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Review by rickyratz 
member for 1.8 years, 1 visits, last login: 1.7 years ago
updated 1.7 years ago
 Las Vegas,Clark,NV
 Contract price not specified.  "Phone Service Seems Good. Support Does Respond" "Number Porting - Support Personnel Do Not Seem Qualified" "So Far, This Has Been A Nightmare."
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
----------------------------------------- UPDATE 2011-09-09 -----------------------------------------
I have been using VOIPo as my main phone line for enough time now to be able to comment on the quality of service.
As you will read below I had endured a problem transferring my phone number from Vonage to VOIPo and had experienced some frustration in dealing with the support operations of both companies.
Here is my evaluation based upon my experience:
1. CALL QUALITY - VOIPo's quality of service is vastly superior to Vonage. I wish I had switched earlier.
2. BLACK LISTING - VOIPo offers the ability to black list or white list numbers or have the system emulate a busy signal or a line disconnection in response to specific incoming phone numbers. This is very useful when you receive a lot of unsolicited sales calls or your name is identical to someone who is being sought by debt collectors who will not accept the fact that you are not the person they are looking for.
3. FEATURES - VOIPo seems to be very proactive in developing some very useful control panel features which have never been offered by Vonage such as "Bring Your Own Device".
4. VONAGE SUPPORT - Vonage support was not even interested in helping me with my number transfer even though I had been a loyal customer for four years. I had to search the internet for hours just to find the email address of the support team which deals with PORT OUT because customer service told me that this department does not even exist and that Vonage has nothing to do with PORT OUT, only PORT IN. Even then I did not receive a response for several days.
5. VOIPo SUPPORT - VOIPo support does respond very quickly. My frustration was caused I think because the support structure had not been assigning just one or two people to the problem until it was completely resolved. They kept closing support tickets too quickly. I think that this has been changed since then because once I was able to notify the owner of VOIPo of my problem (Try to do that with Vonage :-P) the quality of the support increased dramatically.
It seemed to me that my support ticket was personally supervised by the owner himself along with a very experienced support person. Also, the owner seems to be intimately familiar with even the smallest details of telecom and VOIP.
My number transfer difficulty had been caused I think by the fact that VOIP providers, including Vonage, must rely upon multiple levels of service providers and thus do not have direct control over the number transfer process.
After my transfer was complete, the owner of the company personally emailed to thank me for my patience and to tell me that he had updated the start date of my service to accommodate the technical difficulty which I had experienced.
I am very thankful that I had come across the article on the internet which had recommended VOIPo for my primary phone line.
Thank You,
Jeffrey Puckett
Las Vegas, NV
====================== Original Post Below ======================
Rather than reiterating the details I have simply copied the relevant support tickets so that the readers may decide for themselves.
I would appreciate any constructive comments which may help me to resolve this issue.
The basic problem is that a simple number PORT from Vonage to VOIPo has become a complete nightmare; and it seems to me that the support team at VOIPo lacks the experience necessary to handle the "complexities" of a modern telecommunications system.
I do however still have a positive impression of VOIPo. My only problem has been the experience I have endured in dealing with the customer support team. It seems that they are so eager to close out tickets and move on the the next task that they do not pay attention to solving the core issues with which the customer is troubled.
My Sincere Thanks To This Community Forum
Jeffrey Puckett
rickyratz@yahoo.com
Support Ticket Summary:
============================================================
FUZ-242822 LNP From Vonage
07/28/2011 08:21 AM 07/29/2011
ZXJ-249742 Problem With Vonage
07/27/2011 03:32 PM 07/27/2011 Jamil Zmary
OJW-752701 Re: Status of Number Transfer
07/03/2011 02:28 PM 07/13/2011 Wally Mohmood
ZIU-600780 SIP Settings
05/31/2011 08:19 AM 06/01/2011 Clay G
URR-393000 Re: VOIPo Number Transfer
05/31/2011 07:32 AM 06/01/2011 James J
============================================================
Support Ticket Details:
============================================================
Ticket ID: OJW-752701
Subject: Re: Status of Number Transfer From Vonage
============================================================
From: Jeffrey Puckett (rickyratz@yahoo.com) 02:26PM 07/03/2011
Do you have any indication on the timeframe to complete the number
transfer from Vonage?
Jeffrey
VOIPO Username: 702822****
============================================================
From: Cody C (support@voipo.com) 12:12PM 07/05/2011
Hello Jeffrey,
Your number is set to port in on 7/11/2011 no later than 7pm your
time. Please ensure that the adapter is connected on this day to
start receiving calls.
Thank you
--
Cody C
VOIPo.com
============================================================
From: Jeffrey Puckett (rickyratz@yahoo.com) 02:15PM 07/05/2011
Do I need to contact Vonage to close the account. If so, when
should I do that?
============================================================
From: Erik H (erik.hilburn@voipo.com) 03:29PM 07/05/2011
Hello Jeffrey,
You can close your account with Vonage after you have tested the
number on the Voipo network. Once everything is working as it
should you can then cancel the Vonage account.
Thanks,
Erik H.
============================================================
From: Jeffrey Puckett (rickyratz@yahoo.com) 11:02AM 07/13/2011
My local number has apparently not been transferred from Vonage.
I tried calling 702-822-**** from a phone outside of both Vonage
and Voipo networks and the call went to the Vonage box. Can you
please check this for me and tell me if there is anything I need
to do?
Thank You,
Jeffrey
============================================================
From: Erik H (erik.hilburn@voipo.com) 12:50PM 07/13/2011
Hello Jeffrey,
Have you cancelled the account with Vonage yet? If you have not
cancelled yet it can cause the problems you are experiencing since
the number is active on both networks.
Thanks,
Erik H
============================================================
From: Jeffrey Puckett (rickyratz@yahoo.com) 02:19PM 07/13/2011
Ok. I will close the Vonage Account today.
