Sideline — Real 2nd Phone Line Reviews

by CassondraMaria

SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine was pretty decent, with a few dropped calls. Recently, the caller id quit working. It only says "sideline incoming call". Calls were also beginning to drop. I use this as a business line. On top of all that now they want to charge for an app, that's less than 80% functional, uses my cell data/wifi services I purchase from a provider. If that's the case I could purchase an additional line for $10. The way sideline broke the news to current app users was through an ad/text message. So if you missed it, oh well. I prefer to go with an app I know I have to pay for upfront vs. a text from a free app. This action reminds me of how Netflix treated their customers by quickly increasing their prices, if I'm not mistaken they are still trying to recover. I have also been reading where they are charging $20 to port your number out. Well I brought MY number to sideline, with that being said if I am charged to port MY number out, I will have to take further actions, because it was my number to begin with. This is one of those apps you have to read the fine print. Be cautious with SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine.

Update: I decided to try it out. It was ok, not like it was but ok. Since this most recent update, SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine crashes ALL the time! This is a business number. Meaning I get paid with my business!!!! If you charge for an app make sure it works! My business is just as important as SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine!!

by Stop Being Annoying

No longer free they're making it mandatory! Send out text messages telling people in less than a month they will have to pay?! Thanks but no thanks such a shame. I will be deleting SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine once they start charging. I absolutely loved it and enjoyed using it. It came in very handy to keep your personal number private and business separate. Now knowing that it's mandatory and it will no longer be free and they sent you a text message stating that in less than a month you'll have to subscribe $10 a month for $70 a year. Thanks but no thanks. It's sad that they're making this mandatory because it was a great app and came in very handy. I agree with a lot of people I will be deleting SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine and moving on. I could get an entire new phone with a separate New number for the same price. Why would I pay? Especially when it has so many glitches. Will freeze on you for 5-20 min, close on you and more!! Why pay for a line you can barley use or only use when “it’s” functional?!? Don’t get me started on the “non caller I’d function” no longer working!!??? It's a shame! Bad move sideline bad move. I suggest another free app they work great!! but good luck to you. I'm sure they're going to regret it once they see how many people delete SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine . Smh. Not good business at all.

by Tay2626

My employer paid up front for a 6 mo. subscription for the Sideline Service. They claim to be able to assign a new voicemail message for anyone that calls your sideline number. Clearly this is important, especially if being used for a professional business phone number. Turns out there is a bug preventing this from being a 100% guarantee. I had multiple clients leaving me messages saying they think it’s me, but we’re unsure because the voicemail message they received is my personal phone number. I don’t want strangers knowing my name if it’s scam callers, so I have the generic phone number message for my personal number. The custom one I made for work wasn’t being heard by the clients. The position I hold is an assistant to a independent life insurance agent. So not only do the clients have my personal number now, but I’m risking losing clients. How can they trust to give me their personal info to make an appointment if I miss their call and they hear a different phone number than the one they dialed? I’m so frustrated! Seeing we’ve already given this sideline phone number out (on email and verbally), if I change services, my boss will have to buy the phone number from sideline and pay another company for another subscription.

by Qban0124

I started using SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine when it was free as a local business number. When it was free it was great and I could tolerate when things glitched. It was free after all so I couldn’t really complain. FF to October it became a subscription based app and that’s where all the problems began. We signed up and immediately started having issues. Things from billing, calls not coming in, calls not going out and most of all LACK of customer service.

After 2 weeks in December and 2 weeks now in February we were barely being able to get any customer support. We decided to pay a bit more money for another app that provides better service AND has an actual person to speak with if any issues arise. The worse part was having to pay an additional full month of service + pay to port out our number and being charged 4x by iTunes. YES 4 TIMES! You have to go through iTunes and hope their app recognizes what you’re doing. They can’t even process their own payments right then want to drop that dead monkey on apples lap. Because of that they tried to hold our phone number hostage.

