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Ooma Hub Installed! A story of redemptive Customer Service...

We were trying to figure out our office phone solution and wanted to get the most cost effective system. Traditional service from AT&T and VOIP providers like Vonage and Comcast seemed pretty cost prohibitive for business lines (about $35-$50 a month per line). I read about Ooma a while back and didn't really think much of them. At the time, it seemed like a case of too good to be true. Slowly, a few folks I knew started buying Ooma's and were getting great results. We figured it was a good solution to pay $200 or so once versus up to $600 every year for phone service.

We decided to dip our foot in the pool by getting a used Ooma Hub (versus a new Telo, the latest model). We found a great deal on eBay for under $200 and once the device arrived, we figured it was going to be a pretty easy setup. Alas, no. Since the Hub was previously owned, it was still registered to the previous owner and would not allow us to activate it. After a frustrating hour plus call with Ooma Customer Service, I still wasn't able to activate the phone and had to be escalated to Tier 2 for further assistance. I promptly wrote a harsh email to Ooma's PR department stating my disgust with their Customer Service.

What happened next is a classic story of how a company's image can be turned completely around after a horrible customer experience. Ooma's VP of Corporate Marketing responded very quickly and connected me directly to the head of the Customer Service group, Roy. I received a call from him the next day and he made no excuses to the poor service I had gotten and assured me he would personally handle my issue. Lo and behold, a couple of hours later I was able to activate my Ooma and Roy even followed up after he saw my activation to make sure everything was working properly. My opinion of Ooma as a company is probably higher now than it was before I bought the machine. We will probably setup all our employees with Ooma Telo's and will most likely get one for my home. With great people like Roy and Tami on the team coupled with a great product, I will have no reservations promoting their service to others.

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Comments (7)

Oct 20, 2009
Dave said...
Tell me more about Ooma, Tuyen. I'm paying Qwest for a regular phone line (as well as my DSL) but I really can't stand them.

Is this some kind of VOIP solution?

Oct 20, 2009
Tuyen Vo said...
Hey Dave,

It is a VOIP solution but different in that you don't have to pay a monthly service charge. It's a one-time fee for the device and that's it. You can pay an extra $10 a month for the Premiere service which has some nice goodies like 3-way conferencing but we decided to just go with the standard level which has no monthly fee. If you factor in the cost of services like Vonage or Comcast Voice, it's far less expensive.

So far, voice quality is pretty good. I wouldn't say it's 100% as good as a traditional land line but it's pretty darn close. But, bear in mind that as bandwidth increases over time, your voice quality will increase, as well.

Oct 21, 2009
TalkToQwest said...
Hey Dave, it sounds like you may have had a bad experience with us. I saw your comment, and wanted to know if I can help you with anything?? If I can, please e-mail me at TalkToUs@Qwest.com, and I'll be happy to help with whatever I can.

Thanks,

B
Consumer Affairs Manager
Qwest Communications
www.socialmedia.qwest.com

Oct 22, 2009
Tuyen Vo said...
Wow! That's kinda scary that Qwest would post a comment on my little blog. Oh well Dave, here's their chance to blow you away with their customer service.  

Dec 29, 2009
Brenda said...
I have tried several times to call customer service and have spoke to both the outsourced rep and a supervisor who assured me they would get a marketing rep to contact me. (Never did) I tried to call the head office and left a message explaining the dilemma: I am a Canadian with a US property and have installed OOMA. We do like the quality and convenience, however, they will not let us buy any minutes because our credit card is registered in Canada and not our US address. This is archaic in these days - I am never asked what is my address and does it correlate to my VISA when I shop around the world! OOMA claims to be able to make world wide calls and I can't purchase minutes to call across the US border. How were you able to get anyone to contact you from OOMA Tuyen Vo? I would love for Roy or Tami to contact me to resolve this issue. I can't call my family in Canada when I am in California!!
Dec 29, 2009
Tuyen Vo said...
That's really unfortunate! Here's Roy's email address -
Roy.Calvo@ooma.com. He was super helpful for me. Hopefully he can
get you on your way, too.
Dec 30, 2009
Brenda said...
Thanks! I will give him a try. Happy New Year to you.

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