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Review by Darkev 
UPDATED: 167 days ago
member for 342 days, 32 visits, last login: 32 days ago
 Gatineau,QC
 $29 per month (month by month)
 about 2 days
 "Excellent call quality, unlimited plans, powerful features, excellent website"
 "BYOD not permitted, Poor technical support, Customer Service not eager to help"
 "The service is good once you get it working, but they charge hefty fees for changes and support is mostly incompetent"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
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*UPDATE - 11-JUN-2009*
My phone number was reinstated on June 7, 2009. So it was disconnected for a total of 8 days. It's not acceptable, but what can one do? I asked what caused this and was told that it was a procedural error made by the customer service person I spoke with a week earlier. She made no attempt to call me whatsoever to let me know about the error. The last customer service person told me that there was no way to get the number back. I ended up having to contact the CEO's office to get it back. Now I'm back to square one - the original request to have the change made to my number still has not been completed.
As far as my sister's problem is concerned, they fixed her outgoing caller id name, but they are unable to fully change her name on the TalkBroadband service. It still shows her first, middle, and last names. The problem is that they are using her middle name as her first name. There is a list of caller id name options on the Talkbroadband web portal, and all of them are referencing her middle name except for one entry. Primus is unable to fix her name on the portal. She was told that the name must remain whatever name was keyed when signing up. So if you get married, divorced, etc., you cannot change your name on the Primus TBB system. This is definitely not an item that should be locked as name changes are common occurrences in the real world. The only way around this is to cancel service and re-add it again? It's quite ridiculous.
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*UPDATE - 01-JUN-2009*
I have had an unbelievable experience this evening with Primus Canada. The saga regarding my alternate number seems to have come to an end. This is a number that I've had for several years. Last Friday I called to make a change to it, and one of the Primus employees removed the number from their system. Everyone trying to call me is getting a recorded message stating that the number is no longer in service. They assured me it would be fixed by today (Monday). However, it's still not in service, and it's getting late. So I called them. The person I spoke with this evening tells me that the number was canceled and there is no way to get it back! Can you believe it? I've never in my life heard of such nonsense. There was no apology, no compensation, nothing. The only thing he said was, "Would you like me to assign you a new number?" Of course my answer was a big fat NO!!
Honestly, Primus was never a bad company to deal with when I signed up a few years ago, but now they just don't give a damn about the customer. The customer service staff seem to have the power to say and do whatever they want to the customer, as if they were running the company themselves. Technical Support and Customer Service staff that I've dealt with are incompetent. What used to be my favorite company is now the company I would never deal with again. I blame this nonsense on the management there. They need to keep a closer eye on their staff.
*UPDATED - 31-MAY-2009*
I convinced my sister to try Primus and I'm now so sorry that I did. When signing up to the service she was asked for her first name and middle name along with her last name. They sent her the ATA, but coded her middle name as her first name. Every time she dialed a number her middle name and last name would show up. She tried calling them and waited on the line for 45 minutes before hanging up. So she sent customer service an email instead. They replied the next day stating that they fixed her name. She did a test call and it was still not working. The story goes on and on, but after a week they still don't have her name corrected on their system, and she got into a bit of an argument with one of the "customer service" representatives named Michael who scolded her for making personal remarks because she mentioned in her email very articulately that the people working there didn't seem to want to do their jobs. This was after dealing with 3 people, Michael being the last.
Meanwhile, on Friday afternoon I decided to make a change myself to my phone line. I had 2 numbers, but one was a virtual (alternate) number. I could only receive calls on this number. I called customer service and unlike my sister I got through right away. I asked to have my alternate number provisioned to the LINE 2 jack of the ATA, leaving my main number alone on LINE 1. She said that this would be done sometime on Saturday or Sunday. Later that evening, my mother and a friend were trying to call me on my alternate number, but I didn't know because the calls never came through. I called my mother on Saturday and she asked me if I had my line disconnected. She said since Friday she has been getting a recording stating, "The number you have dialed is not in service". I called Primus on Saturday morning and once again got through right away. The man I spoke to was very friendly, and he said he could see that my 2nd line had been disconnected but he did not know why. He put me on hold for about 7 minutes, then a lady came on the line and said that there was a technical problem with my number. After removing it from my main line, the system would not allow them to provision it to my LINE 2. They were getting an error. She said on the weekend the technical staff are not as well versed with the system and I would have to wait until 2 PM on Monday before it could be looked at again. So I asked if my line would remain disconnected during that time and she said it would. I mentioned that Primus was charging me $55 to perform this switch, and since I've been with them since 2005 and now have my number disconnected until Monday that maybe they could waive the $55 fee. She said she couldn't do that. She began to explain again that it was a technical issue. I mentioned I was aware of that but it's inconveniencing me and since this is a problem on their end I should be compensated. She said she was only authorized to give me a $15 credit. So that's what I got. It's better than nothing, but the customer should not even have to ask for a credit when a company removes service and cannot restore it for days. So I have been thinking over the weekend:
- My sister's problem has never been resolved.
