8 Month LNP Horror Story

Posts: 33 · Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 4:48 am Post subject:

Well, since this is the thread of my "horror story," I'll give you my opinion. Vonage has been COMPLETELY reliable for me and at least five friends who use it. I have two friend who have used Packet8, and two who used Lingo. ALL of them were extremely unhappy with very lackluster performance. They had down times, disconnections, and bad quality calls constantly. Two have already signed up with Vonage (and are very happy) and the other two are planning it soon.

In summary, the quality and reliability is better than I'd even hoped for. However, the customer service is worse than a Soviet waiting line for toilet paper... and then getting Kleenex when you get to the front. It may be soft and comfy, but it still doesn't help you wipe yourself very well.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Jun 14, 2005 Posts: 3

I plan on using the number I give me, so I shouldn't have to wait so long, correct? I appreciate your honest response. Thanks very much.

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Jun 16, 2005 Posts: 2

Drew, I've just spent the better part of an hour reading this entire thread. It's of particular interest to me because I used to be in customer service and know what responsive customer service is supposed to be. I once worked at a bank processing stock transfer requests where CS consisted of a phone group. We had no counter, no walk-up window, no physical way of dealing with customers in person. Except for the fact that we had return addresses on some of our correspondence, customers really had no reason to know where we were physically located. That didn't stop one customer in particular, who was not getting the service he felt he deserved, from stopping by our building one day and demanded to speak to a manager to get results. And, BOY did he. He stood there while we cut a check for thousands of dollars (for the sale of stock he owned), which normally would only be issued from our offices in Chicago (we were in NY). The point is we often jumped through hoops and sidestepped normal procedures all the time to fix a problem for a customer.

I don't know where Vonage's offices are in relation to where you live, but I swear, I would love to have heard the story of how you showed up on their doorstep and got things done quickly. In today's age of phone and email contact, I think CSRs and companies in general don't acknowledge customers as real people and as a result feel that they can put you off with some form letter they can send as an email or something they say over the phone. We've all heard plenty of stories of employees "GOING POSTAL" -- I'm surprised you don't hear more often of disgruntled customers going Postal. Not that I believe in violence, but one could easily see how someone could be pushed over the edge.

Now, if you're still reading, I'll tell you my LNP story. I've lived in a new community in Florida for the past 2 years where there's only one local phone carrier, Smart City Telecom. A while after I moved in and got used to my home phone number, I started using Vonage and at that time filled the form online requesting LNP and got the result "We're sorry, telephone number portability is currently unavailable for your number." I go back periodically to check and still get the same reply. I then called the help desk and was told that my number cannot be ported because Vonage does not have a "Rate Center" established in the area. At first the rep said that was some sort of a business agreement between Vonage and the local carrier, but later said it was a physical equipment or switch that was actually needed for the porting to take place. I felt like the rep really didn't know and did not have a form letter reply to the question "What is a rate center?". Does anyone out there know what that is exactly? I have gotten the same reply on several occasions and finally decided to call my State Utility Authority to ask about LNP and was told that there is no reason why a carrier can prevent LNP because they are mandated by the state to do so. It was after I hung up the phone that I remembered it was not Smart City that was refusing to do the LNP, it was Vonage saying that a certain agreement/equipment was not in place to do the porting. Does anyone have any idea what this all means?

Thanks!

Posts: 2252 · Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 7:08 am Post subject: Re: LNP WOES

Juanderer66 wrote:

Does anyone have any idea what this all means?

Yes. Vonage has agreements with various CLEC's - Competative Local Exchange Carriers.

They, in turn have agreements for LNP with the major LECS - Local Exchange Carriers or AKA RBOCs Reginal Bell Operating Companies.

Quote:

At first the rep said that was some sort of a business agreement between Vonage and the local carrier, but later said it was a physical equipment or switch that was actually needed for the porting to take place.

Both are true.

It would not surprise me one bit that the CLECs that Vonage uses do not have an agreement with, what was the name??? "Smart City Telecom"???

Who would? It wouldn't be on the top of my list of companies to chase down to do business with.

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: Jun 14, 2005 Posts: 11

Well I have some knowledge of porting because of where I work. What I know is that in order to port a number, Vonage actually has to "buy" the number from the local company to be able to use it. It's not permanent, and the local company gets it back if you ever cancel. What Vonage could be saying, is they do not have an agreement to buy numbers in that area. It could also mean they do not currently service your CSA (calling service area). That is confusing because they may service your area code, but not your specific city. For example Vonage could serve DALFTW817 but not DALDEN817. Hope this helps some.

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: Jun 16, 2005 Posts: 2

dconnor and ccleere, thanks for your replies. This helps my understanding much better. My area code is 321 and although I have one Vonage # already with a 321 area code, the 321 number that I want to port is on another exchange and basically belongs to a small number of residents (less than 8,000) in a community that's 7 years old. Perhaps not big enough of a market for Vonage to go after at the moment.

Posts: 5 · New Forum Member Joined: May 07, 2005 Posts: 5

Here's one for you. Been waiting for 5 months with repeated calls to Vonage. I even got some much appreciated help fom an on line Vonage employee. NOW they are telling me they do not have my LOA or phone bill even though acknowledgment of it being received and sent to carrier occurred on January 17th. How's that? Just like starting over, huh? Never once was that mentioned as a problem when I called all those months. This shows a definate problem with Vonage. Can't blame a third party or SBC here can they????!!!! I think it's time for me to bale out. Got credits, but not for the tax and then there was the one Vonage rep that told me he would only credit every 2 months. This means this whole miserable experience cost me maybe only $40 bucks if I can get them to stop billing my account. Still the idea was to save money not to spend money and become aggravated. Bye from San Antonio...

Posts: 33 · Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 6:57 pm Post subject: Should I try Vonage again?

While I was happy with Vonage's service, I moved from Vonage to Comcast about a year ago because of a one-year package deal. It's expiring soon, and I'd like to go back to Vonage. However, I'm terrified of getting another 8 month number porting nightmare. Is there any evidence that Vonage won't repeat what I previously documented in this thread?

Posts: 13 · Posted: Tue Oct 05, 2010 11:38 pm Post subject:

As far as I know it would take 1 to 2 months when you port a number from one provider to another.