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Review by shapirojm 
UPDATED: 224 days ago
member for 225 days, 8 visits, last login: 211 days ago
 Austin,Travis,TX
 Contract price not specified.
 "Started out pretty well"
 "Company has completely fallen apart"
 "A BIG MISTAKE THAT I'M NOW PAYING DEARLY FOR"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
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For the record, I'm new to DLSreports.com, and I don't typically take the time to make posts of this nature. However, I appreciated the info that I gained by looking at other reviews here when I decided I needed to drop BBTelsys and select another carrier, so I'm paying my dues to warn others regarding my bad experience with BBTelsys.
At the time of this writing, I have been with BBTelsys for almost three years. Their service was reasonably good, and I had referred them to a friend, who did the same. All three of us thought they offered OK value...reasonable price and acceptable service. When problems have occurred (dropped outbound audio, setup issues and number porting issues), their small customer service team (we typically got one of three or four people in cust. service or tech. support) eventually got things working (except for recent dropped outbound audio issues, which were intermittent). Then the bottom fell out.
On April 9, 2009, I lost outbound calling capability. I called to complain and was assured that the technicans were going to fix the problem, but no additional detail was offered when I asked. I suffered with no outbound for a few days, then on April 14, 2009, I lost inbound calling as well. Currently, my lines ring to a message telling callers that the number(s) have been disconnected or are no longer in service or they give a fast busy signal.
The company's phones have now gone unanswered for days (my guess is that they turned them off since they're getting so many complaints), and now the only way to reach them is by instant chat on their Web site. The agent there, who I've spoken with many times over the past couple years, provides a canned response that "our technicians are working on the issue." They offered a temporary number with inbound/outbound capability, but no estimation of how long the outage will last or when I can get my numbers to at least ring to a voicemail box...I asked for anything other than "disconnected" tape!
Emails from the company (3 in 6 days) simply indicate that they have lost service to several hundred business and home customers and they're working on the issue. Their generous offer for the inconvenience is credit for days that the service was out...COME ON!
For a VOIP service provider to not have a backup in place to prevent an outage of this nature...for this long, reflects pretty poorly on the company. I would like to advise other consumers that they should envision the nightmare of having your phone numbers go completely dead with a hosting phone company that won't take incoming calls, won't call you back to discuss the problems and won't convey significant information regarding the nature of the problem or the time frame for resolution. Now, decide whether this is a company that you want to do business with when selecting your phone carrier. This has been an absolutely terrible experience, and I consider it inexcusable that BBTelsys apparently had no backup plan to deal with whatever problem they're experiencing. By the way, my friend, and his friend are having the identical problems.
If BBTelsys survives this, it will be a miracle, if not, I'd be weary of any "new" VOIP provider showing up in Grand Rapids, MI.
UPDATE - SHAME ON ME...I RESEARCHED BBTELSYS ON THIS SITE BEFORE, BUT SOMEHOW MISSED THIS STRING. AMAZING THAT THIS COMPANY HAS DONE THE SAME THING ONCE BEFORE. »BBTelsys Gone?
Followup comments:  
noservice
@bellsouth.net
| I'm right there with you I am right there with you i have no service as well. i have been with them for about 3 years. and now i have been with out service for a week. thinking about moving to another service but worried i will have problems porting my number. their 877 number finally started working today. | |
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hecenter
@cbpu.com
| dropped service We too have not had any inbound now for 4 1/2 days and no outbound for a week and we are a medical practice. Same problems with tech support and customer services. If your phone service is critical to your operations, I would stronlgy recommend that the savings offered by VoiP are not worth it - no telling how much revenue we will have lost because of this, not to mention we are unavailable to our patient's and their medical needs. | |
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JustPist
@charter.com | BBTelsys online chat I got the cleaning lady answering the live chat tonight. I think the owners have taken off with the buy-out money and the employees have walked. | |
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BBTelSys Cust
@sbcglobal.net | Ditto I'm also a customer and first lost my outbound call capability and now lost my inbound capability.
