Porting Delayed- OOMA process is horrific/incomeptent

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BackupBob
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Joined:Fri Jan 07, 2011 6:23 pm
Re: Porting Delayed- OOMA process is horrific/incomeptent

Post by BackupBob » Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:15 pm

It sounds as if Ooma could have done more to assuage your anger. But it also seems as if at least part of the problem was not of their making.

In the US it is increasingly common to find companies that do not care about their customers. I just went through a similar go-around with Acronis over their backup software. An official saw my post, stepped in, and got me the support I needed. It should not happen this way but it often does. I am glad that Ooma came to your rescue, or at least tried to.

I don't know your situation but in my case it appears Ooma will be saving me $63 per month. Prior to Ooma my setup included a copper line from Verizon and two VoIP lines. One was a convenience and one was my fax number. Faxes diverted to e-Fax and I never heard them.

$55 Verizon line, with taxes.
$22 Voice Eclipse VoIP, 2 lines, with taxes.
=====
$77 Total cost per month, with taxes.

Ooma will cost me a lot less.

$10 Ooma premier service, 1 full line, 1 fax line (inbound only).
$ 4 Taxes
=====
$14 Total cost per month, with taxes.

The savings is $63 per month, after I recoup the $200 cost of the Telo in 3.5 months. I have lost two dial-out lines, neither of which was essential, and I have kept my inbound fax service by having my 2nd number transferred to K7.Org, a free fax service. So I will be saving over $700 per year once the Ooma Telo is paid off.

It turns out that Paetec, the owner of Voice Eclipose, carries some of Ooma's traffic. If Ooma could negotiate a deal for e-Fax I would be on board in a heartbeat.

In deciding to go with Ooma your posting was very helpful. I found a number of problems reported on this forum. I saw a number of solutions and I found what appears to be a company open to working with their user community. I found a few heavy complaints such as yours. Some seemed valid, some seemed questionable. I did not find many flames or patterns of trouble on forums at other Websites such as DSL Reports.

That one of the main flames (this one) involved porting serves to re-inforce that I have made the correct choice. Please don't take that as a knock against you. I suspect you have been through the mill and you are not terribly happy and you are understandably upset. Complaints about porting are common, a result of odd regulations and Telcos that don't all cooperate.

I would have stayed with Voice Eclipse if they had any sort of technical support. They are winding down their home VoIP business so support is lacking. I have called Ooma a few times and they have been johnny on the spot every time. One issue involved something unique to my setup, which they resolved quickly. Two involved porting, which was done on time but there is a problem with the former carrier.

Now that I am up and running I like the service. There are a few practical issues. DTMF (touch tones) don't relay well and some callers' voices can trigger DTMF signals to sound. That happens with cell phones, too, even on my landlines. It also happed on my prior VoIP lines. Ooma has been able to handle both incoming and outgoing fax, which many VoIP carriers do not, and most calls have been trouble free. I can also check voice mail on line and I am saving $63 a month.

So hang in there and I hope things work out for you.

Just to clarify, my relationship with Ooma is only as a customer. I am not employed in the TeleComm business and I do not earn money from promoting Ooma services.

bonflizubi
Posts:25
Joined:Tue Dec 14, 2010 11:33 am

Re: Porting Delayed- OOMA process is horrific/incomeptent

Post by bonflizubi » Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:44 pm

BackupBob wrote:.....
In the US it is increasingly common to find companies that do not care about their customers. I just went through a similar go-around with Acronis over their backup software. An official saw my post, stepped in, and got me the support I needed. It should not happen this way but it often does. I am glad that Ooma came to your rescue, or at least tried to.
.....
So hang in there and I hope things work out for you.

Just to clarify, my relationship with Ooma is only as a customer. I am not employed in the TeleComm business and I do not earn money from promoting Ooma services.
TY bob. I am sure they will work out in the end as well. At least you are the first poster in this thread to have read the post for what it was.

Though I don't think that people have gotten the idea yet that I want the processes fixed not for me, but for FUTURE potential customers, because noone should have any sort of hassle - at least beyond what is caused by porting chaos.

Also, I was never claiming that OOMA was expensive - I'm sure for many people it does save them significant money. I bought my telo ages ago when I expected that it would save me significant money as well, but due to all the changes with telecom, it turns out it doesn't (but I'm not complaining about that at all.)

Actually, I read the forum extensively at the beginning of the trial period and before the port as well. If I had even a sniff of the lag issue that many report I would have gotten $25 for the telo on ebay and been done with it, as nothing is more annoying to me than call lag/half-duplex etc etc. Fortunately I have no issues and whatever lag is there is infinitessmal.

