ViaTalk → Advice Please?

It seems like almost every new post on this forum is about leaving ViaTalk. That doesn't seem to be the trend on some of the other forums I have been reviewing. Why are people canceling ViaTalk service this frequently? Just curious because the price seems great, but I don't want to sign up just to want to leave for another provider in a month. Thanks in advance for any replies as to why people are canceling so frequently.

The only observation I can see is the dis-satisfaction of some sort of "retention offer". The price advertised is great for a new subscriber, but as an extension of you current service, the offer may not be the same. Over the past few months, most people who came over from SunRocket, have had their 2 year contract expire, and were looking for a deal to stay.
Some have also experienced some adverse service levels, but that will be the same with any provider. The service is usually only as good as your ISP connection. Call it the "Grass is Always Greener" syndrome.
I am not in any way affiliated with ViaTalk, except for the fact that I am a happy subscriber. I have had some bumps in the road along my past 2 years with them, but service has been for the most part reliable, and tech support had been helpful when needed, and I never went long without service.
I cannot say the same for my previous VoIP providers, and definitely cannot say the same for my POTS provider.
As always, you mileage may vary, and I am sure there will be a host of other posts to follow that either support or slam the service.
All I can say is I am happy, and my wife is happy, so we decided to sign on for an additional 2 years. I know what to expect, what to tweak when things don't work, and who to contact when I get into trouble. I cannot say the same for other providers.

Hope this helps.

TJ

Almost any technical forum is going to be tilted towards issues - it doesn't mean there aren't many others receiving good service with few or no problems. You just don't hear from them as often. Who we seem to hear from semi-regularly is a handful of former customers who had a rockier road than some, but have made it a hobby to drop by to tack on to any negative thread even though they have no personal experience less than a couple of years old.

With the exception of these few cancellation questions, this forum has really been very quiet over the last year or so.

I am one of those who have been using VT for quite a long time - nearly 4 years now - and have recently added on to my service. VT went through a number of growing pains, but have become a very stable service and a great value to me. That's why I stayed here. I wouldn't let those posts make you shy away from VT as a provider.

I agree with TJ in terms of his point about your ISP being a big determining factor in what your VoIP experience will be like. The rest of your home network equipment also will be a factor.

Good luck.

Double edged sword. People will post more when they are unhappy with a situation. If people post something that is positive or just saying "hey, working as it should" they get tagged as a shill of fanboy.

People inherently are more vocal when that are unhappy.

Actually, a review of the the VT Forum over the past year tells a different story ... showing a marked decrease in frequency of new threads and responding posts.

During VT's "hard times" the VT Forum would have many new threads opened each and every day ... along with scores of responses within each thread from a wide range of customers. Many of those customers were long time BBR members with a respectable amount of either technical knowledge or real life experience with evolving VoIP technology.

Within the past year, the VT Forum has shown a remarkable decrease in overall postings ... averaging one or two threads or responses per day and sometimes going days with no activity. This would suggest that most customers are satisfied ... and we only seem to be hearing from those few who for one reason or another (usually based on financial issues, as mentioned by TJ_in_IL) have made public their disenchantment and moved on to other providers.

Curiously, we have seen the identical situation in the TeleBlend Forum ... with some differences I'll mention later on ... which might lead folks to believe TB is mirroring the VT experience. But I think two divergent conclusions can be made from the similar VT and TB Forums postings.

With VT, we know that a large number of experienced BBR Forum members had signed up for service early on ... and some (including me) left VT for other providers based on non-financial issues (essentially, lousy service and support) a while back. Indeed, although ViaTalk is at the lower end of the »/gbu review listing, a check of the 98 negative reviews shows only two "recent" reviews panning VT solely based on price/value for money ... one from 28 days ago and the other from 147 days ago. The older of these posts reported...

Hidden Fees
Early termination Fees
VoIP device fee if you cancel (not free as advertised)
Over charge Tax fee and do not refund when they should
2 hour wait time to talk to support
Constant outages
Poor line quality on over 50% of the calls
Frequent dropped calls

... but most of us would admit that the non-financial complaints seem to have abated considerably in the last six months ... and some of the non-financial problems may well have been due to customer side issues (ISP, in-home devices/settings).

The third most "recent" negative review is from over 6 months ago, once again complaining about fees. In fact, that poster actually stated:

When service was used, it performed well. Rarely a complaint...

The next review, from 199 days ago, was mine!

7/24/09 - I had cancelled all of my many VT accounts by April of this year. However, at this point ... [mid-2009!] ... just about all of my [negative] comments over the last year have become somewhat moot.

