worst customer service i have ever encountered

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: Nov 16, 2012 Posts: 1

i ordered the Vonage package and it arrived swiftly.

set up was easy, however i have no dial tone. (i am using a panasonic 4 handset portable phone system)

i contacted customer support and was told to (guess what) switch off the Vonage unit and back on again. when that didnt work, switch off and on my router. no luck. switch off and on my phone's base unit.

when all 3 had no success we did the same ciircuit again. again no luck. no further help was offered. only that i should keep repeating those steps or perhaps buy a new phone without portable handsets.

i called back in the morning (after trying several more cycles of the off and on again genius) and asked for a refund. i was put through to technical support who asked me if i had tried switching the unit off and on again!!!!

exasperated, i begged them to put me through to cancellations. they did. there was a 4 second delay on the call!! we just talked over each other for the first 2 minutes. sounds like im missing out on an excellent service.

i was then asked why i wanted to cancel, when i asserted that i had no dial tone, i was asked if i'd tried turning the unit off and on again. i then politely asked the lady to hold whilst i banged my head on my desk 3 times.

i was told i could cancel and get a refund but i would need to pay £23.99 to get one. why they dont tell people this up front i dont know, its an excellent piece of customer relations! more companies should adopt this paradoxical philosophy.

"waiter, this food is still frozen. i want my money back"
"of course sir. that'll be £23.99"

brilliant. it at least made me laugh.

"shall i get one of our "top level support team members from the USA to call you?" she said. "fine", i relented. I was told i would be called at 2pm UK time. I asked if it really would be 2pm as i had to go out at 4pm. yes she promised. its now 3:55.

can anyone help me get out of this mire of bad service and non-functioning equipment?

Can they legally make me pay to get out!?

do they honour their refund promise at all?

my next email will be to UK trading standards and TV consumer advice programmes."

nobody should have to pay to cancel a "no risk" trial. especially if the product doesnt work! Just apologise and expedite an immediate refund. Do they not have a PR dept to advise them that if the service doesnt work, be extra nice or people will post all over the internet what has happened to them. like say here -

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/vonage-c488556.html

none of the above are my complaints (as yet). I'll begrudgingly pay to send them their useless equipment back, whereupon they should issue my refund. because thats how every other company works.
i will not, nor would any other sane indivual, pay them to get a refund!

Posts: 70 · Full Forum Member Joined: Apr 23, 2013 Posts: 70

Sorry to see that you have to go through this. Anyways, how has it been so far for you this year?

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: Aug 25, 2013 Posts: 4

In UK law, the unfair contract terms act of 1979 is sometimes helpful to quote in conjunction with a threat to take them to the small claims court for the charges and your costs. How did you get on anyway?