Vonage activation woes with retail bought device

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Sep 16, 2007 Posts: 3

I'm currently using Comcast Digital Voice but decided it was silly to pay $40 dollars a month for what is essentially Voip, especially when I don't use my land line very often. I did some research using various Voip review websites but it seems like for every good review of these companies there is another "OMG THIS COMPANY SUX" review. Vonage seemed like the easiest choice to go with so that's what I did.

I initially was going to order everything directly from them because they offer "free" hardware plus free activation and the first month free ordering everything from the website. The problem I had with this was that they were only giving out $80 dollar Motorola routers that had the Voip adapter built in. I already have a Buffalo router and an individual cable modem, so I don't need another router to go with all of that. Yes I know it's possible to turn off the routing features but why deal with this and potentially inferior "all in one" hardware that I would have to pay for if I decided to cancel when I can just buy a phone adapter myself?

I purchased a brand new Linksys PAP2 on ebay for $25 dollars shipped and it arrived today. Once again I initially decided to activate everything online but was greeted with a 29.99 activation fee at the end of the ordering process. It seemed silly to me that they were offering this for free in addition to the router when I last tried this, not to mention that I'm broke until next week... knowing how easy this stuff is normally waived by companies like this (XM hands out free activations and months like there is no tomorrow) I called up Vonage.

After one Indian who transferred me to another Indian who decided to give me the number to the department I originally talked to, I was on the phone with someone who could get me activated. I explained my situation and how I was excited to get my phone service activated but was wondering if they could waive the activation fee. He said he could help me out with this and got all of my information.. once we get to the end and he's getting my credit card information, he explains that he will not be able to waive the activation fee since I did not purchase my hardware directly from them. He said that they will only waive one fee: either the cost of shipping or the activation. I explained that since I purchased the adapter myself they did not ship anything out to me, so I did not understand why they would not waive my activation fee. For the next 20 minutes I was put on hold a few times and told the same thing each time he came back.

Finally he gave me two options: Either I could pay the activation fee which would come to $32.something, or they could send me out a free router/adapter, with the free activation, for the cost of shipping. I asked him why they were willing to send me out free hardware in addition to the free activation when they could easily have me for just the free activation RIGHT NOW. I explained that not only did I already have my adapter, but that I purchased it for the explicit reason that I did not want their router combination device. I also explained that if I decided to cancel 3 months down the line, that I would be responsible for paying off the remainder of the cost of their device, plus be stuck with my current device. "Please suh, why can't I just have a free activation?" On hold again...

No sorry, you can either pay the activation, or we can send out the free router with the free activation if you pay the shipping. Also, if you want to then switch the devices once you get the free router you can... "Wait a minute, then wouldn't I still have to pay the activation for the Linksys device?" No, they would switch it over for free. "But isn't this just taking what I want to do and complicating it into many more steps for a higher cost to your company? And then can I send the router back so I don't get charged for it in case I do want to cancel down the line?" No, you're still responsible for the remaining cost of the router in that situation. (also I checked ebay and these things are not selling. I wonder why. )

This went back and forth for 30 minutes, until finally I apologized for wasting his time. I said I wasn't trying to come off as a cheap asshole, I just did not understand the logic of his company. I said maybe in the future this call will help you guys understand someone's position like mine and you could add a third option. By the end of the call he was agreeing with me that their policy was retarded, but there was nothing he could do about it. I thanked him for his time and was gone without my Vonage activation.

Now I do realize that Vonage has no obligation to give me a free activation, but normally these companies are pretty desperate to get customers and will waive silly fees like this. If I don't get a call from them by early next week offering me a free activation I'll just pay the damn fee, but it still just seems so silly that they would incur the cost of a router plus the activation instead of just giving me the free activation then and there on my own device.

I'm just wondering if anyone here knows of a coupon code for a free activation, or can give me the number of someone higher up who could get me a free activation.