From: VOIPo
To: rickyratz@yahoo.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2011 1:50 PM
Subject: [#OJW-752701]: Re: Status of Number Transfer From Vonage
Hello Jeffrey,
Have you cancelled the account with Vonage yet? If you have not
cancelled yet it can cause the problems you are experiencing since
the number is active on both networks.
Thanks,
Erik H
Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: OJW-752701
Department: Customer Care
Priority: Requests Handled in Order Received
Status: Pending Customer Response
============================================================
From: Wally Mohmood (support@voipo.com) 02:28PM 07/13/2011
Hello,
Thank you for your email. I will close this ticket, please let us
know if there is anything else.
Wally M.
Technical Support
»www.VOIPo.com
============================================================
============================================================
Ticket ID: ZXJ-249742
Subject: Problem With Vonage
============================================================
From: Jeffrey Puckett (rickyratz@yahoo.com) 03:11PM 07/27/2011
I just talked with Vonage.
They seem to not know what they are talking about regarding number
transfers.
I told them about the problem I am having with transferring the
number and that you had suggested that there is a network conflict
and that I would need to cancel my Vonage service to resolve this
conflict.
Normally, a phone company would cancel the service once the number
has transferred out so my feeling is from reading complaints about
Vonage is that they are purposefully trying to delay the number
transfer.
Can you please help me investigate this problem?
The person I spoke with said that there is a third party involved
in the number transfers. So, there must be an objective record of
the request and also some procedure for resolving this issue.
The person at Vonage kept alluding to the idea that if I cancelled
my service then I might have to resubscribe just to be able to
transfer the number out.
I can see why Vonage has such a poor reputation.
Thank you.
VOIPO Username: 702822****
============================================================
From: Jamil Zmary (jamil.zmary@voipo.com) 03:32PM 07/27/2011
Hello,
Thank you for your email.
I am requesting a status update on your case.
We will send you an update once more information becomes available.
Please contact us with any questions or concerns.
Have a nice day.
--
Jamil Zmary
VOIPo.com
============================================================
============================================================
Ticket ID: FUZ-242822
Subject: LNP From Vonage
============================================================
From: Jeffrey Puckett (rickyratz@yahoo.com) 10:04AM 07/28/2011
I have been researching this issue regarding the failed port out of
Vonage.
There is a procedure whereby VOIPO can take control over my number
without begging cooperation from Vonage. Do you know what this
procedure is?
Then my only task would be to demand from Vonage that they remove my
number from their DID Database.
Finally, I am preparing a formal complaint against Vonage with the
FCC and would like to try to document as much of this as I can.
Do you have any written record which you could provide me regarding
this LNP transfer?
Under the current FCC regulations, Vonage is required to port out
with one day; so nearly a two month delay certainly is in violation
of federal law and I intend to seek compensation.
I know: "Good Luck;" but at least I can try.
Any information and assistance with this would be greatly
appreciated.
Thank you,
Jeffrey
VOIPO Username: 702822****
============================================================
From: Clay G (clay.gorman@voipo.com) 10:46AM 07/28/2011
Hello,
Unfortunately, that rule only applies to what are considered
"simple ports" by the FCC. When a small VoIP provider like us is
in the mix, those rules don't come into play because it's
automatically a "complex port".
Thanks
Best regards,
Clay G
VOIPo Customer Care
Thanks for choosing VOIPo, The Likable Phone Company.
============================================================
From: Jeffrey Puckett (rickyratz@yahoo.com) 11:14AM 07/28/2011
Ok. Fair enough; but how do we proceed? I would like to complete
this port before August 5th or else Vonage is going to whack me $32
for another month.
============================================================
From: Jeffrey Puckett (rickyratz@yahoo.com) 01:21PM 07/28/2011
Ok. I intend to call Vonage again today using a different contact
number which I found on the internet. If that does not work, then
one way or another I will get through to someone above the typical
customer service idiot at Vonage.
What I need to know from you are some details regarding the number
porting, such as:
1) Did the number officially port according to your records?
2) What is the name of this mysterious "third party" which the
person at Vonage kept referring to?
3) Are there any reference numbers which may be helpful to me in
my call to Vonage?
4) Does my problem simply result from Vonage not removing my number
from it's DID Database?
5) Any other information which you feel could b helpful.
Thank you,
Jeffrey
============================================================
From: Kyle Kirchner (support@voipo.com) 03:17PM 07/28/2011
Hello,
1) We have received no updates, nor an FOC date for the number to
port to us. Searching our number base reveals nothing for this
number. This number has not been ported to us.
2) We have an underlying carrier who does our porting for us. We
prepare all the materials and they transfer the numbers. This
is a routine procedure.
3) They should be able to look up the port by the DID, which is
your phone number, 702822****.
4) We have experienced issues in the past when Vonage does not
remove the DID from their database, but this only effects
Vonage customers. Caller's receive a disconnect message rather
than ringing through to the number. In this case, we do not even
have the number ported to us, so all parties are effected.
5) We have not received any updates from Vonage since the port was
submitted. The original requested date was 7/11/2011 and there
has been no update, even after a manual request by one of our
agents. I do not know if the number is simply in limbo, or why
it has not received attention, but it has not been ported, and
calls are obviously still routing to Vonage.
Please let us know if you require any additional information or
assistance
Thank you
---
Kyle Kirchner
VOIPo Support
============================================================
From: Jeffrey Puckett (rickyratz@yahoo.com) 03:29PM 07/28/2011
Ok. Thank you for the update. Now, I need to port this number.
So, what can I do to make it happen? And what can you do?
Jeffrey
============================================================
From: Jeffrey Puckett (rickyratz@yahoo.com) 03:43PM 07/28/2011
Here is one thing I have found in one of the forums:
"Vonage, like virtually all VoIP providers and even some cable
companies, isn't a LEC so they are not involved in the port
process at all. If Vonage isn't replying to the port request that
is because it has been submitted to the wrong party. If a port was
correctly submitted by the new (winning) provider, there would be
a jeopardy code returned by the service bureau which indicates the
exact reason for failure. If your new provider cannot provide you
with a jeopardy code, then they or their underlying carrier likely
have not processed the port request correctly."