We will not recommend this service to anyone and now have to see how we will get back all the overages they robbed us of.

by Squiggys2

I have had SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine for a while and although I am not 💯 satisfied I liked SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine and it’s functionality. However, lately SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine hasn’t worked to its full capacity. On a couple of occasions I haven’t been able to receive I coming calls. I can get text messages and I can make calls but when people call me it says the number is disconnected or no longer in service. This is very bad for business. I like separating my business number from my personal number but if it keeps saying the number is disconnected when people call me it disrupts my business and I just can’t have that. I will have to look for another company with more stability.

My service was inoperable for 3 days while customer service kept putting me off with emails. One customer service rep couldn’t help me and deferred me to someone else the next day. I didn’t receive an email from that customer service rep until later on the next day. She only asked me how long had I had the issue. By the end of all of this I changed to another carrier and ported my same number to the new service. I am happy with my decision.

Good bye, Sideline. You have been “sidelined”.

by KBPnickname14

I never write bad reviews. But after my experience here I feel I have to let others know what happened to me. I have had sideline for over two years. After they changed to a subscription their service has been terrible! I have had text messages from clients not arrive or only parts of a conversation arrive - which has made me look like an idiot and unresponsive to my clients when I don’t respond. I have contacted their support team numerous times and for the times they actually decided to respond to me they told me they couldn’t fix it and to let me know if it happened again. It. Has. Happened. Every. Month. For. The. Last. Six. Months. I have sent them the numbers the lost messages were sent from with the times it was sent. I have screen shots from my clients of their messages to me that never arrived. They have no response or fix for me and refuse to refund me my subscription fee. I am hugely disappointed in their product and warn anyone wanting to use it for their business to stay away. Look into another product if you want to actually get your messages from clients.

by Impsymon

***UPDATE***

SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine has reached out. Same issues still continue. They’ve given me steps to get a refund from SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine Store. BUT, SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine stores says I need to get it from SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine Developers. How interesting...more headaches.

I’ve decided to just use a competing software. Definitely DO NOT USE SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine for a business that requires heavy phone communications. All they do is ask for times of issue, and have no resolution whatsoever.

**Original**

I think this mirrors lots of reviews on here. I never write reviews, but SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine and experience demands one. SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine used to be good. But if you’re looking to use it for phone calls, it’s trash.

I get multiple dipped calls, people complaining that I sound like I’m underwater, and frequent garbled conversations. I’ve tried to switch networks, use WiFi, even tried numerous technical support options. Trash. Straight trash.

Then I contact them for a prorated refund. Their policy is NOT TO OFFER ONE. As a business owner myself, I understand how things works and how customers should be treated. The support was so terrible they just pointed me to the Apple Store. When I talked to Apple Store support, they pointed back to the Sideline support. Stuck in this loop, I assume it’s solely to discourage customers from continuing to pursue.

I’m sure I’ll be contacted with attempts to resolve “technical issues.” But I’ll also tel them that I’ve logged each instance as well and have not found any solution.

by Amandaaaaa1230

I was SO excited about SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine when I first downloaded it. But the phone number they gave me literally gets several ‘late night themed XXX’ texts and random spam calls/texts at all hours of the day. It’s to the point where I don’t even answer my sideline calls or texts because it’s some sort of spam or advertisement. In theory, SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine is a great idea, but I’m so disappointed. Furthermore, I went to cancel my subscription, bc I bought the year plan (which I regret) and I can’t get a refund from sideline, they said to contact iTunes. And i contact iTunes, and I’m a few weeks out of the 90 day limit to get a refund. I’m just shocked! I figured it was a normal business where you can cancel anytime. I have SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine a try and now don’t want it anymore and I can’t even get my money back. Terrible customer service, I can’t even reach anyone to talk about this issue. Download it at your own risk and it is NOT free either. I paid $100 for 4 months of (barely using it) and will not be getting a dime back. Just sad.

by Jfsjsjtskydkydiydiydkydkgdkyd

SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine works fine for me, I mostly don't even mind having to pay for it because it's functional- except that it lacks one of the major things I want it to do. I use it as a separate number to deal with a whole separate part of my life; but the only way I can save numbers is to save them to my main contacts. I want to be able to have my sideline numbers in sideline only and to keep everything totally separate. Instead I have to guess who everyone is from text convo context because I can't add names to the conversations. If I found another app that did the sane things but let me have a contacts list I would jump ship instantly.

