I've finally had enough

Posts: 54 · Full Forum Member Joined: May 08, 2006 Posts: 54

After losing dial tone again yesterday morning for the 5th time this week I have had enough. I can understand if there is a fix for my problem and Vonage will help me find it, but they won't. India help desk is the pits and they won't help. And I am unable to get anyone above tier 1 support to answer the phone in less than 1 hour.
So I'm finished with Vonage. Only thing is I can't cancel. I have been on hold 3 times in the last 2 days trying to cancel. All three times I was disconnected after holding for over 50 minutes each time. I tried to do it the right way. I tried following the TOS and what you guys here advised me to do. Not anymore. I have already packed up the VT2442 and disconnected anything Vonage from my home. First thing Monday morning my credit card will be cancelled and I will wait for Vonage to contact me. I will no longer waste anymore time waiting on the phone only to be disconnected. I tried it, I really did but now I'm doing it my way.
Can anyone who has been successful in cancelling Vonage give me the address where I can send the Vt2442 back to?
At this point I don't care how much money I would have saved using Vonage. The lobotomy that is Vonage is no longer worth the headaches. I will gladly pay more for reliable phone service. I'm just really glad I didn't buy any Vonage stock. There is no way Vonage stock will turn around until things drastically improve with not only customer service but with the service itself. Good luck to all of you. I am so glad I never recommended Vonage to any of my friends or family.

Bob

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 6:54 pm Post subject:

Instead of shipping the device back unannounced, you may want to try writing them a letter, the kind on sheets of dead trees, and mail it to their cancelation department. Send it (preferably with delivery confirmation or registered mail) to the following address (which I got directly from the FAQ under "billing disputes"):

3.2 Billing Disputes. You must notify us in writing within seven days after receiving your credit or debit card statement if you dispute any Vonage charges on that statement or you will be deemed to have waived any right to contest such charges. All notices of disputed charges should be sent to:
Customer Care Billing Department
Vonage
23 Main Street
Holmdel, New Jersey 07733
-or- billing@vonage.com

You may also want to send an email to the email address, as well, but send the letter.

Posts: 21 · Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 7:09 pm Post subject: Re: I've finally had enough

ram1220 wrote:

After losing dial tone again yesterday morning for the 5th time this week I have had enough. I can understand if there is a fix for my problem and Vonage will help me find it, but they won't. India help desk is the pits and they won't help. And I am unable to get anyone above tier 1 support to answer the phone in less than 1 hour.
So I'm finished with Vonage. Only thing is I can't cancel. I have been on hold 3 times in the last 2 days trying to cancel. All three times I was disconnected after holding for over 50 minutes each time. I tried to do it the right way. I tried following the TOS and what you guys here advised me to do. Not anymore. I have already packed up the VT2442 and disconnected anything Vonage from my home. First thing Monday morning my credit card will be cancelled and I will wait for Vonage to contact me. I will no longer waste anymore time waiting on the phone only to be disconnected. I tried it, I really did but now I'm doing it my way.
Can anyone who has been successful in cancelling Vonage give me the address where I can send the Vt2442 back to?
At this point I don't care how much money I would have saved using Vonage. The lobotomy that is Vonage is no longer worth the headaches. I will gladly pay more for reliable phone service. I'm just really glad I didn't buy any Vonage stock. There is no way Vonage stock will turn around until things drastically improve with not only customer service but with the service itself. Good luck to all of you. I am so glad I never recommended Vonage to any of my friends or family.

Bob

I don't think that Vonage was ever intended to be a reliable stand-a-lone telephone service and after more than a year, I'm glad that I didn't port all of my numbers to Vonage. Although my hind-site tells me I would have been better off using the free SKYPE for toll calls and copper for local service.

Posts: 2257 · Posted: Fri Jul 07, 2006 7:23 pm Post subject:

Well, for whatever it's worth, Vonage HAS been my one and only telephone service for about a year now, and I've never had any major problems with it, other than those I can easily trace back to my Internet connection or solve on my own.