I suspected the company went out of business.
I guess I need to shop for a new VOIP provider. | |
| | leomarlin
Premium
join:2005-02-01
Corning, CA | Re: Ditto Strange my inbound still works! | |
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hecenter
@cbpu.com
| no service Has anyone been able to reach a resolution? I spent about 30 hours on trying to get service through someone last week and get some alternative ways for customers to contact us in place. Still no service and even problems with Verizon being able to port the numbers. Our numbers were actually disconnected, not just inactive. | |
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Computer Company
@verizon.net
| BBTelsys No Service We sell computer services and telephony products in NJ, NY & CT. We also lost service on April 9,2009. We have recently re-partnered with a level 2 tier service provider and are now turning up our own VOIP services. We think being without service for over 10 days is absolutely ridiculous. We have heard nothing from BBTelsys. Whether they go out of business or not we don't care. Our customers come first and as a reseller, our image comes first. If anyone needs an immediate turn-up from loss of service, leave us your email and we will contact you. we will assist anyone who needs to get their VOIP service back. | |
| | leomarlin
Premium
join:2005-02-01
Corning, CA | Re: BBTelsys No Service I was a three year customer and believed the story they were a wrongfully shut down. I found out they did not pay bills for 6 months! Looking at the number of posts BBtelsys was not a major player! | |
| shapirojm
join:2009-04-15
Austin, TX
 ·BBTelSys VOIP
| Update BBTelsys began answering their phones again today. As of yesterday, I was told by NGT that BBTelsys ported out hundreds of numbers to their new provider/system. This was confirmed by BBTelsys' agent today, who told me that they were porting hundreds more today (including mine). What this has meant to some people who got a new provider through NGT and activated service is they got slammed by BBT, who took the number back! Guess what, they were disconnected again.
BBT was in the process of activating service on lines that they got control of, but with hundreds to configure, no telling how long that will take. They told me that I could be up and running on their system today with my numbers, but I didn't trust that this would happen and told them to not port my number back and cancel service. Frankly, they could give me free phone service for life, and I'd still go elsewhere. Given that they did this once before in 2005, I wouldn't ever trust them. To be honest, I'm not entirely happy with what I ended up signing up for, as it's fewer features and much more expensive, but I'll learn my lesson and pay for a more reliable company for the foreseeable future.
Sadly, they'll probably stay in business with not even so much as a slap on the hand. They'll lose part of their current customer base, but most people probably don't spend much time researching a company before signing up for a cheap service. I'd love a class action lawsuit for business interruption and fraud, but I wouldn't even know where to begin that adventure. | |
| shapirojm
join:2009-04-15
Austin, TX
·BBTelSys VOIP
1 edit | Further update THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXCHANGE IN RESPONSE TO A COMPLAINT THAT I FILED WITH THE MICHIGAN BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU:
BBTELSYS:
TO: Better Business Bureau of Grand Rapids
Terry Glenn - Trade Practice Supervisor
Re: Case # 37016096
Complaint filed against: BBTelsys L.L.C.
We have been responding via email to all our customers since Friday April 10, 2009 about the loss of service. This service was the result of a forced outage that originated with our upstream carrier on the evening of Thursday April 9, 2009. We were in the process of switching our customers to a new carrier, when the old carrier pulled our services. We were overwhelmed by the amount of customer emails and phone calls. We did continue to update our customers with daily emails. We are still not 100% switched, but most of our customers are staying with us. We did suggest to customers that an alterative was to go directly to the upstream carrier for immediate connection.
Our customer is always first, and with this in mind, we had already responded with a credit coupon that was emailed last week. With regards to this case, our customer service department received an email from him Friday April 17th regarding his cancelation and porting of his number. We acknowledged him within 30 minutes, and our billing department emailed him that we would refund the portion of the year he did not use.
