kwyet wrote:
> Packet8 has been ok for me. Just one thing thats been irritating. The
> claims on their website at times don't jive with reality. For one,
> they claimed that virtual numbers were available for Canadian area
> codes. That was simply a lie. They were aware of this contradiction but
> chose to ignore it for a very long time. Finally they removed the
> claim.
> Secondly, they claim that it takes up to six weeks to have your number
> ported. That may be true for some, but it hasn't been true for me. It
> has been 9 weeks for me and still no "status updates" on my account.
> Their standard reply when called on this matter is, "I'll pass this to
> the LNP department".
> On one call to support, I was led to believe it was stalled because of
> my phone company. I entered a complaint with my States's PSC only to
> receive a call from my phone company saying all they need is a PON and
> that Packet8 would know exactly what that is. Well ... I called
> support again. Same response as quoted above. Oh ... and he also said
> that the website is incorrect ... that it hasn't been updated yet to
> reflect that they are backed up and the time is actually more than 6
> weeks. Support told me that 10 days ago. Does it take 10 days to
> update a sentence on a website? Naw it dutton.
I live in McAllen, Texas, USA. Vonage and Lingo cannot yet offer a
local toll free number, so it was important that my SBC number be
ported. Packet8 could not only port my SBC number, but they offered a
local temparary number that could be called from the McAllen area toll
free. I ruled out RoadRunner (Time Warner Cable) by price alone
($39.95/month).
I signed up with Packet8 on March 7, 2005 at $19.95/month. I faxed my
application to have my SBC number ported to my Packet8 account on March
8, 2005. I received my Packet8 device, hooked it up, and activated it
on March 17, 2005. My old SBC phone number was ported on April 8, 2005.
The transfer was almost seamless (a phone call to Packet8) when my SBC
service was terminated.
So far, everything seems to be working as advertised. Call forwarding,
Call waiting, Caller ID, Voicemail, Etc. Also, my use history is
available on the Packet8 site and is impacted within 10 seconds of my
hanging up the phone.
Quality of the voice is as good as my experience with SBC. I wear
hearing aids and voice quality is important.
So far, so good. Time will tell.
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Have you yet started receiving the
'we miss you and want you back' letters and promotions from SBC?
They'll start out sort of modest at first (a few free services for
a couple months; then one or two offers of a $50 VISA gift card and
the freebies), then some perfectly outrageous offers for DSL at
a very reduced price, etc ... They may place you with a collection
agency claiming you left them still owing 20-25 dollars at some
point; they have a bunch of tricks designed to get you back. PAT]
John Harper (gg@johnharper.com)