New Fee. Woo hoo.Woo, hoo hoo.

Posts: 216 · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 2:50 pm Post subject:

ColdGin wrote:

hey, good question. if i lived in VA i could change my address to some other state to avoid the 3 dollar fee?

EXACTLY!

I don't live in any of those areas, but if I did I would think about changing my billing address. Assuming that they use the billing address, of course. I could use a friend's address or a family member's address since I never actually recieve any mail from Vonage anyway.

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 3:01 pm Post subject:

jnuzzi wrote:

ColdGin wrote:

hey, good question. if i lived in VA i could change my address to some other state to avoid the 3 dollar fee?

EXACTLY!

I don't live in any of those areas, but if I did I would think about changing my billing address. Assuming that they use the billing address, of course. I could use a friend's address or a family member's address since I never actually recieve any mail from Vonage anyway.

Well, since your billing address is used by Vonage as part of your credit card billing process (at least most companies use address), I'd tread rather carefully there. Otherwise, you could find your credit card being rejected.

And if it's 911 address, you could probably get around it by "tweaking" your 911 address, but then you have to decide whether you want 911 at all at that point...

Jake: They got your name, your address...
Elwood: No they don't got my address. I falsified my renewal. I put 1060 West Addison.
Jake: 1060 West Addison? That's Wrigley Field.

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

"Jake: They got your name, your address...
Elwood: No they don't got my address. I falsified my renewal. I put 1060 West Addison.
Jake: 1060 West Addison? That's Wrigley Field."

I thought you were going to reference SCMODS too. Lol

Posts: 35 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Jan 21, 2006 Posts: 35

hookbill wrote:

I went back and looked at the opening post. It's listed as a "cost recovery fee." It's not like they are saying it's a regulatory fee. They are flat out saying they need to recover their cost. That, IMHO, is not deceptive.

The standard monthly rate is a 'Cost Recovery Fee'. One would assume Vonage is pricing the service at a level to 'recover their costs'. It's deceiptive to advertise a service @ $14.99 a month when folks in Richmond Virgina will be paying $20.48 + any tax. That's a whopping 37% increase in the advertised rate for 'cost recovery fees'. Fees that Vonage is under absolutely no regulatory mandate to collect. It's nothing but a price increase hidden as 'fees' that mimic POTS regulatory fees. That's deceptive, and the same silly game that POTS companies play. I would expect better from Vonage, but I guess I'm wrong.

I wonder if they'll try and apply the 'Disconnect Fee' to folks that cancel due to this? Seems like Vonage is changing the terms of the contract, which should eliminate any penalty from those who don't accept the new terms.

Posts: 168 · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 4:12 pm Post subject:

Ok. Maybe it's a bit deceptive. But again, I point to the "you gotta read the contact" statement I made earlier..

From TOS:

3.1 Billing. When the service is activated, you must provide us with a valid email address and a credit or debit card number from a card issuer that we accept. We reserve the right to stop accepting credit or debit cards from one or more issuers. If your credit or debit card expires, you close your account, your billing address changes, or your credit or debit card is cancelled and replaced on account of loss or theft, you must advise us at once. We will bill all charges, applicable taxes and surcharges monthly in advance (except for usage-based charges, which will be billed monthly in arrears, and any other charges which we decide to bill in arrears) to your credit or debit card, including but not limited to : activation fees; monthly Service fees; usage charges; international usage charges; advanced feature charges; premium services/Add-Ons, equipment purchases; regulatory recovery fee; Emergency 911 Cost Recovery, taxes; 911 fees, termination fees; and shipping and handling charges.
The amount of such fees and charges shall be published on our website and may change from time to time. Notification of monthly invoices will be sent to you via your email address on file with us. We reserve the right to bill at more frequent intervals if the amount you owe to us at any time exceeds $50. Any usage charges will be billed in increments that are rounded up to the nearest full minute except as otherwise set forth in the rate schedules found on our website.

It's in black and white folks. Read if for yourself.

Posts: 18 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 21, 2005 Posts: 18

Well, at an average $2.00 a line between the two fees and 1.4 million lines, that will translate into about $33.5 million when they start charging the second 911 fee in all the states.

Lets face it, 911 access is expensive to setup, along with any penalties, if they can't do it on time.

That, along with the massive operating losses they've been incurring, which according to Barron's, amounted to $189 million in the first nine months of last year, leads a reasonable person to come to the conclusion that Vonage needs more revenue and less expenses, especially if they want to make this IPO work.

The $20-30 million that these fees raise this year is just a drop in the bucket of what they need to do in getting to breakeven.

Posts: 83 · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 5:16 pm Post subject:

Outlier wrote:

The $20-30 million that these fees raise this year is just a drop in the bucket of what they need to do in getting to breakeven.

No Problem There...Just add more fees...problem solved...Theyll be out of debt in no time...

Posts: 61 · Full Forum Member Joined: Dec 29, 2005 Posts: 61

Quote:

Mind if I steal that one from you?

Feel free.

Posts: 83 · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 9:16 pm Post subject:

Well at least this isnt like the landlines....I can choose my phone company now...