Community Phone
reviews and complaints

I signed my elderly mom up for this service as she has dementia and is having a hard time working a cell phone. I so wanted this to work.

Shipping was an issue. I typed in my mom's address but the web browser generated an extra digit. I didn't notice until after I placed the order. I sent a message back as soon as I noticed this. Never got a response. When I called they told me I had to contact the shipping company. I had to call twice because I had never heard of the shipping company and needed to get contact info. Got a hold of the shippers to get them to send the device to the right address. Got billed. 2 weeks later I finally got the device. Hooked up the device. It didn't work well. Cell service in my mom's assisted living is poor. She lives downstairs and I have verizon and calls are poor. Her device said 5 bars though? but every other call was put to voice mail and then she couldn't dial out and when we finally hooked up it dropped calls. Very frustrating. Especially for someone with dementia. She needs reliable communication to family and doctors. So I wanted to cancel and get something reliable. This is where they kept wanting me to fix the problem. I was even refered to amazon to buy equipment to make it work. Also was told I could buy cell phones. She can't use those. Also told they could crank up the boosting to help her get service. Haha. Yeah right. Got billed a month while they "problem solved". Also whenever I got "tech" support it was from over seas. If I said something off script they didn't know how to reply. Communication with language was an issue. I spent 30 minutes explaining under no uncertain terms that we were canceling. When they finally got the message I wasn't refunded all of the cost because I wouldn't trouple shoot with them. It says on their website they would. Shame on them becaue they work with elderly people and I'm sure if I wasn't there to help my mom she would have been scammed out of the whole amount. I would never refer someone to this company.

Great company and great customer service, I could not be happier since transferring my landline to my cell phone via Community Phone. Felt really good finally giving the middle finger to ATT. Last year they did hit me with a rather large price hike without notice, but when I called to inquire/complain they offered to give me another year of service at the old rate - a rather pleasant surprise but very appreciated. The service they offer me works and works well just as advertised and I expected it to.

I switched carriers because I have a land line and I wanted a company that understood my needs and had experienced people to actually talk to. I'm pleased with the service and the fact that I can talk to an actual person when I call. I'm not going anywhere. I give them 4 stars because the price is a bit high, but still worth it. I don't want to go back to an "internet" based phone system. Too bad that land line systems are going to be obsolete soon. I don't like using my cel phone for anything. I prefer the land line.

I read all the reviews before me, I guess I'm lucky. I have had nothing but success with their service. I have just the land-line service, now for 2 years. The voicemail was extremely easy to set up, or I could have used the answering machine that came with the phone. The price is good, around 40 less than the local phone company. The base unit came with battery backup, so you will have service for a while when the power goes out. If they do have problems with customer service, I hope they are able to correct it, but as for me, I have had no problems.

I'm very happy with Community Phone. Gave me peace of mind. I had been looking for a landline for my dad that is now 94 years old and doesn't like cell phones. The problem was that everything I found required internet which he doesn't have. When I found Community Phone, it was exactly what I was looking for. It gave me peace of mind to know that especially in case of an emergency, we can get a hold of him and help can get to him quickly if needed. I have been with Community Phone for at least sin months and have had no issues with the service. Thank you for your help in keeping my dad safe.

I have a house in a remote area of ***. There is no cell phone service here so my only recourse was a land line. Community Phone advertised land lines in the area. I received the equipment on to realize this is not a land line service. It is a service based on the same provided by cell phone services -- it relies on surrounding cell phone towers. That is not a land line. Their service is misrepresented. I want to warn people that this is the same a cell phone service; that it is NOT a traditional land line service that relies on an RJ11 connector to a true land line service like

Community Phone is very responsive to the customer. We recently switched to them from a VOIP due to the system dropping calls. We wanted to get away from the the work phone calls while not at work and we want our work phone to not require internet. I wanted the divide from work and home to be just like the way it was "back in the day." It is now and so is the customer service! I SPOKE TO A HUMAN on the phone WITHOUT BEING PUT ON HOLD and have an email thread of 51 total emails in the thread answering all of my annoying questions! They are great and the system has been amazing! My mobile cell phone is so quiet now ?

