OfficeEarth

Very bad experience with this company whose claims about
Their services are exaggerated. Getting calls handled to my clear instructions was a constant struggle, some customers were lost and refunds given because of situations caused by Office Earth operator errors or non-compliance. Office Earth management take no responsibility for operator incompetence or errors and refuse any recompense even when their mistakes are proven and admitted! Their billing system is questionable, queries are taken as an insult and if you are not satisfied they do not hesitate to imply that you are the cause of the problem. Their rates appear reasonable on the surface but with uncontrolled prolonged call handling they are substantially more expensive that their competitors.

I have used OfficeEarth for a couple of years now. It provides a 24/7 office messaging service for me. I like both the real-time messaging to me of calls that are received as well as the capacity to listen to the call, which provides significant additional information. Staff handling my inbound calls are professional and do a good job for me.

Bottom line is that this business is known for ripping people off.

People join, they realise, they leave, and then a new batch joins to be ripped off for a bit.
How? They charge your credit card with fees for extra services, they make "mistakes" with billing, they double invoice you, they change their pricing (eg all $10 plans were recently bumped automatically to $59 plans - 500% increase.). They also change their billing terms and increase their call fees in the background.

The way this works for them is that they auto-charge your card. They then bank on very few people being bothered to go to small claims, or the telecommunications ombudsman - and so they can absorb these actions as they go.

Steven, the responder to these reviews, seems reasonable - but try to get in touch with him once you are a customer. He will actively refuse to respond to support requests, emails or phone calls put through from his own reception.

If you are unlucky enough to join, you will know that as soon as you are a customer, you will never be able to contact an account manager again. They do this to try and avoid refunding billing mistakes. Poor Erin, Kymberly and other receptionists get embarrassed making excuses as to why their employer will not respond to support requests, tickets, phone calls or emails.

If it isn't obvious to everyone, a number of these reviews have been manufactured by Office Earth as marketing.

The site lures you in, but stay strong, this is a classic honeytrap business. Buyer beware with Office Earth - there are actual professional alternatives that are much cheaper. And honest.

Very handy, and easy to set up, A+.

Receptionist is a real person, whom answers your calls and attempts to forwward, or takes a message, and then emails a confirmation.

Fantastic and fast customer support! I had tried a free trial on this website today and miss understood a problem and customer support from Wendy was fantastic with a quick response. I would recommend this website to anyone and too if you was to run in any kind of errors ask for Wendy she is GREAT and KIND and her support was amazing! Thanks again Wendy you are the BEST!

Affordable and great service. Used the service for over 2 years. Keeps getting better. Can listen to all calls

In my opinion the OfficeEarth receptionist answered promptly, precisely as instructed, had a pleasant and appealing voice, was very clear in her response, conveyed an impression of intelligence and interest and I would hire her on the spot.

Very worthwhile service - great value, fantastic service, clever technology and responsive team - Many thanks for your help.

We had our account terminated by Office Earth simply because they decided in their infinite wisdom, without notice of any kind, that they don't handle adult services. Nothing in their policies, procedures or any other written medium nor on their website, indicated that they didn't handle adult services mind you, we hadn't even told them we were an adult service company!

After challenging them about their decision, I was informed that we can do whatever we want'. Nice and particularly unprofessional given that all they had to do was say all our team members are engaged. May I take your name and number for a return call' without even mentioning the company name at all.

I then asked my EA to investigate further and after her being on hold for a considerable amount of time, was told by Kimberley at Office Earth that she couldn't answer that question and there was no-one available at the time who could. Seriously? Why have front line staff if they can't answer a simple question like that? Surely they should be up-to-date on company policy.

There have been other reports of people engaging the services of this company and when the call was answered, they didn't even answer with the right business name!

Discriminating YES!
Bad business practice YES!

Will I deal with this company again DEFINITELY NOT and neither should you!

Every time I hear from a client that they are happy to work with us because we are always there to answer their calls, makes me smile and say a big thank you to OfficeEarth, I'm so impressed.

Signed up for their free 30 calls included package and found out that answering the calls is free (as in picking up the phone) but every second after that is charged, so there is no free 30 calls at all. Misleading advertising, poor service. Avoid at all costs.

Excellent Customer Service, Professional and Capture all Information and actioned call promptly.

Thanks Sharyn :)

Office Earth - Virtual Receptionist - Answering Service

Unscrupulous, unprincipled, unethical, immoral and shameless...

Office Earth changed pricing from $1.90 per call to $2.90 per minute - call costs on average increased by 500% - but they failed to clearly communicate that to the end user. It wasn't until I started looking into my billing that I discovered it by accident.

In the email announcement notifying of a price increase, Office Earth mentioned a rise in subscription fees from $5 to $10 - double, but I persisted anyway wihtout a clear alternative. It wasn't until weeks later I was reviewing calls and noticed the costs had skyrocketed! Going back to the email, there was nothing about the calls increasing from $1.90 to $2.90/min unless you followed a link out to another page and read the small print...

If Office Earth had any scruples at all, they would just highlight this in the email BUT, Office Earth have proven that scruples are not something they have a lot of... Upon finding this out, I followed the link they put in the email to cancel the service as these costs were unsustainable... During this time, they auto-deducted another account top-up from my credit card to put me $30+ in credit. After cancelling, I requested the $30 in credit back because I wouldn't be using the service any more and I had a positive balance... Their response: Our contract says we can keep your money but we'll see what we can do...

From that point on, they have effectively ignored me and I have finally come to the conclusion that they are not interested.

Office Earth write into their contract that they get to keep my money if I cancel the service - not to pay any outstanding debt or to cover any services rendered, just because they put it in fine print. I have since contacted Consumer Affairs who have said that the contract terms are not enforceable by law because:
- It causes a significant imbalance in my rights and obligations under a contract
- It is not reasonably necessary to protect the business, and
- It causes detriment (financial or otherwise) to me, the consumer.

I tried contacting them and they just kept ignoring me or putting me off and so my only option if I want to go any further is to pursue this legally in a court of law... Over $30... That's our justice system!

Office Earth has absolutely no business morals and clearly no objective to provide a fair and reasonable service to its clients. They are clearly blinded by their own greed and have no interest in being an ethical and trustworthy service provider.

AVOID OFFICE EARTH AT ALL COSTS.

No 1 choice for virtual office requirements, best in Australia!

They are professional, accurate, Simply Awesome!

I was very happy with the service provided by OfficeEarth. I will be continuing to use them in the future.

OfficeEarth virtual reception has been fantastic for my business. My calls are handled on weekends and out of hours allowing me leisure time and time working on my business instead of in my business. My emailed messages are great quality and the receptionists are very professional. Very highly recommended service.