vonage growing pains

Posts: 646 · Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 2:33 am Post subject:

Back in November at least, I had good luck with tech support by calling at around 4:00 am (EST). The hold time was really short, and the tech seemed to know what he was talking about.

Posts: 448 · Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 11:08 am Post subject:

paul248 wrote:

Back in November at least, I had good luck with tech support by calling at around 4:00 am (EST). The hold time was really short, and the tech seemed to know what he was talking about.

Eeeeeeeeks!!! Does the world exist at 4:00 a.m.?

Posts: 23 · Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 1:32 pm Post subject:

Sadly, to even get anything answered, I recently had to repeat several times to the tech support that I asked to be transfered to his/her supervisor.
After twice being disconnected after waiting on hold near 40 minutes each time.... on my 3rd call, I had their tech support supervisor actually call ME back on my cell phone so that I could snag their direct phone number [god bless caller id]... it's amazing how quick they'll get your problems looked into when you have a direct phone # to call them back on when problems aren't solved.
I completely understand "growing pains" with a new company offering a service SO MANY people are wanting. But one would think by now, they would have hired more tech support who are actually trained, or being trained in the system and it's quirks.

Posts: 3198 · Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 1:51 pm Post subject:

I agree, but at least they are apparently working on it. see these news articles:
http://vonage-forum.com/article1302.html
http://vonage-forum.com/article1304.html
http://vonage-forum.com/article1305.html
http://vonage-forum.com/article1306.html
http://vonage-forum.com/article1307.html
http://vonage-forum.com/article1308.html

Posts: 23 · Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 2:07 pm Post subject:

And ya know... that's all fine and good... I cetainly hope they can get to point where they can offer EVERYONE the same support I got when I first started last summer. I would love to have Vonage support like that again. At that time, phone calls were answered in a matter of a minute or two, MAX.... problems were resolved in a matter minutes.. usually 10-15 min.... emails were answered within an hour or less. That's why when I first got this, I told EVERYONE about it... drove all my friends NUTS because I was SO delighted w/ the service...
Now customer service emails go unanswered for days & weeks... phone calls in take a good 45-60 minutes to be answered, then at that time if you're lucky to have a decent connection, and not get cut off.... then usually the tech support doesn't listen to you, or can't understand you... and misdiagnoses the problem.
SO... In the mean time, while Vonage is bringing 600 new jobs in [which is GREAT, dont get me wrong...] what should WE, the original paying customers, have to do to get better service, or problems resolved?
Not that it would be that big of an issue, but perhaps while they are in the process of increasing tech support, maybe those of us with ongoing problems shouldn't be billed while we're waiting for tech support to fix our problems?
Okay... I'm getting off my soap-box... I don't wanna look like a pain-in-the-ass customer... I just love the service, [when it works right] and I want that kinda service back again, since I'm still paying for it.

I need a drink. Razz

-Andrew

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 20, 2005 Posts: 7

i have been with Vonage for 4 months now and it's just a month ago that i discovered this forum. anyway, i am in the sales department of Vonage and i am reading this forum because i want to know what good or bad experiences our customers are having. i am not an indian but i am also an asian and thus, i was affected by the comments about "the indians not knowing anything much and not knowing how to speak english". it's true that there's indeed a language barrier but these people are trying their best to help you and provide you with good service and i believe that instead of being "ridiculed" they should be appreciated. let's not generalize here. you may have had a bad experience with one or two of them but are they all that bad? every race has its flaws, no one is perfect. let's keep in mind that these people are also human beings though sometimes they may appear as just a "voice" to you.

Posts: 28 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Jul 10, 2004 Posts: 28

aShLeYdEiRdR,

Phone service is important. When it isn't working right some people say things they wouldn't want to defend. You're in sales, you'll hear more stuff that makes you cringe so better get used to it or find another line of work.

In the mean time Vonage is not being as clever about tech support as they might be. There should be better smarter trouble shooting systems so that customers can figure out their own problems more often and make better use of technician time. Oh well.

Posts: 23

-aShLeYdEiRdRe- wrote:

you may have had a bad experience with one or two of them but are they all that bad? every race has its flaws, no one is perfect. let's keep in mind that these people are also human beings though sometimes they may appear as just a "voice" to you.

I'm certainly not one to generalize, and I'm very much FOR anyone wanting to better their lives with a good job with a good company. And I've never had an issue with any certain race, creed, religion, etc. My issue with the comapny was that EVERYTIME [not just once or twice,] I spoke with tech support, not only would it take nearly an HOUR of waiting on hold to even speak with a human being, but my issues were NEVER RESOLVED. After going thru at least four DTA units, and countless wasted HOURS on tech support phone calls, they were NEVER able to solve the problem. Each time I'd call to speak with support, I'd go thru the SAME load of questions from support, and I'd give them the same answers I'd given time and time again. It's almost as if they never documented what had been asked/answered on previous calls, thus wasting not only MY time, but the time for the tech support representative to try and resolve my problems.
In the end, this ended up being a Vonage problem. Two weeks after I finally severed all ties with Vonage, I started service with another Vo-Ip company. Not only was the service cheaper, but since then I've not had a single problem. Well over 4 months now with this new service with another company, and I've yet to have any need to call tech support.
So what have I learned? I've learned that if tech support doesn't care enough to fix the problem, or at least put in the effort to do so, then go with someone who will.
Again, I'm getting off my soap box. I certainly hope now with Vonage doing a heavy TV & print ad campaign, that they're putting as much money into their tech support as they are their advertising. Vonage is a great service, when it works. But when you have problems, expect to wait in a long line for sub-par tech support.

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Apr 20, 2005 Posts: 7

I do understand your frustration about the long hold time in calling technical support and customer care. I get some customers who would be calling sales because they cannot reach the other departments and they get more frustrated when we cannot transfer their calls. So, I have a fairly good idea about how you feel. I am also a customer half of the time and I know what it's like. I am not trying to antagonize the people here, I am merely expressing my opinion. I'm sorry if I seem to have overreacted. Embarassed

On a lighter note, I do believe that Vonage is doing something to resolve this problem. In the meantime, it's great that you have this forum. Its good to see that you are trying to find solutions to your problems. That's being proactive! Applause

Posts: 23 · Posted: Fri May 13, 2005 6:23 am Post subject:

Whether it's being proactive or not, when I was a paying Vonage customer, it would have been nice if Vonage would have solved my issues in a timely manner. In the first several months I had the service, I was quite delighted by it, and the customer service. Then as the customer base grew, they simply did not build their tech support staff quick enough. I hope that with all the advertising they're doing now, they spend just as much [if not more,] on expanding their tech support staff, to help the growing customer base. Vonage has an opportunity to be the front-runner in this industry, as long as they don't lose sight of HELPING the customer as much as they long to GET NEW customers.