Norvergence ripoff The delima now is all the backstabbing from companies trying to "snag" our business Cathedral City California
Norvergence Incommunicado Newark, NJ
Our company was caught up in the web. The first major sign of trouble started "right off the bat," like a blinking Vegas neon sign. There was no way to communicate with any individual, other than the receptionist. I was told that even the employees had to email any problems to others and wait for a response.
Response wouldn't come until I called 5 times in a hour, ranting and raving. Each call to/from meant repeating the whole senario all over again. Yikes, help was slow to come. We still do not have our 800 number working, putting a severe cramp on business.
The delima now is all the backstabbing from companies trying to "snag" our business. I received two calls from the same company (different States) One tried to sell me a package $225.00 higher by telling me the other State couldn't assist California. Don't fall for it. Check and recheck.
We need the whole package with T1 and cells too. That seems to be a difficult beast to tackle.
Norvergence website alone will pull you into their "web!" Now I am too defensive and feel everyone is out to get the "suckers" (us).
Sauce'
Cathedral City, California
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Mike
Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
There is help, but be careful
#3Consumer Suggestion
Wed, July 21, 2004
Gents:
I feel you pain. There are ways out of the maze, but you need to understand who does what in the telecom world.
First, to the gentleman who is waiting for an 800 number, stop waiting for Norvergence, and call any reputable Long Distance provider ( note, in these days Local Dial Tone providers can also provide 800,... 800 is a LONG DISTANCE type of service. ) You will need to "point" the 800 number to a local dial tone number you already have, usually your main number. )
Most of the good carriers can have an 800 up in a day. If it is an existing 800 number, you will need to fill out a RESPORG form for the carrier you pick. This deisgnates the carrier as the Responible Organization, (hence the name RESPORG form), and that lets them take over control of routing and billing for the number.
A hint, try to get your company name EXACTLY as it appeared on the bill of the previous carrier. If it is a new 800 number, no need to worry, the name you put on the bill will have to be matched exatly if you choose to move it down the line. You want to look for a rate of between $ 0.04 - $.06 per minute, with a monthly fee of no higher than $ 3.00 per 800 number. Anything more and you're getting ripped.
Second, what norvergence was installing was an $80 piece of equipment called an IAD. The IAD did three things.
1.) It broke out some of the channels of the T for voice traffic.
2.) It broke out some channels for data ( internet ) bandwidth.
3.) It captured the LOCAL Calling. Local calls would normally go to your local Bell carrier, but Norv, grabbed those calls with the IAD.
LD calls could be picked to any carrier off of your normal old telephone line, but the Matrix routed them over the T, but you could have done the VERY SAME thing by simply PIc'ing you lines to QWEST ( or any other LD carrier with a nice rate )for long distance. SO instead of leasing this box, you could have done some homework, found a good carrier with a low rate, and paid a whopping one time charge of $ 5 per line to switch to the new carrier. and while you were at it you could have added that 800 number you needed weeks ago.
Third, different services need different technologies to run, and there are VERY FEW companies who own all the switches, hubs,POPS, routers, cell towers, and Collocated DSLAMS to provide all of the services. Anyone who says they can do it all is RESELLING the underlying provider(s), and the more they take on the higher the risks go, so for the time being, MULTIPLE BILLS ARE A FACT OF LIFE!!!..I know it's a pain,..deal with it.
Fourth, some resellers that deal with a specific portion of telecom services are OK. For expample, i sometimes recommend a DSL Aggregator I know who also incorporates DSL via sattelite to give nearly blanket coverage and an OK level of bandwith at a reasonable price. ( Let me know if you want their names, I can put you in touch with them. ) But usally the voice companies do voice best, the DSL companies do DSL/bandwidth best, and the Cellular companies,..well they're just downright confusing,...
Fifth, Some Competitive Local Exchange Carriers (CLECS) do offer multiple voice and data services, and that's usually because they have a Telephone Switch, ( usually a Lucent 5E or a Nortel ) AND a large DATA or ATM switch, both sitting in the same spot in your market so they can offer voice and data over a channelized circuit. Find a good one, find a rep who has been there for a few years and sit down with him.
Sixth, don't get sucked in to anything longer than a 2 or 3 year term. Make them fight for your business, if you think you can push them for better rates or free installs you probably can.
SIxth: Cellular is a pain!!! Examine what they pitch you carefully. I would tell you to approach the cellular carriers seperately, and seek out multiple proposals. Warning, it will be very hard to compare, but the first step is KNOWING what exactly your own traffic is.
Good luck!!
Donovan
Wildwood,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Owners, employees we need to get togehter
#3Consumer Comment
Tue, July 20, 2004
Owners, employees we need to get togehter and go after them all including the leasing companies. I have been on several sites and many comapnies and employees are touting fraud. If we get together and pool our respources we can file a class action suit. Another site Broadband reports.com has additional information for those interested.