Viatalk Booted From Better Business BureauCEO says flood of post-Sunrocket complaints to blame ( old news - 05:09PM Friday Jan 04 2008) tags: business · VoIP · ViaTalkVoIP provider Viatalk (see reviews, forum) today confirmed they've been expelled from the Better Business Bureau (see their listing). The agency voted last month to oust the provider after a high volume of complaints. ViaTalk CEO and Broadband Reports forum regular Brendan Brader says the expulsion was due to the influx of customers after SunRocket went belly up. From a post to our forums: We've been working with the Better Business bureau since the beginning of ViaTalk, but our membership was revoked recently due to the number of complaints placed against us during the fallout after the demise of Sunrocket. All of the complaints were easily resolved, and we kept in close contact with our contact at the BBB to track and respond to the complaints as they came in. Unfortunately, we're told that the BBB Membership standards include a limitation of the actual volume of complaints over a given time regardless of our proof of resolution. It's a tough penalty, considering the situation and the efforts we made to keep things on the up and up. Brader insists that the company stayed in close contact with the BBB and tried to resolve customer complaints, but complaint volume, regardless of resolution, resulted in expulsion. The BBB says the expulsion was a result of "unanswered or unresolved complaints, and/or excessive and high volume complaints."The BBB says they received 171 complaints since the company's file was opened in August 2005, with 142 of those within the last twelve months. According to the agency, 73 of those were fully resolved while 31 saw "delayed resolution." 65 complaints were never resolved, though the company made every effort to do so. The company did not respond to only three of the complaints.
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CyberSultan
Premium
join:2006-07-20 | Re: BB B(s) I think it served a purpose at one point. But IMO it lost its credibility a long time ago. | |
| | dcurrey
join:2004-06-29
edit:
January 4th, @07:17PM
| I find the BBB is about as useful as Consumer Reports. No that's a compliment. | |
| | guppy_fish
Premium
join:2003-12-09
Lakeland, FL
 ·ViaTalk
| Viatalk has had issues for over two years, the Sunrocket excuse chooses to ignore the service has never been very reliable, does everyone know they STILL have beta servers and look for beta testers ... just look at the recent postings. I don't see Vonage/Call Vantage and the like doing this.
Viatalks key issue is technical, they decided to have all IP traffic go thru their servers, all other providers only route the call, then the actual call is direct. This was done for some of the features they promote, yet don't even have ( call recording is one I recall )
Viatalk also uses third party hosting companies for their severs sprinkled around the county and is a constant shuffle of how/where the servers are located and with whom. This seems to cause random routing issues as they are all 3rd/4th tier companies and not direct to the Tier one IP backbones.
The service is what it is, nothing more, nothing less, a beta level service that is lower cost than POTS. Until Viatalk goes with servers they have on site with redundant dedicated pipes and routes traffic like everyone else, it will continue to have issues and people file complaints. | |
| | | Fisamo
Premium
join:2004-02-20
Apex, NC
·AT&T CallVantage
| Re: BB B(s) How many people go to the BBB as their first attempt to correct a problem? Very few, I suspect. By the time someone resorts to complaining to the BBB, doesn't that usually mean they've not gotten a satisfactory response from the company?
Though I agree that it could be considered unfair that many complaints, even if they are all resolved, could result in 'de-accreditation' by the BBB, I have to agree with you ( guppy_fish  ) that this situation is not some malicious anti-ViaTalk campaign through the BBB. I've spoken favorably of the company numerous times in the forums and have long hoped they'd pull themselves together to offer a feature-rich, inexpensive, top-notch quality VoIP service. The signs of the ship going the wrong way really started in earnest with the first buy-one-get-one offer--long delays to open an account, to receive equipment, to reach customer support/get tickets resolved, etc. Such an event could be chalked up to the unexpected volume of business--once. But it happened with the next BOGO sale and then again with the SR collapse...
Other issues fanning the flames of discontent: the E911/regulatory recovery fee (probably wouldn't have been necessary if they weren't constantly running the BOGO deal), frequent dramatic changes in pricing, an obvious lack of adequate support procedures, and (worst of all, IMO) their practice of collecting the RRFs from customers who had subscribed to prepaid plans BEFORE the RRF was added to the TOS and acting as if that was the plan from the beginning... The point is, their BBB accreditation was bound to be revoked sooner or later.
