BasicTalk Reviews - Page 8 of 9

3.1/5

Average Rating

What's There Not to Like

Number 11 : DEC 4th, 2013 : Denny

Recommended: Yes

Purchased the BasicTalk "black box" from local store for about $10. Set up online with no difficulties. Probably took 15 minutes to set up service, set up 911 and instructions to port my old home phone number to BasicTalk service. Within about 3 business days my old number became active on BasicTalk. Sound quality is fine as are the features. So far its a win-win with price and reliability. No complaints.

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BasicTalk, try another

Number 10 : DEC 3rd, 2013 : Chip

Recommended: No

Easy setup and works mostly, but on almost every call the other side keeps complaining that I am dropping out. It also constantly misses touch tones. It has become such a bother that I must switch soon.

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Good price, poor quality and poor customer service

Number 9 : NOV 25th, 2013 : Lyn

Recommended: No

I set up my BasicTalk 11/12/13. I had some initial issues and finding the customer service Chat was not user friendly. Once I had it set up the sound is crackly and people I call tell me my voice keeps cutting out. This I can live with for the low price of $11.62 a month compared to Comcast of approx 30.00 a month without long distance. But after using the service for less than 2 weeks it no longer lets me call the number I use the most. At first I just thought my mom wasn't answering her phone and had turned off her ringer. It turns out when I call from the BasicTalk it doesn't ring on her end at all. The last couple of days when I try to call her from the BasicTalk I get a message that says the number can not be reached at this time. It also gave me a 1-800 number to call but upon calling it Time Warner Telecom said they have never heard of BasicTalk and that my phone number is not serviced by TWT and to call my phone provider.

BasicTalk says it is unlimited use in the US but there is also some small print called Reasonable Useage Policy: A customer's total usage is unusual if (a) two or more of the following occur in consecutive months, or (b) it exceeds 3000 minutes per month IN COMBINATION with one or more of the following, excessive:
- unique numbers called
- call lengths
- call forwarding/transferring
- conference calling
- short duration calls
- number of calls made during a month
- number of calls made to a conference calling service during a month
- number of calls made during business hours
- number of calls terminated and re-initiated consecutively, which, in the aggregate, result in excessive call lengths during a specific time frame; or
- other abnormal calling patterns indicative of an attempt to evade enforcement of this Reasonable Use Policy.

If a combination of these factors occurs, BasicTalk may determine that abnormal, unreasonable or usage that is not allowed is occurring, and may take action, including, but not limited to, immediate suspension of your BasicTalk service.

So apparently me calling my Mom a few times a day is not Reasonable Useage and I have been suspended from calling her number. I have an email into BasicTalk but still have not received a response.

VISITOR/PROVIDER FEEDBACK:

Steve (Aug 6th, 2014) : I think you will find that most (if not all) "unlimited" services have similar restrictions on call usage. These are personal systems, not to be used for business, and this is their way of controlling business usage.

JA (Oct 6th, 2014) : It's not at all unusual for (adult) children to call elderly and/or unwell parents multiple times a day to check on them. They may need to call and remind forgetful parents to take their medications, or to encourage them to eat or drink enough fluids. Parents with sick kids may need to call their MD or clinic every few hours with a report on the child's temperature, so the child can be kept home if at all possible, but be hospitalized promptly if needed. What business is it of the phone company to decide how many calls are too many?

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Can't Beat The Price

Number 8 : NOV 23rd, 2013 : Steve

Recommended: Yes

Found BasicTalk at Walmart. Didn't buy it there, I wanted to check the comments online. Decided that a $55/month Verizon service (I had to keep my DSL to get my service that cheaply,) was worth a try for $9.99/month. Did everything on the Internet. My number was transferred very fast, the set up was easy and the quality is excellent. I had BasicTalk estimate my total cost (including taxes) and it's $12.05/month. No hidden charges, everything up front. Yesterday I sent a fax over the line - no problem. Can even call Canada and Puerto Rico. Needless to say I am delighted with BasicTalk; everything I need, nothing I don't need.

VISITOR/PROVIDER FEEDBACK:

Jewels (Jan 29th, 2014) : You said you could send a fax, can you accept a fax. I'm worried that the reception might not be good in my area.

Steve (Mar 12th, 2014) : Haven't tried to receive a fax. Don't get much incoming, so I can't comment on fax reception.

John (Mar 27th, 2014) : I RETURNED THEIR PHONE UNUSED - IT DID NOT FIT MY COMPUTER. A MONTH LATER THEY HIT MY CREDIT CARD AND WILL NOT RETURN THE MONEY THEY STOLE FROM MY CREDIT CARD WITHOUT MY PERMISSION. REAL UNPROFESSIONAL. THEY WILL NOT RESPOND TO MY DAILY E-MAILS. I CALLED THEM AND GOT SOMEONE IN INDIA WHO PUT ME ON HOLD 3 TIMES WITH NO RESULTS.

