Just got the following e-mail from voipcheap:


Quote:

VoipCheap credit is valid for 180 days. Your credit will expire in February. We advise you to use your credit before it expires and/or buy new credit* so your current credit will not expire. * buying new credit is only possible if you have a small credit left on your account. Kind regards, VoipCheap Customer Services www.voipcheap.co.uk

This is the first I have heard about expiry of credit, and obviously an attempt to get more income from everyone using their free calls. I signed up for 1 euro so have done very well, and can use the credit for calls to mobiles etc I suppose, but it will cost me their minimum of 5 or 10 euros now to continue. Maybe that's not too bad for another 180 days.....

alanenglish wrote on Jan 12^th, 2006 at 12:10pm:

This is the first I have heard about expiry of credit, and obviously an attempt to get more income from everyone using their free calls. I signed up for 1 euro so have done very well, and can use the credit for calls to mobiles etc I suppose, but it will cost me their minimum of 5 or 10 euros now to continue. Maybe that's not too bad for another 180 days.....

Finarea call prices on a new call brand always start ultra low and then spiral upwards although usually to a level that is still cheaper than any of their other competitors.

Its only a matter of time till they abolish free calls altogether.

alanenglish wrote on Jan 12^th, 2006 at 12:10pm:

Just got the following e-mail from voipcheap: Quote: VoipCheap credit is valid for 180 days. Your credit will expire in February. We advise you to use your credit before it expires and/or buy new credit* so your current credit will not expire. * buying new credit is only possible if you have a small credit left on your account. Kind regards, VoipCheap Customer Services www.voipcheap.co.uk This is the first I have heard about expiry of credit, and obviously an attempt to get more income from everyone using their free calls. I signed up for 1 euro so have done very well, and can use the credit for calls to mobiles etc I suppose, but it will cost me their minimum of 5 or 10 euros now to continue. Maybe that's not too bad for another 180 days.....

Glad I saw this, I have a VOIP account with £5 credit on it that I haven't used because I only make free calls and I don't spend loads of time on the phone anyway...guess I'll have to get gabbing whenever I get this e-mail!

lancsguy1972 wrote on Jan 12^th, 2006 at 9:38pm:

Glad I saw this, I have a VOIP account with £5 credit on it that I haven't used because I only make free calls and I don't spend loads of time on the phone anyway...guess I'll have to get gabbing whenever I get this e-mail!

Don't count on getting the email though as Finarea group companies are not always consistent about such communication with all their customers.  You might just find they have suddenly wiped out your credit balance.

well isnt that just beautiful.. I guess a tenner every few months isnt that bad. But if they dont mail us and our credit vanishes, there will be a few more irate customers than just us!

nutellajunkie wrote on Jan 13^th, 2006 at 7:26pm:

well isnt that just beautiful.. I guess a tenner every few months isnt that bad. But if they dont mail us and our credit vanishes, there will be a few more irate customers than just us!

But when Finarea don't run a call centre and don't reply to emails why should they give a damn how many irate customers they have.

Of course perhaps one day the useless, slow, lazy and highly expensive Ofcom may force the Finarea group to join Otelo so we would have somewhere to complain to over Finarea's head.  Perhaps if Ofcom actually had a record that gave telcos a cause to be fearful of it then Finarea might already have joined Otelo knowing the consequences of not doing so were too severe.  But no since Finarea realises that Ofcom are easy and that it is much cheaper to comply only when Ofcom gets round to doing something they wait and hope that Ofcom will have larger fish to fry.

I suggest that all of you who have bad experience of Finarea and the lack of any complaint resolution scheme email Ofcom Director of Investigations - david.stewart@ofcom.org.uk - drawing his attention to Finarea failing to comply with the legislative requirement for it to belong to an Alternate Dispute Resolution scheme.

Amen to that :)

Alan - I wonder if you could confirm the time between sign up and you receiving the email from VOIP as it may be that their current £5 minimum credit lasts upto 6 months before it expires, in which case it is of little significance when you compare it to the benefits??   :o

hoodaholla wrote on Jan 16^th, 2006 at 10:59pm:

Alan - I wonder if you could confirm the time between sign up and you receiving the email from VOIP as it may be that their current £5 minimum credit lasts upto 6 months before it expires, in which case it is of little significance when you compare it to the benefits??   :o

Here's my subscription message:


Quote:

Subject:      VoipCheap subscription confirmation      Date sent:      Fri, 29 Jul 2005 10:59:26 +0200

I'm pretty sure I paid my £1 straightaway. Here's my expiration message:


Quote:

Subject:      Your credit will expire      Date sent:      Tue, 10 Jan 2006 17:50:06 +0100

It certainly means it's no longer a no-brainer. Their message was pretty clear - all credits expire in 180 days.

alanenglish wrote on Jan 17^th, 2006 at 12:28pm:

It certainly means it's no longer a no-brainer. Their message was pretty clear - all credits expire in 180 days.

