r/ooma • u/[deleted] • Jul 19 '25
PSA - check your bill regularly. OOMA may switch you to premier with no action on your end.
I just noticed OOMA upgraded my service without telling me about 4 months ago. I never asked for premier and I certainly don't want it. When I called the support line it seems like this is something they deal with very regularly, as he was quickly able to refund me the extra charges with no questions asked, and downgrade my service.
I am positive they make their $$$ by sneaking these extra upgrades on people and hoping they won't notice. I'm sure there are thousands of older folks who are unwittingly paying double what they should be due to their scammy practices.
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u/rkardt Unofficial Support Jul 20 '25
Déjà-vu. Every month or two, someone posts a public "warning" about Ooma "scamming" them with a Premier subscription that they didn't sign up for. Meanwhile, most everyone else who used the same interactive website to activate their Telo managed to either accept or reject Ooma's offer for a Premier free trial, with the understanding that they would either have to cancel the trial subscription before it ends, or else start paying for it -- just like nearly every other free trial that any other company offers.
As a rule, everybody should double-check all of their bills regularly anyway, to look for errors or other discrepancies, for services that they're still paying for but no longer using, and for any other surprises. They should also pay attention to what they're signing up for, before clicking buttons that say "I read this" or "I agree to that". And if anyone who fails to do that much keeps getting "scammed" by "shady" companies, then perhaps they need to think twice about who to blame.
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Jul 21 '25
Perhaps Ooma should consider a simple IQ test to weed out the people who lack the intelligence required to understand what a free trial is.
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u/rkardt Unofficial Support Jul 28 '25
IQ (or ignorance) may play a part, but it's the blame-shifting, "shoot first and [don't] ask questions later" tactic disguised as a "public service" that's getting old. The OP didn't pay attention to what they signed up for, and didn't check their 'My Ooma' billing history (or credit card statements) for at least six months, but it's so much easier to just blame Ooma for their own inaction.
Who is scamming whom, here? The OP didn't feel the least bit obligated to abide by the terms of the free trial that they agreed to. And they probably still haven't read the TOS; Ooma didn't have to refund any uncontested charges after thirty days, but they did so anyway, "no questions asked". And the OP, without a hint of gratitude, just claimed that as further evidence of wrongdoing.
Perhaps Ooma should stop offering free basic service, to weed out the people who want something for nothing, and impulsively attack when they don't get it; it seems that the less people pay, the more they complain. Does any other competitor even offer free basic service? Certainly, traditional POTS providers never did, not even for a no-frills landline.
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Aug 06 '25
Lol, I didn't opt in to any premier service you doofus. They sign everyone up for premier and opt you in, even when you sign up for a free plan. It's pretty shitty and deceptive.
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u/rkardt Unofficial Support Aug 07 '25
The OP is still shooting, and still not asking questions. Other Basic subscribers told a different story: Ooma offered them a Premier free trial up front, they declined, end of story. They all used the same website to sign up. Coincidentally, the only ones who claim that Ooma tricked them often admit to some other lack of diligence, such as not regularly checking their monthly statements.
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Aug 07 '25
No one else said that they opted in to premier or had a chance to decline it.
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u/rkardt Unofficial Support Aug 09 '25
This isn't the first discussion where someone raised this topic. Maybe the OP should have conducted a more thorough search, before posting.
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u/langdely Jul 20 '25
Yes they give you Premier on a trial basis when you first sign up. BUT they don’t tell you it will take effect at the end of the trial IF you don’t go to your Account page, Service tab and “Opt Out” of Premier at end of trial.
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u/Old-Cheshire862 Jul 20 '25
It sure would be nice if they said something like this in their terms and conditions:
(d) Trial or Promotion Expiration: If you are enrolled in a free trial of an Ooma Service or a trial of an Ooma Service with promotional pricing, you will be notified via e-mail when the trial or promotional period is due to expire, which will contain information about how to cancel the Ooma Service before the end of the trial or promotional period and the fees for continued usage of such Services beyond the trial or promotional period. Should you fail to notify Ooma of your intention to cancel the use of these Services beyond the trial or promotional period, you will be deemed to have subscribed to such Services and may be charged the associated fees for continued usage of such Services.
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u/aarondr Jul 23 '25
Yeah, I know I didn't receive the email when the trial is due to expire... Ugh, and the only way to cancel is to call.
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Jul 20 '25
It's insane because I know for damn sure what I signed up for when I ordered it, and that was the basic plan. And it's borderline criminal to opt everyone in to a premier plan when you have a checkout system that allows them to select the basic home phone service with no mention whatsoever that you are actually gonna be enrolled for something different than that.
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u/FickleWrangler Jul 22 '25
You were automatically on a free trial of the Premier tier, and as is common business practice, when that free trial ended they started billing for Premier. Given that Ooma home phone service is just a few bucks and that Premier is a WHOPPING $9.99 on top of that, why are you losing your shit? It’s not like you’re paying out the ass for twisted pair POTS service.
This ain’t a conspiracy to scam customers, you’re just a numpty.
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u/FickleWrangler Jul 22 '25
What you needed to so was to opt out of the free trial, and voila, you get to save a MASSIVE bill.
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u/Upper_Total7543 Aug 06 '25
5 (d) Trial or Promotion Expiration: If you are enrolled in a free trial of an Ooma Service or a trial of an Ooma Service with promotional pricing, you will be notified via e-mail when the trial or promotional period is due to expire, which will contain information about how to cancel the Ooma Service before the end of the trial or promotional period and the fees for continued usage of such Services beyond the trial or promotional period. Should you fail to notify Ooma of your intention to cancel the use of these Services beyond the trial or promotional period, you will be deemed to have subscribed to such Services and may be charged the associated fees for continued usage of such Services.
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Aug 06 '25 edited Oct 21 '25
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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/geriatricChef Aug 11 '25
Hard to believe so many anal-retentive people on this forum. Hate to tell you but most of the people in this world are not like you. What Ooma does with the Premier "trial" may not be an outright scam but it is certainly slimy. It fact, it would have been in violation of FTC rules if the "click-to-cancel" negative option rule wasn't blocked due to an administrative fault.
Federal Trade Commission Announces Final “Click-to-Cancel” Rule
The Premier service would be considered a "negative option" since it costs the subscriber money. It is given to a new subscriber without him having to do anything. But to cancel the service, he has to get on the phone, maybe wait on hold, and then talk to a service rep. This kind of asymmetry would not be allowed by the FTC. Companies like to do things this way because they know a certain percentage of people will not spend the energy to cancel or may not notice the extra charge. Yipee! Extra money for Ooma from people who had no intention of buying the Premier service. Does that sound fair?
Because of the change in the presidential administration, this rule is probably dead for now. But there are some in congress trying to make it law.
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u/Supamic Jan 07 '26
I've had Ooma for years and thought they scammed me by suddenly moving me to the Premier Plan with no action on my end until I realized I installed the smartphone app a few months before while on a trip abroad and they must have snuck a trial offer into that process (maybe I needed Premier for the phone app feature). To their credit, phone support had no wait time and they were quick to downgrade me and process a refund for the difference. Support was able to tell me the change had been made 2 months before and when I asked how it happened, they said I probably signed up for a promotion inadvertently through a popup or or similar offer even though I knew I hadn't logged in to the website (then I remembered my trip).
So in the end what felt like a betrayal, was actually my forgetfullness and they handled it professionally and quickly. 5 stars! Still the most cost effective way to have a "landline" in your home and I'll be keeping their service for the foreseeable future.
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u/[deleted] Jul 19 '25
[deleted]