SunRocket silently calls it quits, abandons VoIP biz

And you thought Sprint was catching flack for denying an exceedingly small portion of its customers service. Turns out, Vonage rival SunRocket has apparently shut its doors and abandoned the business -- all without a single warning or notice beforehand. Callers who recently dialed in for customer care reached an automated message saying that the firm was "no longer taking customer service or sales calls," and each individual that was employed at the call center has supposedly lost their job. As expected, no attempts by Reuters to contact SunRocket were successful, so we still have no idea if paying customers will ever see a pro-rated refund if their service does indeed cease to exist. So, dear readers, are any of you feeling the SunRocket burn?

[Thanks, Jerad]

UPDATE: Well, what do you know. Here's an article suggesting that SunRocket has actually been acquired by Pluto. We've seen no confirmations as of yet, but we'll keep an eye out.

[Thanks for the update, Bob]

[dz @ Jul 17th 2007 10:04AM]

I was wondering when Engadget might get around to posting this. A lot of people on forums are going bonkers with their service dropping out of nowhere. Some Gizmos have been flashing a red light, meaning that it's receiving a firmware update, but users have been noting it might be bricking their Gizmos, while other users have had theirs updating all day and night. SunRocket has also destroyed invoices from their website for customers to access their payments within the last 6 months, and only leaving the July 2007 invoice available. Everyone's figuring out on how they're going to dispute the charged with their credit card companies with the limited information they have. Also unlocking Gizmos has become popular, as many are willing to hop onto another VOIP provider. Many SunRocket customers are also wondering what's going to happen to their phone numbers that they've had for 10-20 years, trying to find companies that'll port their number as fast as possible, in hopes of not losing it. ViaTalk is one company that has shown support yesterday as they offered a promotion to "buy out an additional 12 months of current SunRocket contracts" by giving users up to 27 months of service with them for $199. (1 year with ViaTalk, 1 year of the Buyout, and apparently 3 months free). The promotion has ended yesterday at midnight and now they'll only take an additional 6 months. Strangely some customers are still experiencing uninterrupted service, and plan to wait it out as they may be handed off to another VOIP provider.

[Ras Esther @ Jul 17th 2007 10:11AM]

WHAT?!?! That is really troubling. When is my phone going to go dead???

[Dan Frato @ Jul 21st 2007 7:40PM]

Oddly enough, it's July 21st and my Sunrocket service is STILL working (I'm located in Denver, BTW)

[john waugh @ Aug 1st 2007 12:05AM]

I have signed up with Lingo recently. It is very good especially in terms of voice quality. Pricing is also affordable.

[john waugh @ Aug 1st 2007 12:06AM]

I have signed up with Lingo recently. It is very good especially in terms of voice quality. Pricing is also affordable.

[Barry Wiseman @ Jul 17th 2007 10:17AM]

My sunrocket service is still working, although staticy (has always been clear and reliable). Viatalk has a free shipping coupon code: SHIPFREE you can use to save the $10 shipping charge. $25 activation fee stinks, but I think that's typical. Sorry to see it go, but most troubled to see all those employees out without any advanced warning.

[Electromodo @ Jul 17th 2007 10:17AM]

IMHO, the worst times are coming for this VOIP-to-landline industry, since there is nowhere to evolve. Mobile phone became the main voice phone device for people in America, and Internet - the main means of all other communications.

Many of my friends (including me) have already dropped their land line completely in favor of mobile phone (which has no long distance charges at all, anyway). VOIP is used mainly to call abroad, and VOIP calling cards work great with mobile phones for that purpose.

I think, the only way a standalone VOIP industry can survive is to couple with a mobile phone, but telcos will not allow that in the nearest future. Not until 3G is widespread, at least.

So those companies like SunRocket and Vonage are subject to extinction, IMHO.

Just my 2 cents :)

[jojo @ Jul 17th 2007 11:37AM]

On the consumer level, yes landlines are going the way of the dodo it seems. I think there is a lot of room for growth with small businesses that have just a handful of lines. There can be big savings on the monthly bill while vastly increasing the abilities of the phone system.

