Port Disaster

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htandw
Posts:3
Joined:Tue May 12, 2009 2:31 pm
Port Disaster

Post by htandw » Tue May 12, 2009 2:41 pm

Waiting, waiting, waiting... bought in Feb... finally get notice and a FRIENDLY reminder that I'll lose my service if my DSL is on my phone number when the number is ported!?!

I asked all the right questions at the time but NEVER heard anything about the 'dry line' that I need. Apparently I didn't understand their 'pop up' at registration. Now I'm screwed...

Short story is that I'm going to lose my phone and internet service tomorrow if I can't get the thing canceled in time. I live in the middle of VT w/ NO other service available. I have a young boy to take care of and will not have ANY way of calling 911 if needed.

Poor tech support and nasty supervisor leaves me with no other choice but to give ooma two thumbs down. I've had a number of family and friends wondering about my experience before they make a stupid decision. I'll NEVER recommend them to anyone.

WayneDsr
Posts:3790
Joined:Wed Feb 04, 2009 6:28 pm
Location:Northern Indiana

Re: Port Disaster

Post by WayneDsr » Tue May 12, 2009 2:50 pm

How's that a problem of ooma?
Seems like it all boils down to poor service from your landline provider; they're canceling your dsl, not ooma.

Wayne
Last edited by WayneDsr on Tue May 12, 2009 5:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

buzzman
Posts:87
Joined:Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:04 pm

Re: Port Disaster

Post by buzzman » Tue May 12, 2009 3:10 pm

I'm sorry to hear about your porting issue, but in my experience, Ooma warned me (on their website and the porting request itself) about a possibility of losing my DSL connection if a dry loop is not done.

Did you do your porting request online? Did you not know about the 'dry loop' requirements?

Boondocs
Posts:71
Joined:Tue Feb 24, 2009 6:09 pm
Location:Pocono's PA

Re: Port Disaster

Post by Boondocs » Tue May 12, 2009 3:22 pm

Funny how people find a forum to complain but never research a product before they buy it.

Tell the phone company that you want to be on a dry loop service and hopefully they will correct your problem. If not go buy a prepaid cell phone or better yet ask a friend for an old one so you can still dial 911 that way you and your child are still protected.

When you registered your ooma hub and wanted to port your number you need to read everything before you ASSUME that everything is fine.

Taken right from the ooma port details in the ooma lounge.


Number Port

You have the option of transferring your current phone number to ooma. Number porting is available for a one-time charge of $39.99 or free with an annual subscription to ooma Premier.

Some important notes about transferring your phone number:

* You must keep your current home phone service until the porting process is complete.
* The porting process typically takes 3-4 weeks after receiving your completed paperwork.
* Click Here for more information about number porting.


If you click on the click here you would see an article that has this section in it

Important: If you want to port a phone number, it is necessary to keep your home phone service until the porting process is complete. If you cancel your phone service prior to completing the porting process you risk losing your phone service and the number you are attempting to port to ooma. If you have a landline with DSL service, please read this article first before proceeding.





and that article says this


Porting a number from a landline with DSL service



First check at https://www.ooma.com/port if your current phone number can be ported to ooma.



If your DSL currently runs over your home phone number (i.e. your phone service and DSL share a single number), call your DSL/phone provider and ask them to disassociate or "dry loop" your home phone number from your DSL service. If you're not sure whether your phone line and DSL line are shared or separate, simply call them up and ask them.



Be certain to let them know not to cancel your phone service at this time. You can cancel your current phone service only after the port to ooma is complete.



Alternatively, you can switch to a different high-speed Internet service provider and cancel your DSL service, while keeping your phone number.



Once your home phone number is disassociated from your Internet service, login to the ooma Lounge to request the number porting (go to the Add-ons tab web page)






Related articles:



Number Porting
Telo - primary phone since Feb 2009
Core - gave to sister April 2010
Lifetime Premier Member

Pandora
Posts:182
Joined:Sat Feb 21, 2009 3:01 pm

Re: Port Disaster

Post by Pandora » Tue May 12, 2009 3:45 pm

Your anger is not directed appropriately. You have made (at the time of this writing) one single post on this forum.

