How to dispute a cancellation charge

Posts: 9 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 20, 2007 Posts: 9

I have been in a dispute with Vonage over a cancellation charge of $93.48 for several months. I disputed it with my credit card company, but Vonage sent tons of paperwork which seemed to dispute my dispute. So the credit card company put it back on my credit card. Is there any way to actually talk to someone to explain why I do not owe this charge to get it corrected. When I call customer service I just keep getting the same response.

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Oct 29, 2007 Posts: 7

It seems like you were charged the disconnection and rebate recovery fee which are not waive-able, and can't be disputed. The Terms of Service when you signed up were for one year. If you canceled before that then you are required to pay that fee because you agreed to it at sign-up.

Posts: 80 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Oct 24, 2007 Posts: 80

The last poster was half right. When you sign up for Vonage you agree to a contract. If you cancel before the contract is over you are charged a 39.95 disconnect fee. The rest of the charge is the fee for the device you received. The acct management person should have informed you that had you returned the device, then that part of the charge would have been refunded to you. The reason they charge for the device is because some people who cancel end up keeping the device and not returning it. Think of it as a "security deposit".

Also, you mentioned that you kept getting the same response when you called - what exactly was that response?

Posts: 9 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 20, 2007 Posts: 9

The answer to this question is so long that you will probably get bored reading it, but here goes. I switched to Vonage back in April, 2007. After a couple of weeks, I decided to switch back to my own service. I called my old service and asked them to switch me back, but they could not get my phone number. So to avoid the cancellation fee, I cancelled my service within the 30 days, sent back the equipment, and was not charged. However, when I spoke to your customer service reps about not getting my number back, they told me the only way to get it back was to RE-SIGN UP WITH Vonage WITH NO CHARGE, OF COURSE!!! I did just that. I waited, called, waited, called, waited, called, waited, called, etc., etc., but couldn't get them to release my number. I asked them about the cancellation charges and they said it would be no problem, since I was having so much trouble. Well, I sent back the equipment, still didn't get my number back, and was charged $93.48. Now, I can't even get anyone to talk to me about it. I feel so violated!!!

Posts: 80 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Oct 24, 2007 Posts: 80

Have you spoke with their account management department or just customer service? Also, you stated that you sent the equipment back....did you make sure they received the equipment? Ask them point blank when you can expect this money back. According to the TOS you are able to receive the equipment charge back. As for the cancellation fees - - - ? Seems like a rip off to me.

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Oct 29, 2007 Posts: 7

I am an account manager at Vonage. After the MBG period of sixty days expires the device is yours to keep, so even if you send it back there is no refund. Its all in the TOS. People say we are scam artists and all we do is rip people off, but everything is stated to you before you can sign up. If you dont agree to the terms we dont allow you to become a customer. The TOS are in the welcome kit to read, and also have to be agreed to before u can use your online account for the first time. We cant make you read the terms. And as for the number port outs, we are not able to hold numbers because we dont own them. Numbers are owned by LECS, which we rent from CLECS thru rate centers. Your new carrier needs to send us a Port Out request to start the LNP. After the number transfer completes you must call us and disconnect your service, only the acct admin is able to disconnect, not the new carrier. Even if they have an LOA. This is in place so that noone can disconnect your service without you knowing. *IE angry ex's, ect. If anyone has a question about the abbreviations just ask, its too lengthy to write it all out

Posts: 9 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 20, 2007 Posts: 9

Just more "scripting" from the account manager. I expected nothing more. I would love to just talk to someone. Is there a number to get to an account manager? I have never in my entire life had so much trouble with a company. I only followed the directions of your customer service personnel, who obviously don't have a clue. I am furious!!!!

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

Not a great user name The Jerk for a Vonage Account manager, do you visit the official Vonage forum?

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 12, 2006 Posts: 5

The_Jerk wrote:

I am an account manager at Vonage. ..edit for brevity... After the number transfer completes you must call us and disconnect your service, only the acct admin is able to disconnect, not the new carrier.

Some clarification here,
LNP porting out procedure at Vonage is presently not as outlined by The_Jerk as stated above. Yes, in the past perhaps, but for several weeks the process has been improved to align Vonage closer with industry standards in regards to port out procedures.
To keep this explanation of new procedure simple here, I'll just say that IN MOST CASES (single number on an acct for purposes here), following the porting out of a number to another carrier, that number will be auto-disconnected and the number is also removed from the Vonage database. The customer will no longer need to call Vonage to terminate their account once their number has been moved to another carrier.
You should receive an email notification of the account cancellation and any final billing.
Personally, I never assume any account that has my name on it is cancelled until I verify over the phone with a live agent. I work with machines, I don't generally trust them.

I invite The_Jerk to state Vonage policy as otherwise, as I take the commentary above as being somewhat inflammatory in nature.

...and please lose the font color, it's simply annoying to read.

Posts: 80 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Oct 24, 2007 Posts: 80

This is in the TOS

6.5 Fees upon disconnection.

(a) Disconnection by you. If you attempt to disconnect service before the end of your current service term, you will be responsible for all the charges for your current term, including unbilled charges, plus any disconnection fee. In addition, if you disconnect service that is based on a commitment before the end of the commitment, you agree to pay us the applicable recovery fee.

This is in Vonage Help

Does Vonage apply a disconnect fee?

Charges

Does Vonage apply a disconnect fee?
Yes. Vonage will apply a $39.99 disconnect fee to each line that is cancelled within two years of being activated. If you cancel within the Money Back Guarantee period of 60 days and return your device within 14 days of your cancellation, the disconnect fee on the initial line ordered will be refunded.

Note: The rebate instant credit is cancelled and you will be charged for the balance of the price of the equipment, if you disconnect Vonage service between the end of Money Back Guarantee period and 180 days of service.

You should have only been charged for the device if you were with Vonage less than 6 months! If you were with them more....DISPUTE, DISPUTE, DISPUTE!!!

I put a challenge to The_Jerk - Show us....show everyone WHERE in the TOS or Vonage website it says that the customer will own the device, be forced to keep a device they no longer need, and will have to PAY FOR IT AFTER BEING WITH Vonage 6 MONTHS OR MORE!

How long were you signed up with Vonage the 2nd time? Did they actually send you a device that time or did they lock the order since you only wanted to sign up to port out the number?