Warning. Blueface will take away your number!

unkel

For anyone that signed up on their €99 deal for 6 months including hardware. Blueface will take away your geographic number if you do not sign up with their line rental!

I got caught in their trap. Be aware. I'm disappointed that I will not be getting the savings I expected by disconnecting my Eircom phone line and going VOIP. My plan always was to sign up with Blueface and go PAYG (pay as you go), but to be restricted to a 076 number only is one bridge too far for me

Any comments welcome!

WillieFlynn

I don't understand what your problem is.

Blueface have always been very clear as to what they offer under each plan. And I don't regard it as a trap, anyway for 9.99 a month you can keep your number (which is much less than eircon's 24.99 a month), plus bluefaces rates are much less.

I think signing up for the 99 euro six month deal with hardware and hopeing you could keep the geographic number at the end when you move to PAYG, is just trying to pull a fast one and you have no one to blame but yourself when you got caught out.

Cabaal

imho you can't expect to keep your geo number if your not prepared to sign up to a plan that offers this option, I think blueface have been very upfront about all theirs charges and what you get for these charges.

If you check their website it clearly states that you must pay a monthly fee to get a geo number and if you go with PAYG you ONLY get a 076, if you were in doubt about this I'm sure blueface would have answered this if you sent them a e-mail or called them.

imho I certainly don't see this as a "trap"

Its a crap situation if you were unaware though, have you asked blueface will they be able to give you back your previous geo number if you signed up to the 10e plan for example?

unkel

WillieFlynn wrote:

Blueface have always been very clear as to what they offer under each plan

They haven't been clear at all that they would take away the geographic number in the €99 deals unless you'll start paying "line rental"

WillieFlynn wrote:

I think signing up for the 99 euro six month deal with hardware and hopeing you could keep the geographic number at the end when you move to PAYG, is just trying to pull a fast one and you have no one to blame but yourself when you got caught out.

Eh?

Do you work for Blueface?

After allowing myself to be buggered by Eircom for many years, I was delighted there was another way - VOIP.

I am very happy with my broadband provider (NTL). I signed up with Blueface and I was happy because the whole point was to get rid of the Eircom line rental. All was well until Blueface threatened me that if I don't pay them a monthly rental, they'll take away my phone number

Cabaal wrote:

imho you can't expect to keep your geo number if your not prepared to sign up to a plan that offers this option

Why can I not expect that? I've already spent several hundred € with Blueface

Cabaal wrote:

If you check their website it clearly states that you must pay a monthly fee to get a geo number and if you go with PAYG you ONLY get a 076

It did not state that anywhere when I signed up with the €99 deal

WillieFlynn

I don't work for blueface. I'm just a customer, who has their 10 euro a month service, so that I can get a geographic number as well as a 076, and UK 056 numbers.

I have also set family members up with then both using their PAYG and the 99 euro six month rental deal (after telling them that to keep the geographic number it would be 10 euro a month afterwards).

While blueface may not have a warning that you will loose your geographic number, if you move from a plan which includes one to one that doesn't. I thought it was implied, when I read their plans.

WillieFlynn

unkel wrote:

Why can I not expect that? I've already spent several hundred € with Blueface

If you are making that many calls, you may be better off on a subscription plan than using PAYG

WillieFlynn

unkel wrote:

Eh?

Do you work for Blueface?
.....

....
It did not state that anywhere when I signed up with the €99 deal

Unkel,

Sorry I though from reading your first post that you were trying to pull a fast one, rather than it being a miss-understanding.

There are other VoIP providers such as broadtalk who offer local numbers on a PAYG package, however from experiance I am sticking with blueface.

unkel

WillieFlynn wrote:

WHile blueface may not have a warning that you will loose your geographic number, if you move from a plan which includes one to one that doesn't

Exactly. They should have made that clear from the start. I'm starting to be more afraid of the incoming mean competitor than I used to be of the incumbent slug

aaronc

unkel wrote:

Do you work for Blueface?

After allowing myself to be buggered by Eircom for many years, I was delighted there was another way - VOIP.

I am very happy with my broadband provider (NTL). I signed up with Blueface and I was happy because the whole point was to get rid of the Eircom line rental. All was well until Blueface threatened me that if I don't pay them a monthly rental, they'll take away my phone number

(caveat: I do work for Blue Face) To date we have never offered a package that includes a geographic number outside of a monthly calling plan and it is highly unlikely that we will do so in the forseeable future.

I'm aware that for some people it's a bone of contention that what we term a "Call Plan" is viewed by some as "Line Rental" and I can see where that comes from. I guess it boils down to whether any of the calling plans are suitable for you or not. If they are the cost is covered by what would have been spent on calls anyway, if they're not then being on one is a form of rent.

From a provider's point of view we all pay "rent" for numbers (data centres, internet connectivity, PSTN interconnects etc. are all service based models and not usage ones) so customers will always be paying for this rent it's just a matter of how it gets passed on.

unkel wrote:

It did not state that anywhere when I signed up with the €99 deal

We obviously regret if there has been any misunderstanding and would be happy to extend a free porting period if you wished to port your number to a different provider that had a suitable service for you.

