DEAL KILLER. ACHILLES HEEL

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Oct 11, 2004 Posts: 11

After two weeks with Vonage I am delighted with the service . . . except:

After a few days it was obvious that no one in my home area was calling me on the Vonage phone even though I had sent out change-of-number notices to a lot of them.

Today, after calling Vonage 3 times, I found out that exchange numbers in North Carolina are available to Vonage in only 3 major cities, all of them 50 to 150 miles from my area.

That means that anyone in my home area, even my next-door-neighbor, must make a (not free) toll call to call my home. NONSENSE

Although I love the service, this is a DEAL KILLER. Vonage should make this CLEAR to new subscribers BEFORE they sign up. Not good, Vonage.

Luke

Posts: 2252 · Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 5:33 pm Post subject: Re: DEAL KILLER. ACHILLES HEEL

Luke wrote:

Vonage should make this CLEAR to new subscribers BEFORE they sign up.

But they do, right here and the list is huge.

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Oct 11, 2004 Posts: 11

dconner -

Thanks for your reply. However, the list to which you refer is provides AREA CODES and has no relation to EXCHANGE NUMBERS. Please re-read my post.

By the way, I got my own AREA code from Vonage, but the EXCHANGE NUMBER Vonage assigned is in Burlington, NC . . . . . 150 miles away and a long distance call for anyone in my county.

Thanks,
Luke

Posts: 20 · Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 6:10 pm Post subject:

Luke your not the first person I seen say that , I think I am safe , I can dial my number from my land line and it's not a Toll call , should I assume I am safe and others in my town can call me without a toll ?

Posts: 2252 · Posted: Wed Oct 27, 2004 6:13 pm Post subject:

Well, I am just trying to work through it.

You are obviously un-happy, so I do not want to beat a dead horse, but...

During the Vonage Sign Up process, on page two, you pick the State, Area Code and City.

I see this:
North Carolina, 336, Burlington
North Carolina, 336, Greensboro
North Carolina, 336, Winston Salem

So if you chose a town that was a long distance call for you now, of course your Vonage number would be long distance. It is not hidden. If I live in Dallas TX, but I chose a Houston TX number, I understand that it will be a long distance call for someone from Dallas to call me...

I might be pushing it here, but... You could send all of your friends a Vonage Refer A Friend Coupon and get them all to sign up - Vonage to Vonage is free (unlimited).

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Oct 11, 2004 Posts: 11

dconnor wrote:

I might be pushing it here, but... You could send all of your friends a Vonage Refer A Friend Coupon and get them all to sign up - Vonage to Vonage is free (unlimited).

Well, I can see that you find this amusing, so I am probably wasting my time.

You are, of course, correct in suggesting that I didn't read all the fine print when I signed up. Who does? Really?

This, however, is such a glaring problem, that I would think Vonage would be diligent in highlighting the issue in order to avoid unhappy customer situations.

In fact, I am not so unhappy as I am disappointed. I really wanted this service, but it is of no use to me in its present form. After coming to understand the problem, I am confident that my dilemma applies to a very large percentage of hopeful customers who reside outside major cities.

Luke

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Oct 11, 2004 Posts: 11

Hello "TheSauceMaster"

Yes, I think you are safe. When I attempt to dial my Vonage number from my land line, I get a message stating that I must first dial a "1" or a "0" before dialing my Vonage number.

The computer at the local exchange is set up automatically to switch calls which are preceded by a "1" or a "0" to the long distance carrier designated by me for use with the local phone company, Sprint in this case. Then the long distance carrier completes the call and charges me for the time used. This is what happens when my next-door neighbor attempts to call my Vonage number.

Glad you are in the clear. Apparently Vonage assigned you to an exchange which is in your area code and in your designated "local calling area."

Good luck.

Luke