We are working diligently to get service restored. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to contact us at 616-828-5454 or 877-511-5688, or via email lee@bbtelsys.com.
Sincerely,
Dawn Carter
MY REPLY:
This response includes some factual information, but is very misleading. First of all, what BBTelsys fails to convey is why their service by the upstream carrier was cut off. It is my understanding that they were cut off because they failed to meet their obligation to pay for service. To have collected money from customers and then not paid their provider to ensure that customers' service is maintained is at best irresponsible and at worst fraudulent.
Second, while BBTelsys did send occasional emails, they were not daily, and they did not convey useful information other than "our technicians are working on the problem" until the last email that suggested going to their upstream provider. This suggestion was an effort on BBTelsys' part to transfer the blame and flood their provider with calls from angry BBTelsys customers desperate to get phone service reactivated after a week of no service. This only made things worse because the upstream provider was not set up to deal with consumers. Bear in mind, BBTelsys, a telephone company, refused to answer their incoming lines during most of this outage, leaving consumers to believe that they were in the process of going out of business regardless of what their encouraging emails said. Who would trust a phone company that doesn't answer their phones...no message, no voice mail, just perpetual ringing on the other end of the line.
While BBTelsys claims that most of their customers have stayed with them, I would like to know how many of their disconnected customers have stayed with them. Furthermore, anyone who has remained may only be doing so because they have prepaid contracts and it takes time to port numbers to other carriers.
I'm not easily angered, but for BBTelsys to make a claim that their customers come first pushes me to the point of being VERY angry. They failed to tell customers the entire truth regarding what happened, and they continue to try to blame someone else for their failure to meet an obligation of providing service to people who paid them.
With regard to their credit offer, it hardly generous to refund the cost of a week's phone service when the true cost to consumers of having residence or business phone numbers ring to a "this number is no longer in service or has been disconnected" recording is far greater.
It's nice that BBTelsys has now decided to start answering their phones and respond to emails again now that they are nearing the end of what has been an absolute nightmare to me and at least (by BBTelsys' admission) 200 consumers. Their behavior as a company in this matter can only be likened to a child hiding in a closet hoping that parents won't find him after he's misbehaved, then denying any wrongdoing and blaming a someone else for what happened.
When I consider this event in the light of information that I have showing that they had a very similar event of disconnecting customers in 2005, BBTelsys has no basis for claiming that what happened is unexpected or something that they shouldn't have adequately planned for. Their response to my complaint lacks substance with regard to their underlying failure to provide service to paid accounts or adequately inform customers regarding the problems that they were experiencing (as opposed to stringing us along with email statements conveying that they expect service to be restored soon).
Consumers need to know that this company cannot be trusted to provide the service that they advertise and that professional marketing materials do not make a reliable telephone company. To anyone who has ever had to pick up the phone and dial 911 in an emergency or who relies on phone service for their business, ask yourself if you want a company with BBTelsys' history being the one responsible for connecting calls.
AFTER THIS DEBACLE, I WOULDN'T PUT IT PAST THE COMPANY TO TRY INITIATING SERVICE UNDER ANOTHER NAME, AS I'VE SEEN WITH OTHER VOIP PROVIDERS. I'D BE SUSPECT OF ANY COMPANY WITH A GRAND RAPIDS, MI BUSINESS ADDRESS. | |
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Dave B
@cox.net
| Exactly!!!! I only found out by accident when I tried to call my house I didn't have inbound service. That was on the 16th. These people are lame! I am not cutting them off yet, hoping I get my service back. Maybe I should get a burial plot in case it takes a while? As a yearly plan customer, I worry that I would get a refund if I shut them off now. The FCC needs to shut them down and pull their business license. I let them know today via live chat, which isn't working now, that they provided me with the most horrible customer experience I've had in my 50 plus years of existence. I am just as angry as you. | |
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Dan in MA
@myvzw.com | I have been without service for almost a month. I have received ZERO emails and can't get their website to do the online chat. | |
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hecenter
@cbpu.com
| I received the exact same response to my complaint filed with the BBB. There were no responses to my emails to BBTelsys as implied in their response to the BBB. I have also lodged a complaint with the Michigan Utilities Commission. I wanted to contact the FCC but their website suggests going through your state commissions first. I am also not satisfied with their response and the tremendous losses to our company are going to be very difficult to determine, based on long range projections of how many customers think WE have gone out of business. | |
| CocoaFL
join:2009-05-04
Cocoa, FL
| Replacement VOIP provider? I've been with BBTelSys for almost seven years. There was one other snafu back a feww years ago, but that only lasted about a week and a half. This is about to break my business. I have four numbers with BBTelSys and none ring in. No ring, no eat. It's simple. I think that it's time to make a change due to inactivity.
