No warning! Your account has been permanently closed.

[fizikz]

I just got this email today:
========================
Dear Fongo Inc. user,

Your account has been permanently closed. Thanks for trying the Fongo Inc. experience.

The Fongo Inc. team
========================

At first I thought it might be spam/phishing, but upon trying to login to my freephoneline account, I found myself in the process of creating a new account! My current/old account has been deleted and I've lost my number! I did not get any warning email about this. My understanding is that inactive accounts are sent a warning email before deactivation/deletion. No such luck here! What gives??? It would be very frustrating to lose my number.

[Jake]

I asked just this in another thread. The reply was that they would try and contact you before they shut it. I think it was said that they would also try and call you, but if you are not using the number then I guess they can't call you.

I sent you a PM.

[fizikz]

In the past I have received warning emails, and promptly made use of my account to keep it active. Also, if they would have called, I would have immediately receive a voicemail email, to an email account that I check very frequently. Neither happened this time. The idea of having my number slip out from under me is bothersome. Just because I don't use it very frequently doesn't mean I don't need or want it!

[Jake]

We were told in the other thread that just logging into the online admin was enough to keep it active. That might be easier if you don't always have your softphone on the computer you are using.
If you REALLY don't want to loose your number, than paying for the config file is a sure fire way of knowing it will always be yours.

EDIT - This is the other thread if you are interested http://forum.fongo.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=5272

[fizikz]

I don't need the config file as I don't use a SIP phone. The softphone is good enough for me right now. With the reminder emails, there was no problem keeping the account active (just like with a free dyndns.org account, etc), if I forgot to log in or make use of it. Since I almost always use linux and rarely ever boot into Windows on my dual boot system, it can happen that I forget about freephoneline for a while, especially since my biggest use for it has been to receive voicemails which are then sent to my email. Again, keeping the account active is not an issue if there is the safety net of reminder emails before an impending account closure.

[TheHardy]

I had the one account that I set up for my nephew closed in the same fashion. My other two primary accounts receive warning emails at the 60 day stage (30 before deletion), but his never did -- I know, because it is an email address I set up that copy/forwards all incoming emails ...

So there is a tiny little kink in the system somewhere.

I am unsure if there is ANY WAY at all to recover an account/number once it has been deleted from the system ...

Perhaps a Fongo staff member can weigh in on this come Monday when most of them resurface!

[FONGO_mike]

I just got this email today:
========================
Dear Fongo Inc. user,

Your account has been permanently closed. Thanks for trying the Fongo Inc. experience.

The Fongo Inc. team
========================

At first I thought it might be spam/phishing, but upon trying to login to my freephoneline account, I found myself in the process of creating a new account! My current/old account has been deleted and I've lost my number! I did not get any warning email about this. My understanding is that inactive accounts are sent a warning email before deactivation/deletion. No such luck here! What gives??? It would be very frustrating to lose my number.

Accounts can be deleted for two reasons.

1) we have tried on multiple occaisions to reach the customer to verify information for 911 reasons, and could not make contact (indicating call back information was incorrect) and thus meaning we needed to delete the account.

2) account was not used in 90 days time. If an account has become inactive, for a span of 90 day's, the account becomes deleted and the number is released back into the number pool.

If you would like to get another account, all you need to do is sign up the same way as you originally did. We can not promise that you will receive the same number as you originally had as numbers are always randomly selected and we do not offer what is called "vanity" numbers.

[fizikz]

Do you give warnings before accounts are deleted? It's one thing for a client to ignore warnings and lose a number, but quite another for an account and number to be lost without a prior warning. I did not get any warning before my account was deleted, and I've lost my number, which is highly inconvenient! Can you do nothing to give me back my old number?

[FONGO_mike]

Before an account is deleted, we attempt to reach the user by email and multiple attempts by phone. It is possible the emails were filtered by your anti-spam filters.

[fizikz]

I don't think any warning emails were filtered out, since I have previously received a warning email and dealt with it, and I also received the email regarding the account deletion this time. Can you do something to give my old number back?

[FONGO_mike]

I don't think any warning emails were filtered out, since I have previously received a warning email and dealt with it, and I also received the email regarding the account deletion this time. Can you do something to give my old number back?

For the possibility (i say possibility as i can not guarantee it can be done) you would have to call and speak with a customer representative to make the request. They could then pass it along to the appropriate department to attempt to do it. If the number has already be re-assigned then for sure we would not be able to.

[TheHardy]

Mike: I can confirm that in the case of my nephew's account, there was no warning email at 60days or any email at all ... no filter, all messages come in. I handpick the spam out, and checked the spam folder (manual inclusion of spam addresses) and there is NOTHING from FPL in there at all.

It was not a big deal to lose that number, but it was inconvenient, as the OP mentions ... as only 5 ppl used it, it was not a HUGE deal tho!

[TheHardy]

I don't think any warning emails were filtered out, since I have previously received a warning email and dealt with it, and I also received the email regarding the account deletion this time. Can you do something to give my old number back?

For the possibility (i say possibility as i can not guarantee it can be done) you would have to call and speak with a customer representative to make the request. They could then pass it along to the appropriate department to attempt to do it. If the number has already be re-assigned then for sure we would not be able to.