- They disconnected my number and say it will be resolved Monday - but who knows!
- The people my sister was dealing with were not great.
- They wouldn't give me my $55 back after being with them for 4 years.
- Why am I still with them?
I reduced the technical support rating, reliability, and value for money for Primus since they have not been able to resolve these issues (as of yet). I think I have been with them long enough. Although they have better features than most VoIP companies, the customer service and ethics of Primus don't sit well with me. I'm therefore going to be canceling my service with them. My sister has already asked them to cancel her service. The attitude of the woman I spoke to yesterday was not great. I got the impression that she could not care any less about customer satisfaction.
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ORIGINAL THOUGHTS:
The other voip providers could take lessons from Primus TBB as this company provides the most innovative features I have come across so far. They offer unlimited plans (locally or long distance). Many of the features can be set using star codes from your phone. They offer:
Do Not Disturb
Call Forwarding
Call Waiting
Extremely flexible call treatments
Caller id with name, as well your name is displayed when calling a number
The ability to alter the name that shows up when you call someone (limited to a list of choices)
The ability to override the name of the person calling you with something more personal
Remote Phone using local-area gateway numbers
Find-me, Follow-me
Music on-hold can be set on and off
Call Log
Speed Dial
Telemarketer Block
Call Privacy
I can't think of more but I'm sure there are some more features. It's the most extensive number of features that I've ever come across so kudos to Primus for being so ingenious.
One might think a company with all of these fancy features would allow customers to bring their own device (Bring Your Own Device - BYOD) considering how adaptable they have been coming up with these features. However, this is the only drawback that I can find with Primus, and it's a big one unfortunately. There are lots of IP phones on the horizon (wired and cordless flavors), and these phones provide cool features. One thing I like about them is the fact the name and number of the caller is on the screen the moment the IP phone starts to ring. With the analog ATA that Primus provides, the experience of VoIP is more like a POTS old fashioned line with some new features. I've called Technical Support a few times asking if they are now allowing BYOD but the answer is always no, and the reason? They want to be able to control the device connected. Why? Primus seems to think it is less risky if they can provision the gateways themselves. However, two years ago they provisioned everyone's ATA right out of service. A new firmware upgrade rendered the devices useless and they sent their customers an email with instructions on how to get it up and running again. So much for that!
I've been using my own equipment for over a year now with other companies and I have not run into problems with it. There is no reason Primus could not offer both BYOD and their own gateways (should the customer desire).
This would be the perfect voip company if they allowed BYOD. With more and more IP products entering the market, it would be a foolish decision for them to deny their customers this freedom. I have no other issues with Primus, and am pleased with the other features and rates.
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 Review by joshb
UPDATED: 211 days ago
member for 3.7 years, 1286 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Calgary,AB
Contract price not specified.
"Solid platform, support, makes moving easy..."
"when things go wrong they go really wrong"
"If it works it's great... otherwise move your eggs to another baskit"
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(ratings match consensus)
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I know longer have service with this company.
Followup comments:  PX Eliezer
Premium
join:2008-08-09
New Jersey
1 edit | Good review! Thanks for an informative review and updates! | |
| PX Eliezer
Premium
join:2008-08-09
New Jersey | Primus bankrupt The parent company Primus Telecommunications Group filed for bankruptcy in Delaware on March 17, 2009.
Another of their subsidiaries is the Voip provider Lingo. | |
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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 1.5 years ago
(review was emailed from domain energyadvisoryservice.com)
Kennesaw,Cobb,GA
$250 per month (12 month contract)
"It appear as though the phone system has a lot of good features"
"They need to learn to follow up, keep committments, and improve customer service"
"Quick call a different provider"
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(ratings well below consensus)
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I wanted to help others from making the same mistake our company did. We
signed up for Primus Communication for our phone system and needed the
service by a specific date. The day before we called to ensure everything
was going well and because no one had called us. They have not even
submitted the order. 20 days later and we still do not have phone service
nor do we know how to use the phone system we purchased and no one at Primus
will return our telephone call, even after we sent a cancellation notice.
Hope this helps you!
Thanks
Rhonda
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Review by IamGimli
UPDATED: 1.7 years ago
member for 5.7 years, 1113 visits, last login: 2 days ago
Canada
$20 per month
"Cheap"
"No QoS, Service down for days (weeks) at a time, no support"
"Use only if you can live without the service being available."
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(ratings well below consensus)
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Primus, although trying to fix the shortcomings of their mediocre hardware through firmware updates, also end up screwing up said hardware to a point where it's not usable anymore. After they do that, leaving you with only email to contact their support department, they will ignore any attempt you make to actually get support to fix their screw-up.
Unless you don't mind paying for a service you don't receive and you like being ignored stay as far away from Primus as you can.
In this case, you don't even get what you pay for.
UPDATE: The service has been somewhat more reliable for the last year or so but there is still no QoS whatsoever provided on the DLink gateways they provide.