Are there any VOIP providers that anyone recommends?
Should I stay with VOIP at all? | |
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hecenter
@cbpu.com | Re: Replacement VOIP provider? If you stay with VoiP, I would suggest getting at least one land line to use for emergencies. We kept our fax machine on a land line and were able to use it when VoiP went down. | |
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Review by qualtran
Posted: 2.6 years ago
member for 2.6 years, 0 visits, last login: 2.6 years ago
Oakland,Alameda,CA
$24 per month
 about 90 days
"Ok phone, cheap"
"Horrid customer service"
"Don't waste your time/money!"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
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We have been using BBTELSYS for about 2 years now. The phone itself has generally worked all right aside from having to reset daily for quite a while. Also, they are pretty cheap.
Now when it comes to customer service, this company is pitiful! If you have any problem, calling them results in myriad false promises that are never met. We have been trying to get an additional phone line for 3 months now, and they had no problem charging us the day we requested it, but we still have no additional phone line and every time we call them (about 30 times now) they tell us it will be ready the next day.
The phone we do have works, but I certainly would steer clear of this company because if they are treating an existing customer like this, who knows what they will treat a new one like!
Followup comments: | Forums » comments on review of BBTelSys VOIP |
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Review by ezcall2000
Posted: 2.6 years ago
member for 2.8 years, 2 visits, last login: 2.6 years ago
Hampton,Hampton City,VA
Contract price not specified.
"None"
"Never shipped equipment or provided service, yet they collected payment!"
"Rip off, they take your money and do not provide service"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
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Do not be fooled by their offers like I was. Check their report on the Better Business Bureau www.bbb.org They have 36 claims against them and only after filing the claims they tried to help the customer! I did not check their report and that's what I got: ripped off. I paid them for the yearly service ($200.00) and they said their refund will take place two billing cycles after cancellation. I'm past that time frame and yet to get my money back. I called them numerous times and left voice messages for the billing person and their supervisor without progress! The rep delivered hand written messages and that did not help either!
Bottom line they promise the best service but it's the worst: non existent. They are frauds. See attached report.
Attachments: bbb_report.pdf 64,367 bytes
Followup comments: qualtran
join:2007-04-10
Oakland, CA
|  Ok, phone but Horrid customer service
Now when it comes to customer service, this company is pitiful! If you have any problem, calling them results in myriad false promises that are never met. We have been trying to get an additional phone line for 3 months now, and they had no problem charging us the day we requested it, but we still have no additional phone line and every time we call them (about 30 times now) they tell us it will be ready the next day.
The phone we do have works, but I certainly would steer clear of this company because if they are treating an existing customer like this, who knows what they will treat a new one like! | |
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BBB website info
@ussignalcom.net
| bbtelsys on bbb site Direct from the BBB website -
On May 24, 2007, the company filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the federal Bankruptcy Act, case number 07-880. Those with monetary claims against the company are advised to obtain a Proof of Claim form by writing to U.S. Bankruptcy Court, One Division Avenue, N.W., Grand Rapids, MI, 49503 for resubmission to that court. The case number should be entered on the form. | |
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