Refurbished Portal - MAC Address Still Allocated

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Nov 29, 2008 Posts: 4

I have just tried to register with Vonage. I got an error that the MAC Address on my portal was already allocated. It turns out that the MAC address was allocated to a suspended account.

This means:
* Vonage is selling refurbished items as 'new' through Circuit City
* Vonage refurbishment fails to deallocate the MAC Address of items it refurbishes.

The only suggestion made by the help desk was not that 'sorry we will reallocate the MAC address to your account' but - go back to Circuit City and swap the device for another. When I asked how could I tell if the MAC address of another v-portal was not already allocated - they could not answer. (I say 'they' as I was put on hold and the line dropped twice)

Is It normal practice for Vonage to sell refurbished items and call them 'new' ?

There should be a warning on the V-portal boxes saying that before any connection work is done the MAC address must be checked and registered with Vonage as you may have a refurbished device.

Posts: 656 · Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 11:58 am Post subject:

I guess you blame Sony, Toshiba, or any other electronics vendor for selling you a TV that was already owned instead of realizing it was returned to Circuit City and the store restocked it. This is not an issue with the party that offers the hardware but with the store itself.

From what you just explained, a person bought the Vonage V-Portal at Circuit City and returned it to the store. They never paid for Vonage after the initial payment to make the Account go Active. This landed their Account in Suspend status.

You went to the store and took this unit from the shelf and tried to activate it however it is still Active on this other Suspended Account. Vonage cannot just terminate a person's account without them physically calling to Cancel it. So while this MAC is still associated with another account, it cannot be activated on your account or any other account for that matter. A MAC address can only be Active on one account at a time.

So unfortunately your only option would be to return it for another one or don't sign up with Vonage at all. And since this is the store stocking them, there is no way for Vonage to know which MAC's are active or not. In most cases, devices returned to the stores are usually not Active as they are returned when they don't work or deemed defective, therefore not restocked or they are returned if customers have issues getting service to work therefore account is terminated and MAC is deactivated.

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Nov 29, 2008 Posts: 4

VonTechMgr wrote:

I guess you blame Sony, Toshiba, or any other electronics vendor for selling you a TV that was already owned instead of realizing it was returned to Circuit City and the store restocked it. This is not an issue with the party that offers the hardware but with the store itself.

From what you just explained, a person bought the Vonage V-Portal at Circuit City and returned it to the store. They never paid for Vonage after the initial payment to make the Account go Active. This landed their Account in Suspend status.

You went to the store and took this unit from the shelf and tried to activate it however it is still Active on this other Suspended Account. Vonage cannot just terminate a person's account without them physically calling to Cancel it. So while this MAC is still associated with another account, it cannot be activated on your account or any other account for that matter. A MAC address can only be Active on one account at a time.

So unfortunately your only option would be to return it for another one or don't sign up with Vonage at all. And since this is the store stocking them, there is no way for Vonage to know which MAC's are active or not. In most cases, devices returned to the stores are usually not Active as they are returned when they don't work or deemed defective, therefore not restocked or they are returned if customers have issues getting service to work therefore account is terminated and MAC is deactivated.

Actually no.

The TVs do not (yet) have a MAC Address allocated that makes them totally unusable to another user. So the analogy is incorrect.

If Vonage allows people to register V-portal MAC addresses and then return the device, then they should warn the store that these devices MUST be returned as they are UNUSABLE once that MAC address has been allocated. This obviously does not apply to TVs etc.

The Vonage channel process is wrong and needs to be changed to ensure return of any V-Portal as they are junk once someone has registered the MAC address.

It is only fair to warn Circuit City that if they have accepted returns locally or from other stores that these may also be junk and should be returned to Vonage - or have a member of Circuit City staff spend time checking each MAC address with Vonage before putting them on the shelf. ( I see from the packaging that the MAC address is on a label visible without breaking the seal. )

It is not the best way to treat your customers to say: "Oops sorry you spent time closing down your LAN and doing all that wiring - just go back to Circuit City and see if you can win your lucky-dip for an unused MAC address next time."

Posts: 656 · Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 12:43 pm Post subject:

We can go back and forth all day but your going to be close minded and put the blame on Vonage so there is no reason. Just leave it as a customer purchases the device, does not contact Vonage to cancel the account,(which is most likely what happened here), takes it back to the store and tells them they don't want it but there is nothing wrong with it. Store puts it back on the shelf. Vonage has no idea the unit was returned. If it were returned and the Account was terminated, you would have been able to reuse it. If it still sits on an Account, even is suspended status, it cannot be reused until terminated.

