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All reviews of Vonage (voip)


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Six Month Rating

Reviews:
1179 reviews (836 good) (152 bad)
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Review by batsona See Profile
member for 7.8 years, 1282 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 4 days ago

  • Ellicott City,Howard,MD
  • $14 per month
  • about 30 days
  • "Good quality given *stable* internet."
  • "Mnthly auto-billing to debit card sometimes double-charges"
  • "Still well worth the money"
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

My Other Reviews

·Verizon FiOS
I've got the 500min per month package for $18 a month. I'm routing it thru a Linksys 2-phone, 4-ethernet device, sitting behind a Cisco PIX 501, connected to Verizon FiOS.

Calls were fairly choppy because Comcast was having issues with pole-mounted amplifiers in my neighborhood. When I went to FiOS Internet, whose issues evaporated; very stable voice quality after that.

I've only ever had Vonage, so i can't rate them against anyone else.

Porting my number from Verizon land-line, to Vonage took longer than expected. The number was not ported on the date promised. A call to tech support said, "oh yes, it is ported, we did it last nite". I insisted otherwise. "Ah, it must have not worked then." They then scheduled another port of my number which was another 2 weeks after their first try (first try took 2 weeks, thus to total of 30-day turnaround time in my ratings.) Second port worked, and have been happy ever since.

_________________________

Update 8/15/2008: Everything still just fine. Vonage introduced a feature where you can block calls from coming in, that have absent callerID info, and I use this. I wish they'd offer call blocking by matching a pattern (like 1-800-xxx-xxxx) for instance. Cost up to $22 from original $18, but it's still a good deal

_________________________

Update 1/20/2010 Price is up to $20 a month now, but is still a good deal. No huge technical problems.

_________________________

Update 3/26/2011 - Last summer, negotiated back to "Vonage Lite", from the 500min plan. Monthly dropped from $27 to $14! For as much as I use it, I still never go over the mins, and I'm almost saving 50%. One thing, when I call certain people, I have an annoying echo in the line where I can hear myself. Not sure if its related to the other persons' side, or whether it's Vonage; haven't investigated that much.

_____________________________

Update 2/6/2012 - Still going strong. I'm on the Vonage-Lite plan, and the billable amnt per month is still about ~$20/month. Service works consistantly. That echo thing I complained about before went away on its own. The only problem called them about, turned out to be my own internal wiring. Good call quality. Had a situation recently where the outgoing message was not heard by the person leaving a message (me!). Phonemail system busy I guess. Still well worth it in quality vs. $$ paid.

Comments:

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Review by Carbon Unit See Profile
member for 10.5 years, 3958 visits, last login: 6 days ago
updated 17 days ago

  • Saint Charles,Saint Charles,MO
  • $26 per month
  • "Extremly cheap"
  • "none"
  • "save yourself alot of cash over Ma Bell"
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)

My Other Reviews

·AT&T U-Verse
I have had Vonage for about 3 months now, all call come in loud and clear, I dont use my home line much, mostly me cell phone wich is great, i would have had to pay $50-80 for similar service with SWB

update, 5 years later, it still works great and I have probably saved thousands of dollars over using the old phone company

update; now using ooma, much better service and it actually works with my phone, voice quality is pretty good, blacklisting is a nice feature

Comments:

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Review by NorthAlabama See Profile
member for 10.6 years, 308 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 23 days ago

  • Huntsville,Madison,AL
  • $15 per month
  • about 7 days
  • "No Equipment Costs"
  • "Issues With Dropped Calls, Dead Air"
  • "Stay Away, Too Many Price Increases"
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

12/26/11 - Received my $10 check as part of the Vonage settlement for their billing $10 for the first month of service, even though it can be much shorter than a month. I filled out a form that was linked on the Vonage website, never thought I'd see anything, pleasant surprise, too bad I'm no longer a customer, and never will be again...

5/26/11 - Just received an email on 5/25/2011 my rate was increasing 20%. I called customer service, and they agreed to let me continue my current rate plan at the current pricing, with half the minutes. How nice of them! At this rate, they are increasing my bill by 40% yearly. This was not a promotional rate, and I have only been a Vonage customer for 6 months. I'm not hanging around to find out what's next. Porting my number to VOIPo. I'll let you know how it goes. Bye, Bye, Vonage, don't let the door hit 'cha...

