The service is a total waste of money.

I have spent about a total of 10 hours on the phone with tech support trying to get the system to work.

Even product a Linksys router they told me I need to fix my issues.

Still no service. After about 10 seconds the phone just drops the calls much like a cell phone.

Stay away from Packet 8 or 8 X 8 whatever they are calling themselves these days.

Pay a few dollars more somewhere else per month and you will be much happier.

Well fast forward one year later, they sent collection agency after me. THey said I did not cancel my service properly. They were trying to get me to pay for the months AFTER I dropped the
service!
I finally got hold of somebody, and I had to convince them that it was not fair and I would take it to court. Mgr complained that I didn’t use their online form to cancel. I told them that I cancelled service over the phone. THey tried all the plays on me. Well, eventually, they wanted me to pay a few weeks during the time my phone was under Packet8, I still thought that wasn’t fair since they were unable to resolve my problem. They said I still had connection. I said “Look at your logs and dialogs that I had about this issue” They said that I was able to receive a call (based on logs). Yes, but that was for troubleshooting. I was dialing my number but I could not hear anything when I picked up the phone. THis company was desperate.

Sorry for the long ramble. I’m still pissed after all of these years. My credit shows that collection agency inquired about this.

Go with Ooma if you need a VOIP. That’s what I have now.

But just today May 28, I get notice that the plan I’m on ($14.99) is being discontinued and starting June 1, I will be moved to the $24.99 plan.

Thought I had missed a prior notice, so checked back and no, there had be no prior mail or email notice. Just 1 business day notice that I’ll be changed over.

With enough notice I may have stuck with them as their annual plan is only $16.84/month. But 1 day notice is BS. I’ll be moving to Skype with Skypeout of all things with a non-PC phone. I don’t make enough calls to justify $25-$30 a month in a phone bill. My cell is my main number. This crap just forced me to make that decision.

I know alot of people like to vent and complain but how bout some positives.

Good prices, good quality and good features and really good tech support. If it wasnt working for you, your REALLY should have given tech support a try mr. one mans blog. Not fair to just talk bad about the company without even giving tech a chance to fix the problem.

Just a thought.

Cheers,

Loving Packet8 in CA

First, they have all kinds of issues with certain routers and the reliability of the phone service is dependent on it working seemlessly. We have a netgear router and we would lose or drop calls consistently. We couldn’t get the fax line to get a clean connection so we ended up having to use a internet based fax service to get the incoming faxes.

So we finally bit the bullet and bought a recommend router that they have tested (add another $300 to out investment) now the phones seem more reliable, but the fax still doesn’t work correctly. Then I am on the phone, it has been 5 months of trying to figure this out and they tell me that my brother MFC-8640D does not work over their Network. WHy didn’t they tell me this 5 months ago when I was in my evaluation mode. So now if I want to use the a inbound and outbound fax I need to purchase a new fax machine.

My idea of a not purchasing a PBX and going with Packet 8 is looking really bad. SO BUYER BEWARE WITH PACKET 8. DO not go there unless they say that the equipment you have will work and you will not need to purchase new equipment.

I keep putting in tickets, emails and now faxing one of the people in charge.

Now I am filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. I have not been able to use my service for more than an answering machine.

Glad to see I am not alone.

I guess I gotta go back to AT&T. What a bummer.

After the 30-day trial ended, I began getting monthly service charges. A couple of months went by before I found they made a mistake and linked my LNP request to a canceled account. A couple of months later (Nov) they stated I had to fill out a LOA form, which they said they’d email me to, but never did. By December, they told me I had to submit a LNP request online AGAIN. Several times that I called I was told the LNP specialist wasn’t available, but they’d call me right back (THEY NEVER DID).

By January 13, 2009 (6 mos later!),the number still wasn’t ported, nor had I activated the service. That did not stop them from charging me $143.49 in service fees for a service that I had not used a single second.

I had to cancel the account. For that, they wanted to charge me an additional $75!!! Fortunately – in the one thing they did right – they waived the disconnect fee.

I have tried to work with Packet 8 on two separate occassions, and they have failed to make it work, I have paid them over $170 but they have never provided me with a single minute of phone service. I strongly urge you to think twice before purchasing their service.