A while back, I followed a link to upgrade my evoice service from evoice plus to evoice receptionist. During the signup process I was given the opportunity to port a telephone number over to the service, I entered my evoice plus number, as I thought I was getting an upgrade.
I only received 2 of the 3 numbers I asked for—one was toll free, even though I did not request a toll-free number, and one was in an area code that I never requested, as I do not do business yet in the Chicago area. I figured I did not get confirmation of the 305 number I *did* request because of the LNP process to port the number over.
However, after 2 weeks of not having the number ported over, AND having my account billed for both evoice plus and evoice receptionist, I knew something had gone wrong during the signup and upgrade process.
I sent an email, and was told to call a customer service number. The reference number from that call was 005892059. During that call, I was told a number of things that seriously concerned me about j2:
1) I first was told that there would be absolutely no possible way to port an evoice plus number to evoice receptionist. I never would have signed up for the evoice receptionist service if it had been made
clear that there was no possible way whatsoever to port the number over. (I even offered to pay whatever additional costs were involved to have the number ported over, because it is important to me that I have eVoice receptionist with the number 305-397-2629.)
2) Then the customer service representative told me that evoice plus and evoice receptionist are two separate companies that have absolutely nothing at all to do with each other. This also took me by surprise as I thought j2 was the company that owned and managed both products, which appear from the website to be related to each other. That led me to believe (and since the website says NOTHING to the contrary) that porting an evoice plus number to an evoice receptionist number would be a very easy process. It even appears to be the advertised model for signing up for service: as a company grows, they can upgrade from evoice to evoice plus
to evoice receptionist. Being told that there would be NO POSSIBLE WAY to port the number over was extremely disappointing.
3) Then the customer service representative told me that I would have to contact another support number because I contacted evoice receptionist customer service instead of evoice plus customer service. Why j2 cannot have one customer service number to handle all issues is a question I cannot answer, but I can guess that the reason is to make the process of handling customer issues such as mine so difficult for the customer as to either resign and accept whatever services j2 chooses to offer (rather than the services you advertise that you offer) or discontinue their account, in which case you
provide no refunds and are happy taking the money and leaving an unsatisfied customer.
4) Later the customer service representative told me that by contacting j2 customer support, I would be contacting yet another company that had no relationship with evoice plus or evoice receptionist. As I was
attempting to ask why she was telling me j2 was now not related to either evoice product, she began to rudely interrupt me. Since she was not concerned with providing me with an acceptable solution to my problem—and the only acceptable solution is an evoice receptionist
account with the number 305-397-2629—I hung up as she was continuing to try to rudely interrupt me.
All I am requesting that my evoice plus number: 305-397-2629 be ported over to my evoice receptionist account, which currently has a Chicago area code even though my company is located in South Florida (Miami/Keys). It is a simple request. It is a request that can legally and technically be done as j2 (or the companie (s) j2 licenses their number pool from) has/have control over the number that j2 has licensed to me to use. I will quote from Wikipedia:
"In the US, there are standards for portability defined by the FCC and the LNPA, as well as NANPA and the ATIS which are agreed upon by all member providers to help make LNP as cost-efficient and expedient as possible while still retaining a healthy level security for all
providers and in respect of the highest level of customer service.
These rules, first defined in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Reports and Orders by the FCC (publicly available at fcc. Gov), are further detailed by the LNPA in order to ensure any provider can successfully port numbers to any other provider.
(emphasis mine)
NeuStar provides a national database called the
NPAC (National Portability Administration Center) which contains the correct routing information for all ported and pooled numbers in the US and Canada. The NANC maintains detailed documentation of the procedure common among US carriers to port numbers as described here."
The porting process should cost me little or nothing, but I am willing, in spite of j2's false advertising that such porting is available free of charge, to pay for the LNP since the customer service representative made it seem like it is an impossible task to carry out.
Furthermore, I asked for a written apology from the customer service representative who was quite rude to me and treated me on the phone as if I was wasting her time and bothering her with some impossible task: she interrupted me frequently and did not listen to my concerns, instead interrupting me with "no" as if I were a young toddler. The job of a customer service representative is to address the customer's needs and direct them to the persons who can resolve their problems. Being told that I had to call another number after sending 2 emails and making a call seemed like I was just getting the runaround from whoever is in charge. I find it INCREDIBLE that a communications
company cannot forward customer service calls to the persons who are most capable of solving the customer's problems and/or issues. I see that as a sign of a company who does not value their customer, and
many other people would agree with me.
I first received a call from a sales representative inquiring about difficulties getting the fees for my evoice plus account: I chose to start using a one-time only credit card from Paypal to reduce j2's history for continuing to bill... So I knew the card wouldn't work the second time they tried to access funds.
Then I received an email which states that because they get their pool of numbers from two different companies, it is impossible for them to port from one to the other, and that since they are a RESELLER of communications services rather than a true communications company, the FCC laws do not apply to them.
I am disappointed and ashamed to have ever done business with this company. I am currently seeking an attorney to determine any future legal action towards the company.
James
N Miami, Florida
U.S.A.
0 comments