Yes, I had a ViaTalk line--kept it for 15 mos, but didn't use it much. I was able to reproduce many of the complaints I read about in the forum of features not working, etc (not all, of course). But even at its best, VT didn't have the 'polish' (or 'solid quality feel', however, you want to word it) to me that my current provider does, so there was no real chance of switching to them for primary service. (Or, in the words of guppy_fish , they have the feel of "a beta level service.") Then, once I could no longer renew for under $9/mo, it wasn't worth keeping the line open... | |
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sMoKeNiNja
join:2001-09-10
Wheaton, IL
clubs:  | so? what does this actually do? Like 2 people that would have used it before won't know because they aren't on this list?
BBB is pretty useless.. at least give them some authority or power | |
| | james1
join:2001-02-26
antarctica | Re: so? Judging from the way they handled this specific company, the last thing they need is power or authority. | |
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CyberSultan
Premium
join:2006-07-20
edit:
January 4th, @05:36PM
| Unbiased News Article? Interesting how Karl uses words like "Booted", "Expelled", "Oust", and "Expulsion". The BBB simply said it was "revoked". Getting a little carried away here Karl? 
Anyways, I don't place much faith in the BBB. Haven't for some time now. So this is relatively a non-news item for me. | |
| | james1
join:2001-02-26
antarctica | Re: Unbiased News Article? Careful, badmouth Karl too much and you might get banned, er I mean have your account "revoked". | |
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CyberSultan
Premium
join:2006-07-20 | Re: Unbiased News Article?  | |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02 | Yes, the selection of the word "oust" in particular was intended to be part of my vast cabal, but you hath uncovered my evil plans.... | |
| | | | | | | | fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| Now you're being too P.C. about this... there is a difference in being bias and telling the news from choosing a few words to describe something that all mean the same thing.
Karl posted nothing wrong in the article nor did he go overboard in his choice of words. | |
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timbo419
@all.de | BBB The BBB is brutal. Where can you file a complaint with how they conduct THEIR business. | |
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iLive4Apple
Hybrid power
Premium
join:2006-07-13
Hoover, AL
 ·AT&T Southeast
·ViaTalk
| Canceled ViaTalk I canceled them a few weeks ago for lack of service. They act like they are in Beta phase and the CEO who posts on here is a complete jackass and doesn't know the first meaning of business it seems like telling me I have no idea what I am talking about and pretty much calling me an idiot. I filed a complaint with the BBB along with many others. VT has great potential, they just need to get their act together.
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I get 29 MPG in my Toyota Highlander Hybrid! | |
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CyberSultan
Premium
join:2006-07-20
| Re: Canceled ViaTalk The Sunrocket fiasco did a lot of damage to a lot of people. No one was prepared for a sudden fall like that.
We all saw that it took VT a while to recover from the flood of new orders (there was a shortage of ATA hardware alone in the supply channels because of all this which I'm sure affected VT order fulfillment)...as well as thousands (tens of thousands?) of tickets that VT received looking for status on orders, setup help, etc. (which took them some time to get through because of the sheer numbers involved). | |
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no_one
@QWEST.NET
| Re: Canceled ViaTalk Old news. You do not staff just for unexpected newcomers. That would be over staffing and they would have failed due to payroll before that. Now if Vonage went belly up lets see the mass outfall.
Viatalk is an in between carrier. Not a top level VOIP provider but not the scum of VOIP. The price does match the service.
Thing is I do not understand some different customer service levels. I have had the 911 billing issue for pre some date customer. Put in a nice short ticket fixed at that time. Others supposedly put in tickets and problems.
Just the wide extreme in service and customer service. Just if I hated them I would be mad.
I can be a hot head . Postal service ticked me off today will not go into that rant. But maybe my expectations of Vuatalk are lower than a true pots line and do not use every feature just main ones. | |
| | | itguy05
join:2005-06-17
Camp Hill, PA
| quote:
Im sure the same thing would have happend to say....Dell in the mid 90's if HP went under and Dell had a influx of orders;
First, Dell already has a lousy reputation with the BBB.
»www.centraltx.bbb.org/commonrepo···id=41453
And not to mention Dell's are Garbage to begin with. | |
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supergirl
join:2007-03-20
Pensacola, FL
 ·Cox HSI
·AT&T Southeast
·magicjack.com
·Skype
edit:
January 5th, @04:30AM
| said by itguy05 : quote:
Im sure the same thing would have happend to say....Dell in the mid 90's if HP went under and Dell had a influx of orders;
First, Dell already has a lousy reputation with the BBB. » www.centraltx.bbb.org/commonrepo···id=41453And not to mention Dell's are Garbage to begin with. Ummm, Via Talk uses DELL made servers. I think the one's they bought off a guy out of his truck was probably a bad idea. LOL!
