Don’t you hate it when companies tout a service that they offer on an “unlimited” basis for a low flat fee, when in fact it’s not unlimited at all? Looks like customers of Packet8’s “Freedom Unlimited” VoIP phone service are running into just such an invisible wall. It turns out that in the opinion of Packet8 employees, 3,000-4,000 minutes a month constitutes the upper limit of “unlimited,” unless you contact them and justify your use. Discussion is on dslreports.com.
In the age of cell phones, people are used to keeping track of their cell phone use in terms of minutes, and with an upper limit placed in many cases on our “peak” use of such devices, three to four thousand minutes a month does seem for some to be excessive, especially if you’re only paying $20 and change a month. But, keep in mind that VoIP providers like Packet8 are trying to position their services as a replacement for traditional wired phone lines, and in most parts of the country, you truly could make unlimited local calls for one low rate on a landline, without ever having to keep track of your usage. While long distance charges were levied for anything non-local, unlimited local really did mean unlimited. The same is true in many cases for the unlimited night and weekend minutes offered by most cell companies in the US, with long distance included. Has anyone every been told they used too many wireless unlimited off-peak minutes?
In the case presented in the dslreports.com thread, the “excessive” use came from a family with chatty teenagers… a typical occurance in many hoseholds, only most don’t have to worry too much about it when using wireless or traditional landline service. But it seems Packet8 is either unwilling or unable to accomodate what can sometimes be very typical, if voluminous, usage of phone service.
Not everyone is content to pay for a service and rarely use it. If Packet8 can’t accomodate the heavier users, then how can it expect to compete with traditional phone companies, much less its VoIP competitors which so far have had no problems letting users stay on the phone as much as they want?