Ooma Forums

Maybe I'm reading it wrong. Check here:
https://www.ooma.com/support/knowledgeb ... de-program

roadshow wrote:Maybe I'm reading it wrong. Check here:
https://www.ooma.com/support/knowledgeb ... de-program

"Ooma Hub to Telo Upgrade Program"

It says UPGRADE Hub to Telo... not replace a dead hub with a new Hub.
That is I believe is trying to promote the Telo and sell more units... not specifically a policy of replacing dead Hubs.
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allo wrote:

roadshow wrote:Maybe I'm reading it wrong. Check here:
https://www.ooma.com/support/knowledgeb ... de-program

"Ooma Hub to Telo Upgrade Program"

It says UPGRADE Hub to Telo... not replace a dead hub with a new Hub.
That is I believe is trying to promote the Telo and sell more units... not specifically a policy of replacing dead Hubs.
.

I'm not sure it matters... So you take advantage of this offer, and your dead hub gets deactivated... End of story, right?

roadshow wrote:The only thing you would lose is name on caller Id, unless you are Premier. It's a great program, especially if your Hub/Scout are dead.

Losing a free feature I liked, does not make this a great program.

I think Ooma has lost the point as to why they started in the first place.....free telephone service. They don't sell free telephone service anymore, what they sell is a lower monthly cost for telephone service.

FreePhone wrote:I think Ooma has lost the point as to why they started in the first place.....free telephone service. They don't sell free telephone service anymore, what they sell is a lower monthly cost for telephone service.

Well, when the venture capital folks decided to invest in ooma I could almost guess that they wanted ooma to be a wildly successful company that made lots of profit so they could see a good return on investment. If all they wanted was to give free telephone service then I guess I underestimated their desire to do good in the world. Although the business model (and even the technology model) has changed since the White Rabbit days, they are still on track to do that. Good companies adapt. Bad companies, well you just don't hear about them much after they crash and burn.

I believe they can do both - offer free telephone service (that unfortunately is subject to regulatory fees and taxes) and the option to have more features in a package they call Premier AND make a good return for their investors. I for one would love to give regulatory fees and taxes the boot - on my bare bones landline, I pay $13.50 for the line - and over $8.00 in regulatory fees and taxes. And if you think our voices are heard regarding regulatory fees and taxes, think again. In Washington state, a gasoline tax of about 8 cents was on the ballot. It lost with great margins against. So our wonderful govenor told us that she realized that we just didn't understand and used her executive order to add a tax of just a little more that we voted down.

Don't blame ooma for the regulatory fees and taxes, blame our spend and tax government that thinks it can spend its way to nirvana. <<sorry for the rant - did I mention that I don't care much for polititians, taxes, or regulatory fees?>>

southsound wrote:Don't blame ooma for the regulatory fees and taxes, blame our spend and tax government that thinks it can spend its way to nirvana.

I don't blame Ooma for regulatory fees and taxes, but I do blame them for claiming their telephone service is free when it isn't. Doesn't matter that Ooma isn't the one charging the fees. The fact remains that most Ooma users have to pay a monthly phone bill.

Luckily I am not part of this equation, as I have an Ooma Core system with no fees.

FreePhone wrote:

southsound wrote:Don't blame ooma for the regulatory fees and taxes, blame our spend and tax government that thinks it can spend its way to nirvana.

I don't blame Ooma for regulatory fees and taxes, but I do blame them for claiming their telephone service is free when it isn't. Doesn't matter that Ooma isn't the one charging the fees. The fact remains that most Ooma users have to pay a monthly phone bill.

Luckily I am not part of this equation, as I have an Ooma Core system with no fees.

some people still believe they can have free lunches for ever...
the earlier no fee ooma deal was a big, big mistake and they probably regret that now, if some of them are still with ooma!
A big mistake because not only do they provide free service for them, but they also have to pay their fees/ taxes !

allo wrote:A big mistake because not only do they provide free service for them, but they also have to pay their fees/ taxes !

Granted it probably was a big mistake, but I don't believe they hadn't known how to do the math prior to doing business. Unless it was all part of their business model to acquire a solid customer base first, then start charging more down the road. Hmmm?

The thing is, if you take into account an Ooma Telo cost, add in the Premier service and a portion of your Internet bill, it probably adds up close to what many already pay for regular phone service. I know it would for me. Yes it's true I would be paying for my Internet service regardless of Ooma. Still, Ooma is fast becoming a more expensive alternative to traditional telephone than they advertise. Soon enough it will cost the came, look at what happened with Vonage.

FreePhone wrote:

allo wrote:A big mistake because not only do they provide free service for them, but they also have to pay their fees/ taxes !

Granted it probably was a big mistake, but I don't believe they hadn't known how to do the math prior to doing business. Unless it was all part of their business model to acquire a solid customer base first, then start charging more down the road. Hmmm?

...

They did not know much of running a business then: one of the smart guys running it then literally said:
" We sell the hubs and pocket the money, put it in CDs in the bank, use some of the interest to pay the bills... and live happily ever after."
or something like that...
I wonder if anybody else hired that guy... or he might be collecting unemployment ...and food stamps at the" public food" BANK!

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FreePhone wrote:The thing is, if you take into account an Ooma Telo cost, add in the Premier service and a portion of your Internet bill, it probably adds up close to what many already pay for regular phone service. I know it would for me. Yes it's true I would be paying for my Internet service regardless of Ooma. Still, Ooma is fast becoming a more expensive alternative to traditional telephone than they advertise. Soon enough it will cost the came, look at what happened with Vonage.

More expensive alternative to traditional telephone? Let's take the Telo users for example, what phone company bill is ~$3.50 a month? Ooma includes domestic long distance to boot.

Vonage is still a lot cheaper than traditional telephone; I hear that a lot of folks get Vonage World where they can call 60 countries for free for ~$33 a month. Can't do that with traditional telephone.

What they don't know (yet) is that they can probably just spend $10/mo for the ooma Basic International 1000 min bundle and have their needs met. Not too many people I know call internationally more than 1000 min a month (unless they are doing business at home).