Bill44130
join:2003-10-08
Cleveland, OH
 ·Future Nine Corpor..
·Axvoice
·ViaTalk
|  [Packet8] Packet8 prepaid is not prepaid
With the SunRocket demise and Packet8 named has the first preferred vendor I decided I better move on this before I lose my long time home phone number. I decided that I liked to prepay for my service that way I don’t have to worry about another phone bill until next year. Well I got my credit card statement in the mail and Packet8 has charged me another $4.00. I called customer service billing department, and they told me that I will still get a bill every month that I have to pay 911 charges and also some other taxes.
Now, when I paid SunRocket for the year that was it until the next year. Because my 30 day trail period is over I am stuck with them for 11 more months and another $44.00 a year. |
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meister_sd
Premium
join:2006-01-29
La Mesa, CA | Sounds like it's time for a charge back |
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chaud
Serious Business
join:2004-07-09
Anderson, SC
·Charter VOIP
·Packet8
| Sounds like it's time to read the box before you click I Accept.
I don't understand why you prepay, when you can just have it charge your CC each month. But whatever floats your boat.  |
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nycityny
Premium
join:2005-08-09
New York, NY | reply to Bill44130
ViaTalk does the same thing with prepaid customers. I get a monthly bill for $2.50 for nonsense fees from them as well. |
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ronny_b
join:2004-10-10
Saint Louis, MO
| said by nycityny  :ViaTalk does the same thing with prepaid customers. I get a monthly bill for $2.50 for nonsense fees from them as well. I also get that $2.50 bill, and I am NOT a prepay customer.
Ron |
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sheik28
Premium
join:2000-10-15
New York, NY
| reply to Bill44130
This is not uncommon. It was posted about here when P8 first rolled out their pre-pay plan. ViaTalk does it as well. Seems like this was just another thing that was done wrong by "The Bird".
Lie was posted already, be sure to read before clicking "I accept". |
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sailor279
join:2001-12-07
Manhattan Beach, CA
| reply to Bill44130
If you complain enough to their CS, you may be able to get out of the "hidden" $59 disconnect fee and dump the service. They are scammers -- the sales rep that took my order on the phone mentioned NOTHING about the disconnect fee, or even the T&C's. It took them 3 weeks to respond to a tech support case I opened and by that time, it was past the 30d MBG period. I complained bitterly to them and finally was able to get them to waive fee.
I should have known that there would be problems when it took so long for them to respond. At the first sign of problems, I should have cancelled and gotten my money back. BEWARE of PACKET8 !!!! |
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christcorp
Premium
join:2001-05-21
Cheyenne, WY
 ·Bresnan Online
·VOIPo
| Sorry sailor, but most people have accepted the fact that if you don't read the TOS prior to going with a provider then you have no one to blame but yourself if you don't like the rules after you sign up. I suppose you think that sales should sit on the phone with you for 30 minutes and go over the entire TOS before you agree and sign up?
Their $59 disconnect fee is NOT hidden. Especially when they rarely charge an activation fee, equipment fee, shipping, and many times throws in the first month for free. No, the warning shouldn't be about Packet8. The warning that you should be giving people is to learn from your mistakes and read the term of service before entering an agreement with ANY voip provider. Later... Mike... |
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Cogdis
join:2007-03-26
Floral Park, NY
 ·Verizon FIOS
·RoadRunner Cable
·Teleblend
·ViaTalk
| said by christcorp :I suppose you think that sales should sit on the phone with you for 30 minutes and go over the entire TOS before you agree and sign up? Maybe it's just me, but doesn't an extra $48 added to the yearly price sound like something they ought to mention? If they're just giving you a total for the year with no mention of further charges how can you fault the guy for being surprised? |
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sheik28
Premium
join:2000-10-15
New York, NY
1 edit | said by Cogdis : If they're just giving you a total for the year with no mention of further charges how can you fault the guy for being surprised? They're not. It is clearly stated before signing up.
Amounts aren't there, but you are told you will be charged monthly fees.
--
There is no such thing as a stupid question, and yes, the camel types.  |
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Cogdis
join:2007-03-26
Floral Park, NY
·Verizon FIOS
·RoadRunner Cable
·Teleblend
·ViaTalk
| If you ordered online you'd be responsible for the fine print. But over the phone they're responsible for telling you about the monthly fees.
My brother had a similar experience to sailor and cancelled Viatalk in part because they didn't tell him about the extra fees. They didn't tell him he'd loose 30 bucks when cancelling during the trail period either. He found that out when he got the refund minus the activation fee.
They didn't even send him this information in the package. Just a letter that said welcome to viatalk. |
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Bill44130
join:2003-10-08
Cleveland, OH
·Future Nine Corpor..
·Axvoice
·ViaTalk
| I ordered my service over the phone. They made no mention
about a monthly charge. If they had I wouldnt have prepaid.
I think this monthly thing is just a scam. Why offer prepaid if you are going to charge every month. I won't renew the service. |
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christcorp
Premium
join:2001-05-21
Cheyenne, WY
·Bresnan Online
·VOIPo
| It's not a scam. All the providers who offer an annual plan, pretty much do the same thing. It's easier on their billing being most of these additional charges don't stay with the provider but most go off to the state, feds, etc...
I don't understand the problem though. When you go to the store and buy a pair jeans, you don't get it for what the sticker says. Taxes are added on to it. Same with a car and so on. When Ma'bell, Directv, Cable, and just about any other advertised product or service advertises, they don't normally include taxes and/or fees in their advertised price. The reason these others don't bother most of us, is because we know that there is rarely a product or service that includes taxes and fees. Therefore we expect there to be additional fees.
