Category: Home services

Uverse savings

I have been a uverse customer for years. I have been paying about $145 per month for U200 and 6mbs internet service.

Yesterday I decided to call to see if I could get a discount. I called the main number and he could not offer me anything special. I then asked if I could speak to someone in the retention area and he kindly connected me to Loyalty.

At first, I thought I was not gonna get any discount. The only thing that I was offered was to get a dish at a similar overall price, but with slightly better features. The person helping me then said let me talk to my supervisor put me on hold.

She came back about a minute later and said I can offer you U300 and Internet service with increased speed for about thirty dollars lower than what I was currently paying. I would have to sign up for one year and the price should be valid for two years.

I was extremely pleased with this offer. U300 also includes few movie channels.

I checked my bills to make sure things were adjusted properly. I had to call back as it was not setup properly but the customer service person was outstanding. She corrected the bills in a very simple manner saying you should not have had to call back so she corrected the bills by refunding me a little more than if you analyzed every detail.

I also got a $100 Visa gift card for signing up for a new package which was an unexpected bonus.

I am sure there are better deals out there but I am satisfied with the outcome.

My bill now is about $115 per month. Saving about $30 per month and have faster internet and more channels not that I can watch them all.

Iphone 5 and the hair dryer

My iPhone 5 would not start. The battery symbol showed up and it seem to be charging. When I plugged it into the computer and pushed the on button and also held the circular button in the front computer made a noise. This told me that the iPhone was still working. However it would not start.

I searched on the Internet on what to do. I found some videos on using a hair dryer to start my phone but I did not trust them. I kept searching and found a message board on the Apple website.

Some people seem to say that using a hairdryer or even a hot cuppa coffee would help start the phone again. I thought why not try this. So I took out a hair dryer and I heated the back of my phone for about 40 seconds. I plugged the phone back in and to my surprise the phone actually started and I got the apple symbol.

My battery is not very good. I am not sure how many times you can do this before it does not work at all. At one point my phone would not even charge even when I plugged it in. However I kept at it and it started to charge again. It does not hold a charge very long though.

Lucky I had bought a Logitech external battery case. This has allowed me to recharge the phone often. What seems to happen now is that if I let the phone lose charge completely and it turns off it does not seem to turn back on. I had to use the hairdryer again the start the phone. Since then I’ve kept the phone charged. What makes it difficult though is sometimes my phone will just shut off or the screen google him blank and then the battery symbol shows that I need to recharge it.

I think the long-term solution and correct solution will be to change my battery. However my phone is four years old and I’m not sure I want to invest $50-$80 and a new battery. I thought about buying a battery kit online. However after reading the reviews it seems rather difficult and I could damage the phone so that it does not work.

In any case, I mean point in this blog post was to share my experience using the hairdryer technique. I am not recommending this technique to anybody. If you use this technique I would be very careful because the hair dry can get very hot and so can your phone. I do not know what damage it could cause your phone.

I am not recommending this method. You should do your own research and use your own good judgment. Whatever you do be very careful and be safe.

Ooma update

Just a quick update on Ooma. I have to say the call quality is just as good as my previous telephone provider. I pay absolutely nothing for my Ooma service because I have an older model which I activated a number of years ago.

The sound quality is good and the voicemail is good as well. You can download an app on your phone so you can check your voicemail using your phone. I have not tried calling long distance to another country but the rates look very competitive.

I think I mentioned this before but the customer service is excellent. I chatted with them online a number of times and they were extremely helpful. I also did not have to wait very long to get connected with my representative.

I highly recommend Ooma because of the ease of use and the very helpful customer service.

One more thing. I ported my line over and it took only two days at most.

Saving $40 + on my phone bill with OOMA

I recently stopped paying for phone service.  I used to have my phone service through a major telecom carrier.  I have no complaints about the service.  I was paying $45 per month for unlimited calls to US and Canada, voice mail, caller ID and some features I was not using like conference calling.

I have owned the OOMA telephone system for a couple years.  I bought it a major retailer.  It is the original OOMA Hub with the scout.  Although I have had it for a couple years or so, I could not stop using the more traditional home phone service.

This year I decided to transfer my main number to OOMA.  I did some research on OOMA online, reviewing message boards and reading Amazon posts.  The comments were pretty favorable.

Here is my experience:

1.  I own the original OOMA Hub and registered it a number of years ago so I do not pay anything for the service.  New registrants pay fees and taxes (e.g government fees) which vary but I heard are around $3-8$.

2.  My phone bill was about $45 including fees and taxes.  I think my old phone service was VOIP (voice over internet protocol) as well.

3.  I have the OOMA basic service.  There is a premium type service which costs about $119 or so per year and it comes with a number of useful features like block lists, caller ID with name, second line, outgoing calls on the OOMA app  and other features.  I did not need these services as I do not use them now.  The basic service comes with caller ID and voice mail.   I also can check my voice mail using the app. ( Please check the OOMA site as I am going by memory.)

4. I ported or moved my home phone number to OOMA.  This costs about $39.  I could have gotten this for free had I signed up for the premium service.  Porting was fast.  I began the process on a Saturday and my number was ported to OOMA by the next Wednesday.  Make sure you have your current carriers information when you fill out the OOMA porting application.  The OOMA online customer service was excellent.  Fast.

5.  I really like my OOMA phone service.  The sound quality has been great.  Voice mail works well.  I have to say, I do not even think about being on OOMA.  Since I have the basic service not all the calls have names…only numbers.  Some have names but I think it is because they are saved on my phone.  In any case, this does not bother me.  If you need caller ID with name, check out the premium services which only ends up being $10 per month.

6.  After I ported my number to OOMA, my other carrier automatically cancelled my phone service so I did not have to do anything on that end.

7.  I was able to take the wire from my OOMA box that usually goes to a phone and wire it to a phone line port that links to all the other phone outlets.  This has enabled me to have phone service on all my phones including the cordless ones and the ones that are standalone plugged into a phone outlet.  I could also use my Scout.  The newer OOMA phones use other methods as the Scout no longer is used in the newer phones.  I use my same phones which are a Uniden cordless and a couple basic wall phones I bought at Menards many years ago.

8.  Summary, I recommend OOMA if you want an easy way to get very, very low cost VOIP (voice over internet protocol) phone service.  There are other methods to do this, but OOMA makes is simple.  My experience has been great from the excellent customer service, the fast porting of my phone number to the seamless phone service I have experienced.  This has been a great experience.

I am now saving $45 dollars per month or $540 per year.

Amazon sells OOMA at very good prices  Ooma Telo Free Home Phone Service.  Go ahead, explore the OOMA system and save real money.

If you have questions, just leave a comment. Share your experiences on OOMA.