New post! So - How's that Ooma doing?

I was wondering if I could make it a year without posting. Oh, well. Since I promised to review the Ooma in that last post from November, 2009, I guess I better say a few words about it.

And, really, a few words is all I have. The short review is it works like it says it will. You get VOIP quality calls for free after buying the device. We have had no problems with call quality or dropped calls and the voicemail works fine. It took a couple of weeks to port our number over but that was it. Considering we were paying about $30 a month after fees and taxes previously, it paid for itself sometime in July, and now we are living in bonus time. Not having that monthly payment really feels good.

Here are some technical details.

• I have found it works best outside of our wireless router. So, our setup looks like cable modem->Ooma->Wireless Router. Originally I had the Ooma and the wireless router switched, but they were not playing nicely together (probably the wireless router's fault).
  
• Ooma comes with a 90 day subscription to Ooma Premier which adds a second line and gives you some other options. I let it expire and have not missed it.
• Ooma will email notifications that you have a voicemail, and you can also listen to them online.
• But, that's about all you can do online. MyOoma has some other management features and call logs and stats and stuff but I have not found any of it particularly useful

All in all, a good buy. Every month from here on out it's like putting $30 in my pocket, and that's hard to argue with.

Gotta love customer support

We recently purchased an Ooma (review to follow shortly), and so after transferring our phone number to it I got online with Earthlink to cancel our trueVoice VoIP service. Here's how it went down...

Welcome to Earthlink LiveChat. Your chat session will begin shortly. Feel free to begin typing your question.

Customer Support says: Thank you for contacting EarthLink LiveChat, how may I help you today?

Me: I have swapped phone service to Ooma and need to cancel trueVoice

Customer Support: I am sorry to know that you wish to cancel True Voice service.

So... how am I supposed to respond to that statement? I'm sorry you're sorry to know I wish to cancel? Or, I don't give rip how you feel about it just get on with the canceling? I settled for an awkward silence until the rep started typing again.

Customer Support: Please give me two minutes.

Me: thank you

Customer Support: Thank you for your time.

Whew! Got through that one! So, I think I'm going to have an easy time of it, but no - here comes the hard sale...

Customer Support: True Voice Service has directory assistance service helps find a phone number for the customer through an automated operator. EarthLink Voice allows you to decide whether your phone will be able to make directory assistance calls

Customer Support: Are you sure that you wish to cancel it?

Me: yes

Let's see... I just spent $250 on a device so that I don't have to carry a monthly phone bill anymore and now you expect me to keep spending my hard-earned cash on trueVoice because of Directory Assistance? I don't think so.

After a few minutes I get the cancel confirmation and notification that I just made my last payment and will not get charged again. But, wait a second, I paid Earthlink yesterday for the next month's worth of service. What happens to that money?

Me: Will I be refunded a pro-rated amount for the time I am not using through Dec 14th?

Customer Support: I will check what best could be done. Give me three more minutes.

Customer Support: Thank you for being online.

The "what best could be done"? What "best could be done" better be refunding the pro-rated amount. And, thank goodness, it is.

Customer Support: I will refund $21.62 to your Bank Draft updated on your account.

Me: thank you

Of course, I have very little doubt that had I not asked about it Earthlink would have been more than happy to keep my money for services never rendered.

And, finally after some more rig amoral and I think everything is done I get hit with this:

Customer Support: You are welcome. Is there anything else that I may help you with today?

Me: That will do it. Thank you for your help

Customer Support: You are welcome. I have a good news for you, your account has been selected for a 30 day free trial of PC Fine Tune service and it is a software which will solve the problems you are facing with your computer.

Customer Support: PC Fine Tune fine tunes, protects, and optimizes the computer. It is also called as PC Optimizer. It increases the speed, fixes disk errors, removes unnecessary files. It is EarthLink's 1-click solution that allows customers to easily optimize their system for better performance. PC Fine Tune which will increases the Internet download speed. It improves the performance of the computer. PC Fine Tune will defragment your hard drive, remove cookies and unnecessary files, fix errors in your computer's registry, and even detect early signs of hard drive failure, all in one easy-to-use program!

Customer Support: Right now, we're offering a FREE 30 day trial of PC Fine Tune, which you can continue at a low monthly rate of $4.95 per month with no commitment! Once the 30 days free trial is expired, the billing will start automatically. PC Fine Tune really boosts your computer's speed and performance.

Customer Support: May I go ahead and add PC Fine Tune service to your account?

Me: no

Customer Support: Okay. No problem. If you wish to subscribe PC Fine Tune service in the future, please contact us, we will order it for you.

Evidently upselling services while the customer is canceling other services is good business. I don't think so.

All I can say is, "TrueVoice - you and your monthly payments won't be missed." Next stop? Reducing that cable modem bill by ditching Earthlink altogether.