 Review by Bluethunder 
UPDATED: 1.1 years ago
member for 9.9 years, 2635 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Duncan,Spartanburg,SC
 $27 per month
 about 93 days
 "Service actually worked as advertised for about 3 weeks one time!"
 "HORRID support , mediocre voice quality, adapter was used and malfunctioning, inc. # disconnected msg, arbitrary price increases"
 "Partially works as BYOD if you can keep up with server changes/variations, Unreliable service otherwise, Clueless support staff"
| Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)
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I would love to be doing a full positive review, but I cannot. I ordered service over a week ago from VT. They were happy as could be to take my $62.95 (ignoring the coupon I entered, which I honestly don't care about considering everything else). Since then, I have received NO communication from them after multiple attempts (one support ticket has been open over 6 days with no response). They have also not shipped the adapter (promised in 3-5 days ... it has been over a week). I have tried to contact them several times via phone, but gave up after a few hours listening to the hold messages. This place may be great if you can get them to give you what you pay for, but that is simply not the case right now.
Stay far far away from this place if you are seeking new service. They do not have anywhere near the capacity to handle the orders, and will take your money, then ignore you.
For $62.95, I received a cold shoulder, temporary phone number and SIP settings, with no access to my account to configure anything. I am getting less than even ma bell would give for about $15/month.
They are happy to take your money, but not as happy to give you what you pay for, or communicate with you in any way.
Update 7/27: The PAP2T finally arrived, but it doesn't half work. A full power down and replug makes it work for about 30 minutes, and then it completely loses it's connection to the router (verified to be the PAP2T by using three different routers with the same results). The Ethernet light stays lit when the connection drops, but the L1 and L1 lights go out (as well as the phone of course), and the GUI cannot be accessed until a hard boot is done. At least I can still function as a BYOD using my "crappy" (gold compared what VT sent me) AC-211. It's nice to know I am a BYOD customer, even though I payed all the initial fees of a non-BYOD customer. Hmmm, should I submit a ticket and hope it gets answered in the next two months, or call and stay on hold for hours to be disconnected and have to start all over in the queue? Oh yeah, I have far more important things to do in life than waste time listening to music-on-hold for several hours.
Update 8/06/07: I payed $1.95 for priority support which by their own description is "a $1.95/month upgrade that provides you with direct access to the viatalk customer service team via both the phone and the web without having to wait in any call or ticket queues along the way." 4 days later, I get a response. Yet another inaccurate description of a feature/broken promise. They should really update their site to reflect reality instead of making promises they are charging people for and cannot keep. At any rate, the ticket was simply to check on number port status. The response was that they were awaiting a document that I had already sent (twice), and they had made no additional request for. I sure wish it was possible to give support a negative rating. At any rate, it was faxed back in 5 times (along with additional copies of the LOA), emailed 5 times, and a copy was attached to the ticket. Yes, I know this isn't helping speed things up as a whole with their inept system, but maybe at least one person will see one of the 11 copies this time (since it fell on blind eyes twice already). As a side note, their forums appear to be down also (judging from the only three different ISP's I can check from here at the house).
UPDATE 08/14/2007: I have still heard nothing on the status of my number port, my PAP2T-NA I received from VT is still pretty much useless, and they are still completely unreachable. Incoming are now also randomly bouncing to voicemail, with not so much as a ring on either end, or forward to the "network down" numbers that are setup.
Update 8/16/2007: Executives are now flaming people for sharing their experiences.
Update 8/17/2007: Called support last night and was disconnected at caller #6 after being on hold for 2 hours.
Update: 8/20/2007 Incoming has stopped working for the most part. This is true using my own device, the viatalk PAP2T provisioned, and with provisioning turned off trying multiple servers. It also doesn't seem to matter what ports I leave open, or none. Rebooting the adapter fixes it briefly, then it just stops working again. Calls are also not forwarded to the numbers they are configured to in my CP. Callers are just sent directly to voicemail. I'm almost scared to ask, but can the screw anything else up?
Update 8/21/2007: I am flabbergasted by this company's shortcomings. I finally received a number port confirmation today, FOR THE WRONG NUMBER! Not on ly is the number very clearly handwritten on the LOA, but as a requirement, the phone number off my old account page is typed from my old account information. They didn't just mistake one number, and they didn't mistake one number that could in any way, shape, form or fashion look like another. They just completely blew the last four digits (actually they got the second number in the last set of four right ... luck of the draw I guess). These people are completely incapable of doing anything even close to right.