[James @ Jul 17th 2007 12:52PM]

Everybody may be dropping their land lines (we did about 3 years ago), but VoIP still offers something mobiles don't: cheap, cheap calls. When my wife started complaining that we were using up all our minutes and she didn't like having to cut off conversations with friends to avoid overages, I had three choices: 40 cents a minute (!!!) for overages, 20 bucks plus contract extension for a higher-minute plan (we had a really sweet legacy contract, so "only" 10 bucks more would have actually gotten us *fewer* minutes), or 10-20 bucks a month for VoIP with a ton of included minutes, and really really cheap overages. I actually ended up going with "none of the above" -- we found a good limited-time offer from a competing mobile carrier -- but I think that of the three I would have chosen VoIP. There's still something to be said for land lines, for some people.

[007baf @ Jul 17th 2007 10:17AM]

Mine still works, but not every call. The web site is up, but they definitely don't answer the phones. My credit card company already gave me a credit while they investigate. The bottom line is that it's like a lease, we gave them $199 each for service and they've renegged on the contract.

The bigger problem is that Vonage is teetering on the edge too. This will reduce competition and the TELCOs and Cable Cos will continue their high charges.

In reality Sun Rocket and even Via Talk are probably feeling the impact of a flawed business plan that didn't really anticipate true costs. The revenue stream just isn't enough to handle the expenses. Pretty simple business.

I plan on not getting another provider and trying to go solo with my cell. We'll see.

[Sundarlal Chuddha @ Jul 17th 2007 10:21AM]

Mine Gizmo is still working, but I am afraid that I shall lose my number only.

[Jimmy @ Jul 17th 2007 10:21AM]

I'm one of the folks feeling the burn. Needless to say I'm not the least bit happy about it. I'm hoping that Via Talk turns out to have what it takes since SunRocket definitely didn't. I hope that I can salvage my phone number and get Visa to take care of the charges since it was so recent...

[eJay @ Jul 17th 2007 10:24AM]

I actually work for a company that provides the voicemail for SunRocket and other providers. Usually when we do trouble tickets and the such we call them back but since then there has been no answer at their NOC either. Definitely not a way to leave a business, at least give your customers notice...

[Menhir @ Jul 17th 2007 10:28AM]

Definitely feeling the burn. My service was shut down without warning last night. I recently switched from Vonage to SunRocket and the service was way better in terms of the call quality.

I did have a problem trying to port my number and am so glad I was too busy (and too lazy) to keep trying. Since I eventually wanted to port my number, I kept my Vonage account active, and man, procrastination does friggin pay off sometimes! :-D

Now, as for the matter of the $99 that I had paid for one year of service, am pretty sure that's gone with no course for reprieve. Of course, am not going to let it go that easily, but if they declare bankruptcy, there's no option really.

I guess it's just a matter of time before Vonage succumbs too.

[Mark @ Jul 17th 2007 10:53AM]

I just read this and dialed home.

"The number you are calling is invalid, please call repair service."

I just switched from Vonage a month ago! I wonder if they'll still process number portouts?

[az1324 @ Jul 17th 2007 10:59AM]

Thanks to SR i am now looking for a new provider. Magicjack looks interesting as some kind of skype/voip hybrid with CLEC interconnect fees + ads + p2p routing to bring revenue/reduce infrastructure costs. Any thoughts?

[NHAnimator @ Jul 17th 2007 11:20AM]

SunRocket = Vonage = ViaTalk = Good Luck

[Mario Mejia @ Jul 17th 2007 11:26AM]

Seriously what the hell?

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 17th 2007 11:30AM]

But the guy said he had sold Sun Rocket to towns like Ogdenville, Brockway, and North Haverbrook!!!

But main Street's still all cracked and broken!!

[rick @ Jul 17th 2007 12:01PM]

nice simpsons reference

[jen @ Jul 17th 2007 11:50AM]

I ran into somebody who was laid off by SunRocket recently (prior to their complete shut down). Apparently a big chunk of people were sent home with their last paycheck, no severance or anything. The remaining employees were told they may have to work for free, and they might not make it through the month of July. I also heard SunRocket's CEO hates VOIP and doesn't even use their own product. Great way to run a business!

[nihil @ Jul 17th 2007 11:51AM]

Damn! I just paid SunRocket the yearly fee of $199 two months ago.

I used a debit card so I'm not protected under credit card safeguards. What should I attempt to do to get a refund? Any thoughts?

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 17th 2007 11:56AM]

Hired goons.

Nothing gives the personal touch quite like hired goons.

[Sundarlal Chuddha @ Jul 17th 2007 12:42PM]

I also recommend the goon approach. It work for me usually

[David P @ Jul 17th 2007 12:56PM]

Contact your bank, they should be able to help you get your money back. They have similar ways of handling chargebacks like credit card companies.

