FCC says, Onebox.com is breaking the rules
I just received a comment that Onebox.com is holding a customer’s number hostage who didn’t even sign up with them. I’ll let the customer speak for himself:
I got my toll free number from TollFreeMax aprox 4 years ago. Last week i had a problem with the numbers and tried to contact tollfreemax. No answer. I log into their website to find out that the company is out of business and my toll free numbers where transferred to Onebox.com. I called onebox and ask the customer service to have the same options like tollfreemax (ie. block payphone calls). They told me that they do not have the same service options and because now i’m a onebox customer I can’t transfer my numbers to other company because they own my numbers now.
TollFreeMax service agreement when I signed up said “TollFreeMax offers ownership of toll free numbers and has an active pool of numbers for selection and assignment within one hour. Vanity numbers can be assigned within one week. There are no contracts however customers who cancel service in less than one year of signing up will be charged a $25 cancellation fee. VoIP service is available”. I paid $ 25 fee for each toll free number.
My toll free numbers are advertised for 4 years, have it on cars, business cards, invoices, over 3000 customers. I called FCC and made a complaint. They said that onebox is violating FCC rules.
What can I do Next? Should I hire a lawyer?
Thanks,
John
This unsolicited and unedited comment was posted on a page about Onebox stealling numbers. I haven’t contacted the FCC because I just received it on a Saturday morning. This certainly seems abusive but it seems to fit with the experience and the arrogance we’ve seen with Onebox.
If you’ve had your number hijacked by Onebox (or anyone) like this contact us. We’ll be glad to help you get it away from them and then transfer it to ANY phone company you want. We’re not competing with Onebox because we don’t provide the ongoing service. But we can’t let someone like that hold probably thousands of customers hostage. We will be glad to yank a number away from Onebox without asking for their permission for just the regular $49 activation fee.
The Onebox terms of service are absolutely atrocious. But customers from TollFreeMax or TollFreeExpress didn’t sign or agree to the Onebox terms of service. That won’t stop them from trying to enforce it. But we’re here to help you fight back.
This is a good example of why you really need to have independent proof of ownership because even if someone at a phone company says you have the right to transfer your number away, things can certainly change. I always say that “Your ability to transfer your number is what keeps them honest” and it looks like Onebox doesn’t like having to be honest.
Related posts:
PhonePeople holds customers hostage at TollFreeNumbers.com
Why is ownership of your toll free number so Important?
j2 doesn’t want me to tell people what they’re doing
Big Companies behaving badly
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
Bill Quimby (678 comments.) says:
March 14, 2009 at 1:10 pm
I called and talked to John. This is part of the email I sent him and includes what he needs to do for us to yank his number away from them, for him.
John,
All you need to do is fill out this document (http://www.TollFreeNumbers.com/rcf) top and bottom (not the middle) and fax it back to us at 800-FAX-0095 with a bill from TollFreeMax (or TollFreeExpress) and I’ll yank the number from them.
They won’t yank it back as you asked for several reasons. Number 1, they would have to have the customer sign it and they know I’m going to show whoever signs it on my website. And secondly they know that I’ll make them look even worse if they fight. They also won’t fight it if you’ve filed a complaint with the FCC because that would make them look bad to the FCC which they don’t want.
We’ll help you get it back and then you can transfer it anywhere you want for the ongoing service.
Bill
Adam says:
May 15, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Thank goodness you guys are doing something about this. We had to contact the FCC to get involved, and had to get in contact with J2′s legal department directly in order to get our numbers ported out. What they are doing is illegal. It was just a disaster dealing with OneBox – I’m really glad we’re on our way out. I didn’t even fight their port-out fee ($40) only since I was just so happy to get it away from them.