Update, this still isn't a feature and I drove 40 min out of my way for no reason today because of a message that was delivered 2 hours late. So glad I'm paying for SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine now. I'm counting the days til a competitor comes up with a working version of this so I can switch.

by Ailgirl

I gave 2 stars because I actually use it. But only because I have to. A few years ago I signed up when it was still free. Things were fine for a little while and then had to pay to keep it. Not long after that I started having the issues. But I paid and the number is on my business card. So I’m stuck. I’ve talked with multiple customer service reps regarding the issues. I’ve un-installed and re-installed it which caused me to lose 2 years of worth of data. But the problem stays the same. When I open SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine , I have to wait at least 5 minutes (yes I have timed it) for it to un-freeze so I can use it. If I get annoyed and close it out to the re-open it, it’ll short out and close out on me anywhere from 5-20 times before it’ll finally pull up and then I wait another 5 minutes minimum for it to unfreeze. The only way to have it instantly work is by doing a soft reset on my phone. Then that first time of opening it usually goes faster until I close out of it, because once I close out of it and then re -open I’m starting over. I used to think it was just sideline but recently I downloaded a couple others and they do it too. Not anywhere near as bad but they do. But my cards have this number so I’m stuck. Unless anyone can recommend something. But I waste a TON of time waiting to be able to use it.

by Bomb40

Aside from some weird bugs that kept me from receiving texts, SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine has been pretty stable. The only issue I’ve been having is that when I have 2 phones near each other, each with the same sideline app phone number, certain calls won’t even show up when it’s supposed to, and I’ll just get a missed call notification. I’m hoping this won’t be a big problem later on.

However, my biggest issue with SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine is that you can only pay through iTunes. It’s such a big problem for me because I don’t have a dedicated work phone that’s linked to a dedicated business iTunes account. So every time I pay, I have to switch payment methods through SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine Store. They don’t have a normal function where I can pay on their website, without going through SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine Store, so I’m always stuck trying to change my payment method because I’m trying to keep business expenses on the business credit card. It just seems so lazy and inconsiderate to handle all payments through SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine Store, and not even have the option of letting their customers pay directly.

by Trenton Evans

SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine works about 60% of the time it is glitchy the rest of the time. None of my billing information changed but somehow randomly I have to contact Apple support and billing to fix something that never changed. I did some research and found out this is something that a ton of people had to do and it appears to be an error on the developer side. However, instead of helping their customers or working through it, they pass the buck and customer service is completely unhelpful and unsupportive.

It was a great app when it was free because it made up for the lack of customer support in the glitchiness of SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine . Now that it’s paid, it’s really not worth the money. There are a lot of other apps at a similar price point that have much better customer service, work better/more consistently and have better features and benefits.

As a matter of fact, you can get true voip software for about the same price or slightly more and it functions as a full blown phone system.

by Chelsea Hope

Love that I can use SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine for business calls, because I don’t answer random numbers to my personal line. However there are ongoing issues with texts and web messaging. Any texts longer than a sentence or so breaks apart and out of order, so my clients can’t understand what I’m saying. Same goes for incoming messages. Lots of “read” messages stay marked as “unread” after opening and replying. Web messaging often doesn’t load and old messages disappear.

Once my year subscription is up, I’ll be looking elsewhere. I’ve reached out for tech support and they want my clients to screenshot and send copies of texts, and it’s incredibly unprofessional. They refuse to offer any type of credit for lack of app working. I’ve had to go back to using my personal line after initial contact, almost making it a complete waste of money.