Overall a pleasant experience with them, shipping was a few more days than initially told but moving the number took 4 days (from *** We were wanting to cut costs on our church's communication budget. Our old provider company was charging us an arm and a leg for calls. We were able to switch, keep our church's phone number, and save on our phone budget.I am not always at the church office (small staff) and I will get the phone calls transferred to my phone, if I need to (they provided these features included in the package price), so that's very handy.Sometimes the support lines are busy but they will call back within the day.

Very professional and experienced staff - a pleasure to deal with. Our incoming calls did not work at first - a msg. was sent to the tech. team after 4 p.m. and it was fixed overnight!The savings is substantial, especially since we came from ***The above was my review 2 years ago, when I was converted by CP from *** Since then, CP price went up to 30$+, but still very big savings from @#$%^ *** My system is very good and I opted to convert to the annual fee basis, mostly because they gave a 'special' tech. suppt/C.S. phone number for people who opted for the annual fee. That was a few months ago and I can't report on the responsiveness of that number, because I haven't had to call them.

I spent a couple days researching this company and looking at all the areas of their website. I decided to try them out and called in to place an order. The lady on the phone was nice and what she initially quoted me agreed with what I saw online. After spending 20 plus minutes giving her my personal information (including my credit card number) she came on the phone after a brief hold and told me that the pricing I was quoted was no longer available. The price of the equipment had gone from $99.00 to $149.00 and the monthly fee went from $49.00 to $59.00 a month. I refused to accept that pricing, told her so, and ended the call. If I find charges on my card from this company my review will turn into a complaint and a police report.

Terrible experience. I'm unable to reach customer service. I've tried leaving both voicemails and email messages for two days but have not received a response. I've had my Community landline for three weeks and still cannot set up voicemail. First, I tried setting up my new Community Phone line with my own phone but could not set up voice mail. I spoke with a customer service agent who was nice. Unfortunately, she could not figure out why the voicemail setup wasn't working. We concluded that purchasing the phone provided by Community Phone might solve the problem. Unfortunately, that did not work. As soon as I can contact Community, I will cancel the service. The cost savings have not been worth the investment of my time spent trying to fix these problems.

It was a *** start transferring my landline's number to a new landline a short distance away. I would write almost all of it off to the glitches and incompatibilities that always seem to get in the way of establishing something new. What impressed me, however, was that the Community Phone staff was informed, helpful, never passed the buck and talked me through whatever it was I couldn't figure out for myself. I've never had a problem with them. But of course there's always time, right? I wrote that in 2021. It is now 2022, a year and some later so I have the perspective of time I referred to above. You should know that Community Phone has not once disappointed me. They continue to be reliable, personable, and quick to respond. Imagine speaking with intelligent, experienced, articulate customer service representatives! I don't often give kudos, but kudos are due.

After being on hold for HOURS (I'm serious - HOURS) to no avail while trying to get my mid 90-year old parents a landline, I finally gave up when someone answered with such a thick accent that I couldn't understand them. Sigh. At that point I did a search for landline phones on the internet and discovered Community Phone. I can't even begin to tell you how amazed I was that I got to speak with a human being after just a few minutes on hold, AND to receive such incredible and personal attention. The folks at Community Phone (especially *** - you are so appreciated!) went above and beyond to make this happen for me. And the monthly fee is much less expensive than my parent's cell phone service that we canceled. I could not be more pleased with the service, and urge you all to give it a try. I am not technologically blessed, but setting this up was so easy - even for me. Thanks again, Community Phone! :-D

I joined Community Phone back when it was little start-up company in ***, . Initially, they were awesome. So friendly and always so helpful.Sometime over the last year and a half or so they have become entirely remote and now it is impossible to connect with anyone from customer service. When I first signed up for service back in 2020, they didn't have an online customer service portal, and anytime I had questions about a *** or service, I had to call them- which was fine, because as mentioned, they were always very helpful.Nowadays, it is impossible to get anyone to answer their customer service number or respond to an email. I want to move to another company because my phone is 4+ years old and dying, but I can't get Community Phone to release my phone number because I can't access anything from my account. When I have been able to talk to someone from CP- they say they can't find my account, yet I pay a monthly *** and clearly have service. I don't know what to do and I don't want to lose my phone number, which I've had for over 20 years now.

