Disappointed with customer service so far...

[vanic]

I have not even received my equipment yet so I have not used the service yet but I am disappointed with the customer service so far. I signed up last week and they assigned me a phone number that is not the area code for my local area. I opened a ticket to change my number to a number in my local area code. The customer service rep tells me that there would be a charge of $9.95. I think that is ridiculous because I just signed up for the account and have not yet even started using the service. I told him that it is not fair that I would be charged for something like this and I mentioned that I would rather cancel my service because I don't like doing business with a company that treats their customers this way. His response was "if you wish to cancel, you will be forfeiting the activation and shipping fees which are a total of $39.90. If you wish to change your number still, there will be a charge of $9.95." Basically he is telling me I'm stuck. I'd rather pay the 39.90 than to pay the $9.95, because I think it is ridiculuous.

I think I am going to cancel within the 14 day trial. If it is starting off this way I can't imagine what is to come.

[taylor2767]

I'd call back and ask for a supervisor and if that doesn't get the $9.95 fee waived then send a email to Brendan Brader the CEO and explain your situation.I'd be suprised if this doesn't solve your issue.

[Heat305]

While I can't feel your pain with the sign up process, I didn't experience that when I signed up for a new number. I did the order online and once my account was setup I had a local number in my local area. What I do think they should let the customer service guys do is as a "COURTESY" to new clients allow them to change the local are code of your choice for free, but only once. If you call back in tomorrow then yes they would need to charge to cover the cost on their end. As "taylor2767" mentioned contact them, but I would rather talk to someone over the phone than submit a ticket for this one. I would also be surprised if they don't fix it for you. Please come back and update us on it.

[hrtanya]

What was the city you selected? Also, what was the area code/exchange you were assigned?

Another thing to note, if you signed up and mentioned that you would be porting in a phone number, you would be assigned a temporary number until you submit your porting request. If for some reason your port request is rejected, we will change your number to a local number at no charge. Otherwise, there is a $9.95 fee.

[vanic]

I requested Farmingdale, NY which is 631 but was given 516. Although it doesn't matter anymore. I took the advise of taylor2767 and Heat305 above and I called support and explained the problem to them and the support rep offered to change the number for me. I was on the phone less than 10 minutes total.

I guess it is luck of the draw when getting someone to help you out.

Thanks for help everyone.

[discjoker]

I am sure you know where you live :), but I did a little research and Farmingdale is area code 516. There is a a town in NY called Farmingville which is area code 631. So if you requested Farmingdale then it appears they gave you the correct area code to begin with (516).

[vanic]

Actually Farmingdale is 631. There is a small section of farmingdale that is over the Suffolk County border and that is 516. I don't live in farmingdale, I live in Melville but I chose farmingdale because it is 631 and it the closest to me from the list. The ViaTalk rep I spoke to on the phone looked up farmingdale and agreed that it is 631. It all worked out in the end...they did the right thing for the customer.

[Heat305]

I requested Farmingdale, NY which is 631 but was given 516. Although it doesn't matter anymore. I took the advise of taylor2767 and Heat305 above and I called support and explained the problem to them and the support rep offered to change the number for me. I was on the phone less than 10 minutes total.

I guess it is luck of the draw when getting someone to help you out.

Thanks for help everyone.

Thanks for stopping by and updating us. One quick question about the porting part. When you port over and are signing up as a new customer do they ask for the city of the porting number or just the area code and phone number? If it is just the number they ask for then they made a mistake on their end. If they asked for a City as well then maybe the web sign up feature misinterpreted the city name. I don't know exactly what the porting information was that they requested from you, I am only guessing and hope you can clarify this for me. A lilttle piece of advice is when I sign up for a service online and there is a promotion of some type not as in the case but with whoever online I always take a screen shot of my order before submitting it and after submission so they can see the submission confirmation part. BUt do let me know how the porting part is when signing up. I received a new number to test out the service my first month and was given a number in my local calling area. The minute I get close to my first months trial I will port my current home number over.

[hrtanya]

I requested Farmingdale, NY which is 631 but was given 516. Although it doesn't matter anymore. I took the advise of taylor2767 and Heat305 above and I called support and explained the problem to them and the support rep offered to change the number for me. I was on the phone less than 10 minutes total.

I guess it is luck of the draw when getting someone to help you out.

Thanks for help everyone.

Both the area codes 516 and 631 are valid for the ratecenter of FARMINGDL-NY. While you may be issued a new number, there is no guarantee that you will get the other area code.

[vanic]

I was issued a new number in the 631 area code. When I called customer service they were helpful.

[hrtanya]

Thanks for stopping by and updating us. One quick question about the porting part. When you port over and are signing up as a new customer do they ask for the city of the porting number or just the area code and phone number? If it is just the number they ask for then they made a mistake on their end. If they asked for a City as well then maybe the web sign up feature misinterpreted the city name. I don't know exactly what the porting information was that they requested from you, I am only guessing and hope you can clarify this for me. A lilttle piece of advice is when I sign up for a service online and there is a promotion of some type not as in the case but with whoever online I always take a screen shot of my order before submitting it and after submission so they can see the submission confirmation part. BUt do let me know how the porting part is when signing up. I received a new number to test out the service my first month and was given a number in my local calling area. The minute I get close to my first months trial I will port my current home number over.

When you signup you are asked for your local city. Then, you are asked if you wish to port in your existing number. If our Processing Dept sees that you have an entry showing that you will be submitting a port in request, they issue a temporary number. This number is generally from the same basic area as the city you select, however we do not purchase a number based on your location preference if you will be porting in.