BBB kicked out 17 total:
• My Three Sons Construction Co. of West Monroe, NY 1/2007
• Chefs Choice LLC of Williamsville, NY 1/2007
• Capital Fence Co., Inc. of Amherst, NY 1/2007
• Signature Construction of Syracuse, NY 1/2007
• Ingalls Plumbing Heating & Electric of Johnson City, NY 1/2007
• Advantage Home Improvement of Stillwater, NY 2/2007
• Reliable Handyman Inc. of Rochester, NY 2/2007
• Clear Choice USA of Rochester, NY 8/2007
• Fix It Home Maintenance & Remodeling of Rochester, NY 8/2007
• Tech Valley Excavating of Clifton Park, NY 8/2007
• DPD Pools of Niagara Falls, NY 8/2007
• Gary E. Reid Construction, Inc. of Youngstown, NY 9/2007
• Pine Ridge Log Home Restoration Inc. of Lacona, NY 9/2007
• Eagle Construction Company of Rochester, NY 11/2007
• Superior Auto Sales, Inc. of Hamburg, NY 12/2007
• CC Cycles of Clifton Park, NY 12/2007
• ViaTalk Inc. of Spencerport, NY 12/2007
So, how is that biased?
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Saving the world keeps me busy. However, I find Earth very primitive from my home planet of Krypton.
-Supergirl | |
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koam
Pink Pecker
Premium
join:2000-08-16
Eagle River, AK
clubs: | Re: Canceled ViaTalk aka bluebermuda | |
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hayabusa3303
Over 200 mph
Premium
join:2005-06-29
clubs: | thats business i booted Viatalk over a year ago. What im reading in the forums im glad they are not my phone company anymore. ( talk about down hill ouch)
Qv has my business and they are excellent. | |
| flyARIA
join:2006-07-29
Cincinnati, OH
| Viatalk and the BBB »Filed a BBB complaint against ViaTalk
I posted this back in September 2007, when the ViaTalk fan boys were really active. Don't insult my intelligence and tell me that the problem was because of Sunrockets demise and that ViaTalk just had to accommodate all of these poor people that were left without VoIP.
It's was all about the money IMHO. ViaTalk willingly allowed greed to "steer the ship" and everything else was secondary.
In my case, ViaTalk wouldn't communicate with me. The BBB was at least able to get a hold of these folks and get things straightened out. Something that I couldn't do with phone calls, service tickets, faxes, and time.
I still have ViaTalk but I don't use them as primary communication. It is worth the money that I pay for it. | |
| nutcr0cker
join:2003-04-02
Chandler, AZ
| They had their starting hiccups If you have 3-4 huests in house it can be a problematic sittuation. Sunrocket after being shafted by lisa hooker went down via talk was a good deal. I have viatalk since then and am happy with the features. Lot less money than vonage with a lot more features. I would dump this company if they decide to hire lisa Hook as their CEO but then again that will only happen after nuestar goes down. | |
| tenorsaw1
join:2003-07-10
Brooklyn, NY
·ViaTalk
edit:
January 4th, @06:10PM
| BBB Helped Me Actually, the BBB has helped me when I purchased my car. The dealership wouldn't refund my money for an extended warranty when it clearly stated in the contract that I was allowed to do so within 72 hours. They promptly refunded my money after the BBB got involved.
I do understand that ViaTalk was overwhelmed by the amount of new customers when SunRocket shut down, but at the same time, they do have issues that needs to be addressed. | |
| poolek
join:2003-11-04
Austin, TX
·RoadRunner Cable
·AT&T Yahoo
·ViaTalk
| No complaints from me... I've had them for over 2 years now. I pay less than $10 a month for unlimited long distance. I can send my mother-in-law directly to voicemail. I can schedule my phone not to ring during my daughter's nap times, and I can block annoying telemarketers who ignore the 'do not call' list.