[mae @ Jul 21st 2007 5:35AM]

you can actually call your bank to dispute all the charges that sunrocket billed...

[Dave @ Jul 17th 2007 11:55AM]

This all comes as news to me. Just called home and my phone is working just fine. Sunrocket did recently erroneously charge my card but I havn't spent the time to get that resolved. O well, guess I'll have to contest it with Amex.... And find some new company ASAP. Suggestions are welcome.

[Paul Nieman @ Jul 17th 2007 12:00PM]

Given no advance notice, it sure would have been nice for some info on their web site. I just wish I knew if their is any chance of recovery, or should I immediately find another provider. With advance notice, I might have been able to forward incoming calls to my cell phone on every call, rather than after the first four rings.:-(

[EP @ Jul 17th 2007 12:10PM]

I just signed-up of SunRocket at the beginning of May, so needless to say I was more than pissed about having over 9 months left on my contract.
But I just got off the phone with Visa and they are fully aware of the issue with SunRocket and they were more than happy to dispute the charge for the remaining time I have left on my contract, and they said it shouldn't be a problem to get a credit for 3/4th of the original charge, as what would be remaining on my contract.

[murth @ Jul 17th 2007 12:17PM]

I was a very happy and satisfied SunRocket customer until this morning when I not only found out they went out of business yesterday but they also conveniently re-upped my annual service on the same day. Class action here I come. What a bunch of degenerates.

[Adam Moore @ Jul 17th 2007 12:27PM]

Feeling the burn? Absolutely. To have you phone service cut off unexpectedly really sucks. I'm still trying to consider my options. Right now I think my best deal is to get the phone service through Comcast, although I hate them. But until AT&T offers DSL in my area I don't think I can move internet service providers, Clearwire does not have good deals and it has weak service. So by the time I pay for a regular phone service I can buy comcasts triple deal for about the same price.

I was a strong supporter of SunRocket. This really ticked me off. I have a call into my bank and it seems I'm going to get my money back.

[KR @ Jul 19th 2007 10:16PM]

You might want to try speakeasy--I've had them for about a year now and don't have any problems. It is "expensive" (that is more-so than other DSL--comparable to cable internet), BUT, you can have DSL without having a phone landline. I loved canceling BellSouth for good--oh, wait, now that's AT&T. So, now I just need to transfer from Sunrocket. ViaTalk is looking like the only comparable one...

[Dave Lindsay @ Jul 17th 2007 12:29PM]

Crap... so much for "no gotchas!"

[Homer J @ Jul 17th 2007 12:30PM]

The best part is that as of 12:25 7-17-07 they still have top level Google Ads running offering 3 months free service. Of course clicking through leads to a dead white-space.

Personally, I run with Vonage, but its not a very comfortable ride with all the negative VoIP news.

Verizon must be licking its chops.

[Shaun @ Jul 17th 2007 12:40PM]

Sun Rocket has a call center in my city.

Here's a clip from a local news story covering the sudden shutdown yesterday: "All of a sudden the calls went away and it was dead air and all of our phones were dead and several hundred people are standing up in the building saying, ‘What's going on?’”

http://www.ky3.com/news/8534842.html

Good luck getting any help at all if you paid for their service–looks like they're gone.

[David P @ Jul 17th 2007 12:52PM]

My Sunrocket service was still up as of this morning. I only have 1 more month left, and was about to sign up for another year when I saw this article. Good thing!

I have had absolutely no problems with the Sunrocket service for the past 3 years or so. It's very disappointing that after such good service, they couldn't send out an email to notify their customers.

[Bryan Price @ Jul 17th 2007 1:03PM]

Well, one friend with SR is still working. The other. Limbo. The phone never rings, nothing. It's weird. OK, on my fourth try, it rang. And then I heard the click to go to voice mail where it rang some more, and then clicked me off.

[zack043 @ Jul 17th 2007 1:08PM]

Check your credit card. Sunrocket double billed me. My renewal was in May and they billed me then. I just checked my AMEX account to file a dispute and found Sunrocket charged me again just two weeks ago.

[engadget @ Jul 17th 2007 1:35PM]

AT&T has a largely-unadvertised VOIP service called Callvantage:

https://www.callvantage.att.com/

It's not as cheap as Sunrocket/Viatalk, but about the same as Vonage's unlimited plan. And a friend of mine who has it likes it a lot. It also seems it's a little less likely to disappear, since as much as AT&T sucks, they're probably not going anywhere any time soon.