In the event that your port in request is rejected, we will then purchase a number based on your location preference, and we will input the correct CallerID information.

[hrtanya]

I was issued a new number in the 631 area code. When I called customer service they were helpful.

I am glad to hear it worked out for you.

[Heat305]

I am glad to hear it worked out for you.

Tanya, I would like to take time out to say thank you and thanks to the rest of the Via-Talk team for stopping in and helping out. I know there are certain channels for submitting tickets for tech support and so forth. Sometimes we feel that there are other customers with other technical issues that needs more attention than what we post in here so myself tend to not submit a ticket and just post in here hoping someone would take a glance. Even though I've haven't had any issues with getting a number assigned from VT, I would like to say thanks again to you and all the tech support staff for caring about customers like us we feel wanted. You guys are really doing a great job so kudos to all of you and Kudos to management for having you guys supporting us.:D

[VTAllan]

Heat305,

We appreciate your praise in regards to our efforts and be rest assured that everyone on staff loves to read posts like this! It's great to receive positive feedback and we're happy to hear of customers such as yourself who have received the excellent customer support we strive to provide.

[Heat305]

I requested Farmingdale, NY which is 631 but was given 516. Although it doesn't matter anymore. I took the advise of taylor2767 and Heat305 above and I called support and explained the problem to them and the support rep offered to change the number for me. I was on the phone less than 10 minutes total.

I guess it is luck of the draw when getting someone to help you out.

Thanks for help everyone.

Look what I found also. Might be too late but on another providers website they have a tool that lists the area codes that are associated with your city even if they might seem far away or even if the POTS doesn't consider them to be local. I won't mention the other providers name on out of respect for VT, but maybe VT can implement a tool on their site also that could lists all the area codes for your local area. Below is what I found on using the tool from the other provider's website. Hope it helps for the future.

The local calling area for (631) includes:
212, 347, 516, 646, 718, 845, 914, 917

[chas3]

When you signup you are asked for your local city. Then, you are asked if you wish to port in your existing number. If our Processing Dept sees that you have an entry showing that you will be submitting a port in request, they issue a temporary number. This number is generally from the same basic area as the city you select, however we do not purchase a number based on your location preference if you will be porting in.

In the event that your port in request is rejected, we will then purchase a number based on your location preference, and we will input the correct CallerID information.

When I signed up, I just asked for a new number. But after a month, I then submitted a port request. My port is complete and everything is working great.:) My question, my original signup phone number still shows up in my control panel, and under billing on the left, both my ported number and my sign-up number appear with a 12/2008 renew date. Seems like I can't actually use the old number. Will the original number eventually disappear? Will I get charged for it in 2008? Will I get charged an extra $2.50 a month because of it?

thanks.

[vanic]

I also show both numbers in my control panel and I called support about it. They said they will show both numbers for 60 days, then the old one will disappear.

[chas3]

Nice. Allows you to get any voicemail or settings during the transition before disappearing.

[Heat305]

Good to know. My porting is in process so I don't have to be alarmed when I see both numbers in there. Did they mention if you use your ported number as the new log in id for the control panel? I am guessing it will be.

[chas3]

Yes, the ported number becomes your login. The day of the port, my ported number was in limbo for about 4 hours. Could not receive incoming on it on either phone. During this time, my login switched to the ported number. I forget, but the password might have changed. So I did the "forgot your password?" and was in.

[Heat305]

Yes, the ported number becomes your login. The day of the port, my ported number was in limbo for about 4 hours. Could not receive incoming on it on either phone. During this time, my login switched to the ported number. I forget, but the password might have changed. So I did the "forgot your password?" and was in.

So I should expect my ported number to be having hiccups until it system registers it permanently.

[chas3]

From my experience and other postings, the day of the port, your porting number could be unusable. But, I was still able to make outgoing calls on both VT and POTS. And the VTline still received calls on the temp #.

Some folks reported caller-id not working right away, but I did not experience that.

Considering that everything needs re-routed during the port, I am amazed that it happens this smoothly. Remember, don't tell your POTs provider anything about the disconnect. VT takes care of this.

[hrtanya]

There is generally a 2-5 hour window of possible downtime on the day your number transfers over. During this time, the VT Temp number will work up to the very minute we do the switch in the hardware configuration. You then get a confirmation email, and we request for you to power cycle the adapter to pull through the new configuration.

Your Control Panel username will be the newly ported number. The password does not change.

[Heat305]

There is generally a 2-5 hour window of possible downtime on the day your number transfers over. During this time, the VT Temp number will work up to the very minute we do the switch in the hardware configuration. You then get a confirmation email, and we request for you to power cycle the adapter to pull through the new configuration.

Your Control Panel username will be the newly ported number. The password does not change.

What about folks that are on "BYOD" like myself? All that really changes is the phone number under provisioning right? Everything else remains the same, i.e server,password? Will I still need to power down to cycle it?

[VTAllan]

What about folks that are on "BYOD" like myself? All that really changes is the phone number under provisioning right? Everything else remains the same, i.e server,password? Will I still need to power down to cycle it?

The user line password will in fact change as the user ID is changed to the newly ported number. With a standard account, our devices are auto-provisioned, and a power cycle is the only thing necessary to acquire these changes. For a BYOD account however, you will just need to input the new credentials (User ID/User password) into your own device as it will not be auto-provisioned. These can be easily found under the "Softphone Config" area of your ViaTalk control panel.