We signed up for Vonage about a year ago and have regretted it ever since! We originally signed up for it specifically for the fax service and the long distance (both of which didn't work very well at all). We tried to cancel the service one month into the service but we would have to pay a early termination fee of $150 so it was actually cheaper just to keep it for a while. We decided to keep it after that because occasionally the phone worked and it saved my wife from going over her minutes on her cell phone. Still the service was poor at best.
Well we finally decided to get rid of it once and for all last month! So my wife called the number to cancel it and was connected to several people who barely spoke English in India (apparently Vonage outsources the customer service outside of the U.S. which is another reason to not use them), upon telling these people that she wanted to cancel the service she was put on hold for 35 to 45 minutes. Now keep in mind this scenario happened several times! Obviously Vonage does this for a reason. The harder that they make it for you to cancel the service then the longer you have the service and the more money Vonage makes! Well after several attempts and much wasted time she was finally able to cancel the service or at least she thought so!
Now this whole experience happened about a month ago. Well today she received an email from Vonage saying that there was an error with our account. So again she called Vonage to tell them that we shouldn't even have an account because it was cancelled last month and again she was connected to various people in India, put on hold for 45 minutes and passed around. Upon asking why the service wasn't cancelled she was told that we had a late payment fee that was never paid. She explained to them that that was impossible being that the account was set up on automatic withdrawal from our checking account. Again she was put on hold!
She was getting pretty frustrated after being on hold for about 45 minutes with someone who barely spoke English in India. Seeing her frustration I decided to take bold action and suggest to her that she hang up the line and call back but this time get connected with the sales department at Vonage. Of course she got right through to a Sales Associate! She lit into them and demanded that the service be cancelled (hey, you don't mess with a woman who is 7 months pregnant). A couple of phone transfers later and they told her that the service was cancelled!!
What a complete nightmare! The funny thing is that my next door neighbor had the same problem trying to cancel her Vonage service. Never, ever get Vonage!!! There has to be better VOIPs out there!! Vonage flat out stinks!
I'd bet that our's and our neighbor's experiences are not isolated! I'll bet that this happens to thousands of people with Vonage. Someone needs to look into their practices as far as people trying to cancel the service. I'll bet that Vonage make millions of dollars by making it as difficult as possible to cancel the service!! It's a scam!! There needs to be some law or protection for the consumer!!
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2 comments:
This is eye-opening, Jay. I actually have heard from a co-worker that Vonage is really good. He recommended it to me highly, but if what you say is true then I guess I'll stick with good ol' fashioned smoke signals.
Smoke signals have come full circle! Forget broadband, wireless, satellite or any other recent technological advance. Smoke signals are back! Just make sure they're environmentally friendly!
Jay
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