I so wish they could figure out these bugs...it has wonderful potential but I don’t have the time to be their QA assistant and pay to do so.

by BWBIII

I’ve had SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine for almost 3+ years now. Started out as a great option for a second number. As phones and technology have progressed, I’ve had nothing but issues. SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine crashes daily on my new iPhone 13 which I upgraded to because I was having so many issues with SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine on my iPhone 11. I just figured the older phone couldn’t keep up. Well, $1000 later, now SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine crashes every time I minimize it. When I open it back up the screen is frozen and I am forced to force quit. Other times when you force quit, as you swipe up the entire phone freezes. After about 30-40 seconds it unfreezes and you can close SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine . I have also noticed lately I am missing more call from my sideline app. At times numbers do not show up that just called me in the call list. I am to the point I am going to pay to port my number over and run two numbers on my cell, as the newer phones support that.

by Lisa Janme

I had SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine pretty much since it developed during the free period before launching as a paid subscription; however, lately during the past 7-9months I have experienced a high number of lost and missed calls because of constant issues where the system requires refreshing due to agreements or whatever it is where the carrier blocks the sideline number and does not allow calls to come thru. This is annoying and causes me to miss important calls of which I depend on this Sideline number. Customers shouldn’t have to deal with or worry about app developer and carrier logistics. We just pay the subscription and want it to work! I’m constantly submitting support requests and lately it’s been happening more frequently like several times within a two to three week period. That’s insanely frustrating. I wonder if any other customer experiences this same issue.

by Finally Very Satisfied!

I had SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine before it was paid. Loved the features that most apps don’t have, so it operates just like a business line, plus you can choice a special ring tone, change your voice mail greeting, often & more. My issue became serious a few days ago when my new clients were not reaching me because my phone rang once & for them the same BUT it cut them off without access to voice mail. This have cost me great embarrassment and PLUS when I contacted customer service and followed the normal steps. Reinstall SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine each time it got worst. I permanently deleted SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine & cancelled my subscription and went to Burner app of which is a down grade because I can not access the voice mail, no special ring feature, but I’m grateful to have a working app. I’m disappointed because I still believe sideline is one of the best low cost apps with multi-features I like & appreciated. I guest I will have to upgrade to Grasshopper because I must have a custom voicemail & Burner already has a glitch which prevents me from accessing voice mail. Sideline thanks for years of great service. But when my customer are compromised, that’s just unacceptable. Perhaps this is just what happens in SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine world. It’s challenging because all my business cards & social media has the number. Cheers to fixing your challenges as well!

by Shanemittun

Pros. It’s a second phone line

Cons:
- Deleted numbers and voicemail without warning. Their system failed to charge my company credit card and canceled my subscription. I received an automated text saying billing error and then updated my card. Everything seemed good. But nope- The system did not tell me the card was not accepted, it silently declined. Then, all of a sudden, no more work calls coming in, my account was terminated. When it canceled, I had to sign up for a new account and reset up all my numbers, voicemails, etc via 7 emails and chat requests. That said, you should know that Their admin platform has no historical records of a past customer’s data. So if you need a real phone service this is not it. Seems like a simple solution to get people to “sign back up” to retrieve their settings. Nope. Sideline just wipes it out.

by BalletBunion

I needed to find an app to port over our business’s after hours cell. We didn’t use it much and it was a pain to carry around.

I tried google voice who claimed you could port a number…. Only to be met by an error over and over again. Customer service was crap, they gave me directions that didn’t match my options. Finally found a forum online of other people hitting the same issue and basically you can’t port over when you hit that.

I tried text now and couldn’t find the option to port. Emailed customer service and they replied several days later and honestly IDK what they said the issue was bc I already started the ball rolling with Sideline.

