SunRocket silently calls it quits, abandons VoIP biz
By Darren Murph 
posted July 17th 2007 9:47AM
posted July 17th 2007 9:47AM
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]
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.
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...
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
~
What?
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!
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.
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?
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.
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.
My Milwaukee, WI -> SR service is on & off the last few days.I have a dialtone & sometimes calls work & other times not. I have not checked voicemail, but my email forwarding has stopped. I just completed a call. I signed up for the Annual plan months ago, but they kept billing me monthly. It seems mostly monthly rate SR customers still have limited seervice. SR may be trying to sell us to Pluto or ? IS IT POSSIBLE TO TRANSFER THE Tel # TO SKYPE? (or Packet-8 & are the Gizmo's REUSABLE with another Voip. Has anyone tried ATT CALLVANTAGE?
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.
Um... this freaks me out a bit I just (this month) dumped QWORST (qwest) and went with the paid version of Skype!
Now im wondering how there doing money wise.
I do love the service and they do seem to have a lot of customers around 2 to 5 million paying customers?
Hope service will remain good and most of all THERE!
Well Skype got bought out by eBay, so I'm pretty sure you've got a safe bet there, considering eBay didn't even buy it for the profits, but to open a line of communication for their sellers (of course the profits are a nice bonus).
Somebody linked to "MagicJack" -- it's very new, but so cheap as to almost certainly have a catch I can't find. www.magicjack.com, if you didn't see the link above. For 40 bucks, you get a USB widget that you can plug a land-line phone into, unlimited US/Canada calls, unlimited incoming calls, 20 bucks a year starting the second year. How can they possibly do that?
Anyway, I'd really like to find out more but it's so new there's not much info out there, at least not from sites I trust not to be run by shills...
Actually James, that isn't too unheard of. If you want to buy UNLIMITED Skype minutes to lan lines its only $30 a year.
I just had a mildly chilling experience. I had heard of a few folks whose invoices "disappeared" from their SunRocket website. I checked yesterday and all of mine were there, I, as it turns out, wisely printed them to Microsoft OneNote. Today my invoices are gone. This seems to be on the verge of criminal if they're trying to hide key financial information that might be necessary to establish a claim against them. If you haven't checked yet, you're probably too late. If you have e-mail copies, I'd save them.
ive got Verizon Voicewing, and its really good, i assume they will be around a long time since they own the patents and all 24.99 a month unlimited nationwide
I used to work in SunRocket's headquarters in Vienna, VA and was laid off last year after just several months of employment. I personally blame their CEO Lisa Hook who hired a bunch former AOL lackies who ran the company into the ground. The customer service was piss poor so retaining customers was one their weaknesses. I'm afraid anybody let go today was not given a severance. Note to self: do not hire management from AOL.
http://www.globalinx.com has a similar service to Sun Rocket, with many more features. I've had Globalinx for over a year, and it's worked great for me.
Are we able to transfer our tel #'s to Paid Skype? Would this work?
With Sunrocket having shut down, I wanted to mention that myphonecompany is still alive and kicking. They have a promotion where you get the fourth month free with agent sign up... and they also have a plan called mydevice that allows you to use your existing equipment and myphonecompany service for a lower fee. They also have an expanded international calling radius. To find out more, go to the agent site at www.rip2p.com and click the sign up link to be redirected to their site to sign up and receive your fourth month free! You can even port your existing SunRocket Number to myphonecompany for FREE! MyPhoneCompany requires 911 service on your account due to new FCC regulations. It costs a one time $15.00 activation fee, and is an additional $1.50 per month. This surcharge will appear on any and all VOIP services due to the new FCC Regulations.
I've been using SunRocket for many years now and (except for some difficulties with the initial set up) have been extremely happy with their service. My service still works (as of 2300 EST, 18 Jul 07), and luckily, I'm on a month-to-month contract.
It's hard to believe they just turn it off like that. I mean it's still a phone and people rely on it. Arggh imagined if it happened to Skype or Vonage ARGGGH.
