Termination Fee Woes

Posts: 171 · Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2006 10:10 am Post subject:

I think we are all in agreement that Vonage's 30 day money back guarantee is about as useful as screen doors on a submarine. The point that I believe that's most important is that potential new subscribers often don't read the TOS (I did, but I'll bet I'm in the minority) so they never realize that there is a cancellation fee after the 30 days, but before 12 months. If you couple that with the fact that Voip can be a frustrating thing to set up since it involves a broadband provider that has no interest in Vonage's success, and many users are not technical enough to know about QoS, or other network nuances that affect Voip, you end up with lots of frustrated people.

If I were Vonage, I would build some parameters around the 30 day money back guarantee to allow extra time (like soccer?) for when subscribers have install or other service issues during the trial period. This isn't easy, since there are many people who would try to take advantage of getting free service for a few months who really should just be regular paying customers.

When I signed up I initiated my LNP immediately. I suspect that the majority of subscribers do the same, however, after reading many of the posts here, my recommendation is to get Vonage first, use it a second line for the trial period, then, if you're satisfied with the service port your number. This protects your number that you probably hold near and dear to your heart, and eliminates the frustration of having to port it back.

So I guess there are two things we need to try and change...get Vonage to be a little more relaxed with the 30 day trial period, and second is to educate potential new subscribers to try the service with a new phone numbers before thy port their existing number. In my mind, these are two very BIG behaviors to change. Good luck to us!

Posts: 8 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 03, 2006 Posts: 8

Logic...I love it! You just have to convince the people that control the $ of that.

Posts: 174 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Jun 12, 2006 Posts: 174

sdsheeks wrote:

I told them on the phone which was recorded that I do not authorize ANY charges to my card either for cancellation or for service. We'll see.

Dave

That's nice, but unfortunately for you, too late. You already gave them your authorization to charge your card until THIRTY DAYS AFTER YOU TERMINATE YOUR SERVICE or withdraw your authorization. See section 3.3 of your terms of service. Again, you can disagree or think it is sneaky, but the simple, LEGAL fact is YOU AGREED to the terms of service by signing up. One of those terms includes your EXPRESS AUTHORIZATION to charge you credit card for all fees owed INCLUDING EARLY TERMINATION FEE.

I know you don't like it, but you have already agreed to both the early termination fee AND authorized Vonage to charge your credit card for that fee.

If people would read the terms before they sign up for stuff, there would be far fewer unpleasant suprises later!

Posts: 8 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 03, 2006 Posts: 8

Good point. Your are right, I don't agree with that practice although legally proper. Like I said, if the company stands behing their service and believes in the product, then those technical sections would be mute. If the product worked the first time and the phone operated as advertised, I would not be here today.

None of this may benefit me, but perhaps Vonage may consider modifications and changes to their policy for future customers. At least make more certain that folks have a better understanding that the service may not be up and running as expected for quite sometime. Unfortunately, many people would not sign up then.

Posts: 171 · Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 5:00 pm Post subject:

theque wrote:

Good point. Your are right, I don't agree with that practice although legally proper. Like I said, if the company stands behing their service and believes in the product, then those technical sections would be mute. If the product worked the first time and the phone operated as advertised, I would not be here today.

None of this may benefit me, but perhaps Vonage may consider modifications and changes to their policy for future customers. At least make more certain that folks have a better understanding that the service may not be up and running as expected for quite sometime. Unfortunately, many people would not sign up then.

In all honest, I don't think Vonage will change a thing. The terms are what they are and they aren't going to start telling people to, "sign up today, but be prepared to not have the service work for a while...and oh, while we're at it, that 30 day money back guarantee...good luck trying to assess the benefits of our service in that time. Chances are you'll go past the 30 days, then you'll either keep the service, or we'll whack you with a $39.99 early termination fee. Have a nice day, and remember to tell your friends and family to sign up for our less than great service...but at a terrific price!"

Somehow, I don't think Vonage would do that...but then again, maybe it's all moot... Lol

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 06, 2006 Posts: 3

porting your old number to Vonage is a courtesy Vonage gives to its new subscribers. you have the option to port or not to port your number. when you choose to port your number, you should know your responsibilities. One is to keep your account with your phone company active until after the process is complete. But even though the number transfer is going on , you can already use the service of Vonage. Once you get the device, which will be delivered in 2 or 3 days, you just hook it on your cable or dsl modem. and voila! You can already make calls. The problem here is receiving calls. During the number transfer do not expect to receive calls on the phone attached to Vonage box. You should still have a phone connected to your old line. The only calls you will receive on the Vonage phone are calls from Vonage customers dialling your number or call from nonvonage dialling the temporary number Vonage gave you.

Posts: 171 · Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 6:13 am Post subject:

Porting your number is only one of the issues...and the smallest one as from what I can tell. The issue is mainly with the "hook it up to your cable or dsl and voila!" part that is a bigger problem. If the connection doesn't work, for any reason, including user issues, then you have to deal with Vonage tech support -- not good by any measure. In my opinion, Vonage is not for everyone because the users need to have some technical savvy in order to get it to work. Sometimes you just plug it in and it works, but given the nature of the beast, that's only if you have no home network already in place, or TiVO, or an alarm system, or in some cases a FAX machine.

The number port issue, especially back to your old phone company (or a new one), is where people get into trouble going beyond the 30 day trial period. For this reason, I suggest you do not port your number until after the 30 day trial period, and then only if you're satisfied with Vonage. Problem with doing this, as you point out, is that you will be limited to receiving calls placed to your new Vonage number. One option I've heard work is to forward your existing number to the Vonage number -- this more than likely will cost you some extra money, if not just for call forwarding service, but maybe for the call to your Vonage number as well.

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 10, 2006 Posts: 4

If you got a free router as part of the service and you cancel service after 30 days, will you still be able to send the device back for a refund? Or do you have any idea what they would charge for this?

Posts: 414 · Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 7:56 am Post subject:

rolltidega wrote:

If you got a free router as part of the service and you cancel service after 30 days, will you still be able to send the device back for a refund? Or do you have any idea what they would charge for this?

The terms of the free router state that you must keep the service for at least 90 days or you are responsible for the full price of the router. If you have the VT2442 that is 79.99 and most other devices are around that same price point. After 30 days you can no longer send the device back for a refund.