12/7/10 - New to voip, just disconnected my landline for the first time ever (sniff, sniff), and I couldn't be happier. Low usage plan for $10 a month, no contract term, no up front costs, the number was ported right away. There were a few dropped calls at first, but a little tweaking of my firewall seems to have cleared that up. Tech support is worthless unless you're from India, as they do not understand American English. I'll update in a few months.

Comments:

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Review by dellsweig See Profile
member for 8.1 years, 3567 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 23 days ago

  • Campbell Hall,Orange,NY
  • $24 per month
  • about 1 days
  • "Features, Price, Service, Price, VoIp Experience"
  • "Great"
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings above consensus)

Price - cheaper than the cable VoiP offerings with more features. Not as cheap as a couple of the bargin outfits there but the features and reliability outwiegh the price on these.

reliable - I have been a Vonage customer (2 lines) for over 9 years now - over that time I can only think of one outage. VERY few issues over the years with Vonage specifically - I can say the majority of issues are ISP related or home router (QoS) related.

Features - unlimited calling to US, Canada, PR and 60 coutries for 24$ HOW CAN YOU BEAT THAT.

iPhone - I can call to my ENTIRE vonage world from my iPhone WITHOUT using any carrier minutes using the free Vonage iPhone app - all included in my 24$ Vonage plan. I have an app for my iPhone that lets me setup simulring from my home number to my iPhone at the touch of a button. My vonage number is in my ATT calling circle so there is no charge on my cell for these calls.

Service: I have never had a problem with service. When my old Cisco ATA's (origional Vonage adapter) seemed to be getting old - I was upgraded at no charge, seamlessly to newer technology. The few times I have had to call support I had positive experience with support

Note: for those who continually complain about the taxes and fees charged by vonage - look at your cell bill or cable bill or electric bill

One more note: My entire cost for Vonage for a year is only a little more than ONE months cell bill - think about that!!!

Vonage is worth EVERY penny

Comments:

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Review by shawn744 See Profile
member for 10.9 years, 861 visits, last login: 7 days ago
updated 34 days ago

  • Saddle River,Bergen,NJ
  • $30 per month
  • about 1 days
  • "GREAT CALL QUALITY, GREAT FEATURES, PORTABLE"
  • "7 years later, getting to be expensive...."
  • "Can do better with a triple play or MUCH better with a magic jack..."
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

UPDATE: Okayyy, 7 years after my inital reviews, lots have changed. The once $14/mo plan that I was on with 500 minutes a month has changed to a mandatory unlimited $30/mo plan. Now being the same cost (if not more) than your cable company's triple play bundle. Ended up canceling two weeks ago for said triple play. Call quality and service was always superb. It was a good run. If I ever need voice service again, Vonage is where i'll go. **HINT** Too late for me now since I've signed a triple play agreement with my cable company but, if you're unhappy with your vonage costs, call and tell them you're canceling, and they'll offer you a $9.95/mo unlimited plan for LIFE! They really don't want to lose customers. Too bad I had already ported out my phone number. :-/ Cheers.

UPDATE: 8/3/05: My VONAGE service is still excellent! Only problem i have is that after i repositioned my Motorola MTA box after the router, i would get service interuptions which required a reboot of the box due to the box position.....this is an obvious flaw of the motorola box. I had to re-position the box to be before my router for smoother service. I'd still recommend VONAGE over any of the other VOIP providers.

UPDATE 12/26/04:

I just positioned my Motorola MTA box after the router. Now I have 100% of my bandwidth from my cable provider. And have amazing call quality while my broadband connection is maxed out.

I subscribed to VONAGE 3 months ago and I have to say that it's really amazing. First I was nervous because people were saying it's still in the developmental phase....but when I got it, I realized that it was better than my regular Verizon phone service.

Shipped to me in ONE day!

Never had ANY outages, call quality stay crisp and clear....no one ever says that I sound far away, or weird like I'm on speakerphone.

Only thing is, if you have the Motorola ATA box, and if you wire it in BEFORE any computers, DOWNLOAD speed gets cut in half....I'm on the way to changing the location of the Vonage box on the network to regain my lost bandwidth....I'D DEFINITELY RECOMMEND THIS SERVICE TO ANYONE!

