Sunrocket anyone?

[Steven Triggs]

So as I'm sure you've heard, Sunrocket (VOIP telephone service provider) went out of business a few days ago without any notice to it's customers. Those of us who had pre-paid for service are probably out the money, and all of us who were their customers are now scrambling to get a phone line back up to replace it.

So, I was just wondering, have any of the rest of you been affected by this? If so, how bad has it affected you? What are your plans for replacement?

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Never heard of 'em I have vonage through earthlink.

[Jim Becker]

It's been reported on BBR that someone may buy the customers from the now defunct Sunrocket, but that's not assured. Unfortunately, there is always risk when pre-paying for a service from any firm of any type.

And Cliff, things are not rosy with Vonage right now, either...the only reason they are still in business right now, IMHO, is that they got a judge to allow them to continue to market to new customers while further thrashing about the Verizon intellectual property litigation continues. They came "this close" from being shut down only a few months ago. (And for reference...I'm currently a Vonage customer for my second line)

On a similar note, it's extremely difficult to leave these providers, too...with Vonage, for example, you cannot discontinue your service online. You have to call them on the phone and things are set up such that it's really difficult to accomplish the task. Very long waits, etc. So even without pre-paid service, it's not a walk in the park if "you" want to cancel for some reason.

[Jim Becker]

Ok...it gets "more interesting". Packet8 is planning on a "special offer (http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/AQW127A18072007-1.htm)" for Sunrocket customers...which means those customers still may be losing a lot of money if they pre-paid "not long ago".

[Steven Triggs]

Yeah, I felt that the "offers" from the other companies were a bit insulting. The offers are just marketing ploys. The deals don't look any better than normal. One company that is advertising "buy out your Sunrocket contract, up to 6 months" was offering 2 yrs. for the price of 1 up until a few days ago...

[Jim Becker]

Yes, Marketing. A current thread at BBR actually wonders how the "other" company given as a preferred option got there given almost nobody has ever heard of them! Can you say... $$$??

[W Craig Wilson]

I just found out about this. I stand to loose about 6 months worth of pre-paid. Someone suggested calling the credit card company that was used for the initial payment. Could be worth the time spent on the phone working that out. That is, if the phone service stays active long enough.

[Steven Triggs]

Yes, I went ahead and called my credit card company a few days ago. They said that they would try to put a dispute through, but that they couldn't promise anything since it had been more than 90 days since the transaction posted. I'm not counting on it working, but I agree with you, that it is worth a try.