NON-TRANSFER and customer victimization

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: May 11, 2006 Posts: 3

March 9, 2006 Letter of Authorization (LOA) Received
March 9, 2006 Transfer Sent to Carrier
-- and that's all I know about my telephone number status... except that it hasn't happened and no one can tell me why.
It's May 11, 2006.

Escalated, April 9th, 2006 after Vonage said they could do nothing about checking status for 20 days and that they had heard nothing about problems from XO communications (I finally found out to-day, May 11th, 2006 who it was from Vonage) . Vonage Customer non-"service" had entered my name incorrectly leaving out one initial in March. Service agent could not speak English, was reading instructions and didn't know that one little difference such as an initial or a dash invalidates an otherwise 'good" telephone number request. This is patently ridiculous since it's the number that matters and that is correct. So was my address and my name except for the initial. Any half-decent database that provided proper matches could handle this.
To-day, after four separate 'escalated' requests to XO according to Vonage, still no word from them other than that XO reports they have 'received' the request. Vonage keeps saying it will take a 'few more days' in emails that cannot be responded to. One Vonage LNP staff member argued with me and threw his phone down on his desk (-- or the floor, --I couldn't tell from the crashing sound).
AT&T says they've heard nothing about the transfer request and are demanding payment. I'm victimized in the middle two months later with no telephone transfer and paying TWO COMPANIES two phone bills for part service and interminable waits with no LNP category among selection sprovided to contact Vonage about failed LNP via email in spite of their jolly 'contact Us' web site message.
Vonage lies about telephone number transfer and they have NO WAY to make it work if something's wrong or even to find out what it is. AT&T is stealing from me while holding my phone number hostage and theatening to ruin my good credit rating. THIS ISN'T A UNIQUE STORY. WHY IS THIS BAD PICTURE SO COMMON ?? -- AND PHONE CUSTOMERS SO VICTIMIZED -- with no solution ?? I've filed TWO complaints with the FTC, but that doesn't fix to-day's problem. I need this phone number for my business. Clients are asking what's wrong with my phone service (and my company, by inference). But XO Communications could care less. Vonage and AT&T feel the same. This is outrageous treatment..............

Posts: 9 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 12, 2006 Posts: 9

You wrote, I need this phone number for my business. Clients are asking what's wrong with my phone service .

I dont understand part of your problem. Like yourself, I am still waiting for my number to be ported, (since Feb) however, my regular phone line is still working just fine. It should also be working for you unless you requested for that line to be disconnected, which is bad.

Yes, I pay for both lines but I was nice to the people at Vonage, talked about it and worked something out. I agree it should not take so long but it is the nature of the beast but at least your landline phone should still working until the transfer is fully completed.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: May 11, 2006 Posts: 3

Thank you for the reply, Bernie. This is a transfer from an AT&T Internet Phone (Callvantage) service to the Vonage I-net service. Sorry I wasn't specific.
You can set up call forwarding to your virtual phone (Vonage) number from AT&T, but for six weeks, AT&T tech support could not get their automatic message off the phone line and their web interface was not working to do it. AT&T's message says in an hysterical tone "We are trying to reach your party" several times and then shrilly says "please press 'one' at any time...to leave a message. We are trying..." In the background and at the same time, was running my personal message. In most cases, the forwarding took so long, or the messages were so confusing, callers often hung up or left confusing messages themselves. Finally, tech support at AT&T (Kansas City, where they seem to be the only support site that knows what they're doing) told me there is a way to avoid this (and leave off the dire message) by setting "all phones to ring" in call forwarding and admitted very few techs know this. As a customer, you would never have guessed this, either, as 'the solution'.
It's a one-year-long long history of uninformed techs and poor customer service at AT&T (SBC)-- four routers later with the wrong software loaded by AT&T staff twice on two of them (discovered later by Kansas City TS), two additional poor Centillium routers (They have since discontinued them) that re-set themselves (and my wireless network) once a day -- requiring a complete system re-set -- another error admitted by AT&T's tech staff at Kansas City, uncontrollable white noise (not local wire interference or Comcast cable poor connectivity, as AT&T constantly averred, resulting in three Comcast site visits that found no Comcast problem) etc. that caused me to finally leave AT&T.
I've been nice to the AT&T and the Vonage people, too, but they've been unable to get this 'escalated' or any answers as to why this isn't working. They should be able to track the problem through XO Communications directly but they've been telling me they can't (or they don't know how). Vonage LNP says that XO is AT&T's agent. That's not true. [u]XO Communications, -- from what I now understand -- is Vonage's agent[/u] for LNP.Vonage should be able to manage their agent's poor and/or non-performance. Vonage also tried to tell me I gave the wrong information to Vonage. That's not true. I gave them my complete 'service address'. I had no way of knowing Vonage staff had written it incorrectly. It iS true that Vonage should be able to confirm the complete and correct Service Address for any new customer independently. And Vonage should be able to do some internal QC to be sure they've done things correctly. It IS true that I didn't know that leaving my middle initial off my name would invalidate the transfer request for 20 days. But I had no way of knowing THAT except by reading forums like this one -- and it's true that XO didn't ever inform Vonage there was a problem...and they still haven't......It IS true that Vonage LNP staff (who I understand from Vonage Customer Support, are sometimes contractors) didn't know the initial in my name was critical and/or they should have been able to check that immediately, not only after 20 days..................
If Vonage 'service' was as good as the hardware and software is, everything would be wonderful. For AT&T, it's a people AND technology problem that compounds the issues. For Vonage, it's an uninformed 'people/employee' problem and VERY POOR customer relations that undermines otherwise fine technology. Because of the good technology, I'd like to stay with Vonage.... but -- wait a minute -- I'm not really 'with' Vonage............. Embarassed

And::............ I speak far too soon. I haven't been able to 'leave' AT&T............. Rolling Eyes

Since that part is not a Vonage issue, I didn't mention the ALL details of that part of the story.... even THIS time ! Eek