Note the last sentence regarding the "Jeopardy Code". If you have
not received this code then most likely someone did not process
the port request correctly.
Maybe someone at VOIPo can help me track this down because Vonage,
being the losing carrier, is doing everything it can to cause
trouble for me. I used to think they were a good company even when
the call quality began to deteriorate; but now I am convinced that
they are a bunch of jackasses who just want to cheat their
customers.
>_
============================================================
From: Kyle Kirchner (support@voipo.com) 07:32AM 07/29/2011
Hello,
That is correct. If there is a wrong name, address, account number,
etc the losing carrier will respond saying there is a name and
address mismatch, or whatever the problem is.
In this case, we have not received any updates. No accepts or
rejects, even after a manual status request.
I think it would be best to cancel the port and resubmit. This way
it will arrive again as a new port, with a new ID on their side.
I'm not sure if this has been done before because there has been
so much time for this single port. If their justification is that
it was submitted incorrectly, then we will simply verify that it is
being sent correctly and follow up on whatever reply we get.
Would you like to try this?
Or would you like to try something else?
Please advise
Thank you
---
Kyle Kirchner
VOIPo Support
============================================================
From: Jeffrey Puckett (rickyratz@yahoo.com) 08:21AM 07/29/2011
"Would you like to try this? Or would you like to try something
else?" -- Kyle Kirchner, VOIPo
Are you asking me what you should do? I think you should hire me
as a consultant to help your company clean up its support
operation.
Two months ago I subscribed to your service and submitted a
request for my number to be PORTed over.
Then weeks went by without update information. So, I finally
inquired and the reply I received was that the PORT-IN was
scheduled for July 11th. After that date my incoming calls were
still going to Vonage. So, I asked your crack support team what
the problem was.
Apparently your support personnel are in such a hurry to close out
tickets that they do not even bother to investigate something as
simple as "Did the number PORT-IN yet according to schedule?"
So, the response I received from VOIPo was that Vonage had not
yet cleared my number from its database and that I should call
to close my account at Vonage.
Ok. That makes sense.
Unfortunately, I did not realize that I was actually working for
VOIPo and not this other company that pays me.
Silly me.
So, I put off the call to Vonage because of an urgent project
at my "other" job.
Then when I finally had the time to devote to the Vonage problem,
because I had heard horrible stories about people trying to close
their Vonage accounts and had wanted to be fully prepared, I then
learned that the problem of my fail to PORT-OUT was going to be
much more serious.
Only after I had devoted a lot of time and energy to researching
the problem and conveying my findings to VOIPo did the support
team at VOIPo even bother to investigate whether the number had
actually PORTed-IN.
So, now you are asking me what you should do?
Of course, you know that I want to PORT this number over to VOIPo
so that I can stop paying $32 a month for continually degrading
service. My problem now is that I only have a week left before
they whack me again $32 for yet another month of "service" and
you are saying that the only thing you can think of is to start
all over again?
How about starting off by saying, "Sorry we screwed up, how can we
make it up to you?"
Now, please tell me what my complete list of options and the
timetables for each. Then maybe I will be in a position to make
a rational choice.
============================================================
UPDATES: August 3rd, 2011 11:14 AM
============================================================
From: James J (support@voipo.com) 10:37AM 07/29/2011
We have escalated this with our underlying carrier. A response is pending.
We'll provide an update once new information becomes available on the transfer
request.
Thank you and our apologies for any inconvenience,
James
VOIPo.com
============================================================
From: Jeffrey Puckett (rickyratz@yahoo.com) 10:56AM 07/29/2011
Thank you for your assistance.
I am truly appreciative.
Jeffrey
============================================================
From: Hamid M (support@voipo.com) 12:57PM 07/29/2011
Hello,
Your welcome,
We appreciate your patience with this matter.
Glad we are able to be of assistance to you.
Please contact us with any questions.
Thanks!
---
Hamid M
VOIPo Support
*****************************************
From: VOIPo (support@voipo.com) 06:19PM 08/01/2011
Our carrier partner (Bandwidth.com) still has a ticket open with XO
Communications to see what the hold up is. Vonage is a reseller for XO in your
area so the number is with XO.
We will update you when we have more information, but at this point our hands
are tied since all we can do is wait on XO to get back to our carrier and coordinate
the release.
============================================================
From: Jeffrey Puckett (rickyratz@yahoo.com) 08:34AM 08/02/2011
Thank you for the update. Attached is the response which I received from Vonage.
Perhaps there is some information which you could provide which would enabled
them to work on this problem from their end as well.
Thank You,
Jeffrey
*****************************************
From: "portout@vonage.com"
To: rickyratz@yahoo.com
Sent: Monday, August 1, 2011 9:30 AM
Subject: [vonage.com #26367387] Re: 702-822-6215 Port Out
Dear Jeffrey Puckett,
We understand that you would like to transfer your number to a new carrier.
First I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused to you. Please
understand that Vonage does not play a role in transferring a number to another
carrier. We have partnered with 3rd party carriers who own the number and it is
between our 3rd party partner carrier and your new carrier to which the number is
to be transferred that dealings take place. Please advise your new carrier to submit
a port request to our 3rd party provider to start the transfer. If your new carrier is
unsure as to where to send their request, please have your carrier contact us at
portout@vonage.com and we will provide that information to them.
If this request has already been made, then I will need for you supply me with the
EGAIN tracking number or Port ID. This 7 digit numeric number would have been
given to your new carrier when they first submitted the port request to our 3rd party
provider. Once you provide me with this number, I will be able to resume my
research into your number transfer. We sincerely do apologize for any
inconvenience that may have been caused.