Comments:

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Review by NetFixer See Profile
member for 7.6 years, 4322 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 40 days ago

  • Murfreesboro,Rutherford,TN
  • $34 per month
  • (12 month contract)
  • about 1 days
  • "The basic service works well."
  • "Customer service still not up to par, but it has improved."
  • "The basic service works well (and it is not AT&T)."
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

I have two voice lines and a fax line for less money than a single business line from BellSouth. The two Cisco/Linksys RT31P2 routers worked right out of the box even behind an existing wireless router. So far voice quality even with two lines in use has been excellent without even using the RT31P2 QOS feature.

Update 08/03/06:

I have been using Vonage now for over a year, and I am quite pleased with the service. The two original RT31P2 routers went belly up during the year as well as a replacement RTP300, but Vonage replaced the defective units at no charge, and the RTP300 and VT2442 I now have seem to be working with no problems. I now have all my routers and modems on a wall mounted open frame rack to increase air circulation as I suspect that my previous practice of stacking them led to premature failure due to heat buildup. The only problem I have had with the quality of the service was Comcast's erratic lag time which caused voice dropout, but moving all VOIP traffic to Covad has fixed that.

Update: 03/05/08:

About two months ago I terminated my Vonage service. I did so partly because I was offered a price break from AT&T CallVantage, but primarily because of the treatment I received after a failed attempt to use one of Vonage's V-Phone USB dongles.

Vonage marketing and billing refused to honor the terms of the MONEY BACK GUARANTEE as published in their Terms of Service agreement. Their argument was that the MONEY BACK GUARANTEE was only intended for new customers, not for loyal existing customers who were expanding their service. That failed experiment cost me $75.00 for the unusable USB dongle + $35.00 for the unusable first month's service.

I was so pissed with their arrogance and treachery that I ported my other existing Vonage numbers to AT&T CallVantage, and terminated the service on the existing Vonage accounts.

Way to go Vonage Customer Non-Service, turn an otherwise satisfied customer who was attempting to give you more business, into a churn statistic.

Update 10/10/2009:

As much as it pained me to do so, I just signed up for a Vonage "World" plan. After AT&T CallVantage forced me to migrate, I moved one line to AT&T Mobility and for a while all I had was cell phone service. However, most of this week I had no phone service at home because of a cell tower problem. This forced me to reconsider the cell phone only option, and I was not about to further reward AT&T for shutting down their CallVantage service and taking almost a week to restore my cell phone service. The only saving grace is that I had increased my AT&T Mobility minute plan when I started being a cell phone only customer, and now I may be able to partially recover the cost of the Vonage service by cutting back on the AT&T Mobility minute plan.

Installation was relatively painless since I just re-registered my old Motorola VT-2442 ATA, and everything was done over the Vonage web site with no interaction required from Vonage Customer Non-Service. Within minutes of completing the on-line registration, the new line was working for outgoing calls, and within an hour, incoming calls from AT&T lines also worked.

Update 10/12/2009:

After a couple of days and a few calls, I rediscovered something that I had forgotten about. Unlike AT&T CallVantage, Vonage does not work reliably when behind a load balanced router. I had to setup port binding rules to a specific WAN port for SIP and RTP for the Vonage/Motorola ATA. Not a deal killer, but I sure do miss my AT&T CallVantage service which worked quite well with a load balanced connection.

Update 11/20/2009:

Over the long weekend I did some testing, and I found to my surprise that I can now send and receive faxes over my Vonage service with no problems. It appears that the combination of new firmware and different protocols now being used make the Vonage service more fax friendly than in the past. I was able to send and receive graphic intensive and long multi page documents with no aborted calls and no image degradation, I did not even have to use a dsl filter in-line with the fax modem, or use the *99 dialing prefix. The only adjustments I made were to limit the max baud rate to 9600 and disable error checking and handshaking in the serial port and modem. It worked so well, that I canceled my eFax line and setup a dedicated Vonage fax line. After setting up the dedicated fax line, I was even able to send/receive faxes between the two Vonage lines. That was something that previously would not even work for a single cover page fax.The only downside so far was that eFax would not allow me to port my eFax number to Vonage.

Update 06/13/2010:

Not much to report, but the DSLR update robot is bugging me to update my reviews.

Both the voice and fax lines still work well. Since I use the Vonage voice line as only an emergency backup for when AT&T has cell tower problems, I have changed from the $24.95 World Plan to the $9.99 Lite Plan which has reduced my monthly bill from ~$54 to ~$34.

