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Review by g852 See Profile

  • Location: Fort Lauderdale, Broward, FL, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
Customer Service terrible
Tech Support:

Customer service refused to identify adapter they would send. Arrogant attitude.

member for 22 years, 15 visits, last login: 13.3 years ago
lodged 19.6 years ago







Review by tjhooker See Profile

  • Location: Austin, Travis, TX, USA
  • Cost: $19 per month
Cost, Ease of installation, finnally ported from SBC.
Tech support not the best
Rarely down and a good cost
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I just got my home POTS line ported over today. Sound quality is good enough for me similar to a cell phone. Overall, I would reccommend.

member for 19.7 years, 65 visits, last login: 19.4 years ago
lodged 19.6 years ago







Review by opheliarn See Profile

  • Location: Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA
  • Cost: $15 per month (month by month)
Price and features sounds good
Never worked and customer service and tech support are useless, paid $40 to get started
Find a better provider before wasting time and money with Lingo
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
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Tech Support:
Value for money:

This is the worst ever....we subscribed to the serive June 1st
2004...received our kit within a week and everything seemed fine. Set it
up and fax over the release to have them cancel our account with SBC so
we can keep our number. After about two weeks, we still were getting
phone calls on the phone hooked up to SBC but the one hooked up to Lingo
never rang once. We were able to make outgoing calls but none came in so
I called their support number and after about 30minutes on hold received
a person that was very hard to understand due to his thick accent and
who couldn't help me anyways, but promised to have tech support call me
in the next 3 days...4 days later and no call from Lingo so I emailed
them rather than sit on hold again and they promised to have tech
support call me the next day. Several more days and no phone call I
emailed them again, telling them all the problems including how poor
their tech support was and said my 30 days was almost up and we hadn't
even been able to try their service and either they get us up and
running ASAP (and extend our '30 day free trial' as it was about to be
30 days) or just send me the address to return the merchandise.Several
days later and again, no call from Lingo nor an address to return the
merchandise. Now I have emailed them stating consider us cancelled as of
the last email and send us the address to return our merchandise for a
full refund...still waiting. Sincerely, Lori Engel
PS I am going to try Vonage as soon as this nightmare ends...at least
they have a high rating and give you the merchandise for free!

member for 19.6 years, 2 visits, last login: 19.6 years ago
lodged 19.6 years ago


coldfire2999
@lsanca54.dynamic.cov

coldfire2999

Anon

VoiPEE

Hey,
Sounds like a nightmare. I did look at lingo their rates seemed really good, and I also looked at Vonage because they seem to be the big guy for VOIP right now, however may I suggest Fonality. They have great rates I pay about $27.95/month for unlimited calls anywhere in USA and Canada as low and in certain cases lower international rates then Vonage with all the same features plus the softphone which is awesome and I don't have to dial the areacode that I am in like Vonage and other VOIP carriers. I had a problem where my ATA didn't take an update and I didn't realize so I get a call 10 mins later saying that there was a problem let's get it resolved, 10 mins later good as new. Excellent Customer Support, Knowledgable Staff and great deals. »www.fonality.com
opheliarn
join:2004-08-02
Milwaukee, WI

opheliarn

Member

Re: VoiPEE

THANKS!:D I'll check them out! I really hate dialling the area codes!
trmyers
join:2004-07-14
Winston, GA

trmyers

Member

Re: VoiPEE

Beware of Fonality rates as they are deceiving when first viewed. $9.99/month sounds great for unlimited local calling however Fonality defines its local calling radius as all calls within your ratecenter, plus all calls within a 10-mile radius of your ratecenter. There website allows you to see the phone numbers that are local to the number you want. Based on what I saw, 90% of my calls within the Atlanta area would be considered long distance by Fonalities definition of a local call.
opheliarn
join:2004-08-02
Milwaukee, WI

opheliarn

Member

Re: VoiPEE

Oh...definitely thanks again again....I will certainly read the small print. Any recommendations?
jack_kcaj
join:2004-08-09
Carlsbad, CA

jack_kcaj

Member

Re: VoiPEE

So far the service with fonality has been outstanding. Their local area was pretty big for me, they even have a page that specifies all of the numbers that you can dial as a local call from »fonality.com/area_codes.html

The local calling area is just as big as the area with my old phone service so I'm not sure if there's anything "weird" about their local service except I've found that some places that used to not be local now are. Although from what I heard, all phone companies use different zones to charge calls and none are the same which makes sense why local wouldn't be exactly the same as another phone company's local.
opheliarn
join:2004-08-02
Milwaukee, WI

opheliarn

Member

Re: VoiPEE

Actually they sound great but unfortunately don't have service in Wisconsin yet.

