Undecided, worth it or too risky?

Posts: 6 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 03, 2005 Posts: 6

The more I look into this forum, the more reasons I find NOT to use this service. My Verizon phone bill is about $40 a month which isn't bad but I thought Vonage might save me a few dollars. All I'm reading here is how poor the service is, especially customer support. I realize forums are a great place to help get faster answers, voice opinions and generally just to vent but this service sounds really bad. Am I wrong?

Is this worth the risk of ditching my account with Verizon? If I have to go back to them, they won't waive the $55 installation (what a joke) charge.

Posts: 3198 · Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:06 am Post subject:

vonage has over 400K users, so compare that to the number you see here. not that all of them know about this ofrum, but you get the idea.
anyway, that's what the 14 day trial is for.

Posts: 64

limelite wrote:

The more I look into this forum, the more reasons I find NOT to use this service. My Verizon phone bill is about $40 a month which isn't bad but I thought Vonage might save me a few dollars. All I'm reading here is how poor the service is, especially customer support. I realize forums are a great place to help get faster answers, voice opinions and generally just to vent b Sad

ut this service sounds really bad. Am I wrong?

I have used Vonage for two years and only problem is when my cable is out which is when I use my mobile phone, certainly worth the price difference. Try it out for the 14-day trial period without disconnecting your current service. If unhappy, you only need send the device back, and obtain a refund.

Posts: 6 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 03, 2005 Posts: 6

reebok wrote:

vonage has over 400K users, so compare that to the number you see here. not that all of them know about this ofrum, but you get the idea.
anyway, that's what the 14 day trial is for.

Good point. The only thing I have to say about the trial is that I've read a few postings where the user has had the service for months, now out of the blue there's major problems. I can live with the occasional glitch, but if I was unable to make calls at all, I would be pretty upset. Sad thing is, from what I've read, there's nobody to complain to. How would you get your problem resolved?

Posts: 156 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Jan 30, 2005 Posts: 156

Yes, customer service ****. Some people have LNP problems. Others have hardware and compatibility problems. There are some people experiencing dropped calls, no rings, and other ghosts on the internet. That being said, I cut the cord from Qwest and ATT and have been using Vonage a little over a month now. I have no regrets. On the other hand some folks think that 911 service is VERY important to them. Vonage does not have E911. Yes Vonage was shipping out faulty adapters. Yes you might have to wait over 20 days to get your number ported. But there are THOUSANDS of happy users out there that never come to these forums because they are satisfied.
Vonage service is only as good as the internet connection you have. If you run the tests to check your speeds and packet losses and you get good results, then I would say give it a try. Yes a $55 fee to go back is a **** but you will recover that in just a few months of using Vonage. The features like voicemail, call forwarding, 3 way calling etc are all included. Good luck with whatever decision you make...just remember there are folk here to help if needed.

Posts: 427 · Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:31 am Post subject:

Just a thought,
If your local telephone company had a forum site, can you imagine what the posts would say?

Since most Vonage users (to be knowledge) do not know of this forum, and the fact that most people do not send praise to anything, you might wish to reconsider your choice of not giving Vonage a try.

Posts: 87 · Vonage Forum Senior Joined: Feb 15, 2005 Posts: 87

Also consider this...

When people are upset with Vonage, they post a message to complain. When they are happy with Vonage, they routinely DO NOT post a praise. I think you can easily form a biased opinion of their service.

I will have to say that I am completely thrilled with the Vonage service. I have no complaints. And I didn't even switch to save money. My monthly POTS bill was only $30. I make a lot of calls with my cell phone... but now I use Vonage more and more. I am just a technology fanatic.

And Vonage Forums have been an absolutely wonderful source of useful information, tips, and help. And it's free! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I check in to read messages 6 to 8 times a day.

I would encourage you to try the service out (before cancelling your POTS) to see if it's for you. If it doesn't work out, you can cancel within 14 days with no obligation.

Posts: 206 · Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:54 am Post subject:

Google "Verizon ****" some time.

Posts: 36 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Feb 24, 2005 Posts: 36

First off, let me say I like this forum a lot! It has kept me hanging on for a lot longer than I would have. But I need more... I need technical support. I have tested my internet connection and there appears to be no reason why I should not be enjoying excellent audio, which I am not. However, not being able to get a live person on the phone is a real problem. Bottom line is, if the service works for you... great! If it doesn't, you are apparently just out of luck.

Posts: 6 · New Forum Member Joined: Mar 03, 2005 Posts: 6

Thanks for the quick answers. I'm still undecided at the moment, but I'm closer to giving it a try.