All people have to do here is to expect the same exact thing. Then when you call them to order service, you can ask them if the price you are going to be charged; monthly or annually; if it will be the final price or if there will be additional taxes and/or fees.
Yes, many of us would ONLY do a prepaid service if we could get the convenience of not having to pay for the next 12 months. That is the only reason I would do it. I don't care about the money. I don't care about paying more with one provider over another provider. I will try and get the best deal I can for the services and features I need, but money isn't that important to me. The convenience however is very important. As long as Packet8, viatalk, or anyone else doesn't include everything in the yearly price, then I won't get the annual deal.
This is one reason I love Voicestick's Next2Nothing plan. The amount they charge per minute is all inclusive. I like the PAYG service. The monthly plan migh be cheaper, but it's not by much when you include taxes and fees. Later... Mike... |
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Cogdis
join:2007-03-26
Floral Park, NY
·Verizon FIOS
·RoadRunner Cable
·Teleblend
·ViaTalk
| Christcorp,
There is a difference between taxes and fees. Taxes are required to be paid to the government and are of course expected. They charge the taxes when you purchase the year of service.
Fees are unregulated charges that are implemented by, and paid to Packet 8 only in order to make more money while still advertising a lower price.
Why do you think that they don't charge you the fees at the same time you buy the service- or charge you for the first month (why is that month special?) Because they hope you don't realize until it's too late!
Imagine you call dell to buy a computer over the telephone. You work out your system and they tell you "your total is $2000 plus tax (say $2085)". You pay the total and forget about it. Then after you have the computer and your return period is over, you receive another bill that was never mentioned on the phone for $500 (25% like packet 8). I bet you wouldn't have expected that fee if they didn't tell you. Why should you "expect" one from packet 8.
It's simple- they have to tell you about these fees before you're locked in. |
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zackwheat
join:2006-05-03
Blue Springs, MO
1 edit | reply to christcorp
said by christcorp :This is one reason I love Voicestick's Next2Nothing plan. The amount they charge per minute is all inclusive. I like the PAYG service. The monthly plan migh be cheaper, but it's not by much when you include taxes and fees. Later... Mike... Quantumvoice's prices are all inclusive as well. They might not be quite as inexpensive as Voicestick, but they offer Caller ID Name. After Voicestick lost my port information, quit offering phone support, took a week to respond to my emails, and started charging for inbound calls, I began looking elsewhere. |
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sheik28
Premium
join:2000-10-15
New York, NY
| reply to Cogdis
That is completely ridiculous. Whether it's a tax or fee you know there is an additional charge. When you get cell service, a new computer...almost anything you know there are "add-ons".
I can not believe that people who got "sunrocketed" aren't more cautious in their future purchases. This is not anything new. The fact that the solid performers in the VoIP market collect taxes/fees on a monthly basis has been discussed here several times. |
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Cogdis
join:2007-03-26
Floral Park, NY
1 edit | I didn't mean that I wouldn't expect the fees. I meant that I'd expect to pay them when I purchased the product unless the sales person said "You will be charged more fees later". |
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nycityny
Premium
join:2005-08-09
New York, NY
·PHONE POWER
·VoicePulse
·RCN CABLE
·ViaTalk
| reply to Bill44130
It seems to me that the objective of billing these additional FEES monthly is to mislead and hide them as much as possible. It's a marketing ploy that is really deceitful. That other places or industries do it does not make it any more right.
The screen cap of the page someone showed above proves the dishonesty. The page has $199 in BIG numbers and then the poster even says that you have to look at other pages to see mention of the additional fees. Why aren't those fees listed in the same size print as the $199 on the same page? The sole purpose is to deceive.
Flame away, apologists. |
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Bill44130
join:2003-10-08
Cleveland, OH
·Future Nine Corpor..
·Axvoice
·ViaTalk
| reply to christcorp
It is a scam.
When I paid for the service they hit me for almost $15.00 in charges. Having paid that much in extra charges would lead one to believe that my annual payment would be good until next year. Do the math for 12 months they are going to hit me for $4 plus the $15. They aren’t giving this money to any tax entity. This is just extra revenue generator for them. In my case it was under handed because the sales rep made no mention that I would be charged monthly. When the year is up I will not renew.
I have a limited Viatalk account that I have had since 2005 that I prepaid for a year and they gave me the 2nd year for free. They are not charging me monthly for taxes and fees every month. But when renewal time comes up some time in March of next year I will be ready for them. I am now an educated consumer thanks to this forum. |
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christcorp
Premium
join:2001-05-21
Cheyenne, WY
·Bresnan Online
·VOIPo
| Well, I can't speak necessarily on the annual plan because I don't have it, but on the monthly plan there are 4 additional costs. 2 of them are for Packet8; recovery fee and 911 fee. There are also 2 others. State 911 tax and the USF. Both of which packet8 doesn't get to keep. None of these 4 are mentioned as included in the initial price.
Then again, neither are many of the additional costs from the landline Ma'Bell company, cable company, satellite company, car dealer, or a host of others. You are correct that just because the others don't mention it doesn't make it right. So my question is; have you contacted these other providers and merchants and expressed the same dissatisfaction? Are you looking for other providers that don't do this? I'm not saying that it wouldn't be nice if the advertised price was all inclusive, but I have automatically come to realize that just about all services and providers do similar advertising. Just as they say $199.99 because it SOUNDS cheaper than $200.00
I've come to expect these additional charges. As do most people who buy anything. When I first ordered packet8, before there even was an annual plan, the first thing I asked was "How much will my monthly bill be total"? "How much will my credit card be charged monthly"? To not ask this or to assume otherwise is naive. Why would you assume that a voip provider would be any different than any other service, provider, or merchant? Later... Mike.... |
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