It's been every bit as reliable as my old landline, back when I used to use landlines, and more reliable than any cell phone I've ever owned.

Posts: 1715 · Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 3:07 am Post subject:

I originally picked up Vonage because of problems experienced with landline reliability, especially after natural disasters (hurricanes). I've since picked up more VoIP lines for myself & clients using Vonage and other VoIP providers as well. VoIP has become my primary form of communication for over a year, including use before, during, and after getting hit by a Cat 3 hurricane.

After Hurricane Wilma, landlines in the area were totally dead by nightfall. It'd be up to 14 days later on the west coast, up to 30 days later on the east coast for landline service to be restored. The only communications between the largest storm shelter in FL and the rest of the world happened via HAM radio and Vonage. I should also note that cell service was hit hard by this storm as well, with many towers becoming damaged. Those which weren't damaged were often off-line because of a lack of power. If you were lucky enough to find a working tower, chances are that everyone else in town had found it too and the network was too busy to take calls. Landline service wouldn't be returned to the building for 7 days, and even then it was just 1-2 barely working lines. The PRI circuit wouldn't become live for another 3 days. I do have multiple internet providers at that shelter, with the thought/hope that at least one of the companies should still be on-line after a storm. We also use the connections to get radio & TV broadcasts in & out of the building; works great in storms because there aren't any external antennas to get ripped to shreds by the winds, and there's no rain fade from heavy rains blocking a microwave signal.

All of that said, I've spent quite a bit of time making sure my internet connections and internal LAN were up to handling VoIP flawlessly. I spent hours on the phone with Comcast & Sprint, trying to get them to fix various problems on their networks. I encountered a lot of resistance & denial by both ISPs tech support crews before dropped packet & latency issues were fully addressed. The problems the original poster mentions are most likely due to their own ISP or their own network.

The one thing which Vonage is responsible for is outsourced, undertrained, offshore customer service & tech support -- I've said it before, but Vonage REALLY needs to improve this soon if they plan on increasing subscriber #'s. There are quite a few other VoIP providers out there now, and many of them seem to have been created in response to the problems & complaints people have had with the older VoIP providers.

Posts: 4751 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4751

VonageTPA wrote:

The one thing which Vonage is responsible for is outsourced, undertrained, offshore customer service & tech support -- I've said it before, but Vonage REALLY needs to improve this soon if they plan on increasing subscriber #'s. There are quite a few other VoIP providers out there now, and many of them seem to have been created in response to the problems & complaints people have had with the older VoIP providers.

Agreed. Unfortunately, this one thing is a biggy. They need to address it if they want to survive, much less increase subscribers. It would also help if they's be just a little more up front about potential problems. They should suggest on their website that potential customers run VoIP tests before signing up. They could also post warnings that they are not prepared to support complex networking issues, but intend for the residential service to be used by people with single computers and broadband.

Posts: 1715 · Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 2:36 pm Post subject:

Steve48 wrote:

Agreed. Unfortunately, this one thing is a biggy. They need to address it if they want to survive, much less increase subscribers. It would also help if they's be just a little more up front about potential problems. They should suggest on their website that potential customers run VoIP tests before signing up. They could also post warnings that they are not prepared to support complex networking issues, but intend for the residential service to be used by people with single computers and broadband.

Suggesting that people test their connection first would be a HUGE benefit to them. I don't think people would see that as a negative. I still think Vonage needs to reduce hold times & increase the quality of their tech support personel (including training in VoIP AND English.) Customer service/tech support is the only interaction customers have with Vonage, so this is the "public face" of Vonage to their customers. I'd actually say that Vonage needs to do this before focusing efforts on increasing the # of features or reducing the cost of their service.

Posts: 4751 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4751

Agreed. Or increasing the number of subscribers. I think they should direct some of the television advertising money to customer service.

Posts: 409 · Posted: Sun Jul 09, 2006 12:43 am Post subject:

I wonder how these Customers
were able to be heard. Maybe our dissatisfied voices are not loud enough? Shhh

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

HA. Read the one from "Carl A" in South Korea. Bet he's real pissed off right about now! Very Happy