You never asked about porting, you never asked about DSL, you never inquired about what is involved from those here who have done it.

Instead, your telco is threatening you, and you come here for the first time ever to complain about Ooma.

Read the port information, you need dry loop DSL to continue having internet from your telco. Ooma warns about this, people on this forum warn about it. Yet that doesn't stop people from being surprised when they get a nasty threat from their telco.

htandw
Posts:3
Joined:Tue May 12, 2009 2:31 pm

Re: Port Disaster

Post by htandw » Wed May 13, 2009 1:43 am

Thanks for the support guys but I spent all my time with tech support in the setup process and NEVER heard anything about a dry line requirement. You can have all the notices you want on-line but I relied on a REAL person during setup. The original setup was lengthy and painful. Whether that was due to my provider or the fact that I had a Mac has been lost in my memory but the frustration has not.

My frustration is well placed in the poor setup experience and the lack of communication from ooma during the LONG wait to get my port completed.

My lack of knowledge on these forums has nothing to do with the situation. When did on-line forums take the place of LENGTHY conversations with tech support PEOPLE! Are you all suggesting that I should have hung up and then researched if they knew what they were telling me? I'd rather work with a competent company like Vonnage, thank you.

You can all go back to your forums now and enjoy your ooma experience. Buyer beware!

htandw
Posts:3
Joined:Tue May 12, 2009 2:31 pm

Re: Port Disaster

Post by htandw » Wed May 13, 2009 1:57 am

[quote="Boondocs"]Funny how people find a forum to complain but never research a product before they buy it.

Tell the phone company that you want to be on a dry loop service and hopefully they will correct your problem. If not go buy a prepaid cell phone or better yet ask a friend for an old one so you can still dial 911 that way you and your child are still protected. {quote="Boodocs"]

Funny how people give advice w/o paying attention to the original post. I HAVE a cell phone. It doesn't work anywhere within miles of my home.

I DID keep my phone number and I DID ask all the right questions. My disability doesn't allow me the luxury of doing more than I did. I spent HOURS on tech support. I'm tech savvy enough to understand what a dry line is and it never came up. The only thing I was told to do to keep from losing my service was to continue my old number which is something I intended to do all along.

My post here is to give others a heads up. GREAT product, POOR tech support. My opinion. Not going to change from any of the comments made so far...

User avatar
jmassimilla
Posts:525
Joined:Sat Feb 07, 2009 4:38 am
Location:Burlington County, South Jersey

Re: Port Disaster

Post by jmassimilla » Wed May 13, 2009 2:02 am

I guess it all depends on who you deal with. In my month and a half relationship with Vonage, I found them to be not only incompetent, but insulting, which is how I ended up here. I'm sorry that you had a bad experience.
Customer since Feb 2009
2 Hub/Scout
1 Telo/Handset
Lifetime Premier Subscriber

buzzman
Posts:87
Joined:Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:04 pm

Re: Port Disaster

Post by buzzman » Wed May 13, 2009 4:30 am

If you don't have a cell phone coverage in your area, then I wouldn't risk having a VOIP to replace your landline. As you may know, VOIP can be unreliable at times, it's just the nature of the system.

On the lack of communication about porting from Ooma's side, I think most of us agree on that. The keyword for this is patience which sometimes I lack of.

About the CSR's not informing you about the "dry loop", I think you'd just have to ask the right questions. Since I assume you did your porting request online, you should've noticed the "dry loop" requirement.

WayneDsr
Posts:3790
Joined:Wed Feb 04, 2009 6:28 pm
Location:Northern Indiana

Re: Port Disaster

Post by WayneDsr » Wed May 13, 2009 7:22 am

Buzzman makes a great point!

If you live in a remote area do not go totally voip (no matter what company it is). So much depends on the connection.
You would also need a good battery backup to keep your phone system/internet on during a power outage.
A simple fiber cut could take you down for days even though your internet is up. (we've all been through that one)

I would recommend a basic landline separate from your ooma system for backup.

Wayne

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