[Jeremy Whitehead @ Jul 17th 2007 2:04PM]

I can't log into their website either. I had the password cached on my PC but now it seems they've deactivated it and it just tells me that my E-Mail and Password combination doesn't match.

I just love how the disclaimer at the bottom of the page says: Sunrocket is a "no gotcha" phone company. :) Yeah right

This was widely reported on Broadband reports last Thursday and Friday and there was huge thread on the forums about it. I sent a note last week to Engadget telling them about it, but I guess it took 50 other folks sending in reports before it got reported on here.

I've called my number a few times from the office here and it rings a handful of times and then hangs up on me. Guess it's time to call the credit card company.

[Darren @ Jul 17th 2007 2:35PM]

I have SR and my Gizmo had a red light on since Fri but today it finally turned back to green! ;) I can receive and make calls...it never went out but the gizmo did have a red light these past few days and after calling customer service on Sat they said to just leave it in...now when you call cust. service you get the message they are no longer taking calls. Either way, atleast I still can make calls but I'm searching for a new VOIP service because I can't afford to lose my number. We shall see...

[XAVIER @ Jul 17th 2007 2:37PM]

All of you guys can kiss my ass, seriousely, anyone who would put there faith in a company like SunRocket has got to be f*cked in the head.

I remember when the SR reps where going business to business - door to door peddling and touting there service.

And i knew just from the looks of there sales reps they where up to no good.


I told everyone i knew from the very beginning SR was bad news and to STAY AWAY.

Did anyone listen ? Nope.


Now take a tip from the guy with the crystal ball .. If you guys get your LNP's to go threw (your #'s back) check out ATT 's GSM unity plan.

And you can be damned sure ATT isn't going anywhere.


You should all be ashamed of yourselves.


In the words of my negro friend..

Ya heard!

Kind Regards :P
~

[Eric @ Jul 17th 2007 3:42PM]

What?

[jbras @ Jul 17th 2007 2:47PM]

I just found out about this and used the website to forward my number to my cell number and it seems to be working so far for some calls (but definitely not all). not ideal, but a way to get a few calls for my business line, at least!

[MrTroy @ Jul 17th 2007 2:50PM]

My phone still works. But for how long I dunno. This sucks because I can't afford to sign up for another year service(VOIP). And I hate my local phone company. And I really hate Comcast. Going from $17 a month to $33 is not much of a savings for me.

[Brent Ferguson @ Jul 17th 2007 2:59PM]

My Sunrocket phone number is dead as well. I called my Credit Card company and they are disputing the charge with SunRocket. The poor operator had their 800 number memorized dud t the large volume of calls she has received regarding refunds. If you need a refund call your bank ro credit card company, and best of luck to us all!
Also, I stumbled on www.magicjack.com. I plan to switch to this now.

[Jason @ Jul 17th 2007 3:01PM]

Guys, take a look at this:

http://getpacket8.packet8.net/sunrocket/

Now until 7/31/07, we invite you to take advantage of a special offer exclusively for former SunRocket subscribers:
No Startup Costs
FREE activation
FREE equipment
FREE shipping
FREE first month of service
Quickly port your number at no charge

With 8x8’s patented technology and award winning Packet8 phone service, You’ll enjoy outstanding quality, reliability and customer support PLUS bonus features like unlimited worldwide videoconferencing for just $24.99 per month or $199 per year.

Sounds better than Viatalk.

[Steve M @ Jul 17th 2007 3:02PM]

I have had sunrocket for almost two years now and havent had many problems with it. But I did notice that over the weekend it had the red blinking light on run. I also noticed that today now it takes a few tries to place a call as well as receive one. I'm almost too afraid now to go with another VOIP company after reading some other articles about even vonage not doing the greatest. I want to make sure I keep my number that Ive had for over 7 years now. Does anyone know how long we have until you loose your phone number?

[Bill @ Jul 17th 2007 3:59PM]

I've used viatalk for over a year with no problems, for the more adventurous folks out there I can email you a viatalk coupon, two years for two hundred bucks. Send me a note mrwajones at gmail.

[Herby @ Jul 17th 2007 4:18PM]

I have had Sunrocket for more than a year. It was working this morning when I left the house. I never had issues with them, except the major pain in the ass to port the number from Vonage. I think I will just stick to my mobile phone and buy my Wife those cheap calling cards so she can call to Latin America.