Home > Consumer Reviews > GE 29868GE1 Digital Answering Machine

Every 2 weeks, the machine shows F, even when there are no messages on it. While the F is showing, the system will not accept messages. The unit must be completely unplugged and powered down in order to clear it. Then of course, the machine must be reprogrammed. Reprogramming is anything but intuitive. I tried to find the manual on line. Most companies post their product manuals on line as PDF's. If GE has it posted, I could not find it. I would not recommend this machine to anyone. I am sure there are better ones out there. I would gladly replace this one with my old cassette based unit.

I bought this machine hastily to replace my Bell South which only lived a short life. This machine was a waste of money. About once every 2 weeks it randomly displays a "F" for full, even if there were no messages on it, which requires you to pull the battery and power supply to reset the machine. The battery backup doesn't work (the machine resets itself when the power goes out, erasing the messages, even with a brand-new battery). Wait, did I just contradict myself? NO, the battery will not save the messages if the power goes out, but you still have to unplug it to reset the machine when it crashes.
To top it off, the sound quality is awful; people who speak softly cannot be understood at all. I typically don't think highly of GE products, and this one is no exception. My next machine will be from a different company.

Unfortunately I have purchased not one but TWO of these machines for two different lines a few months apart. As other reviewers state, after a few months of use both have had the problem of the machine showing the messages are full (flashing "F")when there are no messages randomly on different occasions. Then you can't use any of the functions, you have to unplug it and hope it does not happen for a while (which it always does). Customer support is no existent, and they refuse to help me and just play dumb when you call saying they never heard of it. After this I would stay away from any GE Electronics all together!

The unit may be attractive, and have nice features, but that can't compensate for the atrocious sound quality that makes it practically useless.

Voices are harsh, garbled, fuzzy and have an unnatural electronic tone. Also, if the speaker does not speak in a consistently load and clear tone, the sound just drops out completely (you don't even get the pause, so its almost impossible to guess what is being said). I have lots of messages to call at, say, 25149.

I have also experienced the problem, noted by another reviewer, of the unit erroneously indicating memory full and refusing to function.

I long for my old Panasonic tape-based answering machine, which preceded this one. Are all digital machines this bad, or is this GE model particularly egregious?

I'll be throwing this unit out shortly...and kicking myself for not returning it when I could.

I bought the machine on 6/22 .... today's 7/6! I liked it up until a few days ago. It was my first digital answering machine ..... and I LOVED being able to delete just one message at a time instead of having to delete them all. Well -- the machine is now displaying the letter "F" for FULL even though it holds ZERO messages. Worst part: it won't accept any new messages .... and is therefore COMPLETELY USELESS as an answering machine!!

I read the user guide that comes with the product and there is no information in there (nor on the web) on how to address this problem. In addition, I have found that it is just about IMPOSSIBLE to get "customer service" or any help whatsoever (either via the web, or by phone) from "Thompson Multimedia" .... the company that makes "GE" branded consumer electronics, including this answering machine. THAT makes it highly UNlikely that I'll buy another one of THEIR products again. I hope they saved alot of money on their 1-800-voice-jail system, because they just lost future sales (from me an perhaps others) over it.

Well gotta go now .... off to the store to replace this 2-week-old broken down piece of junk with another machine (from another manufacturer of course). Hopefully, I'll have better luck this time. Bye!