Surely most people would make some International or mobile calls that would consume the call credit within the 6 month time frame?

wrote on Jan 17^th, 2006 at 12:34pm:

alanenglish wrote on Jan 17th, 2006 at 12:28pm: It certainly means it's no longer a no-brainer. Their message was pretty clear - all credits expire in 180 days. Surely most people would make some International or mobile calls that would consume the call credit within the 6 month time frame?

Not necessarily, I credited £1. on the 8th August 2005, and my email says as above, your credit will expire in 180 days, it will expire in February, and I have not made any mobile or international calls, therefore my credit is still £1.

Here is the email I received:-

VoipCheap credit is valid for 180 days.
Your credit will expire in February.
We advise you to use your credit before it expires and/or buy new credit* so your current credit will not expire.

* buying new credit is only possible if you have a small credit left on your account.


Kind regards,
VoipCheap Customer Services
www.voipcheap.co.uk

Somewhere I remember reading, and I can't now find it, that because the account was unused the credit would expire, but as I have used it, albeit all free calls, i wanted to know if I used some of the credit now would this constitute usage and would I not need to top up, or could I top up with just another £1. this being my original buy or would it have to be the new €10 credit. I have emailed asking these questions, but have had no response since emailing them on the 19th and 12th January, any one here got the answers?

On reflection it appears if I do not use it I will lose it and the only way to continue with free calls will be to top up, but will I need to top up with €10  or £1. as original.

I believe their minimum top up is £5. Still good value if thats all it is going to cost for 6 months worth of calls, but then again i cant see that deal lasting.

hoodaholla wrote on Jan 19^th, 2006 at 12:27pm:

I believe their minimum top up is £5. Still good value if thats all it is going to cost for 6 months worth of calls, but then again i cant see that deal lasting.

I did try to register more call credit, got as for as entering CC number (can't find out the cost if you don't), and the 2 choices given to apply credit are  £10. or £25.
I stopped the credit top up as there is no way I will use that credit, as said earlier I haven't even used the £1. I credited in August, as I don't call mobiles or international. just used Voipcheap during the day for free calls to 01/02 landlines.

derrick wrote on Jan 19^th, 2006 at 1:46pm:

I did try to register more call credit, got as for as entering CC number (can't find out the cost if you don't), and the 2 choices given to apply credit are  £10. or £25.  I stopped the credit top up as there is no way I will use that credit, as said earlier I haven't even used the £1. I credited in August, as I don't call mobiles or international. just used Voipcheap during the day for free calls to 01/02 landlines.

I find it hard to believe that there is any one who never has to call a few mobile numbers in a 6 month period even though I am at the top of the list of those who try to minimise making such calls (not least because of the abysmal sound quality that often prevails).  However www.voipcheap.co.uk obviously doesn't have the cheapest mobile rate.

Still as the old saying goes there's no such thing as a free lunch.

wrote on Jan 19^th, 2006 at 3:47pm:

derrick wrote on Jan 19th, 2006 at 1:46pm: I did try to register more call credit, got as for as entering CC number (can't find out the cost if you don't), and the 2 choices given to apply credit are  £10. or £25.  I stopped the credit top up as there is no way I will use that credit, as said earlier I haven't even used the £1. I credited in August, as I don't call mobiles or international. just used Voipcheap during the day for free calls to 01/02 landlines. I find it hard to believe that there is any one who never has to call a few mobile numbers in a 6 month period even though I am at the top of the list of those who try to minimise making such calls (not least because of the abysmal sound quality that often prevails).  However www.voipcheap.co.uk obviously doesn't have the cheapest mobile rate. Still as the old saying goes there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Well believe it :), I refuse to call mobiles due to there high call costs and if some one offers one I tell them to give me a landline number or call me, the same applies to 084/087 numbers, although you have a possibility of finding a geo number for some of these

derrick wrote on Jan 19^th, 2006 at 3:55pm:

Well believe it :), I refuse to call mobiles due to there high call costs and if some one offers one I tell them to give me a landline number or call me, the same applies to 084/087 numbers, although you have a possibility of finding a geo number for some of these

Sometimes people with a mobile are actually mobile and there is no alternate landline to call them on.  Clearly your strategy is to wait until you can next track down that person on a landline.  Sometimes in business that is not possible and has higher cost consequences.

However in view of the fact that not calling mobiles is going to cause your voipcheap calling credit to be wasted perhaps you ought to recondider your policy regarding calling mobile phones.  Or what about 1899's voip service?  Or is that charged on the same basis as voipcheap or doesn't it work?