Update 8/31/07: Somehow they got my number ported even though they had it listed incorrectly. Only 46 days later too! I was so glad that didn't get it done in the 20 I was told (of course all i have seen from them is broken promises and misleading statements so far).
Update 9/1/07: I guess I should have set up everything in my user control panel yesterday (assuming it was up then). The user control panel is now down. I guess the only possible bright note on that aspect is the fact that the sign up page is down also. Any guesses on which they fix first?
Update 9/2/07: Dropped the one of the remaining ratings I didn't have as low as it would go ... web-site. Yet again, it is back down. That combined with the misleading information and flat out lies that are strewn across now earn it a "worst" rating along with most of the other attributes.
Update 9/4/07: I am now getting spammed by ViaTalk by form responses (the same for each) on open tickets.It is going on two months on some with no response, and now they are spamming me about them. As if it's not bad enough support is inept and virtually non-existent without paying ransom, now they are spamming me for their own shortcomings.
Update 9/10/07: Updated some ratings.
Reliability up to 2 - no problems there in about 2 weeks with their servers. This is one that could potentially make it to 5 eventually, but it won't be soon with the initial problems and the fact the adapter they shipped me literally stops functioning completely frequently, requiring hard reset.
Value for money up to 3 - I have been getting the service I paid for for a couple weeks out of the 2 months I have had the service. This will also increase as I continue to receive service as advertised.
Call Quality up to 4 - I haven't been receiving the frequent disconnects, jitter, and echos as of late that plagued my service initially.
Ease of Installation, unfortunately, must always remain at 1 for me for obvious reasons. I can't exactly raise a rating for something when the installation isn't being performed again. Maybe if they would have shipped an adapter that works?
Tech Support must also remain at it's lowest rating for me. While they may be handling customers more efficiently and honestly now than when I needed them, I haven't needed them. Without needing to contact them, I can't increase their ratings based on my experience.
As promised, I will continually update these ratings as my experience with service grows (positively or negatively).
9/14/07: Tech Support fails again. They finally responded to an old ticket, only they didn't even touch base on the issue discussed in the ticket. The topic of their discussion was completely irrelevant. Either that, or they just don't know that their own adapters have a separate user and admin password. My query was about having a user password specified in my provisioning. Their response said I already had an admin password. Well duh. I thought maybe them not being able to read the clearly written number, and typed number on my LNP LOA was just a random mistake. Apparently they really do have people incapable of reading plain English. I sure wish it was possible to rate support at a "0". They are absolutely worthless.
Update 10/01/07: I am finally getting the broken adapter replaced since it now just stays at a solid red power light. Unfortunately, for some reason they have to completely disabled my access to the control panel/billing manager in order to this. It makes no sense to me why I can't access voicemail, etc just because they are sending me a new adapter, but maybe it will solve some ongoing problems. While the initial plan was to upgrade my Tech Support rating here after a relatively quick resolution on this particular call, the inability to access my account now negates that initial desire to increase the rating.
Update 10/03/07: I can now access the User CP again. My BYOD was offline this morning when I got home from work though. I thought, "Hmmm, with the way this company operates, they probably changed my password without notifying me because of the new adapter the sent". Of course, that was the case. I got no notification, but my SIp password was changed. I guess it's a good thing I can drag my thinking down to their level.
Update: 10/05/07: On top of everything else, my call logs are now not working (and apparently haven't since 10/1), and my voicemail has been completely reset (greeting and pw), also without any kind of notification. These people really have no respect for a paying customer.
Update 10/06/07: I called to get the admin password on my replacement adapter that I received today. The person on the phone was VERY rude and unprofessional. The times I called before, when I actually got through, the reps were generally polite and respectful. This guy had no clue as to what was going on.
Update 10/17/07: Well, this about about the only thing they hadn't screwed up with my account, so I guess i should have expected it:
ViaTalk Broadband Phone :: Non-Payment Suspension Warning Notice
Notice: Your invoice xxxxxx is now FIVE (5) days OVERDUE.
