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Vonage I'm currently using Comcast Digital Voice but decided it was silly to pay $40 dollars
I'm currently using Comcast Digital Voice but decided it was silly to pay $40 dollars a month for what is essentially Voip, especially when I don't use my land line very often. I did some research using various Voip review websites but it seems like for every good review of these companies there is another "OMG THIS COMPANY SUX" review. Vonage seemed like the easiest choice to go with so that's what I did.
I initially was going to order everything directly from them because they offer "free" hardware plus free activation and the first month free ordering everything from the website. The problem I had with this was that they were only giving out $80 dollar Motorola routers that had the Voip adapter built in. I already have a Buffalo router and an individual cable modem, so I don't need another router to go with all of that. Yes I know it's possible to turn off the routing features but why deal with this and potentially inferior "all in one" hardware that I would have to pay for if I decided to cancel when I can just buy a phone adapter myself?
I purchased a brand new Linksys PAP2 on ebay for $25 dollars shipped and it arrived today. Once again I initially decided to activate everything online but was greeted with a 29.99 activation fee at the end of the ordering process. It seemed silly to me that they were offering this for free in addition to the router when I last tried this, not to mention that I'm broke until next week... knowing how easy this stuff is normally waived by companies like this (XM hands out free activations and months like there is no tomorrow) I called up Vonage.
After one Indian who transferred me to another Indian who decided to give me the number to the department I originally talked to, I was on the phone with someone who could get me activated. I explained my situation and how I was excited to get my phone service activated but was wondering if they could waive the activation fee. He said he could help me out with this and got all of my information.. once we get to the end and he's getting my credit card information, he explains that he will not be able to waive the activation fee since I did not purchase my hardware directly from them. He said that they will only waive one fee: either the cost of shipping or the activation. I explained that since I purchased the adapter myself they did not ship anything out to me, so I did not understand why they would not waive my activation fee. For the next 20 minutes I was put on hold a few times and told the same thing each time he came back.
Finally he gave me two options: Either I could pay the activation fee which would come to $32.something, or they could send me out a free router/adapter, with the free activation, for the cost of shipping. I asked him why they were willing to send me out free hardware in addition to the free activation when they could easily have me for just the free activation RIGHT NOW. I explained that not only did I already have my adapter, but that I purchased it for the explicit reason that I did not want their router combination device. I also explained that if I decided to cancel 3 months down the line, that I would be responsible for paying off the remainder of the cost of their device, plus be stuck with my current device. "Please suh, why can't I just have a free activation?" On hold again...
No sorry, you can either pay the activation, or we can send out the free router with the free activation if you pay the shipping. Also, if you want to then switch the devices once you get the free router you can... "Wait a minute, then wouldn't I still have to pay the activation for the Linksys device?" No, they would switch it over for free. "But isn't this just taking what I want to do and complicating it into many more steps for a higher cost to your company? And then can I send the router back so I don't get charged for it in case I do want to cancel down the line?" No, you're still responsible for the remaining cost of the router in that situation. (also I checked ebay and these things are not selling. I wonder why. )
This went back and forth for 30 minutes, until finally I apologized for wasting his time. I said I wasn't trying to come off as a cheap asshole, I just did not understand the logic of his company. I said maybe in the future this call will help you guys understand someone's position like mine and you could add a third option. By the end of the call he was agreeing with me that their policy was retarded, but there was nothing he could do about it. I thanked him for his time and was gone without my Vonage activation.
Now I do realize that Vonage has no obligation to give me a free activation, but normally these companies are pretty desperate to get customers and will waive silly fees like this. If I don't get a call from them by early next week offering me a free activation I'll just pay the damn fee, but it still just seems so silly that they would incur the cost of a router plus the activation instead of just giving me the free activation then and there on my own device.
I'm just wondering if anyone here knows of a coupon code for a free activation, or can give me the number of someone higher up who could get me a free activation.
Read The Full Thread: Vonage activation woes with retail bought device
• The problem is that Vonage is not a BYOD company. So, reading the stories here,
• Right I guess the giant "Vonage" logo on the box means it's not a Vonage device.
• Really? They give you the device for free. You statement insinuates that free
• Well at least someone agrees with me.
I'm sure the service will be great seeing
Calculon posted "I'm currently using Comcast Digital Voice but decided it was silly to pay $40 dollars" on 09/16/2007 |
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