And I guess this means I should blame Sony for a Blu-Ray player I got at Best Buy which I could tell was returned since the batteries were in the remote, the wires were out of packaging, and the player itself was not packaged within the foam. Upon using it, the audio channels had a very loud hum which over took the voice and music. Most likely why it got returned in the first place. So while Sony has no idea this serial number was returned for a defect to Best Buy store number 598 and Best Buy restocked it as is, I should place all the blame on Sony since this Blu-Ray was unusable to me or anyone else that would have grabbed it from the shelf.

Posts: 16 · Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 1:32 pm Post subject: ..

forth

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Nov 29, 2008 Posts: 4

VonTechMgr wrote:

We can go back and forth all day but your going to be close minded and put the blame on Vonage so there is no reason. Just leave it as a customer purchases the device, does not contact Vonage to cancel the account,(which is most likely what happened here), takes it back to the store and tells them they don't want it but there is nothing wrong with it. Store puts it back on the shelf. Vonage has no idea the unit was returned. If it were returned and the Account was terminated, you would have been able to reuse it. If it still sits on an Account, even is suspended status, it cannot be reused until terminated.

And I guess this means I should blame Sony for a Blu-Ray player I got at Best Buy which I could tell was returned since the batteries were in the remote, the wires were out of packaging, and the player itself was not packaged within the foam. Upon using it, the audio channels had a very loud hum which over took the voice and music. Most likely why it got returned in the first place. So while Sony has no idea this serial number was returned for a defect to Best Buy store number 598 and Best Buy restocked it as is, I should place all the blame on Sony since this Blu-Ray was unusable to me or anyone else that would have grabbed it from the shelf.

Well I was going to add to this how helpful the last Vonage helpdesk contact was when I called from Circuit City to confirm the MAC address of the replacement had not been already allocated - but as this forum seems to be in defensive/combative mode.

Your pre-used blu-day item could be used.

The V-portal could NOT be used at all in any way - it had not even been unpacked factory seals still unbroken.

takes it back to the store and tells them they don't want it but there is nothing wrong with it.

Ah but there _was_ something wrong with it - its MAC Address has been permanently wedded to a suspended account. A state which Vonage is unable to change and which your retailers have not been warned about.

All I would suggest is that Vonage tell ALL retailers that returned items MUST NOT BE RESTOCKED unless their MAC Address has been confirmed by Vonage as unallocated.

As I said - the Vonage contact was most helpful and is due to call back to ensure that my registration works this time.

Posts: 99 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Dec 25, 2007 Posts: 99

really....just take the thing back....and get a fresh one.....you'll be so much better off.

who known's how these devices get numbered or mis-numbered....and it's not worth the headache to find out.

it's really not worth the headache to try and solve the store's and or Vonage's policies / business practices.

the last thing you want is someone-else's device number tied/linked to your new account.

just think of the other problems that could pop-up....billing....settings....911 address....you get the idea.

PSJ aka Marc

.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 02, 2008 Posts: 3

I researched the V-Portal--on google, on Vonage--I even chatted with a Vonage sales rep.

I bought a Vonage v-portal 2nd hand on ebay.

When it arrived and I went to activate it, it turns out I can't as there is a balance owed on the account. The account is locked [very strongly] to the Vonage router's mac address.

The Vonage sales rep still got my business--they are sending me a free V-portal (no long term contract, no rebate, just free) and are waving the $29.99 activation fee. So that is pretty cool.

But this policy is wasteful for everyone involved.

First, it is frustrating that there is no education out there that could have alerted me to the dangers of buying a Vonage v-portal second hand.

Secondly, who else has this type of operation?

Posts: 830 · Vonage Forum Evangelist Joined: Jun 08, 2007 Posts: 830

Although not the same, software installed, then resold is worthless (at least MS products).

Stores will not allow a return if the seal is broken on the package, since they do not know if it was previosuly installed.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Dec 02, 2008 Posts: 3

I hope to like Vonage's service.

I was pleased with the sale's reps ability to provide incentives and such as a response to my displeasure that my bought-on-ebay second hand vdv21 was not going to give me Vonage that moment, and was useless for all things Vonage. I did get a refund from the ebay seller, who also was not aware.

However, I guess it does make for a firewall.

The question I ponder upon is Vonage's unique relationship between hardware/software/past-due billings.

I have seen companies create hardware and use other's software, I have seen companies create software and use other's hardware, and I have seen companies create both such that they are married to each other.

But never have I seen a company do the latter, and then bundle that to bad debt.

My time was wasted, and it impacts my business (my own responsibility). With all the incentives I was given, it pushes out the date at which I become profitable for Vonage. It creates waste (the firewall vdv21). Nature tends to be un-forgiving to creatures and species that are wasteful.

But I hope to like Vonage, and am hoping the shipping is quicker