I do wonder though how anyone that lives in a comcast area can find ooma cheaper than getting a comcast bundle (unless they are diehard directv or dish fans.) I can understand a quality of service argument, but I don't get the price angle.
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lbmofo
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Re: Porting Delayed- OOMA process is horrific/incomeptent

Post by lbmofo » Sun Jan 09, 2011 2:00 am

bonflizubi wrote:I do wonder though how anyone that lives in a comcast area can find ooma cheaper than getting a comcast bundle (unless they are diehard directv or dish fans.) I can understand a quality of service argument, but I don't get the price angle.
The comcast that I know charges $99 for triple play when you sign up. After the promotion (1 year), that jumps to $140+. Dropping the phone service drops the bill by $35.

bonflizubi
Posts:25
Joined:Tue Dec 14, 2010 11:33 am

Re: Porting Delayed- OOMA process is horrific/incomeptent

Post by bonflizubi » Sun Jan 09, 2011 5:39 pm

lbmofo wrote:
bonflizubi wrote:I do wonder though how anyone that lives in a comcast area can find ooma cheaper than getting a comcast bundle (unless they are diehard directv or dish fans.) I can understand a quality of service argument, but I don't get the price angle.
The comcast that I know charges $99 for triple play when you sign up. After the promotion (1 year), that jumps to $140+. Dropping the phone service drops the bill by $35.

Well, I've had it for several years so that example doesn't play. For my particular triple, I was at $175, had it cut to $165, and that goes up by $15 after a year. (THough I expect the I'm leaving call will stop that form happening.)

Dropping phone would make it cost MORE than $175 actually.

Perhaps getting a lot of cable channels subsidizes the phone....

So, wrong again sir.. your locale clearly works differently. Stop raining on my thread.
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lbmofo
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Re: Porting Delayed- OOMA process is horrific/incomeptent

Post by lbmofo » Sun Jan 09, 2011 6:28 pm

bonflizubi wrote:So, wrong again sir.. your locale clearly works differently. Stop raining on my thread.
It doesn't surprise me that you are right and I am wrong again. What can I say....you must be very special and hence get VIP treatment in every aspect of life.
What I know is a few of my friends with comcast triple play have converted to Ooma so I know that it made sense for them. But of course, they are just regular people.

bonflizubi
Posts:25
Joined:Tue Dec 14, 2010 11:33 am

Re: Porting Delayed- OOMA process is horrific/incomeptent

Post by bonflizubi » Sun Jan 09, 2011 7:31 pm

lbmofo wrote:
bonflizubi wrote:So, wrong again sir.. your locale clearly works differently. Stop raining on my thread.
It doesn't surprise me that you are right and I am wrong again. What can I say....you must be very special and hence get VIP treatment in every aspect of life.
What I know is a few of my friends with comcast triple play have converted to Ooma so I know that it made sense for them. But of course, they are just regular people.
or maybe you should stop assuming that your situation resembles mine. Clearly there is a different pricing model here than where you are.
ooma noob

BackupBob
Posts:26
Joined:Fri Jan 07, 2011 6:23 pm

Re: Porting Delayed- OOMA process is horrific/incomeptent

Post by BackupBob » Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:07 am

bonflizubi wrote:
BackupBob wrote:.....
In the US it is increasingly common to find companies that do not care about their customers. I just went through a similar go-around with Acronis over their backup software. An official saw my post, stepped in, and got me the support I needed. It should not happen this way but it often does. I am glad that Ooma came to your rescue, or at least tried to.
.....
So hang in there and I hope things work out for you.

Just to clarify, my relationship with Ooma is only as a customer. I am not employed in the TeleComm business and I do not earn money from promoting Ooma services.
TY bob. I am sure they will work out in the end as well. At least you are the first poster in this thread to have read the post for what it was.

Though I don't think that people have gotten the idea yet that I want the processes fixed not for me, but for FUTURE potential customers, because noone should have any sort of hassle - at least beyond what is caused by porting chaos.

Also, I was never claiming that OOMA was expensive - I'm sure for many people it does save them significant money. I bought my telo ages ago when I expected that it would save me significant money as well, but due to all the changes with telecom, it turns out it doesn't (but I'm not complaining about that at all.)

Actually, I read the forum extensively at the beginning of the trial period and before the port as well. If I had even a sniff of the lag issue that many report I would have gotten $25 for the telo on ebay and been done with it, as nothing is more annoying to me than call lag/half-duplex etc etc. Fortunately I have no issues and whatever lag is there is infinitessmal.

I do wonder though how anyone that lives in a comcast area can find ooma cheaper than getting a comcast bundle (unless they are diehard directv or dish fans.) I can understand a quality of service argument, but I don't get the price angle.
Bundles with Comcast and Verizon can save you money but it depends on who you are and what you need. I must have one landline to be up all the time. I can afford to lose my fiber FiOS line if the power fails because I have cell phones and a large marine battery with charger I got at a boat store. it can probably carry two cell phones for a week or two at the least.

Some people do not care about a landline. The Internet is inherently unstable in that no one company controls it so VoIP over the Internet is prone to failure. If you can afford to have your phone done occasionally then you may save $20-40 by dropping the phone option with your Telco or cable company.

My mother does not watch TV. She found that her Comcast Internet service was cheaper if she took a TV bundle than if they had just Internet. Go figure. She just added telephone to the bundle. For her it works well, with Comcast maintaining everything. Where she lives Comcast service is excellent. Where I live, let's just say it makes the worst overseas service you can imagine look excellent, and their people are all in the US.

So, the service you buy and the pricing are all personal choices. If your negotiating skills are good you may get an ever better deal. My mother calls Comcast every few months to get in on their latest promotion. She may be struggling on a fixed income but she is not stupid. She is also not tech savvy so a VoIP carrier would be out in her case.

BTW - What Comcast offers is VoIP but it is on their network and fully under their control. It is not subject to the same problems that can occur when using the Internet as your network.

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