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ANVEO - Buyer Beware!

Started by JH2011, April 07, 2014, 04:21:27 PM

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JH2011

I foolishly signed up with Anveo.

Wasted a whole day but could not get it installed in my Obi box.

Their customer support email address bounced back - undelivered!

Phone calls said "Bye" as soon as you choose "Support"...

So finally, I go to Paypal and file a complaint.

Immediately, within one minute, I get an automated response from Anveo about how because of the Paypal complaint, they (Anveo) have now "deducted" (confiscated) my money from my account saying that I am somehow connected with "fraudulent activity" ?!?!

It seems they really don't like Paypal's resolution system... and prefer to call their customers activity "fraudulent"?!?!?

I didn't complete or receive a single phone call with Anveo... they took my money and never provided anything in return, except automated emails. I emailed Obi and they finally responded after a few hours but it was far too late for me...

Anveo is a horrible company.

After that experience, I signed up with a much more well known provider and got everything hooked up in exactly 5 minutes. Literally!

So there was absolutely nothing wrong with my Obi box!

The whole problem was Anveo's horrible installation system.

I REALLY, REALLY DON'T RECOMMEND ANVEO!

AlanB

I've emailed Anveo customer support a few times and they have been very responsive. I've never gotten a bounce back. It would appear that you mistyped the email address or there was a temporary glitch and now it's their fault. I'm not saying they are perfect. I'm just honestly saying that what you describe doesn't appear to be solely their fault.

JH2011

It's 100% their fault, the contact email was taken from here: www.anveo.com/contactus.asp

The bounce back is shown below:

Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

customer.support@anveo.com

Technical details of permanent failure:
Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the server for the recipient domain anveo.com by mw.anveo.com. [74.86.97.193].

The error that the other server returned was:
550 <customer.support@anveo.com>, Recipient unknown

CLTGreg

I'm sorry you had a bad experience. I would suggest to others that run in to a problem with the new plan that they try contacting Obi since they are partners. I've never used that page to e-mail them. I used the ticketing system but since they charge for that I certainly wouldn't recommend it unless it is a last ditch kind of thing.

The other thing is, if you clicked on the e-mail link it would fail. They have a protection mechanism on that page that I find unfathomable. I understand what they are trying to use but they don't say on the page. You have to copy the e-mail address if you don't know it.

Section 16 of their terms of service outlines resolution paths when an alleged false charge is claimed and does mention fraud charge as potential reprisal though it doesn't mention forfeiture of funds. They state that unused funds will be refunded when an account in good standing is closed following the methods in the TOS. I doubt that some of their threats would hold up in court since being a Paypal business subscribes you to certain procedures that include charge backs. They also threaten "legal action" for charge backs they don't like and then later say arbitration is mandatory.

Finally, I sent a test message and it didn't bounce. The problem may not be in the way you addressed the e-mail but may have been transient either on Google or Anveo's end.

I'm sorry it didn't work out. They have good service.


JH2011

I was jumping through hoops for hours when it should have only taken 5 minutes.

The bad "support" email address is only a small part of the problem.

#1 - Their install method didn't work at all.

#2 - No support, no phone response, no email response.

#3 - Very bad attitude towards Paypal's dispute procedure.

They absolutely DON'T have "good service".

BUYER BEWARE!

AlanB

I sent a test message about the time I made my original post.  I received a response back from Anveo customer service 43 minutes later stating that they had received my test message.  It wasn't an automated response, it was an actual written response to my test message.


JH2011

This morning, I paid a total of $49.99 ($39.99/yr + $10.00 deposit for international calls)

I never made or received a single call because the Obi box couldn't be configured.

Now, Anveo just sent me this email "alert":

>>> LOW ACCOUNT BALANCE: -$37.47
>>> This email alert is to inform
>>> you that your Anveo account
>>> 1224463xxx is now below the
>>> low balance threshold.

I guess they're trying to make it look like I actually used some of their "services".

What a sleezy way to try and "earn" a buck!

I already alerted Paypal.

c3c3

http://www.obitalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=7610.0

If you had used Vestalink's nonstandard configuration method, that could be a reason for your problem with Anveo.

I have set up 3 Anveo accounts for my relatives and myself, and I have exchanged emails with Anveo customer support.  Absolutely no problem.

JH2011

After wasting so many hours struggling with Anveo, I finally decided to give Callcentric a try and got service installed in literally 5 minutes. So, I really don't see how a previous Vestalink installation could be blamed for the failure of Anveo's non-intelligent install wizard.