After much research my 80 year old mother purchased a Community Phone. The system does work, however she feels mislead by the statement that the caller's name and number will display on your Community Phone (as stated in the below paragraph). After both emailing and speaking to Community Phone representatives, the ONLY time a caller's name will display is IF the Community Phone owner programs their handset with the caller's name. As stated in the last sentence of the paragraph below, Community Phone does not use a 3rd party database, so inherently a caller's name will NEVER display unless the owner programs the name into their handset. In retrospect we find the below statement regarding the display of caller's names to be contradictory. "Setting Up Caller ID 1 month ago Updated Inbound Calls: Much of the time, the callers name will show up on your handsets caller ID. If the person calling you has set up caller ID on their number, their name will show up on your handset. Similarly, if their caller ID is included in the national database, their name will show up when they call you. Our system does not use private third-party databases to provide Caller ID information."

Community Phone's service may be okay if you have NO problems. "Landline" subscribers may be better off than cell service subscribers. Their website emphasizes landlines, though apparently those are connected to cell towers (?!?).If you have cell phone service with Community Phone, and if you want to switch to being a direct customer of *** or *** then you may discover that the transfer requires the consent of Community Phone. An employee in a phone store found that the person who has legal responsibility for my number, and the person who (nominally) must consent to a transfer of service, is the founder of Community Phone. Huh? Having a Community Phone employee listed as legally responsible for a phone number may be why they can buy a block of minutes at a cheaper rate and then resell the minutes. If that's the case, they don't exactly make it clear, and it's a pain if you want to transfer service yet keep your number.When they had a physical store in *** a few years ago, I visited to add a phone for a family member to my account. The process took about two hours, during which the supervisor kept insulting the new employee struggling to get the phone set up. I should've taken that as a sign to leave.Several years later, when that phone needed to be upgraded, it took multiple calls (about 1 - 2 hours) to change service to a new phone. The customer service reps were friendly but seemed poorly trained. Anything out of the ordinary required help from the "back office" or the "backend engineer(s)" and a *** minute hold.Upgrading my own phone later meant another round of long calls. Quite tedious.And if they can't explain charges on their non-itemized ***? Good luck with that.Since cell service rarely failed I considered giving two stars. But Community Phone sells minutes, not actual cell service. Their marketing is misleading at best.

Complaint taken over the phone by SE I did not authorize the payment for $34.00, send me a *** and do not automatically charge my credit card. I only authorized them for the one time fee to start my phone. Also, my cell phone does not ring at all.

They shipped my package to house # *** instead of 164A. Then when I called to correct this, they changed the address to 16 instead of 164A. It was finally corrected last week. Due to their errors, I have yet to receive my phone box. Yet, they have charged me the $29 monthly fee. Their text service and email support are completely ignoring me.

My friend is a fiercely independent 97 year old that lives alone in the *** and relies on her phone service. For several days she has had her incoming phone calls go straight to voicemail and is unable to make outside calls. She gets a busy signal. I have called Community Phone andtried to get a live person on the phone and am disconnected after waiting an hour. On line response to Community Phone is "We are looking into this" . That response is over 24 hours old. This is a dire situation.

I'm a disabled person. *** (trust fund) and myself both paid for 2 months of Community Phone service.My phone was shut off due to non payment during the summer. That same day I paid $100 something dollars to turn phone back *** both have proof that we individually paid for the same 2 months. I have emailed, tried working with virtual assistant & cannot get a person from company on phone to obtain a Refund. Very flustered and am seeking a refund of 2 months service I paid for.Sincerely

After texting Community Phone Company to ask for info about porting my line, they went ahead in canceling my service without my knowledge or consent. This was one week ago. I am *stilltrying to get my phone # back in service, but every day, there are new excuses why it hasn't happened, new reasons why they think this happened and how to fix it, followed by new empty promises that everything will resolve itself by the end of the day...and all this is *ifyou happen to be lucky enough to get someone on the phone after waiting for 20 minutes on hold even though there's an automated voice telling you that someone will be with you in 5 minutes.

