Packet8 Reviews

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Packet8 may be one of the most successful VoIP companies that you may have never heard of. It is one of the few pure play VoIP companies that is profitable and stable.


Packet8 offers a residential plan called "Freedom Unlimited" for $24.99 per month which includes 21 free calling features and unlimited calls to both landlines and mobile phones in the USA, Puerto Rico, Guam, US Virgin Islands & Canada. More generously, the Freedom Unlimited plan offers free calling to landlines in France, Italy, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom (calls to mobile phones in those countries is not unlimited and is charged per minute based on their excellent international rates). Furthermore, if you have a friend or family member anywhere in the world that also uses Packet8, you can call that person for free with the Packet8 in-network calling which is also included in the Freedom Unlimited plan.


As far as prices, Packet8 offers a free first month of service (this special is only available if you click the Visit Packet 8 banner on the right), free shipping on the Internet phone adapter, and a free equipment lease. There is a $29.99 activation fee. What is extremely attractive about Packet8 is their excellent 30 Day Money Back Guarantee that will give you every penny back if you are not happy within the first 30 days. This includes a refund of the activation fee and your first month service. Since they are giving your first month of service for free and free shipping, you don't have any risk to give Packet8 a try.


If you make a lot of international calls, Packet8 offers another plan called the Freedom Unlimited Global which is $29.99 per month. This plan, like the Freedom Unlimited, includes free calls to both landlines and mobile phones in the US & Canada. However, you also get free unlimited calls to landlines in the following countries:


Europe: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Moscow-Central, Moscow-Suburb, St. Petersburg, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom.


Asia: Australia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, and Singapore.


Latin America: Chile, Sao Paulo, Caracas, Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara.


Middle East: Israel.


As with a few of the other voip providers we reviewed, they do offer an annual prepay plan called Freedom Annual for $199 which offers the same rates and promotions as the Freedom Unlimited but since you are paying $199 upfront, your effective monthly rate comes out to be $16.58 per month.


Based on Packet8's strong stability and excellent prices, Packet8's Freedom Unlimited plan is one of the best of all the VoIP companies we have reviewed. We think you will be very happy with them as your VoIP provider and it comes with one of our highest recommendations.

Unlimited Monthly

Activation Fee:   $29.99
One Time Equipment Charge: $0.00
Shipping & Handling: $0.00
First Month Service: $0.00
 
Total First Month: $29.99
Month 2: $24.99
Month 3: $24.99
Total for Months 4 -12: $224.91
 
Total Costs for the Year: $329.87
Average Monthly Costs: $25.40

Packet8 Reviews Customer Reviews

Great International Service, May 19, 2009
Dayton K. - Portland, OR

Customer Service
5
Sound Quality
5
Reliability
5
Features
5
Price
5
Overall Experience
5
I signed up for Packet8. I make calls to England and I was astounded at the quality. It's excellent. I went from paying high rates to rock bottom rates. I also like the fact that they have a mobile voip that I downloaded for my T-Mobile dash. I didn't have to worry about bad rates from T-Mobile. I'm really happy with Packet8. Finally, with Packet8 I was comfortable paying a little more than some of the other brands since they are very financially stable. Great Rates and lots of stability. What else could you ask for? I highly recommend them.

Outbound Calls Don't Always Ring Through, May 30, 2009
Paul - Natick, MA

Customer Service
2
Sound Quality
4
Reliability
2
Features
4
Price
4
Overall Experience
3
An okay alternative to the traditional TDM landlines but not as reliable. Intermittent issues with outbound dialing in which calls never ring. Occasional cut-offs and service doesn't support fax machines if you still use them.

8x8 WAYS TO MAKE A CUSTOMER A VICTIM, June 03, 2009
Kevin - Locust Grove, VA

Customer Service
1
Sound Quality
1
Reliability
1
Features
1
Price
1
Overall Experience
1
I am writing this because I have become the victim of two scam/sham companies: Vonage and 8X8. I was with Vonage for one year and in the end I was charged for disconnection even though I fulfilled the one year contract agreement. Their biggest problem was customer service and technical support. The customer service could not get my order right no matter how often I called to get all three lines under one bill. The whole problem is the staff of customer service is based in the Philippines. They customer service could probably speak fluent Tagalog, but only an utterance in English. I was so frustrated when I tried to get support from them I could not take anymore. After so many failed attempts at trying to make it through I gave up and paid the price to leave after one year. I thought that one year and I could close my account without any issues. Finally I thought; but no, I was charged for canceling my account as a termination fee. My wife and I sell Melaluca products. One of the many services and products is the 8X8 VoIP Service. We expected the same high quality service as we expected from other partner companies in this forum. To no avail was I disappointed. The package arrived and I quickly set it up and ported our numbers to them. I could not get the fax to work. I spent 39.25 hours on the phone with Tech support, I had limited time to work with them especially when I was repeating the same sets over and over again.. Finally I told them I would not pay any further until they got the fax working. They finally relented and sent me a new converter modem for the fax line. I have made it work two times since. Then on May 28, 2009, I received an email. They are raising the rate for the fax line by 50% from $9.99 to $14.99. It pushed me over the edge. First I called them and complained they would not relent. I wrote the better business bureau and they told me they were within their writes to charge me anything they wish due the wording in article 5.9 of the customer agreement. Without notice and without malice 8X8 will and can raise the price and you can pay it or be charged for failing to meet you contract fulfillment. The BBB of San Jose, CA has given them an “A+” rating on their site in spite of several reviews to the contrary. So the better business bureau is a prostitute to the business with money to buy their services. I am so sad to come to the realization of today’s business world. Not does this review discredit these two companies, but also the Better Business Bureau. What disappointment (bowing my head in disgust).

Bad Service, Worse Support, A Complete Disaster, June 28, 2009
David - San Francisco, CA.

Customer Service
1
Sound Quality
1
Reliability
1
Features
1
Price
1
Overall Experience
1
I signed up for the year plan and have not been happy at all. Fifty percent of the time, I can't even get the phone to connect, the other fifty percent has very poor sound quality in both directions. Customer dis-service is a joke. I had friends of the management get their attention, but still received no help. They would not even return my phone calls!!! The call redirection feature is very limited and did not work on a consistent basis. One limitation is the the call redirection has to ring the VOIP phone first before it will try the number (cell phone) that you want the call to go to. I am not sure how many calls I lost by having people get tired of waiting for long ring times or the call not getting through. They changed the Terms and Conditions twice on me and - yes, they locked me out of terminating my service early and walking away. BEWARE - This is not a company you want to do any business with in any form for any reason. The only reason they have a score of one is that I can't figure out how to save this review with a zero score in every category.

Packet8 Adds a lot of Junk Charges, August 17, 2009
Tim - Charlotte

Customer Service
1
Sound Quality
1
Reliability
2
Features
3
Price
1
Overall Experience
1
Add about $7 to that amount shown above for Freedom Unlimited and you get the true cost of P8 these days. It's ridiculous as it amounts to about 25% or so of the bill. The call quality seems to be suffering these days too. Much better deals elsewhere.

Just don't try to cancel!, September 15, 2009
Mark - Salt Lake City, UT USA

Customer Service
1
Sound Quality
1
Reliability
1
Features
1
Price
1
Overall Experience
1
After cancelling my month-to-month contract I was charged for an additional 6 months. Then 2 years after I cancelled, they sent my account to a collections agency and said I owed for 4 more months! After several hours on the phone (much of it on hold) they cut it down to 2 months. STAY AWAY FROM THEM!
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