The port here DID also give me an error (why is this so hard? 😂). But I was able to live chat and got an answer right away. I emailed them all my info and got a sideline notification within an hour that my number was being ported. I was given an email and phone # to text them for an update on the port. They told me it would be 3-5 days to port and it was done in 2. Got a sideline notification that it was complete and it’s been running smoothly ever since.

by SQLGUY69

I use Sideline for online purchases requiring contact info. Also perfect for food carry-out pickups. Shopping for a car (or any face to face purchase) is/was so much less annoying since calls go to Voicemail.

Since cellphone numbers are becoming unique personal identifiers, Sideline completely insulates my true identity. For whatever reason I rarely receive cold or “Robo” calls. And because I have set my iPhone up such that any caller not in my Contacts doesn’t ring and goes straight to Voicemail, the convenience quotient is very high.

I was an early adopter and have to say that it is difficult to find a support team on any app (or PC software) that has been more responsive. I never wait more than 24 hours and communication is always professional, prompt and clear.

by ShxuenzusbajIsowbx

Thanks for a great app with great customer service! Super glad I joined during your early stages and saw it grow to what it is now...would love to see an updated ability to have multiple "main lines" under one login account vs being limited to one main line and team extensions, i currently maintain 3 phone lines: 1. My main carrier line 2. my SideLine and 3. a second biz line via the "Digits" app by T-Mobile which isnt as good of an app as SideLine is...Wish I can just use SideLine only no matter how many lines I'm paying for. Also, would love to see some features available from the SuperPhone app like the automated "follow-up messages" to keep in touch with contacts that I havent spoken to in a while to build strong relationships, having that incorporated into SideLine's functionality for better business networking would be a game changer...meanwhile, I'm very happy with my SideLine!

Thanks 🙏🏾

by Smashlyash777

SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine is absolutely terrible. It charged me regardless which whatever, it’s only 9.99 + tax so whatever, I will eat the cost no problem. But, where I then get super frustrated is the fact that SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine doesn’t work! I can call out using my 2nd number through SidelineReal2ndPhoneLine BUT when people call me, it will just ring until it gets to voicemail but, never comes up or allows me to answer on my end. I can only see after the fact that I had missed a call. So, it’s basically worthless! I’m a technician for a living so it’s not like my notifications aren’t enabled or, I don’t know what it is I am doing. It will notify me AFTER the fact that I missed a call or that I have a VM but, It never rings on my end nor am I able to answer.

What a waste of money. If you’re looking to do a subscription with them, don’t. It’s not reliable and doesn’t work so save or money or use it elsewhere for an app that actually works. Canceling my subscription.

Hope this helps someone out there!

by Enya Dreamz

Not only is the service and customer support horrible, I'm still being charged monthly payments for services that I've discontinued... Not cool at all... Never again will I EVER do auto pay.🤦🏽‍♀️

Update:9/July/2019
🤨 Sad to say, this further shows the incompetence of this company. Not only are they just now responding to my complain, their not taking the time to be responsible for having charged me repeatedly by blame shifting & stating that it was in fact all Google's fault🙄🤦🏾‍♀️ If I could give you you all 🙅🏾‍♀️no ⭐️'s, trust... I so would... And to think... You actually USE to be a descent company...

Update:11/July/2019
It would appear you seem to have a plethora of excuse with reasons as to WHY you continued to charge my account after I'd discontinued services with you. And ALL of them are sadly a form of BLAME SHIFTING. I have NEVER heard of a company NOT allowing someone to be given a refund when they've CLEARLY been wronged. And every step you'd spoken of, 🤷🏽‍♀️ I'd sadly already done it. I'd already thoroughly read your instructions and disclaimers TWICE before having chosen the whole discontinuation process. I'm a retired vet. We are taught to do our research, homework, and to ALWAYS have a paper trail. Please do not contact me with you mess anymore or I will sadly be forced to take legal actions. As you are seriously ok m the wrong. I'd let it go months ago🤦🏽‍♀️ YOU SHOULD TOO