If you have any questions, your Vonage team is available to assist you 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week. Contact us whenever and however it suits you!
- On-Line Help Center at »www.vonage.com/help.php
- Contact Us at »www.vonage.com/help_contactus.php
- Or call Toll-Free at 1-VONAGE-HELP (1-866-243-4357)
Thanks again for choosing Vonage, a better phone service for less!
Sincerely,
LNP Port Out Department
============================================================
Comments:
 | | Vonage is a problem!!! I have had two friends that have both had issues trying to port their numbers from Vonage to Voipo... one user found out that Vonage had somehow switched the service address from his home near Indianapolis IN to the corporate headquarters address of Vonage in NJ.... so every time they would put in the request it would get bounced as the address didn't match... It took the user to get a supervisor from Vonage and a supervisor from Voipo on the phone together before he could get it to transfer.... took a long time and a lot of frustration. But its not Voipo fault, I think Vonage does everything in its power to slow the process down or make it so you can't transfer so they can keep taking your money. It took them 4 weeks to just to a simple transfer on me versus ATT took 48 hours with my other line to get a number ported. | |
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 | next review in page (previous review)
 Review by scott2020
member for 4.9 years, 1224 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 1.7 years ago
- El Dorado Springs,Cedar,MO
- $15 per month
 about 5 days- "Great customer service, great call quality, easy"
- "Web control panel a little confusing"
- "Recent growing pains and attacks but still great service"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)
|
UPDATE 9/7/11
After several years I am porting out of VOIPo, and it pains me to say that. I really like their service, features, and price. However, my needs are to call rural areas and over the past 9 months or more, it has been very hit and miss. I put in several tickets and they do their best to fix things, and sometimes calls go through and sound great, but eventually things revert back to trouble. I get a lot of 1 way audio, garbled sound, calls ring on my end but not on the other, strange caller ID to the destination, and many other issues. However, using the same exact equipment on my end but using another provider, everything sounds great. I wish them the best and they are a great company, but the WAF is at a low with the rural area calling so I have to move on.
===========
UPDATE 8/20/09
A few short term outages here and there, but nothing major that wasn't fixed very quickly. Customer service is extremely fast to respond and have been helpful. The Linksys adapters they have converted to have solved many issues. They are now working on additional features to make the service even better now that some of the growing pains have been resolved. They also switched data center co-location providers which has helped their service reliability. VOIPo should be on the top of your list of providers to evaluate!
============
Recent growing pains, firmware updates, and mishaps have started to give VOIPo a bad rap. I would encourage people to give them a try. There will always be a small percentage of customer base that do nothing but complain, just like with everything else in the world. The simple fact is you must try for yourself and see how it works in your environment. If it doesn't work, they will happily refund your money and you can move on. I had problems with the Grandstream adapter but no problems with the Linksys PAP2. They also now allow some BYOD on a limited basis. They continue to have great support, call quality, and great features. They also changed to another datacenter provider which will help reliability greatly. Don't hesitate to give VOIPo a try.
I have been with VOIPo for 3 months now, and I must say it just works. I am a VOIP hobbyist admittedly, and I like to tinker with BYOD providers like most on this forum, so I was reluctant to try them after I found VOIPo was gearing toward plug and play customers. However, I signed up and received the Grandstream ATA, plugged it in, and it just worked. CNAM works so I can see the name of people calling me, voicemail works, all of my calling features work. There are a few minor bugs to squash as with any beta system, but the staff at VOIPo really are responsive to any problems. Voice quality has been excellent both inbound and outbound. Other providers I have tried almost always have some delay, echo, and other strangeness at some point but I have not had this with VOIPo. The web control panel is excellent, with many options for setting up call controls, voicemail options, custom caller ID for incoming calls, and many others. It really has been great (especially for my wife!) to have a great provider with a service that just works. I ported my main number to VOIPo which took just under 3 weeks. Best of luck to them, and I highly recommend.
Comments:
| next review in page (previous review)
Review by (hidden by request)
(review was emailed from domain verizon.net)
lodged 1.8 years ago
- Ambler,Montgomery,PA
- $14 per month
- (12 month contract)
 Verizon- "Great features, looked promising."
- "Horror story; no service 2x for several days each"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings below consensus)
|
My Horror Story. My research pointed to VOIPo as the best provider for my needs. So I ordered it online and paid for a year's service. Then their emails started coming, one after another for a total of 11! Finally, one said to download, sign and fax in their document. More emails arrived: six more asking for the signed document! Once they had it, it was supposed to take from 20 to 45 business days for my phone number to be transferred. Instead it took two days, and they hadn't even yet shipped the adapter I needed to hook it up. (They refused to delay the transfer and they refused to send the adapter overnight or 2nd day.) So, I was without any phone service for five days. What could be worse? The adapter they sent was fried within days. And again they won't ship a new one out overnight. So, it's no phone service for days yet again. Mistakes happen. But when a company has a policy not to ship something fast -- even when it's justified -- is just plain stupid. It's bad for the customer and bad for their business.
Comments:
VOIPoTimVOIPo.comPremium,VIP
join:2006-06-06
Newport Beach, CA
kudos:2 | VOIPo I'm the owner of VOIPo and saw your review.
Sorry to hear about your experience.
In terms of number porting, the typical timeline is 7-10 days. Our porting form that you signed and sent in does stated that it can take "up to" 20-45 business days because that is a worst case scenario.
AT&T has been releasing numbers quicker and we have updated our processes to make sure that going forward we are submitting the request with a later date when we process AT&T requests to prevent the number from transferring so quickly.
In terms of shipping, all orders ship out the same or next day assuming the order is on a business day. If the order is not on a business day, it can take an extra day. I spoke with our shipping team and we're not aware of any shipments that have not gone out in this timeframe recently.
Again, I'm sorry to hear about your experience. If you'd like to send me some account information so I can look up your account I'm happy to take a look to make sure everything is moving smoothly now and if there is anything that we could have done better. My direct e-mail is tim @ voipo.com.
