Comments on: Cancelling SunRocket… via EMail

By: Alec

Alec — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 21:59:08 +0000

Mila - I think you are out of luck. SunRocket went out of business yesterday.

By: Mila Crispo

Mila Crispo — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 19:22:41 +0000

July 17 2007. I have called 1-800-786-0132 many times for 1 week now. Response says “no calls from customers allowed. I have a prepaid membership and my phone is not working. Can you direct me to the right person or address or site or a new phone # to contact? Thank you for your help.

By: Felicia

Felicia — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 23:09:50 +0000

Thank you,
I am looking for a silimilar type of phone service. I tried lingo for one week and already i do not like them.
So i decided to look elsewhere i guest i will not be trying sunrocket ether. Thank you for the information you save me the headache.
Do you recommend anyone else?

By: david miller

david miller — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 14:45:55 +0000

same here but mine was with them renewing a one year commitment after i emailed them not to in advance. i finally settled it with an informal complaint to the FCC and suddenly i got my $199 refunded to my credit card after 4 months of email.

By: SunRocket and I enter the Twilight Zone -- Alec Saunders .LOG

SunRocket and I enter the Twilight Zone -- Alec Saunders .LOG — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 12:54:33 +0000

[...] I’m learning that you can’t take the business model out of the business, or teach an old dog new tricks.Â SunRocket Customer Service and I areÂ engaged in a discussion at the moment around my cancelling their service via email.Â [...]

By: Identity and the phone. An idea who’s time has come. -- Alec Saunders .LOG

Identity and the phone. An idea who’s time has come. -- Alec Saunders .LOG — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 20:23:53 +0000

[...] A threat, however, is an increasing and dangerousÂ trend toÂ co-mingle your identity and your telephone number.Â My recent experience trying to cancel Sunrocket is a perfect example.Â Sunrocket CSR’s refused to cancel my account via email, rationalizing that email is insecure while the phone, apparently, is not.Â The point that anyone can call claiming to be me, and that they have no way to verify that the caller is, in fact, me was completely lost on them. [...]

By: Alec

Alec — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 18:29:04 +0000

Your point is very valid, Paul. Rest assured, until I have confirmation from them that the account has been cancelled, I won’t stop talking to them.

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 17:48:12 +0000

Although this exchange is quite humorous, it is not atypical of the convoluted and stupid processes that companies create nominally in the name of customer service. Like when I call Comcast to complain about a service outage in my area, and they want my account number, name, address, birth date, account phone # — everything but my social security number, and that’s after they’ve already asked me to punch the phone number that the account is registered under and then tell them again verbally when I actually get connected to a person. What’s worse is that I know they can see my phone number on their screen, and it’s the primary key that the account is listed under, so they already know where I’m calling from, that it is at a minimum the household with the account, if not the person who’s name the account is in. i.e. if I’m not at home, my wife isn’t allowed to report that there is a service outage on our street.

Clearly it isn’t about security, it’s about their stupid process and validations built into it. Still, I wouldn’t just ignore all these pleas — unless you respond in a legally accepted manner (i.e. on their terms), they can destroy your credit. No matter how stupid their process and how annoying their lack of common sense is, you will (legally, if not morally) owe the money if you don’t follow their rules for cancellation. The real solution is to simply not do business with companies that behave this way, and that especially means avoiding “free trials” which are really just intended to trap you into paying for something you never intended to keep. (The classic AOL maneuver.)

By: Alec

Alec — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 17:40:23 +0000

Ever see the George Lucas film THX 1138? :)

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 16:59:18 +0000

I find it really creepy that they have names like David 29717 and Blake-29714… like they’re prisoners… or robots…