Satellite Phone Store

This review is specific to the Satellite Phone Store in San Diego and specifically Eric T and Tina B. The Satellite phone business is like the wild wild west… there is a lot of hype and little accountability when things go south.
After a miserable experience the the Florida version of a Satellite Phone Store I put my faith in the San Diego store based on the strong recommendation of an experienced friend. I was not disappointed.
It is not unusual for satellite phone providers not cancel service in a timely manner or update services when requested. The San Diego Satellite Phone Store was always timely and responsive. Eric came to the boat prior to our departure to insure that all systems were working properly. He took the time to explain things a novice might not understand and insured that my compression software was working properly. In short, Eric added a lot of value to the service and I’m very appreciative of the service he provided.
I can’t overemphasize that this is a business where the integrity of the service provider is paramount. Based on my experience with the San Diego Satellite Phone Store I have complete trust in Eric and Tina and highly recommend them both. Thanks!

I rented a SAT phone for a month long offshore sailing delivery. The phone worked great when I received it however none of the chargers worked once the battery went dead. I was able to get wifi on one of my stops and tried to get help from them but was told I would be called (on my cell phone) by a tech, never happened. A replacement phone (that I did not request) was sent to my HOME address… not helpful. Upon my return I was greeted with the delightful expense of not only shipping the defective phone/​chargers I rented but also the replacement back to the company with no promise of reimbursement, only the threat of legal action if I failed to return the phones when I was only asking that they send a shipping label for the phone they sent as a replacement which remained unopened. The customer service personnel avoided talking to me on the phone to resolve the issue only sent repeated emails requiring the phones be returned at my expense before they would consider any sort of refund. I am extremely disappointed in the customer service and support I received.

Very knowledgeable! Helped me and my family set up my satellite phone. Made me feel comfortable with my 1^st rental.
Great customer service.

The satellite phones we used for the Baja 500 were very useful and key to helping us finish the race. Communication is always needed in times like these and we greatly appreciate your help! We couldn’t have finished the race without them! Thank you!

While in Mexico for the Baja 500 we used Sat Phones to stay in contact with both our rider and the rest of the crew. These sat phones provides communication that would have otherswise been non existent. The phones worked well in all terrains and call quality was great. Would highly recommend the Satellite Phone Store if you’re in the market for long range communication in areas where regular phones won’t do.

We used the satellite phones down at both the Baja 1000 and 500 and they were an important part of our success on finishing both races. As racers and combat veterans, communication is key to the success of our mission. Highly recommend Satellite Phone Store’s communication options!

In their defense, they did refund what I asked for a day or so after this initial review. OK, so they’re trying to do the right thing, and I thank Unilocal*and the Satellite Phone Store for that! Move them up a level.

I had a great experience with Eric and the Satellite Phone Store crew. We needed three sat phones to go race the NORRA Mexican 1000 so I got the order in the week before the race. I picked the phones up from their office and got a quick lesson on how the phones work then headed for Baja. Our race truck ended up breaking down in the middle of nowhere, so the sat phones really came in handy to let our chase crew know that we were safe and that they needed to come pick us up. Without the sat phones we would have been in a pickle!

Was easy to rent from, then later easy to purchase and phones worked great.
Thank you Sue

Thank you for the A+ response and customer service to Sue on the difficult quote that I needed on a short turn around. Looking forward to purchasing the products. Got a great price quote on 15 items and service for 3 years!

horrible experience. After buying a sat phone from this company, i later needed a new sim card (the one with the phone expired). Apparently it wasn’t possible to re-​activate the old sim — so i needed a new one sent to me which they promised to overnight to me at my expense to Europe. When it didn’t show up, I found they had sent one my regular mail to my office in Seattle. This was to do me no good before i crossed the atlantic in my sailboat. After multiple attempts to get a new one shipped (which never happened) they said they would turn on the old sim. Which didn’t work either. I bought a new sim from a vendor there.
Fast forward 4 months, they begin auto billing my company credit card for a monthly plan — for the sim that was sent to my office. I asked for and was promised a refund for the 3 billings, but it never happened. I finally had to cancel the credit card and have a new one shipped to me.
What a pain in the rump.

Great experience with professional staff! I went out to the California desert for a week and rented the Inmarsat IsatHub Terminal so that I could stay in touch with my clients in case anything urgent came up. This was my first experience with a mobile satellite device, and I’m glad to have landed on this company. Eric was extremely helpful and patient explaining the ins and outs of using the device –and how to limit data use– using my macbook & smartphone. He even suggested third party software that could be installed to provide additional control of data use. I found the rental to be affordable. After-​hours support was available and stellar. Basically all my concerns were addressed prior to taking the device out to the desert, and the device worked flawlessly.