Mike: I am not sure what the Fongo policy for deleted accounts is WRT the number ... but it would be worth finding out this:

"How long after an account is deleted (for whatever reason), is that number HELD before it is AVAILABLE to be REASSIGNED?"

In the case of wireline telco's there is a BARE minimum of 30 days before the same number can be re-assigned ... and the usual is 90-120 days (except in a JEOPARDY condition). Wireless providers are 30-90 days with 60 being around the norm.

It would be good to find this information out ... as it does have some bearing on a few things ... plus, if someone was using the # for nefarious purposes, lost it, they could then start spam calling it rather soon after losing it, couldn't they? Whereas if it is held as INACTIVE for 60 days or so, the novelty of dialing a # and hearing "Not in Service/Not assigned" wears off....

IMHO, of course ...

[fizikz]

That's a very good point. How soon are numbers re-assigned? If it can be re-assigned the day after someone loses it, it can be very frustrating and inconvenient, such as in my case. I think there should be a delay of at least 30 days before having it re-assigned to give the client time to reclaim the number. Also, warning emails (at least one) should always be standard.

I spoke with a couple of CSRs and they gave different answers. The first one said it was impossible to recover a number, that this is how 'the system' works and they have no control over it, and that my number had already been assigned to someone else. I'm not confident that she knew what she was talking about and felt that she was just trying to brush me off. Another CSR was more helpful and tried to see if it would be possible to give me my old number back. He spoke to 'level 2' tech support and then said it seemed it was not possible, but it was not clear to me why not.

[TheHardy]

Just keep in mind that we have Level-3 support people in the forums here ... Mike, Neil, Steve ... (Is Steve level-4? ).

If Mike has his teeth into this, he will be able to track down a definitive answer. As he already said, "probably not, but possibly". If he has time to investigate, rest assured that he will have the most concise answer you will get from Fongo ... (although you MAY not like it...).

But, as you agree to my post, and I think it will get passed along, there SHOULD be a "cooling down" period of a number before it is re-assignable.

[FONGO_steve]

We do comply with the CRTC requirements for freezing a number after it has been terminated (off the top of my head I can't recall how long each number is held for though).

fizikz - can you sign-up for a new account and PM me your new number and your older number? I'm not making any guarantees but I will look into whether it can be recovered still at this point (I'd transfer it to your new account if it can).

On an aside - sometimes our warning emails about impeding number deletion hit the spam folder so they may have been missed. There's 30/60/90 day warnings. Activity counts as any inbound or outbound activity on the number.

[Jake]

Activity counts as any inbound or outbound activity on the number.

Steve, Mike also says that logging into the website also counts as activity http://forum.fongo.com/viewtopic.php?p=28486#p28486

Can you confirm this so I know the system I put in place is not wasting it's time

[fizikz]

Steve, I sent you a PM.

Again, I highly doubt I missed any emails since:
1. I have received such warning emails in the past
2. I received the account deletion email
3. I did not find any relevant emails in the junk/spam folders
4. I check my email accounts very regularly

And yes, it would be very good to know what counts as account activity!

[fizikz]

Steve was able to give me my old number back!!! Thanks, Steve, it's really appreciated!

[FONGO_steve]

Activity counts as any inbound or outbound activity on the number.

Steve, Mike also says that logging into the website also counts as activity http://forum.fongo.com/viewtopic.php?p=28486#p28486

Can you confirm this so I know the system I put in place is not wasting it's time

Confirming that logging in does not count as activity. I will speak to Mike when I see him

Activity would be call activity - inbound or outbound - doesn't need to be fully answered, as long as the system sees "something happening" to/from the number.

[Jake]

Confirming that logging in does not count as activity. I will speak to Mike when I see him

Ah man! I'm going to have to set up another system now...

[FONGO_mike]

I will speak to Mike when I see him

That would certainly be an error on my part, and i appologize for that

[TheHardy]

We do comply with the CRTC requirements for freezing a number after it has been terminated (off the top of my head I can't recall how long each number is held for though).

When time allows, could you find that out for us?

On an aside - sometimes our warning emails about impeding number deletion hit the spam folder so they may have been missed. There's 30/60/90 day warnings. Activity counts as any inbound or outbound activity on the number.

I can solidly claim that there was NO email at any of those 3 stages, only the "deleted" ... spam is kept in a spam folder, not deleted, and the spam filter was off, so NOTHING was sent to spam, until I tagged it SPAM in the inbox ... unless it was never being delivered to the mail server ... ???

[TheHardy]

Steve was able to give me my old number back!!! Thanks, Steve, it's really appreciated!

Steve is the "Uber-Level" support tech .... Mike is a "lowly" Level-3 ...

Sometimes the people that take the time to go to the forums and participate get further faster than calling in -- again on NON-time-CRITICAL issues ...

<pat on back for Steve>

[TheHardy]

Activity would be call activity - inbound or outbound - doesn't need to be fully answered, as long as the system sees "something happening" to/from the number.

Recap: ANY call activity TO/FROM your number, regardless of answer status, so long as something RINGS or ANSWERS one way or the other ... so 3 rings inbound for a cell phone and disconnect before hitting vmail (assuming it is set for more than 3 rings) .... or calling outbound to your own cell, hearing it ring remotely 2 times before terminating call ... etc ... all work as ACTIVITY ...