Rebate declined-- Thanks for nothing Vonage

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Sep 25, 2004 Posts: 3

Well, I'm sad to say Vonage has managed to give yet another customer the shaft on the rebate program. I signed up for Vonage service in Jan. 05, and because of this website and reading about people claiming not receiving the rebate because some ridiculous untrue claim; I filled out my rebate form WITHOUT error, I can't be anymore positive about this. Yesterday I received a postcard from Vonage telling me "Your submission for the Vonage rebate was declined because submission did not include your Vonage account number". I contacted customer service this morning; like most everyone on this website say's, they are utterly useless...Very shady business that Vonage.

Thanks for nothing!!!

Posts: 318 · Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2005 9:17 am Post subject:

keep in mind; vonage does not administer the rebate program

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Sep 25, 2004 Posts: 3

Yeah, that was quickly brought to my attention by customer service this morning. Definitely sounds like they have developed a clever way to shift the blame on.. The point is, Vonage advertises this "rebate" exclusively... Vonage chooses to have "another company" represent their customer service, therefore I hold Vonage responsible for the experience. No excuse..

Posts: 193 · Vonage Forum Master Joined: Feb 28, 2005 Posts: 193

Was it an online rebate?
Was it the rebate for the service or the adapter?
Which Browser are you using?

I have found Firefox doesn't handle all encrypted forms properly in terms of sending fields of info behind the seens.

As far as I'm concerned you probably did fill it out right.
But they should be able to resolve that. If not that is a screwup on there part.

I would call back and talk to a dif CS agent.

What rebate form anyway? When I signed up I don't remember filling one out. The rebate just happened.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: Sep 25, 2004 Posts: 3

Actually it was the one I had to fill out and send in thru the mail. I had to provide a copy of my receipt, my first child etc. It was a $50 rebate I believe. To be honest, it's not about the money; it's the principal behind the matter. I honestly don't make it a habit to get all worked up over small stuff. But when this kind of stuff happens it frustrates me to no end. I'm go to do exactly what Vonage wants me to and just drop it-- my time is way more valuable to me than this shady company.

Shame on you Vonage

Posts: 27 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Nov 27, 2004 Posts: 27

I believe if we were do to a poll, we would find nearly every single one us has experienced what appears to be shady business shenanigans when it comes to rebates and billing practices in most companies that "serve' us. Whether it is insurance companies, cell or landline phone companies, large utility companies, rebate service companies, etc...I truly believe that there is a calculated effort underway in most companies today to screw the little guy to increase their profits -- these occurrences happen way, way, too often for them to be labeled honest mistakes... Isn't there some good website where we can all go to post our experiences and somehow connect the dots on this massive conspiracy?

Posts: 318 · Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2005 4:58 pm Post subject:

You gotta stop drinking the green kool aid.

If you want to complain about a business, http://www.bbb.org[/i]

Posts: 482 · Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2005 10:10 pm Post subject:

They may not have been able to read your handwriting, or they may have just miskeyed it, and the third-party folks handling the rebate couldn't match it with a current Vonage account number.

I'm a rebate expert...I work rebate/coupon/pricematch deals constantly. I probably do 20-30 rebates a year, and I often end up actually making money on a lot of them when it's all said and done. Last big deal I got was a $549 color laser printer from Staples for $32. I've been denied by Staples (several times), Circuit City, Western Digital, Maxtor...and honestly, every single time I've called to followup after a rejection, I've gotten my money.

I keep copies of everything I send in, even the envelope. I also record the date when I mailed the rebate, and record dates and names when I followup on a rebate.

Look on your rebate form or on your rejection postcard. There should be a phone number where you can contact them within a certain timeframe if you feel you were denied in error. I bet if you go through the extra work to do that, you'll discover that they fold pretty quickly when you have copies of everything. And even if you don't they'll probably just ask for your Vonage acct number and then tell you they'll reprocess your submission.

Go through the effort, and I bet you get your $50 in the end.

Posts: 30 · Vonage Forum Junior Joined: Mar 10, 2005 Posts: 30

Yea, BBB and the company NOT!

Ask Best Buy what happens when you show a pattern of abuse.

These companies contract out to a Rebate service like Express. Then they turn around and use their contractor as an excuse! "What well we don't do that we hire a company to take care of rebates"

Please remember it's their job to keep your money as long as they can! I called Office Depot and got a &150.00 rebate in about 10 days after waiting 4 months.

It also helps if you can send a .doc with the rebate ( to mitigate any misunderstandings) and the inquiry to the corporate offices when necessary. Also I suggest you look at the promised turnaround time in the agreement.

Posts: 7 · New Forum Member Joined: Jan 31, 2005 Posts: 7

Rebates in general are a marketing ploy to advertise artificially low prices. The rebate forms are intentionally filled with fine print and the companies are counting on you making a mistake so they don't have to pay out. Getting you to cut the UPC off the box (making the item unreturnable to the place of sale) is another sneaky little tactic.
Unfortunately, rebates on electronics are very commonplace these days but I refuse to shop at places like Bestbuy because of them.