In fact, it's Anveo's "installation" that's non-standard - they hide the sip password from the user!?!? Also, another thread here mentions that Anveo's wizard cannot install into an existing Anveo account that's already populated with a 911 address. Yet, you cannot delete that 911 address from their system before retrying the install. Their system doesn't allow it to be deleted.

Anveo's installation failure was compounded by their lack of business ethics and acumen.

Paypal states: "By opening a dispute in the Resolution Center, you will be working directly with the seller to resolve this issue."

Anveo's automatic instant response to Paypal's dispute resolution process?

"We would like to inform you that we've been notified that one of your recent payments was reversed. As the result the payment amount was deducted from your account balance. Please note that we take fraudulent activity very seriously and use of charge-back without following our dispute resolution procedure is in violation of Terms of Use."

So... Anveo's "Terms of Use" carry more weight than Paypal's?!?!  ::)

Really??? They're soooo funny.

AlanB

It is a shame that you had a bad experience. However you had zero posts on this forum until you came out warning others not to use Anveo. There are plenty of people here who would have tried to help you.

Anveo doesn't hide SIP details on an account directly through them just when you sign up through ObiTalk. They have an agreement for Obhai to provide tech support in this case.

Anyway I'm glad you got Callcentric working. They do have good features on their website.

JH2011

>>> "you had zero posts on this forum until you came out warning others not to use Anveo"

Yes, I joined this forum in 2011 and never actually needed to make a post...

... Until yesterday. (Nuff said.  ;) )

Callcentric was almost too easy!  8)

Johnny

I'm sure Anveo is a great company and I'm also sure that JH2011's problems are probably the exception to the rule, but it doesn't help him concerning his issues with Anveo.

To pile on him/her at this point is not being helpful.

I just want to know one thing about Anveo.  How in the world can anyone navigate their web site?  I know I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but come on.  Why not have a web site that even people like me can understand?  Or is that asking the impossible? ;D

IMO, They seriously need a redesign.

Just my thoughts.......

AlanB

Quote from: Johnny on April 08, 2014, 05:32:37 AM


I just want to know one thing about Anveo.  How in the world can anyone navigate their web site?  I know I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but come on.  Why not have a web site that even people like me can understand?  Or is that asking the impossible? ;D

IMO, They seriously need a redesign.

Just my thoughts.......


That's a common topic for a good reason. I would never have signed up for them without more info because I wouldn't have figured out their plans either. Their website has good features but they are a mess to find and make sense of.

CLTGreg

It is true that having at least an intro course in rocket science helps when using Anveo's website. It is clear that they are more "under the hood" types than above. Like car mechanics not being able to explain very well and therefore there's a service adviser. Anveo could use one of those too but maybe it's tough considering how low their per minute rates are and substantial discounts for DIDs (compared to Callcentric for example).  Also their  30/6 seconds intervals where I believe Vestalink is 60/60 but someone correct me if I'm wrong.

It might also be that having their website so complicated is to weed out those that might not be able to handle call flow designs which is an amazing service.

The thing to remember about them is that if you are not using the Obi plan there are three things you have to deal with. The cost for the account (plan) which is located here: http://www.anveo.com/consumer/service.asp - I use the free one.

The cost of the DID: http://www.anveo.com/consumer/mainphonenumbers.asp which itself is complicated because there are three options. Use the per minute if you're just parking something but consider the unlimited plans if you use a number a lot because that $2 buys unlimited incoming calls like the Obi plan has. Finally, there's the rate you pay for the minutes used: http://www.anveo.com/consumer/rates.asp which for the U.S. is 1 cent per minute where Callcentric is nearly 2.

I like both. Free incoming Callcentric is the bomb and they can hold numbers that Anveo can't. Parking numbers I think is best at Anveo because you can park a number for .50 per month. Good also to use junk numbers or have a different one for faxes or business needs and never answer if you want to avoid the 1c. Return call another way for example.

I don't know how this all would mix with the new Obi plan. I have both and need to figure it out soon.

PS: I also sent a test message to Anveo that said "test ignore" and they replied to it. Hopefully not many more of us did.

Marty.ba.calif.usa

Yes, their website takes some getting used to.  I personally saved each link that was useful as I came to it, and made a note of the category or title, using a simple wiki-type program that handles links (gnote, on linux).  But by the time I did that, I learned how it was organized, and it started getting much easier.