Review by timeshadow See Profile

  • Location: Tucson, Pima, AZ, USA
  • Cost: $19 per month
I have had to service since June and I have not had any problems with call quality.
Taking a really long time to for LNP.
Two Thumbs up
Web-site:
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Tech Support:
Value for money:

I really like there service. I'm waiting for them to add Softphone support I would really like to be able to use a WiSip phone with the service.

member for 21.6 years, 171 visits, last login: 9.8 years ago
lodged 19.6 years ago







Review by tidal See Profile

  • Location: Meridianville, Madison, AL, USA
  • Cost: $20 per month
  • Install: about 5 days
Cheap price and awesome features!!
Non existent tech support
Great service if you can afford two lines
Web-site:
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Ordered July 7th and had unit 5 days later and operational that night. Good call quality, awesome features but non-existent tech support. Customer service was very polite.

I am using a WRT54G router with QoS firmware and over DSL. I've been down over a day with no feedback from tech support.

Great service if you can afford two lines, one with Lingo and one with reliability.

Maybe in a year or so... I'll try them again.

member for 23.2 years, 1339 visits, last login: 1.9 years ago
lodged 19.6 years ago


Review by charles.mitchell

  • Location: Austin, Travis, TX, USA
  • Cost: $20 per month (12 month contract)
Cheap... reasonably good voice quality
Immature service... Lingo didn't send new phone number with kit
I'll keep it but keep my eye out for something better
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I've had Lingo for about 30days and I'll keep it. Works well enough to replace old SBC service. I can use my cell phone if I need a backup phone. Voice quality is usually good but I did have some problems explained below. Oddly, the shipping box comes with the adapter and some literature on how to use the service, but no indication of my new phone number.

I checked the emails Lingo had sent and there was an account number, but no phone number. This gave me a reason to call customer service. The wait time was about 5 minutes. Later, I realized I could have called my cell phone and just looked at the caller ID. Duh!

At first I plugged the Lingo adapter into the switch behind my Linksys router. I have a cable modem connected a Linksys wireless router with 4 Ethernet ports. The wireless is for my notebook when I bring it home from the office, 3 of the 4 Ethernet ports support PCs, the fourth port supports a switch with another PC, two network printers and initially the Lingo adapter. I later swapped the Lingo adapter with one of the PCs hooked directly onto the router.

When I plugged it in, I had a dial tone in a few minutes. Calls were clear and there was no perceptable lag. Later, when my son started downloading Farenheit 9/11 most of the cable modem bandwidth was going to my son's PC that was hooked straight to the router. The sound quality on Lingo was marred by drop outs that made both persons voice sound like they were gargling. I swapped my son's PC to the switch and hooked the Lingo adapter straight to the router. The problem was greatly reduced but not totally eliminated.

I asked my son to find download software that supported throttling so that the phone would work better. It turned out the program he was using had such

a feature and adjusting the outbound bandwidth down actually helped more than adjusting the download bandwidth down. Hmmm, must have something

to do with the asymetrical bandwidth offered by the cable modem.

Anyway, I have found the email notifications at the office of voicemails left at home very useful. I can play the wav file in Windows Media Player. As to the

overall quality of phone service, I would rate it as acceptable... sort of like my first experience with a digital cellphone. I hope it improves as the Lingo

expands there operation. As far as fax and the billing modem on my satellite receiver, neither seem to work. Maybe I can get this working sometime when

I have time to study the setup.

Other comments: I wasn't willing to switch my old SBC home phone number until I had tried Lingo. Now, they refuse to switch it. Not even as a second number. The $40 disconnect fee was news to me. I didn't see it in the literature and website until it was pointed out here.

Charles

Austin, TX

(review was emailed from domain amd.com)
lodged 19.6 years ago


Review by james smith3 See Profile

  • Location: Midlothian, Chesterfield, VA, USA
  • Cost Contract price not specified.
Thinking to get it
Not yet
Can some one refer me so that you and me can get $25 referal bonus

Hi
I am planning to get this service, I am looking for some one to refer me to the service so that you and me can get the $25 referal bonus. Only current customers can refer new customers. if you are a current customer, please reply

member for 19.6 years, driveby review (so far)
lodged 19.6 years ago


Skylion
join:2004-07-25
Switzerland

1 edit

Skylion

Member

Referral Bonus

Hi there,

Sorry just saw, in the forum rules we're not alloing to share in public the referrals. So I just edited this Mesagge. Sorry.