Status:OVERDUE
Client ID: xxxxx
Invoice Number:xxxxxx
Invoice Amount:$2.50
Overdue Balance: 1 Invoice(s) Now Due: $22.95
Please login to pay your invoice(s) online to prevent disruption in your service:
»https://support.viatalk.com/billing/
Thank you,
Billing Dept.
ViaTalk.com
Date: 2007/10/17
Generated by ModernBill
For starters, that invoice wasn't even created 5 days ago, much less due 5 days ago. It was due yesterday, and just created 3 days ago. Second, they have my current CC info, and there is plenty of cash in there to cover the invoice. I guess they were so busy stealing older customer's money yesterday they didn't have time to process their normal invoices.
Is there a new policy where we have to go manually pay our bill every month? It's fine by me if there is, but it would be nice if they would let people know.
I guess tomorrow when the $22.95 comes due, I will get a second "Suspension Warning Notice" for it being 5 days overdue too since they can't seem to even make their billing system function properly. 
Of course there are 70 people in the queue when I tried to call the mentally challenged VT support/billing to see if they could manage manually charging a NOT OVERDUE account. I'll be damned if I'm gonna hit the "Pay Online" link on the invoice, just to have them do their job later and properly process the invoice(s).
Update11/06/07: CID has been off by an hour since the time change. For some reason, they inexplicably reprovisioned my adapter to GMT-6 (I am in GMT-5). It was previously in GMT-5 and worked fine. The clueless employees needed to be spoonfed something else I guess.
Update 12/01/07: I was just starting to get oprimistic. It had been almost a month since VT failed me in one way or another. I should have known it was too good to be true. My serve has been down for at least 8 hours. I disabled provisioning and changed the server I was on and the pap2t reconnected. So much for the theory of rolling over to a working server if one goes down. My free grandcentral/Gizmo project VOIP service is considerably more stable than ViaTalk with better voice quality.
Update 12/06/07: And the frequency of issues ramps up yet again. Now, incoming calls are unpredictable. If L1 is answered, there is a loud audible "click" heard by both parties. L2 continues to ring (but the calling party hears nothing). If both parties stay on the line for 10-15 seconds, L2 will stop ringing, and the call eventually goes through on L1. I have no reason to even pursue this issue with them, since the CEO agreed to send me a shipping label. I will be porting to one of my working providers as soon as I get verification they have received my adapter (to avoid the $50 ransom).
Update 9/22/08: Figured I should throw a final update, even though I have been gone a while. After them supposedly never receiving the adapter, I finally just had to switch to a virtual CC# that could be terminated to keep them from being able to steal any more of my money. I have used a few VoIP providers (currentlyusing two), and beta tested for 2 others. I have never encountered such a lousy "service", with so many incompetent "support" personnel as I experienced with VT.
Followup comments:  aubuchonz
join:2004-11-28
Ashland, MO
|  Contacting them is a nightmare
 I signed up last week and no eamil. Their phone lines seemed to be very busy I call and it says 40 to 70 calls ahead of me. They have online chat and that does not seem to work either. I think they have got busy too fast and they can't deal with it. | |
|  | | twgbf
join:2007-07-17 | Glad I dropped them I used their service for a year and had similar problems with them...although some of the trouble I believe was Roadrunner's fault. I switched back to Verizon POTS in May. I know I'm not saving any money but it's been very reliable. | |
| dualsub2006
join:2007-07-18
Newport, KY
| One word. 6 letters. Vonage. I was VERY reluctant to try them based on what I have read around this forum and others. I now have them at home and at my business. No number port at home so it was painless.
At my business I have been contacted no less than 3 times about my number port in a week. And I don't recall having seen any Vonage execs here calling their subscribers liars.
Just sayin...... | |
| | | 
drewsky
@qwest.net
| VIA TALK---I HATE THESE MUTHA FUCK@RS SAME PROBLEMS: the worst, absoutely the worst support i have ever experienced. It was easier to get support from SR after they shut their doors.
Just sent them this after opting to pay them $1.95 to review, a fee which I will have AMEX reverse, doubt they will respond.
