montano
join:2001-04-29
Central Cali
 ·VOIPo
| [VoiceStick] Now Charging MOnthly FEES :(
Dear Valued VoiceStick Customer,
In order to comply with government regulations and industry trends, it has become necessary that we discontinue our policy of waiving regulatory fees and taxes.
Starting October 1, 2007 ALL VoiceStick customers with a valid telephone number and an active account will be subject to the following fees:
Telephone Number (monthly recurring fee) $1.50
E-911 Regulatory Recovery (monthly recurring fee) $1.00
Universal Service Fund (monthly recurring fee) $1.25
To avoid service interruption all customers must have a valid credit card on file to cover these new charges.
If you would to convert your existing account to an i2Outbound Only calling plan Send a Request to Customer Service. To ensure the quickest possible response to your request please select Plan Conversion from the Department dropdown list. |
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cbrain
join:2000-05-21
Silver Spring, MD
·VoicePulse for Bus..
 ·Verizon FIOS
 ·Comcast
·Future Nine Corpor..
·VoiceStick
·Packet8
| Isn't that interesting. They shut off access to my account without notice, attempt extort an agreement that I will pay anything they charge my card, then raise prices with little notice.
Nice! 
» [VoiceStick]Anyone else asked for account verification? |
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hwittenb
join:2003-12-20 | reply to montano
I got the email also. So that's $3.75 a month for a DID. Does anyone know if others charge these hidden fees? |
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slow mo
join:2002-03-19
USA
1 edit | There is no "plan conversion" in dropdown list of "Department."
Now what?
EDIT: They just added "Plan Conversion" in the dropdown list. |
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RockyBB
Premium
join:2005-01-31
Longmont, CO
| reply to montano
said by montano  :it has become necessary that we discontinue our policy of waiving regulatory fees and taxes. Imagine that -- another VOIP provider trying to stay in business. Such greedy corporate thieves!
--
"Teleblend has an agreement with the Assignee to solicit and support former SunRocket customers." |
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montano
join:2001-04-29
Central Cali | Like my father always said, 'they should have thought of that before'.
Last I checked, their webpage is still offering the N2N plan with absolutely no mention of these added fees.
Deceitful ? Or just trying to stay in business ? |
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montano
join:2001-04-29
Central Cali
·VOIPo
| reply to montano
Captured about 1 minute ago from Voicestick dot com. I see a mention of NO MONTHLY FEE......
Talk to me Rocky  |
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mthornto88
@comcast.net
| Actually, I thought the same thing but if you click the link it asks you if you want a phone number for inbound calling. Then the fees are displayed at that point. So technically you can get the N2N plan for outbound calling free.
See below..
Will you Be Receiving Inbound Calls?
Choose the Inbound Calling Option to select from THOUSANDS of Telephone Numbers in HUNDREDS of Cities across the US and UK. US Customers who select Inbound Calling are subject to Emergency 911 service and regulatory recovery fees.
Don't Like to Pay Extra for Services that you'll never use?
Hey we hear you, neither do we, that's why we now offer the i2Telecom no frills, Outbound Calling Service.
Select this option for our CHEAPEST way to enjoy World Wide Outbound calling.
This Account will be used for Both Inbound and Outbound Calling
This Account will be used for Outbound Calls ONLY |
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montano
join:2001-04-29
Central Cali
·VOIPo
| reply to montano
From the N2N description page: 'FREE'.... 'get your own number'..... |
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RockyBB
Premium
join:2005-01-31
Longmont, CO
| montano, I can't believe that you have fallen for this crap trap! do you complain at the grocery store when the price on the shelf is not the price at the checkout? Do you complain at the car dealer when the price in the newspaper is not the price on the bill of sale? Do you complain at Best Buy when the price on the CD is not the price at the cash register?
Taxes have been around since the 1700s.
Get used to it!
--
"Teleblend has an agreement with the Assignee to solicit and support former SunRocket customers." |
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artisticcheese
join:2004-11-09
Carrollton, TX | reply to montano
Does this apply to prepaid annual plan customers if anybody knows? |
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KSUJace
Golden Flash
join:2001-12-01
Chicago, IL | Yes, if you have annual plan you will begin getting assessed the monthly fees, which is why they request you have a valid credit card on file with them. |
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KSUJace
Golden Flash
join:2001-12-01
Chicago, IL
·Comcast
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| reply to montano
This really does suck, I use the "Next 2 Nothing" plan as line to use when I work from home for long teleconferences to save the cell minutes.