As for TeleBlend, the TB Forum threads and posts are also few and far between, even moreso than VT threads ... and the TB Forum is only being used, essentially, by dissatisfied or troubled customers looking to communicate directly with TBSupport1 (a/k/a Joe B) in attempts to resolve mostly technical (not financial) issues. Indeed, most of the TB complainers are not among those who contribute regularly or at all to any of the VoIP Forums discussions. These folks must be gluttons for punishment ... or maybe they simply lack the knowledge, skill or gumption required to move to another provider.

And I have gotten the sense over the past year that many (maybe even most) of the complaining TB posts are from people who have stayed with TB only because of the free or low priced calls to India. (That's not a slight; it's an observation.)

Returning to the ViaTalk topic, I had said it before (and I'll say it again) ... I have no clue to VT's financial profitability nor to its future potential for survival. But they are still here ... and they seem to have developed a loyal following and a relatively stable product as evidenced by the many "positive" VoIP Reviews and responses from longtime BBR members.

Usually the complaints come for three sources. Annon poster using proxy. A new user post once or twice and is never heard from again. Then we have a couple old timers that come in and bash Viatalk every chance they get. Acting like the problems they had everyone should have them and its system wide.

Yes I am sure we have a couple legit complaints but then what voip company doesn't.

Viatalk does need better renewal rates. Them adding 60 minutes of International to new accounts only would really annoy me if I used international. Still seems no way a current customer can get this deal. This doesn't appear a limited promo but a change in the VT_Unlimited plan outright.

At very least give renewals a bone. Early term fee only applies only during first year or something. If service continues to work and they get good renewal this will have little effect on bottom line.

And while I am at it move to the normal 30 day trial period.

Modernize the billing!!!!!!!

Amen to that !!!!!

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The post that was here (and all 4 followups to it), has been moved to a new topic .. »Off Topic

FWIW I am still happy with VT. I have two different numbers and haven't had any problems with either of them for many months. I've had one of them for 3 years (and renewal is coming up, which I will do, happily). I got the other a year ago when AT&T CallVantage folded (my company required that my work-at-home phone line be with AT&T CV, but when it folded we were free to go with whatever provider we wanted, so I chose another VT line). I think my good results with VT have a lot to do with the quality of my Internet connection (which is a 30/5 connection via CableVision on a lightly loaded node in upstate NY). A lot of the negativity towards VT came from the zillions of SunRocket refugees who swamped poor little VT and then complained bitterly when VT could not handle the load. After that, VT undertook a network redesign to improve scalability and solved many of those issues (but clearly not all, as some complaints persist). All in all, I believe VT is a good value and as long as you have a solid, stable, fast Internet connection you should be fine.

Oh but they already did...

Okay, I haven't posted in a while myself, and when I did it was usually because of a problem and I was looking for an answer. I agree with earlier replies, when things act up, a lot of people post, when things are stable... silence (or crickets). I had my gripes while there were growing pains, but am now quite happy.
Yeah, its not 100% solid, but that's voip (and your internet provider, and the path along the way as well) and I accept that. I am due to renew this spring and will probably do so (special offer or not).

Les

Never had a problem with VT. The only reason I left was price. They just could not match another vendor which of course is also offering deals to new subscribers.

I can tell you that I am very happy with my service as provided by VT. I also have a fast, rock-solid internet connection that I think helps ALOT.

I have been a VT customer with 2 accounts since a year before the Sunrocket implosion .

One account was up for renewal recently. It was only used 10-20 minutes ( maximum ) per month so the value was not there. This line had an out of area number associated with it which was not ideal. Finally this number must have belonged to a deadbeat as within 30 minutes of the line being actuve, the bill collectors started to call. LOL (Fortunately it was easy to manage these types of calls in the control panel.) I let this line go in favor of a PAYG provider. ( Voip.MS )

Another account is up for renewal in a short time and I probably will renew with VT. I use it quite a bit and the service while not flawless, is very good. A few very infrequent 1 way audio is the most troublesome issue.

It really depends on what works for you and what your needs are. Not everybody wants a Z06 Corvette or a Prius; there is no one size fits all.

Tim

I came to VT after 3 years with Lingo. I have been using VT for last 2 months. Apart from the initial set up hiccups . it is working great for me. I am very happy with the service and quality.I am very happy with the features.International call quality is good too.The only other thing I am looking forward to is a viatalk mobile app to call from my Android phone, I am sure it will come in near future.
Good luck - viatalk.

I loved VT but lately a having more and more problems and outages. They are normally small, last a few hours, and then everything works again. But when you add that up, it's a lot of downtime that they can't fix.

By the time they get around to working on an issue, it has normally fixed itself so they don't look at anything. Then it comes up again and the same thing happens.

When it works, it works great. If you start to have issues, you're kind of screwed.