Posts: 46 · Full Forum Member Joined: Aug 07, 2007 Posts: 46

The problem is that Vonage is not a BYOD company. So, reading the stories here, you're lucky they will even activate that device at all, when the "proper" means of getting a device is directly from them or an authorized retailer. The bundle they offer comes with a waived activation fee if you purchase the router thru them, so I really do not see why they should waive the activation fee if it was you who decided you didn't want the VT2442. It's not like you ordered and they went like "We're out of stock, go buy one and we'll fix you up".

All in all, I'd suggest taking their offer of a new device with no activation, and once it gets there just swap it out with the one you got on Ebay.

I'm all for not leting the company screw you, but in this case it seems you're trying to screw them.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Sep 16, 2007 Posts: 3

Right I guess the giant "Vonage" logo on the box means it's not a Vonage device. Rolling Eyes

If Vonage offered a vanilla device that was not some all in one piece of junk, I would have ordered directly from them. Unfortunately these companies assume that nobody has a router when they are ordering a new service. Right now if I had taken whatever Comcast offered me I'd have a cable modem/router all in one, which would then be hooked into the Vonage router/adapter, which would then be hooked into my router which I chose because it's not a piece of junk.

Like I said in the original post I don't have some delusion that they owe me a free activation, just that I don't understand why they would rather spend $80+$30 on me when they could have me for the price of activation(which costs more than my actual device)

Posts: 433 · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 11:06 am Post subject:

Blackjack wrote:

The bundle they offer comes with a waived activation fee if you purchase the router thru them, so I really do not see why they should waive the activation fee if it was you who decided you didn't want the VT2442.

Really? They give you the device for free. You statement insinuates that free activation is a perk for buying a device directly from Vonage. The way I see it, there is no purchase involved. I'm sure you can use the rebate argument but in reality there is no purchase when you get a instant rebate.

Blackjack wrote:

All in all, I'd suggest taking their offer of a new device with no activation, and once it gets there just swap it out with the one you got on Ebay.

Probably the best solution. He will get exactly what he wants. Only problem is he will have to wait another 5 days or more to start using the service. I'm pretty impatient myself, so that would be a bummer for me as well.

Blackjack wrote:

I'm all for not leting the company screw you, but in this case it seems you're trying to screw them.

Sorry but I don't see the logic in that statement whatsoever. He is willing to sign up for just the waived activation fee. Vonage will incur 63% more in cost just to acquire him as a customer. Quite the opposite really. Vonage would be saving money by waiving the activation fee and letting him use his own device. He would be saving them money. So how exactly is he trying to screw them?

Calculon wrote:

Like I said in the original post I don't have some delusion that they owe me a free activation, just that I don't understand why they would rather spend $80+$30 on me when they could have me for the price of activation(which costs more than my actual device)

If you are around long enough, you will find several things with Vonage that don't fit into the category of logical practices. After you are already a customer, they basically refuse to send you a new adapter even if you want to pay full price. They tell you to go to a retail store a buy a new one. So does it make sense that you can't buy a new device from the company that provides the service? I agree with you. It doesn't make much sense to give you a free device and activation when you are willing to settle for only the free activation. Oh and the frustration when you know that the agent agrees with your logic but yet is unable to do anything that isn't in the scripts or procedure. If you do get set up, I can tell you that in my case the service(not customer service)has been very good. Good Luck! Very Happy

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Sep 16, 2007 Posts: 3

tglea wrote:

If you are around long enough, you will find several things with Vonage that don't fit into the category of logical practices. After you are already a customer, they basically refuse to send you a new adapter even if you want to pay full price. They tell you to go to a retail store a buy a new one. So does it make sense that you can't buy a new device from the company that provides the service? I agree with you. It doesn't make much sense to give you a free device and activation when you are willing to settle for only the free activation. Oh and the frustration when you know that the agent agrees with your logic but yet is unable to do anything that isn't in the scripts or procedure. If you do get set up, I can tell you that in my case the service has been very good. Good Luck! Very Happy

Well at least someone agrees with me.

I'm sure the service will be great seeing as how I'm not daisy chained between 3 routers. Wink