Order and pickup went smooth. When it came time to test on my own, phones had a problem connecting Iridium network, printed instructions were not correct. Left at least 3 voice mails for SD office, none returned. FL office, guy was too stressed out to help, and never called back as promised. One phone seemed to have a battery problem. Thankfully, we didn’t need them. I may have been too stressed to use properly, but a phone call from them would have confirmed that. They promised to look into a partial refund, it has been 4 weeks and as usual no response. As a Wilderness First Responder, these guys won’t be getting my trust again!

Was on hold with the San Diego office when searching for a Satellite phone for our filming in the Philippines after Yolanda. Then called Florida where the guy seemed to busy to go through the best options for what we were going to be doing and there is no corporate oversight. After reading the reviews here. I am glad I did not use them and found it easy to reach a company called outfitters.
Imagine being stuck in the Philippines during storm recovery and these people would be your line of support… I THINK NOT!

Great experience from initial phone conversation with Mitchell who answered all my stupid questions to pick up and instructions from Chris at store. My needs were simple, rent a phone for the week. Chris put me on the right phone and plan. Important to understand the billing to the caller if you do not get the USA number which I did. I could only pick up on a Saturday, appointment was made and although i was running early, Chris had the shop open and ready. Upon return no surprises or extra charges. I will do business and refer them to other, thanks

I have to say, I just rented two SAT phones online, and it couldn’t have been easier.
I used to own my own Sat phones, for use in Baja Mexico. I did so for a few years, until I stopped traveling so often. Then, a couple years ago I tried to rent from AllRoadSat (also local to me in San Diego). They were VERY expensive, and had many hidden costs that came up above and beyond the $ 30/​week for the phone. I tried again two days ago (to rent from AllRoadSat) and again, was displeased. I asked for a quote to be emailed to me (while I was on the phone getting prices), because the prices the woman was explaining were MUCH different then what the website was quoting. Never received the quote. Called back, to see what the deal was and got the «Oh, are systems are having troubles…». So I asked again, for a price and AGAIN got a different total. Now, they even tried to sell me a 90min bundle when clearly I asked for the cheapest amount of minutes available. When I said the website shows a 60min bundle, she said: «Oh, we can give you that deal». WTF? I asked for «cheapest» from day one! And it’s no «deal», it’s on the darn website!
With all that… I did an online rental from Sat Phone Store and couldn’t be any happier! They allow local pickup and dropoff. Their prices are great! And I made a phone call (minutes after hitting submit) to verify my order, and was pleasantly surprised to hear they already had it in the system.
I hope to not have issues like the previous person (Wendy) who left a review, as I know the location here in San Diego is new. I’m sure that problems happen, and they get worked out over time. *fingers crossed*
My $ 188 rental for a week, and two phones (with antenna, cig adapter/​charger, and minutes)… is much better then the $ 360 All Road quoted me (these prices do not include deposits)!!! They were DOUBLE the price!
Look out ALLROAD, there’s a new Sat Phone Store in our neighborhood, and they are kicking your butt when it comes to pricing and customer service.

We recently rented 4 satellite phones, plus 2 sim cards for a trip to Baja Mexico where communication between the 8 vehicles that we will have down there will be vitally important. This company, at the time we rented the items above, was massively disorganized, borderline unprofessional as when both myself and my brother went to pick up the equipment on two separate occasions– basically, it was nothing short of a sh*t show. They didn’t have our order ready, the office personnel were disheveled and showed up approx. 30 an hour AFTER the store was supposed to open, they didn’t have any of our equipment read, they also didn’t have phone numbers for 2 of the phones, rendering them essentially useless for 4 days until I finally called their Florida office fuming that I hadn’t received the numbers yet… and on and on it goes.
All in all, will not be using these guys again. It shouldn’t be this difficult– obviously they have serious organizational issues, and their customer service isn’t much to write home about either. When I called the day after receiving the phones– still with no phone numbers– I got major attitude from the rep I spoke to… essentially he told me «well you can make calls FROM the phone. Shouldn’t that be good enough?». Not really Hoser– how am I supposed to communicate with said phone/​team in Mexico if I haven’t the faintest idea what their # is?
Try SatModo if you want to rent sat phones. MUCH better customer service, better prices– ask for Mike!