THIS SERVICE ****. PERIOD. DON'T SIGN UP!

Posts: 67 · Full Forum Member Joined: May 31, 2005 Posts: 67

People get angry when they feel taken. Some of the points made are truth. CS is poor. And today while in the other room, I heard a Vonage tv commercial come on stating service for just $24.95. Not quite true. Its more like $30 with all the fee's tacked on.

True, all phone services tack on the fee's, but Vonage once had the advantage and few fee's. Today they are just as fee ridden as land lines. And seems more pop up ever few months (fee's).

Still, for me, its working and I get long distance too. But for some, they feel taken and very mad. So the bottom line is, Vonage is not for everyone. Some should just stick with cell service or land lines.

Posts: 19 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Dec 21, 2006 Posts: 19

Vonage customer service does suck. Easily among the worst I've ever seen, and I've seen plenty. It's not just that they outsource to India and you often have to deal with a language barrier. Even when the front line tech is understandable, they just read from scripts. There's often no underlying comprehension of whatever problem you are discussing. Sadly, even level 2 in the US can have that problem...

Vonage is making every attempt to correct the India and other out of US call center issues. They are opening more US based out-source call centers.

The DO NOT use scripts. None. 0.

You WILL likely speak to a newer agent. They will resolve over half the issues on a first call basis. Most issues are not that complicated. The ones that are, they will escalate. Do they "suck", well, if you are one of those that have the they suck attitude.. well, there is nothing they are going to do or say to change your mind anyway. If you are one that understands what goes on for a business like this.. well, you are already ahead of the game and will probably get your issue resolved without posting a nasty letter to the Vonage Forums!

Posts: 23 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Nov 07, 2006 Posts: 23

Quote:

The DO NOT use scripts. None. 0.

Sorry, but they most certainly do. Ask them a question or describe a problem and they look it up and give the canned response (or direct you through canned procedures). When they find no canned response or the canned responses and procedures don't work, they pass you to level 2.

This is how most, if not all, outsourced helpdesks work. It's flowchart style support. I've trained helpdesk staffs and developed helpdesk solutions for over 15 years and am quite familiar with it.

I'm not saying it's always word-by-word script reading - but they are limited to what is contained in the developed responses (especially if their English isn't very good). And certainly some who have been doing the job for a while will know the canned responses without looking them up.

It's easy to tell this too. Just ask for a technical explanation of something they tell you. You don't get one - unless it's also canned.

Like I said though, this is no different from any other outsourced solution - but that's why I hate them. In-house is always better (though arguably more expensive for the company).

Being familiar with what they go through, I do feel bad for the front-line phone reps and never give them an attitude. Level 2, however, will get serious attitude when they can't or won't help - which has happened multiple times for me already. Level 2 people should be better trained and have an actual understanding of technology in general.

When I have to explain how a print server device works to a level 2 tech and when they cannot explain why resetting a modem and router is necessary to troubleshoot a separate device, they suck. Plain and simple. I'm sure there must be some people there who truly know their stuff, but after weeks of calls I sure haven't spoken with them.

Hopefully, as has been said previously in this thread, Vonage will someday spend their money on providing proper customer support rather than misleading advertising.

Posts: 72 · Full Forum Member Joined: Mar 21, 2006 Posts: 72

I think everyone who complains about Vonage because of ISP problems should draw on an anlogy. Just imagine buying a new TV and having it go on and off every few minutes because yours mains power supply was unreliable. Would you expect to get much useful help if you phoned the TV manufacturer? Would you have expected the advert for the TV to include something like "performance depends on the reliability of your mains supply"? No!

Posts: 19 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Dec 21, 2006 Posts: 19

DMS1 wrote:

I think everyone who complains about Vonage because of ISP problems should draw on an anlogy. Just imagine buying a new TV and having it go on and off every few minutes because yours mains power supply was unreliable. Would you expect to get much useful help if you phoned the TV manufacturer? Would you have expected the advert for the TV to include something like "performance depends on the reliability of your mains supply"? No!

Sorry, your analogy does not fly here..