Timothy Dick
Founder/CEO
VOIPo.com | |
| | | |  Re: Even more delay today!
OK CEO Tim
Instead of your shipping out a new adapter -- after more than two hours troubleshooting with your tech yesterday -- I got an email today from yet another tech wanting to troubleshoot again to confirm I need a new adapter! I needed the day to prepare for Hurricane Irene, so we didn't get to troubleshoot a second time until nearly 4:30 PM EST. Another day wasted, without phone service. With any luck, the new adaptert will get shipped on Monday -- and take four or five days to get here -- because you refuse to ship it overnight or second day!
Both your techs have said "our warehouse isn't set up for shipping overnight or second day," and that it's "not financially feasible" to ship that way. You want to save a few bucks while I spend even more time without phone service, all because you screwed up - twice? The first tech said that only you, the CEO, can authorize faster shipment. So why don't you authorize it?
If I don't get that adapter on Monday or Tuesday, this isn't the only message board that will carry my horror story, including what happened and was said today. First I'll cancel my service and get a different one. Then I'll put my horror story out on every review site I can find. I want to warn others what could happen to them. And, I'll use Twitter and Facebook to tell everyone considering VOIP why they shouldn't use your company's service. Will it be "financially feasible" to lose a lot of business?
I am hopping mad! | |
| | | VOIPoTimVOIPo.comPremium,VIP
join:2006-06-06
Newport Beach, CA
kudos:2 | Re: Even more delay today! said by Lorigard :
OK CEO Tim
Instead of your shipping out a new adapter -- after more than two hours troubleshooting with your tech yesterday -- I got an email today from yet another tech wanting to troubleshoot again to confirm I need a new adapter! I needed the day to prepare for Hurricane Irene, so we didn't get to troubleshoot a second time until nearly 4:30 PM EST. Another day wasted, without phone service. With any luck, the new adaptert will get shipped on Monday -- and take four or five days to get here -- because you refuse to ship it overnight or second day!
Both your techs have said "our warehouse isn't set up for shipping overnight or second day," and that it's "not financially feasible" to ship that way. You want to save a few bucks while I spend even more time without phone service, all because you screwed up - twice? The first tech said that only you, the CEO, can authorize faster shipment. So why don't you authorize it?
If I don't get that adapter on Monday or Tuesday, this isn't the only message board that will carry my horror story, including what happened and was said today. First I'll cancel my service and get a different one. Then I'll put my horror story out on every review site I can find. I want to warn others what could happen to them. And, I'll use Twitter and Facebook to tell everyone considering VOIP why they shouldn't use your company's service. Will it be "financially feasible" to lose a lot of business?
I am hopping mad!
Send me an e-mail to tim @ voipo.com with your account info so I can find your account and I'll be happy to take a look at it to make sure everything was handled appropriately and is moving forward for you. | |
| | | | | |  I'm back up and running!
As it turns out, there appears to have been absolutely nothing wrong with the first adapter sent to me. However, it was only after we'd installed the replacement adapter that we finally discovered where the problem was.
Who would believe such great havoc could be wreaked by a surge suppressor on its way out? The VOIPo adapter was plugged into my Belkin surge protector, which I could turn off and on perfectly well at the switch. And its green light was on, so we couldn't have known it was a problem.
Seemingly unrelated, my computer lost power a few times last week, right in the middle of use. When I would change its plug from my surge protector to a power strip or back, there was just some slight sparking and noise. After trying other solutions, we thought there was something wrong with the computer power cord. We changed out the power cord last week and forgot all about it because that seemed to have solved the problem. However, the day before installing the new adapter it happened again. Since I was in the middle of solving my problem with VOIPo, I put off looking into it further and then completely forgot about it.
As we were troubleshooting with the new adapter the next day, I suddenly recalled having lost power at my computer the day before and mentioned it to the VOIPo tech. We decided that I should get a new surge protector and see if that might solve the problem. AND IT DID!!! Who knew? I'm pretty amazed that we even figured it out!
We had tried plugging the adapter directly into the wall at one time to test it, but I had to do it in another room because my surge protectors, and thus all my computer equipment, were taking up my office wall outlets (in this old house with very few of them). I'm not sure what we learned from that testing but, as I recall, the adapter lights were coming on as they should.
I'm still not keen on VOIPo's shipping policy. Everything must go out by USPS Ground. Five days from their CA facility to the East Coast. Their way or the highway. Only the CEO can approve faster shipment? I suggested to him that he reconsider this ludicrous policy.
I want to give special credit to the VOIPo guys who did the troubleshooting with me. Brandon, Martin, and Clay were all really great to deal with. Despite my obvious frustration, each of them remained calm, cool, and collected. They were exceptionally patient with me. VOIPo is very fortunate to have them representing the company, out there on the front lines, dealing with problems as hard to resolve as mine. I am very grateful to each of them. They are truly deserving of much praise.
So again, as it turns out, it was not VOIPo's equipment that was the problem. It was mine. | |
| | | | | Reviews:
 ·RoadRunner Cable
 ·AT&T U-Verse
 ·VOIPo
| Re: I'm back up and running! said by Lorigard :So again, as it turns out, it was not VOIPo's equipment that was the problem. It was mine.
Hopefully in the future you can keep your cool and not be so rude without knowing what the problem is first (Not with just VOIPo, but with anything).
As far as shipping, they offer service at $75/YEAR...why would they spend $20 to overnight you an ATA? | |
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Review by BlueJane
member for 1.8 years, 13 visits, last login: 234 days ago
updated 1.8 years ago
- united state
- $7 per month
- (25 month contract)
- about 6 days
- "Customer Service, Voice Quality, and Phone Features"
- "None so far"
- "If you are on the fence on which company to choose, pick VOIPo!!"
| Web-site:
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Call Quality:
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(ratings match consensus)
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I am in the process of ordering VOIP from VOIPo, and so far everything has gone very smooth.