I guess 3.75/month is still cheaper than paying the ILEC $12+ for a voice line w/ no included long distance. |
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montano
join:2001-04-29
Central Cali
·VOIPo
| reply to RockyBB
said by RockyBB :montano, I can't believe that you have fallen for this crap trap! do you complain at the grocery store when the price on the shelf is not the price at the checkout? Do you complain at the car dealer when the price in the newspaper is not the price on the bill of sale? Do you complain at Best Buy when the price on the CD is not the price at the cash register? Taxes have been around since the 1700s. Get used to it! I know before hand that I will be paying taxes when I go to the grocery store/car dealer/Best Buy. They don't have a big sign on the window that says 'FREE', and then charge me once I get in the store. |
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voiplover
Premium
join:2004-05-28
Portsmouth, NH
·callwithus
·Axvoice
2 edits | How dare they. Me and many of my buds have been enjoying private phone lines hidden from our better halves at a cost of around $2 to $3 a month and now they want to charge a monthly fee to have an inbound DID. Where's a $500/hr lawyer when you need one.
Let's drag them out of the basement and hang them on the yard arm! 
Ok. so they have been giving us good quality for next to nothing and the tax man finds a way to take it away.
Thanks Voicestick.
I'll keep the service. |
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cbrain
join:2000-05-21
Silver Spring, MD
·VoicePulse for Bus..
·Verizon FIOS
·Comcast
·Future Nine Corpor..
·VoiceStick
·Packet8
| reply to mthornto88
said by mthornto88 :
...
Don't Like to Pay Extra for Services that you'll never use?
Hey we hear you, neither do we, that's why we now offer the i2Telecom no frills, Outbound Calling Service.
Select this option for our CHEAPEST way to enjoy World Wide Outbound calling.
...
The words sound good but the problem is I no longer trust VoiceStick. This is the second time in 45 days you made a major change with no or inadequate notice. You can set your prices any way you want and I can choose to buy or go elsewhere. Once I make a decision I expect reasonable notice of change. I discovered your starting to charge for incoming after the fact and not from VoiceStick. This was in violation of VoiceStick terms. Today is the 26th. Two business days before the change takes effect and I have not received notice from VoiceStick. Is that reasonable? How many alternative providers could get service up in that period? If I needed these services and was willing to pay the price, I would still have an issue with paying anyone doing business this way.
If what I read here is true, I would like to terminate all but the outgoing until I deplete my funds. At that time I can decide whether to buy more, but without an open ended, I accept whatever you bill my card ultimatum. I would agree to your charging the last call if it went over or to your cutting the call. If you prefer, kill my service and refund my balance.
How do I get this done before your deadline?
Thanks |
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RockyBB
Premium
join:2005-01-31
Longmont, CO
| reply to montano
said by montano :I know before hand that I will be paying taxes now you know. now everyone knows. taxes apply to telecom. if you're not being taxed, then your carrier is eating it; when they are deciding between continuing to eat the taxes and continuing to eat, you will start to pay the taxes.
--
"Teleblend has an agreement with the Assignee to solicit and support former SunRocket customers." |
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voiplover
Premium
join:2004-05-28
Portsmouth, NH | It sucks the way that works sometimes.  |
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jeffnyc
join:2004-06-09
New York, NY
| reply to RockyBB
said by RockyBB :said by montano :I know before hand that I will be paying taxes now you know. now everyone knows. taxes apply to telecom. if you're not being taxed, then your carrier is eating it; when they are deciding between continuing to eat the taxes and continuing to eat, you will start to pay the taxes. I disagree. Are all these fees really going to the govt? Maybe eventually they will but I dont think now.
I also agree with montano. If I chose to purchase something from say Amazon over BestBuy, one of the reason is the price difference from taxes. Voicestick N2N plan was a great deal, now they are charging for everything, incoming calls, calling voicemail, checking voicemail, double billing i2bridge calls etc. And a lot of their issues have not been resolved -i.e. some people still cannot access voicemail prompts from outside lines by pressing asterisk (issue for over 2 months)/
Voicestick has a right to make money but there service, reliability and policies have really degraded over the past 2 months making them less attractive than many (not all) of their voip competitors. |
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Notzero
@knology.net
| reply to montano
I agree that another change in service plan without sufficient warning in the last two months is annoying. While I think it's great that we as customers are finding this out before it's even posted on their website, I think they should spend a little more time on things like the website (which many of us will go to for more information) and customer notification emails.
I really wouldn't be surprised to wake up one morning and find that VoiceStick and all three of their employees have gone fishing for good.
I like the prices VoiceStick has on international rates and I like paying for service as I use it. I want VoiceStick to "stick" around and I understand them needing to be profitable. I don't mind the charges so much as I despise the lack of confidence it instills in me about the company. |
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