Your calling Vonage because you are having ISP issues would be like you calling your TV manufacturer for a power outage or even a cable outage. Sure they would like to help.. but really..

Posts: 19 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Dec 21, 2006 Posts: 19

0Voltage wrote:

Quote:

The DO NOT use scripts. None. 0.

Sorry, but they most certainly do. Ask them a question or describe a problem and they look it up and give the canned response (or direct you through canned procedures). When they find no canned response or the canned responses and procedures don't work, they pass you to level 2.

This is how most, if not all, outsourced helpdesks work. It's flowchart style support. I've trained helpdesk staffs and developed helpdesk solutions for over 15 years and am quite familiar with it.

I'm not saying it's always word-by-word script reading - but they are limited to what is contained in the developed responses (especially if their English isn't very good). And certainly some who have been doing the job for a while will know the canned responses without looking them up.

It's easy to tell this too. Just ask for a technical explanation of something they tell you. You don't get one - unless it's also canned.

Like I said though, this is no different from any other outsourced solution - but that's why I hate them. In-house is always better (though arguably more expensive for the company).

Being familiar with what they go through, I do feel bad for the front-line phone reps and never give them an attitude. Level 2, however, will get serious attitude when they can't or won't help - which has happened multiple times for me already. Level 2 people should be better trained and have an actual understanding of technology in general.

When I have to explain how a print server device works to a level 2 tech and when they cannot explain why resetting a modem and router is necessary to troubleshoot a separate device, they suck. Plain and simple. I'm sure there must be some people there who truly know their stuff, but after weeks of calls I sure haven't spoken with them.

Hopefully, as has been said previously in this thread, Vonage will someday spend their money on providing proper customer support rather than misleading advertising.

You are close.. but I guess we are haggling over the term "script". I am in this world of third party for Vonage. I would love to give them a script.. It would help many of them out. They are only limited by thier knowledge and experience. Some have more than others. They escalate when they need to.. or they get some jackass. Since Vonage is growing so quickly, tech support at both in house and outsource locations is fighting to employ qualified people to help. Many of these "idiots" (as most love to call them) are MCSE, CNA, BA, BS, educated people. They are learning a new skill set. When you get escalated, you usually are not getting anybody better educated, only more experienced. Most of the time, they will get it right. Some times, they will not. They will escalate you to the next level.

Vonage is taking steps to reduce the number of overseas agents. I am a product of that effort. I am not stupid, but I do have a lack of experience. In spite of the credentials, I will always be a student. Every call is a learning experience, and inspite of the abuse we take.. we do continue to help. We get nearly as many thanks as we do ****. We understand customer frustration, because we are all customers too.

Posts: 4777 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4777

DMS1 wrote:

I think everyone who complains about Vonage because of ISP problems should draw on an anlogy. Just imagine buying a new TV and having it go on and off every few minutes because yours mains power supply was unreliable. Would you expect to get much useful help if you phoned the TV manufacturer? Would you have expected the advert for the TV to include something like "performance depends on the reliability of your mains supply"? No!

I don't think I buy that. Any reasonably intelligent adult knows that televisions depend on electric power. Even if you were talking about a cable TV service the average person would be expected to know that the TV may not work if the cable signal is bad. On the other hand, many people don't realize that a broadband internet service that is working just fine for surfing the net may stll be inadequate to support solid Voip perforamance. Worse, some of teh problems lie outside of what the ISP guarantees to support. At the very least, I think they could point the new customer to a Voip test, like the one on the forum, as part of the sign-up process.

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 09, 2006 Posts: 5

Well I can't say anything about Vonages "customer service" since I havn't had to call them. When I recieved my router/modem I hooked it up and it all went prety easy and to this day I have not had a problem with my phone service. The only thing that has changed since I switched to Vonage was my phone bill....... it's alot cheaper Lol

Posts: 4777 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 4777

No arguments there. If Vonage weren't a lot cheaper, most of us wouldn't be here. Of course, the problem isn't with the large percentage of new customers who get set up without problems. The problem is with the few.