eligible for the Money Back Guarantee.
- The Money Back Guarantee will not be issued if you fail
to meet these requirements.
What if there is a problem with
my credit card?
If your automatic monthly credit card payment cannot be processed for any reason, you will not see a payment item in the Billing History section of your online account. (Payments normally appear within 5-7 days of the date the invoice is available online.) If we do not receive payment within a reasonable amount of time, we will suspend your account. To avoid any interruption of service or late fees it is important to make sure your credit card information is accurate and that funds are available. To update your credit card, simply login to My Accounts and go to your Profile.
How do I change my personal information?
You can change any of your personal information on your Lingo VoIP
account by logging in to your Lingo online account management
section. Go to Lingo.com, click Login, then select Edit Profile.
Click the Edit button next to any section, make the changes,
and click Update to apply the changes.
Does Lingo charge late fees?
Lingo makes multiple attempts to charge any credit card that fails payment. If after repeated attempts a payment cannot be collected, your account is subject to a late fee of up to 1.5% (exact amount depends on your billing address). To avoid late fees it is important to make sure that all of your credit card information (including expiration date) is accurate. Just login to your account at Lingo.com and go to Edit Profile to confirm your credit card.
What should I do if my credit card
is declined?
If your credit card fails payment, you need to update or change your credit card information on your Lingo account. Go to Lingo.com, click Login, then select Edit Profile. Click the Edit button next to any section, make the changes, and click Update to apply the changes. To determine if a payment has been received login to your account, go to Billing History and look for a Payment line item for each invoice. Payments are normally posted 5-7 days after the invoice is available online. Late payments are subject to late fees and potential suspension.
How do I change my credit card information?
You can change any of your credit card information on your
Lingo VoIP account by logging in to your Lingo online account management
section. Go to Lingo.com, click Login, then select Edit Profile.
Click the Edit button next to any section, make the changes,
and click Update to apply the changes.
How do I change my billing address?
You can change your billing address on your Lingo VoIP account
by logging in to your Lingo online account management section
and selecting Edit Profile. Click on Edit and make the changes.
To apply the changes, simply press Update. Your billing address
must always match the address on your monthly credit card
statements.
Note: Your billing address is not the same as your
Emergency Calling Services address. If you are moving, in
addition to changing your billing address be sure to change
your Emergency Services Address. See our FAQ
on Emergency Services for more details.
Will I receive a paper bill?
Lingo offers the convenience of online billing. We keep
your costs low and functionality high by providing you with
online billing. You can always print copies of your phone
bill and keep them for your own records. You can access your
bills online by logging into your account at Lingo.com,
then click My Plan in the left side navigation, then Billing
History.
How long are my bills on the online
account management site?
Lingo keeps online bills for 6 months for your VoIP account. For your convenience,
you can save the invoices in pdf format on your computer for
future reference.
Can I combine my multiple accounts
into one bill?
Not yet, but we are working on plans to allow customers to
merge multiple lines into a single account for our customer’s
convenience.
Who do I call if I have questions
regarding my invoice?
You can contact customer service via email at customercare@lingo.com
or pick up the phone and call customer service at 1-888-546-4699.
What if the calling rates change?
Lingo may at times change our rates for calling certain destinations.
You are not locked into these rates, so will enjoy the benefits
any time we lower a cost. Your VoIP calls will be billed at the
rate that was in affect at the time the calls were placed.
What is the Regulatory Recovery Fee?
The Lingo service Regulatory Recovery Fee is an additional charge over and above the basic fee for your Lingo service, per call service charges and applicable federal taxes. The charge is intended to partially offset certain costs incurred by our company in providing your Lingo service.
What types of costs is the Lingo service Regulatory Recovery Fee intended to offset?
Costs intended to be offset by the Regulatory Recovery Fee include
costs incurred by our company associated with supporting services
such as state or local universal service, providing disability access
and certain state and local sales, use and telephone taxes.
How much is the Lingo service Regulatory Recovery Fee?
The Lingo service regulatory recovery fee is $1.99 per phone number
per month.
If I have an international phone number with my Lingo service, why would I be charged the Lingo Regulatory Recovery Fee?
The costs and taxes which we incur are based on the service address to which we sent your Lingo box. Thus, they are incurred by our company whether you have a domestic or international phone number.
Why do you charge a regulatory recovery fee when VoIP is not regulated?
It is incorrect to say that VoIP service is not regulated. VoIP
service is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”),
but as an information service rather than as a telephone service.
Thus, it is regulated in a different, less comprehensive, way than
traditional telephone service. The FCC has also precluded state
authorities from regulating certain aspects of VoIP services in
the same way as traditional telephone services. However, the FCC
has indicated that states may still impose certain requirements
on VoIP providers and may continue to impose applicable sales, use
and telephone taxes.
Isn’t there a moratorium on taxing the Internet?
On December 3rd, 2004, President Bush signed the Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act into law. This legislation retroactively reinstated and extended through November 2007 the moratorium on certain types of taxation with respect to sales and other activities involving the Internet.
What tax situations does the Internet tax moratorium cover?
First, the moratorium prevents states and localities from imposing taxes on “Internet access”, unless the state or locality had such a tax in effect prior to the original adoption of the moratorium in October of 1998. Thus, the portion of the charge made to you by your broadband provider that relates to Internet access cannot be taxed by your state or locality. Charges by such providers for services that are not “Internet access” can be taxed.
Second, the moratorium prevents states and localities from requiring remote sellers to collect sales or use tax on sales of goods, services or information made over the Internet. A remote seller is one which does not have a taxable presence in the same state as the buyer. If the seller does have a taxable presence in the same state as the buyer, then it can be required to charge the buyer sales or use tax even if the sale was made over the Internet.
What tax situations doesn’t the moratorium cover?
The moratorium does not apply to federal taxes such as the Federal Telecommunications Excise Tax. Similarly, the legislation specifically permits states and localities to continue to apply sales, use and telephone taxes to telephone services even if the service is provided over the Internet. This part of the legislation was specifically intended to allow states and localities to apply sales, use and telephone taxes to VoIP services if they chose to do so.
Why hasn’t Lingo service charged sales, use and telephone tax on my in the past?
Until the President signed the Internet tax moratorium extension, it was unclear whether or not VoIP services were covered by the moratorium. As a result, our company chose to give its Lingo customers the benefit of the doubt by absorbing the cost of the applicable sales, use and telephone taxes.
Will sales, use and telephone taxes be included in my Lingo bill in the future?
Our company makes every effort to provide its customers with most reliable and lowest cost telecommunications services possible. Nevertheless, we must also comply with applicable laws. As the tax obligations of our company and its Lingo customers become clearer in the future, we may choose to include sales, use and telephone taxes in the Lingo bill as required by law.
Does Lingo charge customers the Federal Excise Tax ("FET")?
The FET is 3% of the total of your basic Lingo charge, the charge for any long distance calls made outside of your lingo plan and the Regulatory Recovery Fee
Does Lingo charge customers the Universal Service Fee ("USF")?
We bill all customers the Universal Service Fee. The rate is regulated
by the FCC and changes quarterly. The USF rate for the fourth quarter
of 2007 is 11.0%.
What if I'm tax exempt?
If you have tax exempt status you must contact Lingo Customer Care to file the necessary paperwork with our office. Once this is
complete you will not be required to pay the Federal Excise Tax. The Regulatory Recovery Fee will still be applied.
For more information about Lingo VoIP service, visit www.Lingo.com.
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