It's not perfect, but I'll take it over ATT any day. And really - with multiple cell phones and Skype, I don't really need it to be perfect. I plan to renew when my current deal is up, BBB approval or not. | |
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kbamslam
join:2004-11-16
Rochester, NY
| current customer I am a current Viatalk customer and am one of those that migrated from the SunRocket mess. While I was upset and still am a bit, over the length of time to setup my initial account and get credit for my remaining SunRocket contract. The customer service has been much faster in recent months and the call quality is exceptional compared to SunRocket and Vonage. It is by far the best VOIP company I have used. I feel they should have been given a "free" pass during the SunRocket mess. How could anyone expect them to be prepared for all the new customers? We (the actual SunRocket customers) didn't even get prior notice of the company folding. That's my 2 cents anyways. | |
| number_one
join:2001-11-30
Midlothian, VA
 ·Verizon FIOS
·Verizon Online DSL
| Can't say I disagree Well, coming from someone who actually filed one of those complaints after months of repeatedly being ignored by Viatalk, I can't say I disagree with the BBB. Just because they "resolve" a complaint doesn't mean it makes up for the terrible service and complete lack of professional courtesy to many customers.
I for one had to keep paying a monthly fee to Verizon for over 5 months after signing up with Viatalk because of the insane amount of time it took to port my number, so Viatalk cost me an extra $125 during that period. No offer to refund anything at all despite that fact that my Viatalk account was essentially useless without my ported number.
I'm still a customer (especially since I already prepaid for two years of service), and I haven't had any major problems since then, but it was a nightmare trying to reach anyone in their support department at that time, and I primarily just wanted to know what was going on. | |
| 
The Beer
I Love It When A Plan Comes Together
Premium
join:2001-07-24
Omaha, NE
clubs:
·ViaTalk
| Yep I pay $2.50/mo for service I canceled a year ago I filed one of those complaints with the BBB.
Time and time again I opened tickets with Viatalk over the USF/e911 fee explaining I was no longer a customer.
I had ported out my number over a year ago.
Every month I would get charges for the fees, every month I would charge them back and open a ticket.
I finally got fed up and filed the complaint with the BBB.
Then I was threatened to stop the chargebacks or they would be charging ME $50 for the fraudluant chargebacks per their user agreement!
Sometimes it would take 2+ weeks between replies with them.
After the "Threat" I reported the card stolen and never looked back. They finally said they were sending a refund, I watch the mailbox daily.... not. | |
| | 
prestonlewis
Premium,MVM
join:2003-04-13
Sacramento, CA
·VoiceStick
·Comcast
·Pacific Bell - SBC
·DSL EXTREME
·Vonage
·VoicePulse
| Re: Yep I pay $2.50/mo for service I canceled a year ago said by The Beer :Every month I would get charges for the fees, every month I would charge them back and open a ticket. I left ViaTalk well before the SunRocket fiasco largely due to voice quality problems. I bore them no grudge. However, they also have continued to charge me $2.50/month EVERY month. I finally reported the credit card lost/stolen and got another one to stop the charges. Now they are billing me $41 + $2.50 and they never include an account number in their emails (I've long since forget my number or account number/name).
Their billing system, "Modern Bill",as they call it, apparently does not work very well. No account number, no user telephone number, no way to identify what account is being billed. Plus the fact that 18 months or so after closing my account, they are still trying to bill me. If you're happy with VT, great. But if you are thinking of closing your account, keep documentation and be prepared to close your credit card account. | |
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MarkyD
Premium
join:2002-08-20
Oklahoma City, OK
clubs: | happy here. I for one have been very happy with VT. Rock solid service, great features, great price. I've never had a problem.
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MCSE, ACSA, and a lot more | |
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gui489g949
@comcast.net | so how long.... will viatalk ride the sunrocket croaked horse??! | |
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kyler13
Is your fiber grounded?
join:2006-12-12
Arnold, MD
·ViaTalk
·Verizon FIOS
| Great service My VT service has been rock solid. The SunRocket demise was a double-edged sword for VT. I believe they took a large portion of the stranded customers in because of the great service, features, and price. Unfortunately, I think VT was way overwhelmed by that influx which killed took a toll on customer service for awhile. You have to do what you have to do if the service isn't working, but the company was great before this time period and has been great since recovering. Much better than the poor service offered by other companies on a regular basis (ahem, Verizon, AT&T, Comcast among others). | |
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normljoe
Premium
join:2004-08-11
Arlington, TX | Love VT I've been with VT for a little over a year and have never had problem with them. Not once. I couldn't be happier.
Now Vonage on the other hand... | |
| neilswolf
join:2005-02-09
West Hills, CA | love viatalk I have had service for almost a year now and have nothing to complain about. | |
| kdpo1990
join:2005-06-02
Bradenton, FL
|  ViaTalk is fine company.
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