Comments:
Reviews:
·VOIPo
| High Hopes VOIPo's customer service has been wonderful. I am porting my home land line number and am hoping for a smooth transition.
Once I ordered the service, VOIPo immediately shipped my hardware. I was very pleased.
I have asked them a few questions, and they are very responsive. As of now, I have very high hopes!
I plan to update as things progress and provide information on quality, etc.. | |
| | Reviews:
·VOIPo
| Re: High Hopes and Now Thrilled I am all hooked-up and completely pleased. I am so happy I chose VOIPo. Their customer service is top notch, the voice quality is great, and the phone features are wonderful.
Granted I have only had the service for less than a day, but so for so good! I will post from time to time with an update of how things are going. | |
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Review by rfquinn
member for 10.1 years, 3 visits, last login: 1.8 years ago
updated 1.9 years ago
- Pflugerville,Travis,TX
- Contract price not specified.
- "They won't cancel my service after repeated requests."
| Tech Support:
(ratings below consensus)
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I first filled out a support ticket asking them to cancel my account. They responded with a link to their cancellation page. I filled it out and received a confirmation that my service would be cancelled. That was back in April. July 8th, I noticed I was still being charged, and I email tech support again, forwarding the cancellation notice that I received. Nine days later and no response from tech support, and what happens? Yeah, I get charged again. I try to contact them via live chat - nope, they're closed on the weekend. I try to call support - nope, also closed on the weekend. Arrgggh! I'll have zero time to deal with this during the upcoming weekdays. I think I'm just going to have to call my bank. FU VOIPo.
Comments:
VOIPoTimVOIPo.comPremium,VIP
join:2006-06-06
Newport Beach, CA
kudos:2
2 edits | VOIPo I'm the owner of VOIPo and just saw this.
Since you received the cancellation request started confirmation e-mail, this may just be an error.
We do not have any tickets/e-mails from you that did not have a response in 9 days. The last e-mail we received from you was on 3/14 asking to cancel. We responded the same day instructing you to go to the cancellation form. That was the last e-mail we received from you.
E-mail your VOIPo number to me at tim @ voipo.com and I'll be happy to personally take a look.
If you account was canceled and the equipment was returned (if an account type with equipment) and there was just an error, then I can certainly correct it for you and refund anything charged in error. | |
| | VOIPoTimVOIPo.comPremium,VIP
join:2006-06-06
Newport Beach, CA
kudos:2 | Re: VOIPo Update:
I was able to find your account by your username here being part of your e-mail.
I do see that the account was still active in billing even though it was cancelled in our main system.
With the account type that you had, it's common for people to have many numbers/DIDs and they cancel/add to it all the time so the cancellation form works by number and doesn't cancel the entire account (all of their DIDs). In this case, the DID you cancelled was not in billing correctly under your account (it was still listed as "To Be Assigned") likely do to human error so it didn't cancel properly.
I've gone ahead and canceled that for you and issued a refund for the months billed since then. I apologize that it wasn't in our system correctly so the cancellation form didn't cancel it properly.
The last e-mail we had from you was the initial cancellation request where we directed you to the form. Since then we have received no e-mails. It's possible you sent another e-mail and it didn't go through for some reason, but since we didn't get it. If you ever contact us and don't receive a response within 1 business day, always reply to make sure we got your e-mail but it's extremely rare for a response to take more than a day and it likely means we didn't receive your e-mail.
I really wish you would have given us a chance to correct this before posting a negative review. We always resolve things very quickly when brought to our attention, but we couldn't correct this for you since we didn't know. | |
| | | Reviews:
·VOIPo
| Re: VOIPo Thanks for taking care of this, Tim. If you care to research this a little more, the last time I emailed was: Fri, 8 Jul 2011 20:43:02 -0500 (Sent to billing@voipo.com).
A quick recommendation. When I submitted the support ticket originally, I didn't realize they would only respond inside the VOIPo messaging system. It would've been great if I received the response via email as well. Several weeks went by and I assumed the support techs were ignoring my ticket until I realized what happened.
I'll bump my review score up a little since you resolved this so quickly. Thanks again. | |
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Review by timdh
member for 2 years, 0 visits, last login: 2 years ago
lodged 2 years ago
- Noblesville,Hamilton,IN
- $18 per month
- "When it works, the service is among the best I've ever had"
- "Tech support is great for simple problems. For complex problems, emails slow to 1 per day and fixes to take a week or more"
- "I've finally had enough and moving my service elsewhere"
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When the service works properly I have no complaints about VOIPo. The sound is clear, the number and type of options available to an average phone user like myself is very good and things generally just work.
The problem comes when you encounter a problem that is a little more complex. Tech support does respond to initial emails quickly and simple problems are resolved in a timely fashion. However, a complex problem results in tech support communication slowing down to 1 email a day, if that, and it can literally take weeks to finally get things working.
I am in the process of switching to another provider because I have not been able to call out on my system for well over a month. I unplugged my adapter for a couple of hours to have carpet replaced then plugged it back in. Things have not worked right since. I get a dial tone, I can receive calls but I cannot call out. I've had technicians remote into my system more than once, including one technician who applied VOIP phone settings to the wrong router, logged out and closed our support session without another word. I was finally told I needed to have Cody work on my system but when I call in, Cody is either unavailable or out or something. I've given up on tracking Cody down. I should not have to rely on waiting for one person out of the entire support staff to fix my problem. Today I got an email that said if I cannot contact support from Monday through Friday 10-6 CST then I was out of luck. Fair enough, I'm out of luck but I'm also taking my business elsewhere.
I know there is a VOIPo person who monitors these reviews so my latest support case is VWZ-229278 if you want proof that I am not making this up. Don't worry about trying to resolve the problem though, I am moving on.
