Ooma VoIP Phone System

I purchased and used OOMA's internet phone service for 6 months now. At first, it was cool that I no longer had to deal with monthly phone bills. However, I realized quickly that OOMA's customer service was disorganized, irresponsible and just plain bad. As a new company, they rely heavily on referrals. I referred two family member because OOMA had a referral bonus - $50.00 in International Call Minutes for each referral for both you and the new customer. I e-mailed OOMA's representative for the details, and he replied with a link to their referral program website/form. I filled out the form along with the information of the new OOMA customers that had their accounts setup. I waited for my referral bonus - for 4 months. During which, I e-mailed them and each e-mail I received was always that they'll look into it. On 01/05/10, I called them up and the same person who sent me the initial referral e-mail responded to my inquiries with impatience, denial, and then just argued with me - I couldn't even get a word in. I asked for his supervisor, and he told me he was the supervisor. He said that another department investigated my issue and said I was not eligible. I asked why during all this time that no one bothered to contact me or e-mail me back. He said he didn't know but the report said they did e-mail me. I asked why I was ineligible when I followed his instructions to the letter. He replied that it wasn't his fault and he couldn't credit me the referral bonus when it was another department's decision. After arguing, he finally offered only $10.00 in referral bonus, instead of the $50.00 to me and my two referrals. I asked for at least $25.00 which is their new referral program online. He went to ask his manager. Note - when I asked to speak to his supervisor, he said he was the supervisor. Suddenly, he had a supervisor. He returned a few minutes later and told me that $10.00 was the max. I told him that he can close all three OOMA accounts, and that I will be forced to retract all the referrals I have made to friends and co-workers. Suddenly, without having to ask his manager anything, he agreed to credit me the $25.00 in referral bonus (but only me and not the other 2 accts). Unfortunately, I bought the system and for it to pay off, I need to keep it for a while longer. I advise CAUTION to anyone who is considering OOMA's internet phone service. If you never have a problem with the system - you're lucky. If you do, stand by. They're a small company, new, disorganized, and thus their customer service is bad and untrained. Hopefully, the company CEO will read this review and consider providing relevant training to their employees. I have yet had any problems with any company that's gone unresolved for 4 months! There's always a first.

Vonage was better in that it just billed you for international calls without interrupting you to tell you your time was up and disconnecting you. This, even after I signed up for an auto funds refill. The bigger problem is that I should have more closely reviewed their international plans. My wife made an international call to the Philippines and it cost double that of the Vonage 300 minute plan - a very basic plan. There is no discount even on their international plan for the Philippines. And, oh yes, they announced a minute before they would cut her off (even with funds pre-loaded) and they did!


Do not use this plan if you are calling international until you carefully scrutinize the differences between Ooma and Vonage. Don't forget the taxes. Get used to being cut off.

Very easy to set up checked voice quality called Grandaughter she said it sounded much better than landline as the landline used to get echo but not with Ooma.Iam going to Call Scotland this weekend to see if the quality is just as clear iam hoping it will be if so then within 2 1/2 months Ooma will have paid for its self.