Talk America Supposed upgrade ruined phone service for my BUSINESS and they knew it would and didn't warn me Ripoff Palm Harbor Florida

"Talk America, whom I have my business phone service with, recently decided to "upgrade" their lines. I've also heard a csr refer to it as a "conversion". I've yet to find out just exactly what they've done to my line but, it certainly was not an "upgrade" for me.

The only notification I received about this was a short recorded message on voicemail that said we might experience a lack of service for about 30 minutes and then all would be right again. I went on vacation believing this.

When I returned from the first vacation I've taken in over six years, I found that no one had been able to call me, no one had been able to leave me a voicemail and I was unable to retrieve any voicemail that I saved before we left. Everything was gone. I called customer service to find out what was up. (Right! Good luck with that.)

They didn't apologize but assured me that they would have my voicemail back up and running in two hours and that I would still have access to my old messages and that my greetings (six in all for the three mailboxes that took forever to set up)would still be intact. I thanked them and noted the time and even gave them an extra hour before checking my voicemail again. When I did attempt to retrieve my messages, I got a recording telling me I needed to enter my "temporary PIN" in order to set up my voicemail. I called customer service again.

This time they did at least apologize, although not convincingly, and told me my temporary passcode. I returned to my voicemail, accepting the fact that I had lost all my messages and would have to set everything up again. When I finally gained entrance to my voicemail, I found that I now had only one mailbox, not the multiple mailboxes I'd had before and which are a necessity for my business so, I called customer service AGAIN.

More apologies, this time a little more sincere, assuring me that they would put my mailboxes back and if I would just give them another two hours they'd have everything fixed right up. I waited. They did as they said, however, the entire voicemail system is different. Now, I have to enter a SIX digit code every time I want to access my voicemail rather than the previous four digits. All of the prompts I had learned and memorized have been changed. I became so frustrated that I had to leave it alone. How can I record greetings for my business when I'm fuming?! I worked in customer service (I was one of the good ones! That's probably why I get so angry when they're not.) for several years before going into business for myself. Your emotional state comes across in the tone of your voice whether you want it to or not. I'm almost afraid to go back to try to set it up because I have a feeling it's not going to give me the same options and features that I had before and that would prompt another call, more wasted time, etc.

Please note that each call begins with an infuriating, most annoying recording telling me I don't need to talk directly to anyone. This "virtual csr" could solve all my problems. After screaming, "HUMAN BEING!" at the voice prompts three or four times, I would finally be put in cue and wait and wait for the "next available...", you know. So instead, I get on-line to check my e-mail and, "What's this?!" My dial up connection has gone from 54 to 28!!! What kind of an "upgrade" is this??!!!

If there's anyone else out there who's experiencing this, please leave a complaint. I've had so many problems lately with cell phones (Suncom, thanks to Cingular, read BellSouth) internet service (Earthlink) and now this. They ought to be paying me for all the time I'm having to spend straightening out their mess! I'm slowly but surely dumping them all.

Why is it that the telcom companies are the ones getting rich while they treat their customers like crap! We've got to do something or they'll suck us dry. If you're as angry and fed up as I am, please leave a complaint and then call your state's attorney general and complain."

Patti
Nicholson, Georgia
U.S.A.

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