Why I'm leaving Vonage: Blank voicemails + no cust service

Posts: 27 · Posted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 7:03 pm Post subject:

ColdGin wrote:

Have you tried rebooting your router? (just kidding!)

Arrgh!!! Famous Vonage words! They should print that on their homepage!

Posts: 27

Pepperoni wrote:

Try saving the voicemail file and play using sound recorder.

Okay, I'll try this, but it didn't work when I tried playing the files in QuickTime Player.

The Vonage people have told me that this is a "known issue", though... sounds like the problem is on their end generating blank voicemails (as both email attachments & when you dial in to hear your voicemail). Frustrating!!

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Jan 26, 2006 Posts: 2

Whoever mentioned that they are geared more to sales than they are to service was on to something. We just recently (last year sometime) had Vonage made available to us, and me being the type of person that has hundreds of dollars in long distance thought it would be a good idea to switch.

We did, things were great... not many problems. But as the advertising wizzed by, and time past, it seemed the more and more people signing up for the service, the more and more my service didn't work.

Here are the issues that we have had:

1. Blank/Garbled voicemail.
2. Called a French number and was suprised to hear someone in North America answer.
3. Called internationally and had a nice one way conversation with someone.
4. Lately, have been calling another international number and haven't been able to get through at all... endless ringing.

So... besides the endless times they have suggested that before proceeding, reboot the router and the amount of "known issues" that have come up... I think I am retiring my router. I am actually writing this while my wife is on the phone with customer service rep trying to explain to them that our phone calls work fine from a land line and not from our Voip phone... I think they also have a big problem with actually accepting that the problem is theirs and not ours.

Anyway... good luck with all your ongoing Vonage battles, seems like you have to be a corporation to have reliable VOIP... I am shipping the router back and running back to the welcoming arms of Bell Canada.

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Jan 12, 2006 Posts: 7

I can so relate to all the issues you're having with your router and the poor customer service. It happened to me, and is still happening to me. When I came here to vent about it, my thread was immediately locked and I was told to go "chill out". Seems the powers around here don't like when you complain about Vonage.

I am still trying to cancel my service, but Vonage won't budge. They placed my account in "suspended" status instead. My billing cycle comes up Feb 8th. I promise you if they charge my credit card I'll go through the roof.

I've filed a complaint with the BBB asking that they honor my request to cancel. I hope something comes of that. I don't even want any money back. I only want my ties broken with this company, and to put the horrible treatment I've received from day one of this Vonage venture to be behind me.

I am happy to see that you've been allowed to vent your frustrations on these forums though, without being tossed to the corner like I was. I really hope that you find a satisfactory resolution to your particular problems with Vonage and that they leave you with a better taste in your mouth than I've been left with.

Best of luck to you !

(Trying to become) a former Vonage customer.

Posts: 1123 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: May 26, 2005 Posts: 1123

People offered support to you, and I guess you never took it. "Tossed in the corner" is a bit much; that topic was locked, but I GUARANTEE you if you posted another one, with all of the information requested, and having an even-temper, you would have gotten TONS of support. Bottom line is you didn't follow the rules, got mad when your topic was canned, and took your toys and went home. If I may be so bold, this site is devoted to helping people, but only those who want help, don't bash and dash, and comply with the rules.

I will say good luck with canceling your Vonage. It's every person's right to do what they must for themselves, and no one should ever think less you for it. I don't.

Posts: 168 · Posted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:18 pm Post subject:

navydavy2001 wrote:

People offered support to you, and I guess you never took it. "Tossed in the corner" is a bit much; that topic was locked, but I GUARANTEE you if you posted another one, with all of the information requested, and having an even-temper, you would have gotten TONS of support. Bottom line is you didn't follow the rules, got mad when your topic was canned, and took your toys and went home. If I may be so bold, this site is devoted to helping people, but only those who want help, don't bash and dash, and comply with the rules.

I will say good luck with canceling your Vonage. It's every person's right to do what they must for themselves, and no one should ever think less you for it. I don't.

Well said. Applause

Posts: 76 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: May 18, 2005 Posts: 76

morgan wrote:

I can so relate to all the issues you're having with your router and the poor customer service. It happened to me, and is still happening to me. When I came here to vent about it, my thread was immediately locked and I was told to go "chill out". Seems the powers around here don't like when you complain about Vonage.