Scott (Mar 28th, 2014) : HORRIBLE - That's the word to describe BasicTalk service and customer service. I have had nothing but problems and the call quality is horrible. Contacted them, said they would send me a new unit, due to mine being a repackaged used unit that was sold as new at Walmart. It's been over 2 months, never received the unit. In that 2 months, I have contacted them 3 time. Each time they said, they would have a unit sent within the week. Still Nothing. Each time I contacted them they also said they would credit my account for a month of service, NEVER received any credit. Call center is in a foreign country, so, getting someone to understand you or understanding the customer center rep is a complete joke. There's a reason why this service is so cheap. You get what you pay for. My suggestion, DONT BUY A BASICTALK PRODUCT!!

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CAN'T CALL OUT !!!

Number 7 : NOV 18th, 2013 : Ivanna

Recommended: No

I hate to say I wouldn't recommend it since I haven't experienced full use of the service. I've cancelled my Verizon telephone service and I haven't been able to make an outgoing call today. I've chatted with Tech support and printed 3 help pages, and to no avail I still cannot make calls and have to wait 24 to 48 hrs before the escalation team hopefully resolves the issue. HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS... I here my mother saying "Get what you pay for" !!!

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Sneaky

Number 6 : NOV 11th, 2013 : Esther

Recommended: No

This company tells you that your price is one price and then they enter your bank account at will. Be Careful! Basic talk / Basic Lie...$10.00 per month?

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Good value

Number 5 : NOV 5th, 2013 : Mike

Recommended: Yes

I replaced my phone service from UVerse (and changed ISP to Comcast a few days later). My old phone number was ported in a few days. Initially I used Basic Talk with Uverse and now with Comcast. Call quality is always good. The single call I made to tech support, asking about anything I needed to do when switching providers, was answered promptly. I have restarted the Basic Talk box once since 6/13 (5 months) when I installed it--I got an error message when picking up the phone. But that has been the only glitch. Pros: Good voice quality, reliable. Less than $12/month with taxes and fees. Works fine with my 2 station wireless phone setup and 2 wired lines. Con: No advanced call features like "follow me" or "Call blocking".

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Poor service

Number 4 : OCT 30th, 2013 : Chuck

Recommended: No

Unable to get old number ported over. Worked with Basic Talk Tech support but they did nothing. I even gave them my cell # to contact me if they needed my help on anything. Tech support ignored me. I THEN CANCELLED SERVICE.

VISITOR/PROVIDER FEEDBACK:

Lesley (Jan 3rd, 2013) : This supports my experience. BT does not care about providing responsive customer service. Once they have your money, you're on your own even if their service does not work.

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Definitely a good value

Number 3 : OCT 20th, 2013 : Mark Knauf

Recommended: Yes

Do not really use it all that much, however I do like having a "home phone". Previously I had vonage and it seemed a bit "pricey" considering how little I used it. When I saw the price point for the "basictalk" service I decided it was definitely worth trying. I never used all the features that my previous company included so for my application it has been perfect. Basic service at a basic price. Seems like a good deal to me.

VISITOR/PROVIDER FEEDBACK:

Janice (10/26/2013) : Have been using BasicTalk for 2 to 3 months now. Have had no problems so far. I love having all the features like caller ID, voice mail, call waiting. I did not have those services with my prior service, Fairpoint, and saving more than half the cost for the phone service. I am a senior citizen so saving money is a priority. I recommend BasicTalk to anyone who will listen. Very happy with BasicTalk.

Heracleus (Jan 31st, 2014) : You need to realize that the BasicTalk is a Vonage product, just a crippled one, like the original Vonage wasn't crippled enough. I had "premium" Vonage service for a few years until they discontinued my country of interest to be a part of the free unlimited talk. Ever since, the service to that country through Vonage became unreliable, unreachable and what not. Apparently Vonage engaged third parties with suspicious quality of service abandoning the main telecom provider due to price increase.

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BasicTalk issue passing TouchTone

Number 2 : SEP 11th, 2013 : Steve

Recommended: Yes

BasicTalk cannot be relied upon for "Touch Tone Teller" or credit card activations using Touch Tones (DTMF) or for IVR applications that require touch tone input. The degradation of DTMF for this low bit rate voip service is enough to cause these type calls to not work

VISITOR/PROVIDER FEEDBACK:

Steve (Aug 6th, 2014) : I find that re-booting the HT701 usually solves most of my break-up problems. You can just unplug the box, or use the server capabilities of the box to perform the re-boot. I have had good luck with customer service also.

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