Home > Consumer Reviews > GE 29893GE1 Speakerphone with Answering System and Caller ID

Has all of the required features -- answering machine, speaker phone, caller id, and corded phone. But ringer does not ring if power goes out (defeats the purpose of the corded phone) and volume on answering machine does not mute (defeating the purpose of the answering machine if attempting some sort of privacy in a household).

If I want to be assured of good quality, I'll stick to AT&T or Panasonic phones. But the phone I was replacing was a 12-year-old digital GE that had served me well. Moreover, this model, besides being compact, easy to set up and use, had the exact features I wanted, no extra bells and whistles. But, alas, the quality of the speaker phone is no better than that of the model I replaced--messages of callers are hard to decipher, my greeting is slightly distorted, consonants are indistinct, and the "mechanical lady's" prompts are often unintelligible. And, as other reviewers have observed, the liquid display of the Caller I.D. can be set so that it's readable from only one position. If I'm sitting, I can't see it when I'm standing and vice versa. My hunch is that phone manufacturers have invested all of their research and development in cordless models for the past 12 years, merely providing some external face-lifting to the corded models. If you have more time than I, you may wish to check out one of those AT&T or Panasonic models first. Either that, or concede the advantage to a cordless model.

After four or five months, the speakerphone volume would suddenly grow faint and we could not hear our caller nor adjust the volume, so we returned the phone. But here the problem began:

We sent it to the Thompson Exchange center in El Paso, TX. (the only official GE service center) there is no 800 number to call and check on the status. 2 MONTHS went by, after 25 min. someone told me they don't believe they can fix it and will "TRY" to replace it with a similar item.

Another month past by and I called and protested, so after putting me on hold forever (on a long distance call) a lady took my phone number and said that since I have been waiting over 3 months, they will Fw: it to a different department, who will call me back in 5 days... (I wish!.. sweet dreams...) and they will tell me what they will do; most probably they will send a refund but maybe they will offer an exchange.

Of course I�m still waiting for that "after 5 days phone call", but now I�m thinking if when I call back I should refuse an exchange, and rather buy the Southwestern bell model FM2575, which has the same features, and Wall Mart sells it for $$. People tell me southwestern is cheaper quality, I wonder, since that phone got better reviews. I might give it a try, since I can return it within the year to the co. "at their charge for the shipping", which means service, which I didn�t get from GE.

I believe GE purposely gives such a hard time for people who wish to return their products (non 800 #, long times etc.) to discourage busy people from exchanging, and for a lot of people it is easier and faster to just throw it out and buy a new one.

Shame on them!

I have always had a GE phone and appreciated the quality and ease of use. This one has everything I wanted...digital answering machine, call waiting caller id, corded...and the am radio reception I didn't want. I can hear the local traffic and weather as well as the person on the other end. I exchanged it for the same brand thinking I had gotten a lemon...no luck. This one is exactly the same. So, it's back to searching for me. A few reviews mention the SW Bell, so I will try to locate one of those. Too bad GE lost a loyal customer:-(

Style: nice
Ease of use: excellent
flash memory keeps your setting is power goes out: neato
Answering Machine: I DONT KNOW.

That is right. Like some other reviewers, my answering machine never worked.

I was looking for a corded answering machine and this one had the best look and options of the price range. Looked like a great buy. I picked it up and installed it, even reading the instructions despite the fact that I am male.

I got to the point where I called myself to test the answering machine and all it would do it pick up the line, then disconnect the caller and reset the date/time to default.

I called tech support on their non-free line (used cell minutes so no big deal). Standard line, "unplug it for 15 minutes and follow hook up instructions". NO GO!!!

I hate products that fail out of the box. I had such high hopes too, I really liked the look and functions.

UPDATE 05/20/05: Uniden Corded Answering with 5.8Ghz Powered Handset.
- Flawless for about same price. Considering GE, Buy Uniden -