Yes, their basic handholding is non-existent.  They aren't for novices unless the novice is motivated enough to learn what's going on.  Personally, they were the 2nd one I tried soon after getting my Obihai ATA, and it took about 5 minutes for me to manually set it up using a $2/month DID plus 80 cents for E911.  Seemed like a cheap way to try it out.  Honestly, how much support can you expect at a price like that??  I'm serious, what do you expect for that price? 

There are more expensive provicers who will provide more handholding, but people like me who don't need it don't want to pay for people like you who do.  Why should I pay more?  I went into this just like you, knowing nothing.  I configured my Obi, and I configured an Android softphone also to work with Anveo.  It was truly not that difficult, although yes, I needed to actually think about it.

So, go with who you need, but chill out and don't advertise your lack of expertise.  I like the fact that I have  completely stopped all telemarketer calls using Anveo's IVR, for only $2.80/month.

AlanB

Quote from: Marty.ba.calif.usa on April 08, 2014, 05:37:29 PM

So, go with who you need, but chill out and don't advertise your lack of expertise.  I like the fact that I have  completely stopped all telemarketer calls using Anveo's IVR, for only $2.80/month.

I agree with you.  I love the IVR.  Up to 10 call flow items are included in the ObiTalk plans.  That's enough to block those nasty telemarketers.

MikeHObi

I've generally found most voip provider's websites a challenge mostly because each of them seem to do something a little different, or at least advertise different things.   I assume it is the flexibility that is available is a selling point as well as part of the problem with making it easy to understand.

The up side the cost to get started with any of them is low.  Once you start doing that you start to get a feel for what options might be possible.  I think where Anveo gets confusing the "Plans and Pricing" tab on their sight seems to indicate something that might be "all inclusive" but in fact that isn't what it means.

where they could help themselves is if they had a service calculator that allows you to combine things and see what your estimated calls might be.
Obi202 user & Obi100 using Anveo and Callcentric.

nitzan

Quote from: Marty.ba.calif.usa on April 08, 2014, 05:37:29 PM$2/month DID plus 80 cents for E911.  Seemed like a cheap way to try it out.  Honestly, how much support can you expect at a price like that??  I'm serious, what do you expect for that price?
As someone who runs an ITSP (Future Nine) I agree, and disagree - initial hand-holding is not a problem and we do it all the time - it only takes a few minutes per user and then they're set for months or years. Those users are not a problem.

I'll give you an example of a user who WAS a problem: guy signed up for an outgoing-only pay-as-you-go account, made literally 11 cents of calls a month, and managed to open a dozen support cases during a month wasting hours of our time. After a few months of this I've had enough and politely asked him to move on, and refunded his money. Not going to let people like that ruin support quality for the other 99% of users. Hand-holding is fine - nagging and complaining just for the sake of complaining is not.

The timing is kinda funny with the CircleNet thread, because quite frankly at his rates Sam is very likely to run into this problem quite often - users who bring in almost no revenue but keep opening support cases. I'm not sure, but I think CircleNet is a part-time project so his time is limited - get enough of this guys in the system and it'll impact his ability to support everyone else. Lowest price is not always a good thing neither for the provider, nor for users - (quality) support costs money to provide. :)
Nitzan Kon, CEO
Future Nine Corporation
http://www.future-nine.com/

CLTGreg

I like Anveo a lot but it seems that support is a profit center for them. Shouldn't be a surprise since they are so ala carte but sometimes it makes me nervous when something may be a sales question or a problem on their end.

aopisa

Quote from: 7Priest7 on April 08, 2014, 12:56:01 PM
I've had a bad experience with callcentric and their limitless fees.
You seem to be not very concerned about the price.
Callcentric will charge you every fee and tax imaginable.

I've seen a few complaints about Anveo.
So far, Vestalink is looking best for post xmpp migration.
Maybe circlenet+callcentric free did(if you can avoid the 911 tax)

I would caution you against Vestalink too for the time being. I have had numerous problems with the service going down over the few weeks I have been with them. If you check in the ISP forum you can see a three page thread where I and several others have posted about how we cannot not make or receive calls over the last two days. Vestalink's web portal shows that I am connected both to my Obi and the iPhone app, but neither is working.

I fear this is only going to get worse as the GV cutoff approaches and more people start piling onto a system that is not able to handle their current customer base.