Free calls to USA, Canada, Australia etc. - but not for you

Posts: 9 · New Forum Member Joined: Sep 15, 2005 Posts: 9

Has anyone seen the billboards that are offering free calls to USA, Canada, Australia and some European countries? I called Vonage about this and they said it is for NEW customers only! Apparently I would have to disconnect and reconnect as a new customer to avail myself of the offer.

Why do companies make it so difficult to keep their customers??!!

Posts: 57 · Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 3:31 am Post subject:

I called them about this as well. We have a number of Vonage lines and got the same answer. Given how many alternatives there are to Vonage in the UK now I think they are committing commercial suicide. As soon as we have put an alternative in place, where they treat you like customers rather than fools, we will be dumping Vonage fast. I don't care in particular about the free international stuff, but to say that it is only for new customers is like shooting yourself in the foot.

Posts: 9 · New Forum Member Joined: Sep 15, 2005 Posts: 9

madhouseuk wrote:

I called them about this as well. We have a number of Vonage lines and got the same answer. Given how many alternatives there are to Vonage in the UK now I think they are committing commercial suicide. As soon as we have put an alternative in place, where they treat you like customers rather than fools, we will be dumping Vonage fast. I don't care in particular about the free international stuff, but to say that it is only for new customers is like shooting yourself in the foot.

Agreed! I even emailed Kerry Ritz, Managing Director for Vonage UK. However, he was clearly disinterested and gave me some spiel about marketing. He didn't even bother replying to my follow up question.

As I call the US alot I had to go ahead and cancel my line and re-open it. Absolutely crazy, and it has now left me without phone service for 2 days while they sort it out.

I could understand if it was free international calls for a limited time for new customers, but this is a permanent offer! So in the UK you will have 2 tiers of service, both paying £7.99 subscription. Why should we have a lower level of service for the same subscription?

If they wanted to do this they could, they just choose not to. When you start to treat your customers this way, your days are limited.

Posts: 76 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Oct 17, 2005 Posts: 76

I absolutely hate it when companies offer things to new customers and deny them to loyal, existing customers. I could very easily ditch Vonage over something like this. Its just taking the michael really. I suggest anyone feeling strongly votes with their feet. Its the only way usually. Shame though, I thought Vonage were a better company than this for some bizarre reason.

Posts: 57 · Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2006 8:10 am Post subject:

me too. How wrong we were!

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Feb 23, 2006 Posts: 4

I could not believe this till I checked myself. What a stupid management!

Told them I was leaving to find another company but I wanted to take my number with me. They are keeping the account open till I find the new company then they will transefer the number.

Been with Vonage for 5 months now. I can't understand this decision. If they waive the connection fee I may leave and join again. Have to wait and see.

Chris

Posts: 9 · New Forum Member Joined: Sep 15, 2005 Posts: 9

YEA, I DISCONNECTED AND WENT THROUGH HELL RECONNECTING WITH THE SAME DEVICE AND PHONE NUMBER. AFTER 2 DAYS I FINALLY GOT CONNECTED LAST NIGHT AFTER SPENDING NEARLY 4 HOURS ON THE PHONE IN TOTAL!

Posts: 57 · Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2006 11:43 am Post subject:

I thought that they still wouldn't/couldn't port numbers in the UK? If they can then we're off asap

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 03, 2006 Posts: 1

I phoned up based on an ad in the Independent on Sunday. The person in New Jersey hadn't even heard of the promotion, and asked me to fax/email the advert to him.

A two-hour phone conversation ensued, and he assured me that we'd be back up and running in "no more than 24 hours". Of course, it didn't work. It took three days and this chap's personal intervention (he gave me his email so I could send him a copy of the ad) that finally got it cleared up.

The think about Vonage is that, generally, it works. It is only when I've had to do things like swap out routers and switch out numbers. But both times (it's happened twice now) it's been a real problem. Last time I was out for about five days.

My only suggestion to people is, if you want to pursue it, get a person's full name and contact details (like an e-mail) so that you can chase it through the system. Also, always insist that you speak with "Advanced Technical Support in Holmdel New Jersey", otherwise you'll spend ages on the phone to India with them telling you to reboot your device.

Just a side note, the previous time I had to go through this hassle was because of Vonage's pricing schemes. I moved here from the US and specifically brought my Vonage box so I could keep in touch with family and friends in the states. Unfortunately I was buidling up quite a lot of calls to people here in the UK as well (esp. because mobile calls from our US acct were quite expensive). Shortly after I made the painful switch from a US account to a UK one, US customers were given free UK landline calls.

Hopefully this is the last time I'll have to switch devices in a while... at least until this device goes bad. Maybe by that time Vonage's technical engineering team will be a bit more sorted?

Posts: 120 · Posted: Sun Apr 22, 2007 10:04 am Post subject: Rate plan changes

Can't you just log in to your Vonage account and click on 'Billing' Section then click on 'Change rate plan' located on the right?
I am sure this will allow you all to change to that plan?