I am still trying to cancel my service, but Vonage won't budge. They placed my account in "suspended" status instead. My billing cycle comes up Feb 8th. I promise you if they charge my credit card I'll go through the roof.

I've filed a complaint with the BBB asking that they honor my request to cancel. I hope something comes of that. I don't even want any money back. I only want my ties broken with this company, and to put the horrible treatment I've received from day one of this Vonage venture to be behind me.

I am happy to see that you've been allowed to vent your frustrations on these forums though, without being tossed to the corner like I was. I really hope that you find a satisfactory resolution to your particular problems with Vonage and that they leave you with a better taste in your mouth than I've been left with.

Best of luck to you !

(Trying to become) a former Vonage customer.

14 days ago Natehoy gave some great advice to one of your posts yet there was no response from you. Did you try it? Did it fail?

A few thing. One, it sounds like the router from Vonage might be faulty. You mentioned buying one yourself. Did you? Did it work? My experience with any broadband modem is that when you connect a different router to it, you need to power off the modem and the router then turn on the modem, wait a minute, then turn on the router. I have to do this with all of my clients when I replace gear or test new gear at home.

Just some more suggestions. It stinks that there has basically been zero service for you. I think everyone can understand the frustration level but in the long run, there were some helpful comments posted to your situation. Hopefully you tried them all before you started walking away.

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Jan 12, 2006 Posts: 7

The faulty router theory turned out not to be. I bought a new router and still had the same issues. Vonage reassigned MAC address and still no dial tone. All settings were checked over and over, still no dial tone. My ISP tech came to the house and worked on it 3 hours. No dial tone. He went back to the office (so he could use a phone) and called Tier 2 service ........ another hour and no tone.

The suggestions given here on various threads (read by my ISP service tech) yielded no tone.

No matter what was to be ......... there was to be no tone.

I then gave up and ate the $ 268.00 I'd invested and cancelled.

No cancellation compliance. Instead, I was placed in suspended status where I remain today. My complaint with the BBB doesn't even ask for financial restoration. I only ask that the company do what I asked them to do. Terminate my account. They refuse.

To this day I'm in suspended status, getting notifications that I've got voice mails that aren't there, and I'm quite certain that come Feb 8th this company will magically charge my credit card again.

Nothing anyone (tips here, professional onsite, customer service in India) could get a dial tone to work. I went with a physical landline with the local phone company and now I can at least make phone calls from my home, instead of driving 6 miles down a mountain in teen temps freezing on the side of the road.

My isp tech, when talking to Vonage, tried to point out that all the procedures we've had to go through is far beyond what the normal customer would ever tolerate. No matter how many talented tech men and women there are out there, they do NOT represent the mainstream customer service base.

I myself am not ignorant when it comes to technology, but connecting Vonage still overpowered me. It overpowered my ISP tech man. It overpowered all your tips and tricks. It overpowered Vonage themselves.

I just want to put the whole mess behind me and have Vonage terminate me as I've asked six separate times. It doesn't appear that's going to be an easy task. As daunting as they're making it, eventually I am confident that I will succeed. I just don't know how much $$$$$$$$$ I'll have shelled out when it happens.

Morgan

Posts: 168 · Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2006 10:48 am Post subject:

I would make sure they didn't charge the credit card. Change the number, put something bogus in there.

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Jan 12, 2006 Posts: 7

Not as easy as it should be.

Credit card company states their position is to pay ALL merchants who present a charge. I have to dispute it after the fact. There are no provisions with Citicard for being proactive in these situations.

When I attempted to change my credit card information at Vonage, they force the system to APPROVE a new number before changes can take effect. If the number is bad, they won't take the change.

The only other alternative would be to max out that cc and hope the company doesn't pay automatically and put me over my limit. But then again, that's playing a dangerous game with my personal credit and I don't think I should be forced to take such actions.

Ironically ........ TODAY ............ I got an email from Vonage (just minutes after posting earlier) that my "suspended" account has now been placed back to ACTIVE ! That means they CAN charge me on Feb 8th (just as I suspected) when the bill comes due.

Now I'm in a race. My email stated that Customer Care is there 24/7 to help me with any issues, yet when I called, they said in order to cancel I have to call their office when they're OPEN. 8:30 am - 9:00 pm Mon - Fri EST. That is NOT 24/7 Customer Care.

They can ACTIVATE me on a Saturday but can't TERMINATE me that same day ? I just don't buy it.

So I'm still trying desperately to be TERMINATED by them.

Sigh .......

Morgan