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Review by dsm122
Posted: 1.9 years ago
member for 6.2 years, 1502 visits, last login: 1.2 years ago
Vancouver,BC
$25 per month
about 60 days
"N/A"
"Terrible, clueless customer service"
"Stay Away."
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(ratings well below consensus)
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I have had Primus Talkbroadband on two different occasions at two different locations for approximately 2 years. The first time it was relatively painless although I had poor call quality at time which was blamed on my internet provider. My second and current experience has been nothing but problem plagued and highlights the real problem with Primus Talkbroadband and that is they are incompetent. My problems started with the port of my number it took over 60 days and was all because someone at Primus made a typo on my address. This has created a spiral of problems which includes them turning off my service twice for no apparent reason other than that I requested they correct the address mistake. I have now been without phone service for 17 days and counting even though they are billing my credit card every month. Many hours on hold and talking with tech support have not led to my service being restored. I have had enough the minute they restore my service I will be porting back to Telus. Be warned don't be fooled by the low cost its not worth it if you have problems.
Followup comments: 
Styvas
Go Canucks Go
Premium
join:2004-09-15
Waterloo, ON
 ·Shaw
 ·Primus Talkbroadband
| Believe it or not, it really is the ISP causing poor quality There's no excuse for incompetence when it comes to customer service and billing practices, but it should be pointed out that 99.9% of the time poor call quality has to do with the local internet connection and absolutely nothing to do with Primus, Vonage, or whomever.
People who cancel their service because of poor call quality are more than within their right to do that (I wouldn't stick with a phone service with poor call quality either, no matter how much I liked the company and/or the price), but to blame the VoIP provider for the poor call quality is simply useless. It's just not their fault (99.9% of the time).
The ISP (particularly if they have their own VoIP product--e.g. Shaw, Rogers, etc.) will be unmotivated to fix the problem and will likely just blame the VoIP provider; but even so, they are still delivering the packets from point A to point B, which is what their terms of service demands. Beyond that they have little interest. If you want solid call quality on telephone over their network, they'll be happy to sell you their own product.
Steve
--
Check out the »Primus TalkBroadband VoIP FAQ. | |
| | sirius4
join:2008-02-21
·Primus Talkbroadband
| Re: Believe it or not, it really is the ISP causing poor quality Same here, I am waiting since 3 months now for my number to be ported... they sent their linksys VOIP router very quickly and started charging me immediately, even if the service was not fully functional yet. The technical dept is clueless, they don't know much since they are subjected to the mood of Allstream to port the phone number, they have no control over the porting of a phone number and they really don't know if it will be done and when, they will tell you a lot of things but in reality they don't know anything.... I was given multiple dates as to when everything would work but they never made it happen... they are very lame and now i am stuck with their $70.00 LOCKED linksys VOip router that can't be used with another provider..
3 months now and they haven't been able to port my number to a land phone line neither, they say that they did a mistake , I say they are super incompetent and totally clueless.. | |
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Review by (hidden by request)
Posted: 2.7 years ago
(review was emailed from domain utoronto.ca)
M4J3S
$25 per month
"For three years it worked fine with some minor glitches, like mini rings in the middle of the night."
"Nonexistent customer service, could not reach anyone via cell after 7 hours in total of waiting (4+3hrs), no response to email."
"Nonexistent customer service, tech service number permanently busy, DO NOT get Talk Broadband from this company!!!!!!"
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Our Primus Broadband phone service is down and the Primus website
lists a software update by the company as the problem. It suggests a
number of steps which must be taken by the D-Link customers in order
to reestablish a connection. I have done everything they have
instructed me to do, repeatedly, but I still have no service, for a
second day. I called Primus last night and was waiting for someone to
pick up the phone for four hours before I gave up. The statement that
"someone will be with you shortly" really added to the irony.
In addition, my Primus Talkbroadband home phone number has been forwarded to
someone's cell phone, who is getting quite irate about his experience of having
to waste air time on answering my home phone. Not to mention that no one
can get hold of us.
I find this to be a really bad treatment of customers, the least
someone could have done was to pick up when I called and tell me what
is going on, instead of wasting my very busy evening. I think that
four hours on hold is, to say the least, ridiculous. I have never met
with worse case of disorganization and irresponsibility. By the way,
today I gave up after only three hours of waiting for them to answer.
The tech service number has a permanently busy tone and there is absolutely
no one that a customer could get hold of at this company.
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 Review by LoginDeleted
UPDATED: 4.7 years ago
member for 4.9 years, 64 visits, last login: 4.5 years ago
Schenectady,Schenectady,NY
$30 per month
"Vraiment pourris depuis une semaine..."
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(ratings below consensus)
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Le service est vraiment pourris depuis une semaine... Incapable d'avoir une conversation téléphonique. J'en ai mon casque, tellement que j'ai décidé de retourner avec Bell Canada. Fini pour moi la VoIP. Avec Bell, j'ai eu tout un deal avec un regroupement de service telque la ligne téléphonique avec 1000 minutes d'interrurbain pour 5$, ExpressVu et Sympatico. Finalement j'économise 20$ par mois en ayant tout avec Bell.
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