Account Cancellation- A nightmare

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Jun 19, 2007 Posts: 2

Hello,

Can anyone help? I called almost 2 weeks ago to cancel my account#1005642151 and the 2 phones attached to it and to get a refund.
I called in and had to wait for over 1hr to speak to the accounts department. I eventually spoke to someone, Rebecca, and she was reluctant to cancel the account, for reasons unknown to me, I should have a choice to keep or cancel an account. I later sent an email to confirm that my account has been cancelled and someone sent me an email saying they understand that I have cancelled my account but that I should call again since it is still showing as an active account. Should I be the one calling again or should they be fixing the problem? I explained back in an email that I am not in North America for a few weeks and so dialing the 1800 number was long distance for me. This individual sent about 3 emails afterwards insisting that I call.

What I do not understand is why I have to call in again, long distance and stay on the phone for over an hour for an account that I already called in to cancel.

If anyone can help to get this cancellation completed it will be very much appreciated.

I am very disappointed though with Vonage's customer service. Signing up for an account takes seconds but cancelling account takes a millenium, it's appauling.

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Jun 20, 2007 Posts: 1

Hello Yemi,
Vonage is very tricky. The put you on hold for hours so that you may hang-up and not cancel. That happened to us before when they made promises they couldn't keep. When they want you to get their plan, they try all kinds of things to entice you. For example, when my fiance called them to inquire about their plan, the guys practically made him get a service. He assured Vonage that his internet is currently not on and that he his waiting for verizon to set up the internet. Vonage told him that they will not activate the account until his internet is up and running. And that he should set up an account now so he can get the promotional price. Well, that is a total lie. For 2 months, they charged his credit card and claim they didn't see any documentary that he was told of such thing. They said, either you have internet or not, if you sign up, charges are effective from that moment. Another problem was that, they were trying to port his old number, which they never did. Bottom line is that their sales rep. are from a different country (i.e India or so) they have no ethical understanding. When you call to get their service, they phone gets answered right away. They will even call you back to convince you to sign up. But when it comes to getting a refund, you get put on hold for ever, when someone pick up, they "accidentally" hang up on you. Then you have to wait another hr or two to get someone else. If I were a lawyer, I will definitely look into these things because they are doing somethings that I am pretty sure that are not by the books. Good luck on your refund! I hope you finally get it. I am still trying to get a refund from them. They claim they will email me, but I haven't gotten anything. Once thing I know for sure is that anything they have taken form me or anyone else in a misleading way, God will take it back in thousands. Unless they repent. Have a blessed day.

Posts: 448 · Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 8:40 am Post subject:

Fortunately I haven't tried to cancel an entire account, but I did try to remove a single line from an account that had 5 lines already. The rep did everything short of refusing to cancel the line. He gave me every excuse in the book to keep it.

The call went like this:

You get free unlimited long distance to anywhere in the U.S., P.R. Canada, and parts of Europe.
No, just cancel the line. We still have 4 other Vonage lines for that.

Why not keep the line but reduce it from the Unlimited plan to the 500 minute plan in case you need an extra line.
No, I don't need it anymore. It was a teen's line, and they moved away to college. Just remove the line.

You could keep the line and send the adapter with them to college, so their friends could stay in touch.
No, you're not listening to me. Just cancel the line. We don't need it anymore.

But if you cancel this line, you will lose that phone number and will not be able to get it back if you change your mind.
Look-- I don't NEED it anymore, I don't WANT it anymore. Just take it off the account.

How about if I give you a 2 month credit? It wouldn't cost you anything to keep it.
How about this? If you don't take this line off my account RIGHT NOW, I'm going cancel the whole account RIGHT NOW and take the remaining 4 lines to your competitor. Is that clear enough for your to understand???!!!!

...at which point he gave up and canceled the line. It was disgusting. Appalling. Frustrating. The fact the account would still have 4 active lines wasn't good enough for this turd, and the fact I had to scream at him to take a single line off the account is inexcusable.

I do like the Vonage service, in spite of several outages so far during 2007, but they are NOT the only game in town. They may be the biggest, but now they have gotten too "corporate", too arrogant, for their own good and their customer service skills are in the gutter. It won't be long before word gets around.

Voip is still in its infancy, but people WILL eventually wise up and realize there are other choices.

Remember America Online? In the beginning, AOL was king even though it was one of the most expensive ISPs around. Just about everyone I knew used AOL, except for those who were a little more tech savvy. (Just like Vonage is the big dog right now.)

Then the internet became a household word (just like Voip will) and AOL lost its appeal. They are bleeding subscribers from every port. In desperation they've started giving their content and email accounts away for free in order to salavage what's left of their user base.

Vonage, take note. You are on track to become the next AOL because of your arrogance.

It's only a matter of time before some bloodthirsty class-action attorney gets a taste of this and takes you to the cleaners.

Posts: 1327 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Nov 08, 2006 Posts: 1327

Vonage Canada must be totally different. I called up to inquire about the softphone, I was given 2 months free service. I forgot to cancel it on time so I kept it for a 3rd month, but canceled it without any problems, no one was nagging me to keep it.

Why are you calling long distance? They have a toll free number.

Posts: 83 · Posted: Wed Jun 20, 2007 11:40 am Post subject:

You should only have to make 1 phone call PERIOD to cancel your service with any company....my suggestion to anyone that has this same problem arise while trying to cancel is to make your 2nd call to the Better Business Bureau.. http://www.bbb.com/

If Vonage or any other company that provides a service, can get another month or two of charges on your account they will do it...(And its time That Stopped)Most people ,IMO, are just finally relieved that they have finally gotten the service cancelled that they dont fight the extra month or two charges that they have paid..

I am asking EVERYONE that has this problem to contact The Better Business Bureau...

Just checked out the bbb website and found this:

BBB Membership
On March 27, 2007 this company's membership in the BBB was revoked by the BBB's Board of Directors due to failure to respond to one or more consumer complaints filed with the BBB.

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Jun 19, 2007 Posts: 2

Guys,

I really appreciate your responses! I thought I was the only experiencing this nightmare. I have contacted the BBB on the web and hope they respond. I will check to see if there is a phone number for BBB that I can call to discuss with someone in person.

I am not in North America right now and that is why the 1800 is actually long distance when I call it from here even though it's free to call that number if you are in the US or Canada.

I hope someone from Vonage will respond to me soon. I will keep you all posted.

Any other with similar experience with Vonage? Please share.

Posts: 1327 · Vonage Forum **MVM** Joined: Nov 08, 2006 Posts: 1327

What country are you in now? If it is in one of the free countries look for a v-access number and then call the toll free number.