If you're a Sunrocket customer I saw some offers on FatWallet.com from other Voip companies. At least one is offering the same deal as Sunrocket:
Net2Phone VoiceLine
3 Free Months for everyone at signup
Additional Months with proof of SR Contract
$19.95 / month after the free period
http://www.net2phone.com/sunrocket
I just received email notification from SunRocket this morning that they are going out of business. They have an agreement with 8x8/Packet8 to take on SunRocket customers, but no mention of any sort of refund.
I went with Packet8 from http://voic.com and am really happy. I get my cell phone and high-speed Internet from them already so why not. But I'm still really pissed of at SR! I think those in charge should be investigated.
Am from Maine and am still up and running On Sunrocket The Blinking red light on the run led we have been seeing on our gizmo is someone putting updates on our gizmo's for the last few days,sunrocket might be dead but someone else is taking over, and that company just might be pluto.
MPINGI, a sunrocket rival is offering special offers for exisiting sun rocket customers
who can no longer access the sunrocket service because of the company failure.
if you are a sunrocket customer, i suggest you check out their offers...
check out http://www.1800-info.com/sunrocket2/index2.php
i have filled the form, waiting for them to get in touch with me...offers seem rather interesting!
Ok I was a former Rocketeer. And although there service was never 100%; it was dirt cheap and it worked! My service, used for business nonetheless, went down just 2 days ago (right after their formal email note). Here's my recommendation for former customers. First of all a few had mentioned packet8 as a viable alternative... Well let me just straighten that out right now. DO NOT USE PACKET8. I signed up for their sunrocket promotion and was told I would have the equipment in a day or 2,...... well 5 days, 7 phones calls and more hold time then I care to mention still no equipment. Not only is this unacceptable for customers but but they fail to mention the 7-12 day port time for your number (and yes thats only after you get the equip). The fact is they don't seem to be equipped to handle this extra volume... to bad. As per Sunrocket's parting email I deceided to go with option no. 2 - TELEBlend. A sure winner. While I have onbly had the service a few days. I can say this: I went to their site, walked through a series of purchasing prompts and Viola! ..My sunrocket service was back up! literally 14mins later. and no additional equipment or porting. Dont know how ...maybe they have direct access to their equipment. But my advice use TELEBlend! Hope this helps someone
Guys, take have a look at this mail from SunRocket:
CRITICAL LETTER TO SUNROCKET CUSTOMERS
- SERVICE TO BE DISCONTINUED WITHIN 10 DAYS -
Dear Customers,
As previously reported, SunRocket is in the process of closing its operations and therefore will no longer be able to provide you with the phone service. However, this email provides you with an opportunity to sign up with select service providers who we believe will offer outstanding replacement service.
We urge each and every customer that has not signed up with a new service provider to immediately do so now. Do not delay as services are being discontinued and will be permanently shut down no later than August 5, 2007.
My Sunrocket phone number is dead as well. While I was searching for effortless transition for existing SunRocket VoIP users I found this.
Lingo is offering a special promotion located at www.lingo.com/sunrocket that gives users a choice between two plans. The plan they prefer to sell is a monthly ChatterBox plan. The special offer is one month free, free shipping, free activation and free equipment. The other plan is Talk 365, an annual calling plan for $195. The Chatter Box promotion has proved to be of more interest to new customers.
Lingo is established and backed by Primus. More countries are included in a user’s unlimited calling plan than any other provider – 22 countries in all (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Austria, Luxembourg, Vatican City, Norway, Portugal, and Spain plus Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada, and South Korea. Over 20 calling features like Voicemail, Caller ID, online account management, etc.
Above all 30 day money back guarantee. It is certainly a great promotion for SunRocket customers.
SunRocket is no more in the list of VoIP providers. I am recommending Lingo to SunRocket customers. In my opinion, Lingo offers comparatively better services to VoIP users. At present, they have good promo offers for SunRocket customers such as monthly $21.95 promotional calling plan and annual $195 calling plan plus one month free, free shipping, free second phone line, free office assistant, free activation, free equipment and 30 day money back guarantee. I think this could be a better option for SunRocket customers.