I was charged twice monthly from Feb 2021 through Sept 2021 by my phone carrier. I only signed up for, had, and used one phone line which was advertised and confirmed via e-mail to cost $24 per month. However, I was charged $48 per month ($24 on the 15th/16th, and another $24 on the 25th/26th) from Feb through Aug 2021, and $70.86 (after the monthly cost was increased to $35.43/mo.) in Sept 2021. The phone carrier is being uncooperative, and the credit card company is not able to help me without the cooperation of the phone company. I am asking for a refund of the charges I was overpaid in the amount of $203.43. I did end up with two customer IDs *** which I only realized in Oct 2021, but the phone company was able to provide evidence of use of only one phone number because I only signed up for, had, and used one phone line. Please help me obtain a refund of the monies that were errantly charged to me.

I was signed up as a customer by *** on Feb 3, 2017 with the promise I could keep my old phone number and they would transfer the number in the next 2.5 days. A phone wifi station was sent to me but no sim card or handset. I called and tried to get a landline set up as they described in the instructions. *** told me they couldn't get my old number unless I re signed up with *** under the old number, which required me paying ***. *** had already changed my account number which was the phone number previously. I then canceled my service on Feb 10, and *** sent me a USPS return authorization. On Feb 16, we received a package from *** that we had not ordered. When we called to find out what it was, were told it was a phone from ***. *** refused to pick it up. I called and emailed *** to obtain a return for it on the same day and they have refused to send me a return authorization to send it back through ***. The original USPS return authorization has not been delivered because the USPS has forwarding instructions from *** not to deliver to the *** address. Since *** charges for this equipment and doesn't cooperate in trying to return it to them for a refund, it would appear they are running an equipment scam. Charging for equipment that is not going to be used and apparently not going to be returned to them because they won't help in the return. In addition the box from *** shows that the phone has "lithium" batteries and are hazardous material. They can't be thrown away in the trash which was what *** had suggested and must be disposed of at considerable expense to the victim of the scam.

I ordered a Landline service from these people on Feb. 11. It included a digital electronic Modem and a cheap Landline phone for $124.00. I had already explained to them I had my own phone with built in answering system. It came with no instructions. Since connecting it by constantly calling the company for instructions I finally got to a point where I could receive a phone call from my wife's doctor about daily reports on her ***. She is 74 years old. However. I had to call the company back numerous times only to listen to "Fly Me To The Moon" by Frank Sinatra for approximately 20+ minutes each time and then a voice would refer me to their Website. I have emailed the company numerous times personally to *** and *** trying to set up the voice mail system. That took several days. Then I found out when making an outbound call the phone would not ring at the other end. I also found out that if someone were to leave a message (tested by my calling my home number with a cell phone) my answering machine would not pick up the message but I had to dial my number with the area code PLUS my 7 digit phone number after that! Seventeen digits to pick up any messages! Then the password stopped working. *** 'Refreshed' the line but it still does not work to retrieve any messages. Then I find out that they are DIRECT BILLING my account FROM : ***, Company Number *** whose registered office is ***, ***, ***, ***, ***. I never signed/typed/printed anything to get billed DIRECTLY from a company in ***! I would like to return the Modem and phone and receive my $124.00 back into my account but these people are impossible to deal with directly. Can someone PLEASE help us in this matter?

I callled Community Phone in early November to inquire about their landline service in ***. I explained that I would need to call *** frequently, and the Community Phone employee stated that it would cost me approximately one cent per minute. I called again and another employee told me the same thing, so I signed up for the service, but asked that the required landline device be sent no earlier than November 15, when I would arrive in ***. I also asked the employee to send me an email confirming the one-cent-per-minute long distance cost, and she assured me that she would handle both matters.That email never came, but I did receive one on November 4, stating that my service had been activated, followed by a November 5 email stating that the device had been delivered to my address. I responded by email with another request for confirmation of the one-cent-per-minute rate, and then contacted the company by phone to ensure I would not be charged for service prior to November 15. During that conversation, I asked yet again for confirmation of the one-cent-per-minute rate, and the employee directed me to a website which showed rates several times as high as the one I had been quoted. The highest, I believe, was 36 cents per minutes, with no explanation of which rate I would get. The next day, I called the company again and spoke to the same employee, detailing the history of my interaction with Community Phone and expressing my disgust. The employee told me, and confirmed by email, that if I shipped their device back and included the *** in the package, I would receive a full refund, including shipping expenses. Later, however, the company refused to pay my shipping expenses. Instead, they continue to send me emails, the last of which states that I may be eligible for a refund if I return their device.