Tim
Comments:
VOIPoTimVOIPo.comPremium,VIP
join:2006-06-06
Newport Beach, CA
kudos:2
1 edit | We'd like to help... Sorry to hear about your issue. I'm the owner of VOIPo and would like to try to help get it resolved.
I know you said that everything was working very well until you had your carpet cleaned and unhooked the ATA and the problems only started after that. It sounds like when it was reinstalled, something wasn't done correctly or a setting has changed (especially if your router was unhooked while the carpet was cleaned as well). It could be something as simple as all your port forwarding was setup for an IP address and then when everything was reconnected after the carpet cleaning, the device's IP address changed so the forwarding is setup to the wrong IP. If you don't know what I'm talking about...don't worry...we can help.
For some reason, there is an internal note on that ticket that you are only working with a specific Tier 1 employee (Cody C) and that is why you're seeing slow responses. I'm not sure if you had asked for this person once in regards to the issue or why that note was placed, but it's ultimately the reason you are having issues getting this resolved since it's being referred to only 1 person.
If your issue has been going back and forth a while like this, it really belongs in our Tier 2 department where a Tier 2 agent with more experience can assist you.
I know you've stated here and in the ticket that you don't want help resolving the issue, but if anything changes please let me know and I'll be happy to have a Tier 2 agent schedule a call with you to troubleshoot. You can PM me or e-mail tim @ voipo.com to get in contact with me. | |
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Review by zeke56
member for 4.2 years, 31 visits, last login: 348 days ago
updated 2 years ago
- Naperville,Dupage,IL
- Contract price not specified.
- "Low cost"
- "No outbound caller id w/ name"
- "Good but not fantastic"
| Web-site:
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This is an update to the original review:
The longer I have VOIPo's service the more I am impressed w/ ITP. In 2+ years w/ ITP we didn't have a significant problem that I can recall. In 2+ *months* with VOIPo, we have had the following issues:
- Apparently after a firmware upgrade, our adapter failed to re-register w/ the servers until I manually rebooted it. We didn't have any indication of this until our calls started rolling over to our cell phone (at least that part worked).
- We started receiving fairly frequent false voice mail indicators on our phones that could only be cleared by calling our phone and leaving a message and then deleting it.
- We started noticing that intermittently we could not receive incoming calls - the caller could tell we picked up, but both parties just heard "dead air". We experienced this at a particularly bad time, as we tried to page our daughter's doctor after hours and she could not return our call.
I switched to VOIPo because it offered a second line and more minutes for a similar price. However, if the consequence is less reliability, then I don't think the value is there. If we have another significant problem then I will switch back.
End of update.
I was lured away from my previous provider (ITP) by VOIPo's low introductory price and the included cloned line, which isn't important to us at the moment, but no doubt will be when our kids get a little older. VOIPo also includes more outbound minutes (unlimited vs. 500min), which also at the moment is not really important. I know VOIPo is one of dslreport's darlings, but so far I've been fairly underwhelmed. I'm not saying there's anything wrong w/ VOIPo's service, but our previous service was basically flawless, and the main additional thing that VOIPo offers is a lower cost for the above-mentioned included features. On the negative side, VOIPo does not provide us w/ outbound caller id w/ name, which is a desirable feature to me. Maybe I'll be more impressed as our kids start using the phone more.
The basic quality of VOIPo's service after one month is fine, on par with what we've had in the past. Delivery time on the device was good and number porting went as expected (about two weeks). When I signed up I got a blizzard of emails from the "friendly" voip company, but curiously, I didn't receive one notifying me that the port had completed. Installation of the Grandstream HT502 was pretty much plug/play, but the instructions didn't mention the option of putting the ata behind our router, which I assumed was necessary because our modem is set to bridge mode and this doesn't seem compatible w/ sticking another router in between it and our regular router. I looked in VOIPo's faqs, and the only references I saw mentioned requirements to forward ports, etc. I ignored that and simply plugged the ata in to the lan side of the router w/ no problems so far. The most significant glitch in startup was when I first tried to log in to the web site - it wouldn't let me log in to the web site w/o putting in E911 info, but I received an error when I tried it. I had to call customer service and it turned out the errors were because our number was in use for E911 by the carrier we were leaving (btw I had to suggest this possibility to the rep, who first dismissed it while he spent some time trying other things).
The biggest disappointment to the service is that we do not have outbound caller id w/ name, because "our carrier partner in your area does not support it". We live in a city w/ 150K residents in the Chicago metro area, so I would assume there is some choice there, and our previous voip carrier provided this service in the same location. I'm guessing VOIPo is keeping costs down by not going w/ a partner carrier that provides it.
One thing that bothered me a bit is the pre-sales info on the web site. There is very little indication on the web site that the $8.25/mo. is not renewable and/or what the prices are after the low price expires. This info is buried in the fine print of the terms of service. It's also somewhat annoying that the "limited time" offer is set to expire in 16 hours, and has been for months or years. These things the main reason I gave the web site a poor rating.
Overall, VOIPo is a good service so far. As I said I was disappointed to find out we weren't getting outbound caller id w/ name, which to me is a pretty basic, important, and (I thought) almost universal service, and I downgraded the value-for-money rating because of it. Other than that, VOIPo's price is right for the features they offer.
Comments:
VOIPoTimVOIPo.comPremium,VIP
join:2006-06-06
Newport Beach, CA
kudos:2 | Port Forwarding Glad to hear things are working well for you overall.
As far as the lingering issues you are seeing, those will likely be resolved if you setup port forwarding in your router to make sure all of our traffic gets through to the adapter.
The symptoms you describe are definitely what we see when all the traffic isn't getting through. With the voicemail indicator, the signal we send to control that could be getting through some times but not others. With the no audio situation, the router could be letting our "signaling" get through but then not the actual audio stream when it hits.
Basically what you'll want to do is assign a static IP on your network to our adapter and then setup port forwarding in your router to forward UDP port range 5004-65000 to it.