Andy






Review by Skylion See Profile

  • Location: Switzerland
  • Cost: $19 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 5 days
Flat Rate to Western Europe in 19.95$ Plan, Number portability
Voice Quality is much lower than Broadvoice or ATT-CallVantage and Very bad Customer Service if something goes wrong
Great if all goes right, just don't call them for support, they either don't know or don't call back
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
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Tech Support:
Value for money:

The only Provider so far, to offer a flat Rate at a very reasonable price (19.95 before taxes), to Western European Countries (excluding Cell-Phones in Europe).

Provide capability to port Number. (Although I sent form several weeks ago back to them to post my Number, I still have the temporary one...)

Sign-Up was very easy to complete, but you can't choose the Number (if you don't port your POTS-Number in) like on Broadvoice.com.

Automated reply was very good, including forms as PDF for Number-Portability and Tracking Number to track the UPS-Shipment of the TA.

TA is a AzaCall 200 (www.azatel.com) that includes capability to have backup POTS-Line (Switch with 0000 from VOIP to POTS Service) AND also allows pass-through of incoming POTS-Call to connected Phone. Especially if you have to wait so long for Portability of POTS-Number this comes in handy as you can just hook the TA at the Central Entry of the POTS-Line into your house in between and have VOIP and POTS on one single Line throughout your home.

Most Techs at Lingo have no clue what you talk about if you want a new Firmware or if you want to use a POTS Back Up Line. Or something goes wrong. Just hope you never have to call them, as they also promise to call you back, never do. And if you get a great Agent (One in a million) and get his/her Number to call him/her back, the other Agents make sure you never get through to that person again.

Conclusion:
Great Rate
Great TA
Great Sign-Up Bonus (3 Month free)
Below Average Sound Quality
Bad Customer Service

member for 19.6 years, 110 visits, last login: 18.2 years ago
lodged 19.6 years ago


Review by mworley See Profile

  • Location: Franklin, Warren, OH, USA
  • Cost: $19 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 3 days
Ease of install, level 2 technical support.
Customer service
Good quality of calls, Polite but terrible customer service.
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
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Tech Support:
Value for money:

I signed up for Lingo VoIP on 9 June and received my device on 11 June. The installation was fairly simple and straight forward; instructions on firewall ports would have helped. Then the problems started to snowball. Lose of VoIP light, dropped calls, caller ID time stamp, one way audio calls, dead air calls. Called tech support and was helped by a very polite tech who had me power everything down and restart. The problems didn't stop. I continued to call tech support for the next week and finally received a call from level 2 support. After "several" calls back to level 2 support, the issues were addressed, caller ID was fixed within twenty minutes, and the other isses became less severe. After my last (third or forth call) contact with level 2 support they promptly sent me another Lingo device. I dropped it in and no more issues. The quality of calls improved instantly, no more loss of VoIP light, no more one way calls, no lost calls in mid conversation. I understand this was a national rollout of their service so I was willing to deal with it for a few days. I still have billing errors that haven't been cleared up yet. I was told by customer service that there billing department was swamped and would address it soon. Also my old number hasn't ported over yet and was told that the process was in motion and would happen soon, been five weeks.

Overall I have a positive opinion of Lingo, I've had better customer service from companies and I've had worse. One other point of poor tech support; level 1 techs didn't seem to have a clue about what ports to open on the firewall to allow communication with Lingo device. Spoke to several level 1 techs and I received several different answers about firewall. Spoke to level 2 techs and I received the same answers each time.

Update: I just received this email from customer service. Looks like someone is at least trying to get it right.



Thank you for becoming a valued Lingo customer. We are currently processing your request to transfer your existing phone number to Lingo. Normally the process takes 15-20 days; however, we are experiencing unusual delays in obtaining your number from your local provider. Your existing number transfer is currently projected for early August. For your inconvenience, we are extending your 30 money back trial period without cancellation fees to 90 days.

Your continued trust in our ability to provide you excellent customer service is important to us. Should you have any questions regarding this notice or delay, please contact Lingo Customer Care at 1-888-546-4699.

Sincerely,

Lingo Customer Care

found out number isn't portable. Local company won't release number. Would have been nice if Lingo could have found out sooner.

member for 19.7 years, 10 visits, last login: 9.6 years ago
lodged 19.6 years ago


Review by ssevern See Profile

  • Location: Londonderry, Rockingham, NH, USA
  • Cost: $20 per month
  • Install: about 5 days
Reliable, good sound quality
none that I can think of
I love this service
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I use Lingo for my 2nd voice line at home and it works great. I have 1500/384 Verizon DSL. Service has been reliable and the sound quality is generally better than a cell phone but not as good as a traditional phone line. Most people do not believe me when I tell them it is VOIP.



member for 23.3 years, 1254 visits, last login: 5.6 years ago
lodged 19.7 years ago