OK, so for 10 + years I had our local telephone company, COX Communications for my home phone/internet and Cable TV. They were "ok" but almost every month my bill was a little higher and they tried to sneak it in without my noticing.
So, last October when my good friend from church asked me to meet with me about a new business he was getting into, I said sure, his soon to be brother-in-law was the rep for "ACN"..
To help my friend out, I agreed to switch my phone service to ACN, which is a VOIP phone service, they also contract with DirecTV but kept my internet with COX (they didn't have internet support in my area).
Through the deal I would be saving about $40.00 a month, PLUS they would be sending me a $100 visa gift card to pay for the switch fee's of $75.00
I won't really go into how bad it's been, DirecTV is incredible and I love being able to set my DVR from my iPhone, and the whole home DVR is great too, but the PHONE SERVICE IS THE WORST I'VE EVER SEEN !!!! If our modem has as much as a tiny hiccup, the phone goes out and it takes days for "customer service" to fix it.
Well, I signed a contract for a year AND THAT YEAR IS UP NEXT MONTH. YEA YEA YEA HAPPY DANCE!!!
So, I could go back to COX, pay a little more, or could go with the competitor, Century Link (was Qwest until last spring) or maybe another VOIP, like Vonage or Magic Jack. The idea of $19.95 a YEAR with Magic jack sounds wonderful.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, which service do you know of or like?
By the way, I never got my visa gift card, when I asked about it later, they told me the rep didn't fill out that paperwork for the rebate, when I talked to my friend at church, he dropped the business after my deal, his brother-in-law said "Sorry". I proceeded to rip him up one side and down the other for being un-ethical. It's ok, he will learn in time not to screw people (he's young).
Bottom line - ACN IS THE WORST COMPANY I'VE EVER DELT WITH IN MY 42 YEARS OF LIFE!!!!!
Thanks for letting me rant.
If you already have cable modem for internet access, then Vonage is a nice option. I've had them since 2005. If you need a referral code let me know. They sometimes offer a bonus if you have a referral code, and the person making the referral gets a bonus, too.
I have the unlimited package. The REAL bill is about $34 per month with all taxes and fees. They have smaller plans if you call less than about 1000 minutes per month.