Aaron

lzbones

If your looking for a pay as you go that includes a geographic number (as long as it's 01) then I would take a look at freespeech.ie - I use them and they give a free 01 number and free UK 0844 number with no monthly payments. From my comparison of providers they have the best rates. I have been using them for a while and I am v. happy with call quality. They do not offer all the bells and whistles of Blueface but if your looking for a basic service it's a good way to go.

Freddie59

aaronc wrote:

(caveat: I do work for Blue Face) To date we have never offered a package that includes a geographic number outside of a monthly calling plan and it is highly unlikely that we will do so in the forseeable future.

I'm aware that for some people it's a bone of contention that what we term a "Call Plan" is viewed by some as "Line Rental" and I can see where that comes from. I guess it boils down to whether any of the calling plans are suitable for you or not. If they are the cost is covered by what would have been spent on calls anyway, if they're not then being on one is a form of rent.

From a provider's point of view we all pay "rent" for numbers (data centres, internet connectivity, PSTN interconnects etc. are all service based models and not usage ones) so customers will always be paying for this rent it's just a matter of how it gets passed on.

We obviously regret if there has been any misunderstanding and would be happy to extend a free porting period if you wished to port your number to a different provider that had a suitable service for you.

Aaron

Fair points Aaron - as always. I've had Bleface since December 05, and always knew that I have to sign up for a call plan in order to keep the Geographic number.

Unkel - what exactly is the problem? For €15 per month I will get UNLIMITED local and National calls 24/7 in Ireland/UK. I remember a time not so long ago where I used to pay an Eircom bill (2-monthly) of IR£120 (€152) - AND THAT WAS WATCHING THINGS CLOSELY.

Now, for a mere €15 a month I can call wherever I want, whenever I want. It's a sweet deal. And as to Eircom v Blueface on the International rates - no contest.

From [url]www.eircom.ie:[/url]

U.S.A. & Canada Daytime 19.04398c
Evening 15.23248c
Weekend 15.23248c

Blueface Rate: 1.4c a minute at ALL times.

From [url]www.eircom.ie:[/url]

Australia/New Zeland/Far East Daytime 85.77064c
Evening 68.52088c
Weekend 43.78606c

Blueface rate: 1.7c a minute at ALL times.

And it goes on..the most ridiculous example is Turkey with Eircom at 221c per minute (yes that's 2 Euro and 21 cent per minute) as opposed to 9.3 cent (yes nine point three cent) a minute with Blueface.

No contest Unkel. Stop complaining - just enjoy.;)

unkel

**

aaronc wrote:

(caveat: I do work for Blue Face) To date we have never offered a package that includes a geographic number outside of a monthly calling plan

Obviously not

My main point still is that you should make that crystal clear in your €99 offer

My savings by signing up with Blueface and disconnecting Eircom is a lot less than I expected because of the fixed montly penalty, line rental, or whatever you want to call it

Freddie59 wrote:

I've had Bleface since December 05, and always knew that I have to sign up for a call plan in order to keep the Geographic number

How did you know that? I certainly wasn't informed of that

lzbones wrote:

If your looking for a pay as you go that includes a geographic number (as long as it's 01) then I would take a look at freespeech.ie

Well, I'm usually a pretty loyal customer, but thanks for the suggestion!

** Note: I am happy with the Blueface VOIP service apart from the monopolistic fixed rental charge. Call quality is adequate to good and although the savings on Irish landline / mobile calls are minimal, international calls are very cheap indeed. The web interface with voice (e)mail and call history is excellent

jakeyb

Hey,

Yes Blueface is cheap to compare to the traditional phone line (Eircom), but will you compare the call quality of Eircom to Blueface or VOIP?, I say no. Do you know how many times your phone line is offline without you knowing that. I use Blueface myslef but dont like when all this over board praise if given to them, I have bought three cord-less phone in a space of 6 months just to see if the call quality issue is phone releated, when I first joined Blueface I use to complain almost every day and at last I just gave up as it is the price my paying for low cost phone services.

So man, yes there is an advantage and also big big disadvantage to blueface.

unkel wrote:

**



Obviously not

My main point still is that you should make that crystal clear in your €99 offer

My savings by signing up with Blueface and disconnecting Eircom is a lot less than I expected because of the fixed montly penalty, line rental, or whatever you want to call it



How did you know that? I certainly wasn't informed of that



Well, I'm usually a pretty loyal customer, but thanks for the suggestion!

** Note: I am happy with the Blueface VOIP service apart from the monopolistic fixed rental charge. Call quality is adequate to good and although the savings on Irish landline / mobile calls are minimal, international calls are very cheap indeed. The web interface with voice (e)mail and call history is excellent

GerardKeating

unkel wrote:

It did not state that anywhere when I signed up with the €99 deal

The €99 was clearly stated to be a time limited offer, and while not explicitally stated, you would have had to move to another plan at the end of the offer period.

There is no PAYG plan with a Geo-number, the details of the other options clear state that a sub is require for a Geo-number.

Now you might have had a case if a PAYG plan with a Geo-number existing at the start of your contract but was withdrawn during the six month period.

I assume the same would apply if one wanted to move from a monthly plan to PAYG.

Other provides give a Geo-number with PAYG, but they seem more expensive for calls.

The cheapest monthly option is €9.99 with 300 minutes of calls, unless you are very low volume, no PAYG plan will beat this.