Their website advertises BUYING a toll-free number
I signed up with 800.com after their website clearly presented toll-free numbers as something you purchase and own. The marketing language and overall presentation gave no indication that I was entering a service agreement in which the number would remain under 800.com's control, or that moving the number to another provider would require paying them an additional fee. After acquiring my number and attempting to port it to my preferred phone system provider, I received an unsolicited phone call from 800.com. The representative told me explicitly that the number is THEIR PROPERTY, that I could not port it away without maintaining a paid service with them, and that if I wanted to transfer it, I would need to pay them $341 to "purchase" it — a number I had already paid to acquire through their platform. This is deceptive and, in my opinion, potentially illegal. FCC regulations prohibit carriers from blocking or delaying legitimate port requests. The fact that 800.com retains RespOrg (Responsible Organization) control over numbers and uses that control to demand additional payment before releasing them is a practice that is not disclosed clearly or prominently during the purchase process. I have filed complaints with the FCC and the FTC. I am also pursuing a complaint with the Massachusetts Attorney General under Chapter 93A, which covers unfair and deceptive business practices. If you are a small business owner considering 800.com for a toll-free number, be warned: you may not be buying what you think you are buying. Read their terms of service very carefully before paying anything, and understand that porting your number away could cost you hundreds of dollars they never told you about upfront. After reading their reply I stand by my review. The website is substantially misleading and no amount of "citing the fine print" overcomes that.