If you don't know what any of this is or you would like us to help you do it, just contact support @ voipo.com and we can schedule a call to do it.
I really think it will clear up all your issues. | |
| | zeke56
join:2009-03-22
Naperville, IL | Re: Port Forwarding Thanks very much for the response. I neglected to say that the issues w/ voicemail and no sound on calls were apparently solved by VOIPo tech support. For the voicemail issue they made unspecified changes and for the "dead air" issue they changed our call routing. Neither issue has returned. The response of tech support was fine and is one of the things I like about the service. The fact that I have had to contact tech support at all, let alone more than once in a couple of months, is less than impressive. If problems recur I'll try your suggestions. | |
| | |  SuperNet9Go Ninja,Go Ninja Go..Premium
join:2002-10-08
Harwood Heights, IL
kudos:4
·VOIPo
| Re: Port Forwarding said by zeke56:Thanks very much for the response. I neglected to say that the issues w/ voicemail and no sound on calls were apparently solved by VOIPo tech support. For the voicemail issue they made unspecified changes and for the "dead air" issue they changed our call routing. Neither issue has returned. The response of tech support was fine and is one of the things I like about the service. The fact that I have had to contact tech support at all, let alone more than once in a couple of months, is less than impressive. If problems recur I'll try your suggestions.
I had issue like that as well, But I have to disagree about you havin to call tech support.. It's technology, things will break/not work.. It all depends on how Tech Support helped you, and it seems like they did.. So I wouldn't give them crap about contacting them.
--
Comcast HSI 22/5 / Verizon Wireless iPhone 4 /
»www.RestartYourComputer.net - IT Techs, Send people here to restart their computer | |
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 Review by dbmaven
member for 13.6 years, 7302 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 2 years ago
- Highland Mills,Orange,NY
- $13 per month
- (12 month contract)
- about 7 days
- "Price/reliabilitiy/call quality"
- "Currrent: None"
- "I'll renew"
| Web-site:
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(ratings match consensus)
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Decided to replace a 2nd POTS line, used for some business calls and the occasional fax, due to significant price differential versus VoIP providers.
Have a MagicJack, and while it works OK, doesn't provide the kind of service that I require for this 2nd line being that a computer needs to be on and running 24 x 7, so I went looking for an ATA device based VoIP solution. I don't have the time or inclination to mess with 'Bring your own Device' (BYOD) services, so I wanted one that would be plug and play.
VOIPo, although new and just coming out of an extended beta period, fit the bill, had good ratings by the testing team which frequents the VOIP TECH CHAT forum, and a very good price.
Setup was truly plug and play once the ATA arrived (Grandstream HT502). And it worked well.
As has been well documented in the forums, they had a series of problems with the HT502 during January/February 2009. They ended up replacing the 502 with Linksys PAP-2T devices. That led to a separate set of issues - not VOIPo's problem - that can be reviewed in my post here: »[VoIPo] If you have a Linksys router...
Since that time, I've had zero problems, 100% reliability and could not be happier with the service.
You can get better 'value for the money' if you're a tweaker/geek and do BYOD with another service provider, which is why I rated that attribute a "4". If you're a plug-and-play/I just want it to work type person, it's really a "5" at this time.
Update 26-Oct-2010
It just works.
Call clarity is better than anything else I've got - cell or POTS.
Zero issues in what seems like forever.
Comments:
dbmavenThere's no shortagePremium,Mod
join:1999-10-26
Sty in Sky
kudos:2
1 edit | update 26-Oct-2010 See above. | |
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 Review by hatfieldfios
member for 8.2 years, 1099 visits, last login: 352 days ago
lodged 2 years ago
- Hatfield,Montgomery,PA
- $4 per month
- about 15 days
- "Great quality and features at a very low price"
- "None"
- "Low cost great service"
| Web-site:
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(ratings match consensus)
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I switched from Vonage to VOIPo and loving the service and support. From order to live was in 15 days including number porting and service has been great since then. No outages and great features such as SIP, Voicemail and BYOD. At ~$5/month its the best reliable service you will ever find anywhere with quickest response from support. I was paying ~$35/month previously.
Comments:
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Review by thunder15
member for 5.4 years, 228 visits, last login: 65 days ago
lodged 2.1 years ago
- San Jose,Santa Clara,CA
- $9 per month
- (24 month contract)
- about 1 days
- "Price, Service, Support Staff, Features Pack"
- "Their control panel is not so intuitive or easy to navigate around"
- "Deliver what is advertised"
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After reading about VoIP and read the reviews on DSLreports.com, I took the plunge and moved my parent's landline with AT&T (had 18 years of service with them) over to VOIPO back in August 2010. The process was painless. It took about a week for the porting process to finish. VOIPO was in communication with us all during that time. We can also check via their website on our status.
I can't say more about how excellent experience I had with their technical staff. They are professional and patience. I can email them or pick up the phone and talk to a live human being.
My parent have not complained so far about the quality or service since the move. Which means, VOIPO is the same or even better than our existing landline service. My parent appreciated the calling ID feature very much.
In my own experience, I love the features of VOIPO, especially their BYOD option. I traveled to some countries in Asia and Africa and was able to use my own VoIP softphone to call back to the US either via the computer or smartphone clearly.
After signing up, I was able to use the SIP credentials to make calls ON THE SAME DAY! The adapter arrived 2 or 3 days later, all setup and ready to go. We live in California. It was sent from Texas.
I have to say that my Internet connection/service plays a big factor also. Even in places where the Internet connection is slow, the stability of the service helped to maintain clear calls.
The price is great, especially with a year-long contract. It is the best bang for the buck I have spent so far this year. I am not going back to landline again. There is even a 30-day guarantee.
Take my word for what it's worth. I have been studying and using technology since the mid 90's. I can honestly say that this company is not perfect, but they doing something very right. Check out their forum also if you don't believe me.
My own website: »searchformission.com
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