Sunrocket is a VOIP service that's designed to compete with Lingo, Vonage, and similar services.
I signed up for Sunrocket's service about 3 weeks ago. I liked the idea of making a one-time payment of $199 and not being billed again for the rest of the year, and I liked the added extra of getting a free phone set to use with the service (in addition to the Gizmo, also free).
I called Sunrocket first to confirm that I could connect the gizmo (Sunrocket calls their VOIP adapter, which you connect your phones to, a "gizmo" ...this beats my own term for it, which has hitherto been "thingy") downstream of my computer, since I have a wireless router in the basement that I don't have regular access to, and connecting it using my computer as a bridge would be most convenient...it would also let me have the base station in my apartment instead of in the landlord's basement. They said it wouldn't be a problem. Being reasonably computer-savvy, I figured I could work out the networking issues involved.
When I signed up for Sunrocket, I was hoping for an experience similar to Lingo, which I was a big fan of and had previously used for six months. Unfortunately, this was not to be. I received emails confirming my order and my setup instructions for their online account manager, and I went in and set my accounts up without problems (they gave me a second phone number free, so I had two numbers, yay).
Then I waited for a confirmation of my package being shipped. I didn't get one. I figured they might have just shipped it anyway, and maybe they don't send emails with shipping information / etc to customers, so I wasn't too worried about it.
A week later, and still nothing. I figure my packages are somewhere in transit, but I want to stay on top of things, so I call in to confirm. I'm told that my gizmo is backordered. This annoys me...why didn't they email me to tell me it was backordered, and that there would be a delay? That seems like common courtesy.
The rep assured me that my gizmo will be shipped out on the following Monday, and that I'll get an email confirming this along with a tracking number.
I wait. Monday comes and goes. The entire week comes and goes. I call Sunrocket again to find out what's up...they apologize profusely (they're good at this...much experience, I'll wager) and tell me they have to transfer me to a different department, and then hang up on me.
I'm doing other things, I'm poor, I can live without a phone, so I don't think it's a priority...being put on hold for indefinite amounts of time has never appealed to me. This was why I ran screaming from SBC in the first place.
A couple of days later I call in again. Almost same scenario, to the letter...I get cut off in the process of being transferred to the appropriate department. Which has no direct access number, of course.
A friend of mine who I suggested a VOIP service to then asked me when I was getting mine, since she had received an email confirming her shipment, with a tracking number. She lives in the same area as me, and my shipment was being sent to her house, so this baffles me...two shipments, going to the same address, and hers is sent out first, though she signed up over a week after me?
Her package arrives on Wednesday. Three weeks after I placed my order. My confirmation email arrived Wednesday night, telling me my package was sent out two days earlier, and will arrive on Thursday. Why the delay in sending me this email?
Secondly, why did I receive absolutely no communication from Sunrocket on this? I emailed them several times, in addition to my calls, and didn't receive so much as an aknowledgement to a single one.
To continue this Sunrocket horror story (trust me, "horror" is the appropriate term), move on to the terrors of Sunrocket support.