Since you never read tickets without this bogus $1.95 upcharge, maybe you will read this. I have tried in vain to reach your company with no response. I have sent 5 tickets called 15+ times and no response. I have never received hardware, you bill me. I have no service, you bill me, I asked to cancel, no response, all tickets show closed, I asked not to port my number, now my number is lost and my business is suffering, my lawyer will deal with this. What gives you as a company to be so blatently negligent to its customers. If you can not suport the customer base then at least give the option to get out. CANCEL MY ACOUNT DO NOT PORT MY NUMBER | |
| | wayne8888
join:2005-10-16
Baltimore, MD
 ·XOHM WiMAX
 ·Cavalier Telephone
| Re: VIA TALK---I HATE THESE MUTHA FUCK@RS I'm with you bro! (maybe without the expletive .....hmmm maybe with it LOL). I have a trouble ticket open since July 21st. When you call you are placed between 40 something and 60 something in the waiting list. I paid 2 years in advance but still have the $2.50 extracted monthly from my credit card. I called last night about a billing issue and to my pleasant (momentarily pleasant) surprise, I was as high (or low) as number 21 in the waiting (beats 40 or 60 something). So I waited and waited first 21 then 20 then 21 again (ViaTalk math) then slowly down (2 hours) to number 3 .....then back to number 4 (more ViaTalk math I guess) then never got any closer to number 1. Instead a message came on saying that phone support is no longer available LOL. And it still is not available. Given that my July 21st ticket has not even been addressed, it might be November before I get any resolution. I will probably file a credit card dispute to see if I can get some of my money back and I will go back to Vonage. No more paying these companies in advance for me. I can only imagine how long the porting process will take.
Wayne | |
| | |
GA girl
@comcast.net
| Re: VIA TALK---I HATE THESE MUTHA FUCK@RS We decided to discontinue service because we could not use a fax machine. I had chosen the 2 year pre-pay to get a deep discount. I knew we would only get a partial refund but went ahead with the cancellation. I checked back in a month about the refund and the guys said "sorry--the other guy did not process it correctly--i promise it will go through now". He said it would take 90 days. Now 90 days has arrived and I again called. After 30 minutes on hold the girl says "sorry--it never went through-- i will take care of that now". She promised we would get it in a week. Whatever. I will let you know if I ever get my $ back. | |
| | | | pl1
join:2004-12-09
Boston, MA
| Re: VIA TALK---I HATE THESE MUTHA FUCK@RS said by GA girl :
I will let you know if I ever get my $ back. Maybe if you ask for VTBrendan in the Viatalk Forum for your refund it might speed things up.
»ViaTalk
and/or
»forums.hostrocket.com/ | |
| | | | | 
NY Tel
Premium
join:2004-04-09
Smithtown, NY
 ·VOIPo
| Re: VIA TALK---I HATE THESE MUTHA FUCK@RS said by pl1 :said by GA girl :
I will let you know if I ever get my $ back. Maybe if you ask for VTBrendan in the Viatalk Forum for your refund it might speed things up. » ViaTalkand/or » forums.hostrocket.com/ And I understand that the hold times are now just 5 minutes..... | |
| | | | | |
GA girl
@comcast.net
| Re: VIA TALK---I HATE THESE MUTHA FUCK@RS said by NY Tel :said by pl1 :said by GA girl :
I will let you know if I ever get my $ back. Maybe if you ask for VTBrendan in the Viatalk Forum for your refund it might speed things up. » ViaTalkand/or » forums.hostrocket.com/ And I understand that the hold times are now just 5 minutes..... said by NY Tel :said by pl1 :said by GA girl :
I will let you know if I ever get my $ back. Maybe if you ask for VTBrendan in the Viatalk Forum for your refund it might speed things up. » ViaTalkand/or » forums.hostrocket.com/ And I understand that the hold times are now just 5 minutes..... thanks
i will give it a try | |
| | 
CajunWon
join:2005-12-30
Cary, NC
·ViaTalk
| Varied Experiences Saw this old thread: says "updated a few hours ago" although no new responses, so here's one:
I joined the same time as you (following the SunRocket meltdown) and had quite the opposite experience. The difference was I signed as a BYOD client; never had to contact VT Service; got credentials and was live within 5 calendar days using the SR Innomedia. Lived with one minor issue for many months, finally decided to try the AC-211 which registered immediately and resolve that issue.
This doesn't sound like the OP had a fun experience, so why stick with it? Must not be as bad has the posts seem to indicate. | |
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