Update 10/19/2010:

Well it is bye-bye to Vonage again. I have had no problems with the service, but I have only used it for faxes for several months now, and Vonage won't let me keep just the fax service. I activated basic voice service on one of my AT&T DSL Direct lines to use for fax service (and for emergency voice service). Combined with the $5.00 discount off my DSL service, it is about $10 per month cheaper than paying for Vonage Lite plus Vonage Fax. Sorry Vonage, but the bottom line wins out.

Delayed update for 01/02/2011:

I had my AT&T voice service turned back off because AT&T actually charged more for basic POTS voice service than was advertised on their web site, their bogus addon taxes/fees were more than Vonage's, and they were going to stop the $5.00 per month discount for a bundled price with DSL service. As I said previously, sometimes the bottom line says it all.

At this time I only have a single Vonage line (on the $9.99 plan) that serves as both a fax line and a backup voice line. After May 1 (when my AT&T ETF expires), I will probably also port my business number (which had previously been with AT&T CallVantaqe) from AT&T Wireless to Vonage. I am planning to dump AT&T totally as soon as I can, but ETFs (and their announced purchase of T-Mobile) complicates doing so.

Update: 05/17/2011:

Last week I ported my business number from AT&T Wireless to Vonage. There were the usual delaying tactics from AT&T, but eventually they relented and allowed the number transfer to Vonage. The new Vonage line is working fine (as expected).

One down, and two to go AT&T (&*%#@ ETFs).

Update: 01/01/2012:

Nothing much new to report, but the DSLR update bot is bugging me for a new review:

I currently only have my business line with Vonage (which now gets very light usage because I am retired), and it is on their $9.95 (plus bogus fees) plan. Most of the calls on that line are incoming, and the $9.95 plan still has unlimited inbound calls, so all is good.

I did drop my Vonage fax line because of problems that developed after changing my ISP from AT&T to Comcast (I previously reported this on my Comcast review). A recent Comcast SMC router firmware upgrade seems to have fixed that problem, but I don't trust it enough yet to cancel my RingCentral fax service and replace it with a Vonage fax line (which would be more expensive anyway with Vonage's added bogus fees).

Comments:

JimmyC

@verizon.net

Disconnect service impossible

I've been with them for 5 years or so, but VOIPO is 1/4 the price for the same service. So I flipped to VOIPO and ported my number from Vonage to VOIPO with a week remaining in my 1 year deal with Vonage, with the accompanying emails and calls to Vonage directing them to discontinue billing. But they won't stop with the emails telling me my account is past due and this morning, they've threatened me with collection action even though I haven't had a contract or placed a call with them in over a month and a half. They're doing the same reprehensible crap they used to complain other carriers did to THEM when they started. It's revenge on a customer that leaves the store. Creepy. The hoops they make you jump through to stop the billing on their website also leads to dead web pages at the account portal. Their harassment is deliberate and infuriating. The endgame with these people should give anyone sufficient pause not to sign up in the first place. They ruined a 5 year relationship over the same thing that brought me to them in the first place, a cheaper rate than my last carrier. Now, it's war. BBB, FCC, FTC, here I come.

anaon

@rogers.com

Re: Disconnect service impossible

dumped them five yrs ago for voip.ms and have not looked back

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Review by jaa See Profile
member for 11.6 years, 5400 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 47 days ago

  • New Canaan,Fairfield,CT
  • $17 per month
  • about 5 days
  • "Perfect quality, good value"
  • "Website reliability a little shakey"
  • "Excellent value!"
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings match consensus)

My Other Reviews

·Optimum Online
Ordered my line, got it in a few days. Plug-and-play - absolutely no problems. Took 4 weeks to get my number from at&t assigned - Vonage did everything after I sent in the paperwork, and sent an email with about 12 hours notice when the cutover was to occur.

The quality is excellent - better than my regular phone line. The value is incredible - 500 minutes anywhere in North America loaded with features (voice mail, callerid, etc) for 25% less than the cost of a stripped down POTS line from at&t!

The phone service has been 100% reliable since we got it. The website has had some issues.

We have a second phone line from at&t that we use for outgoing local calls and fax, as well as dialtone when the power is out. Vonage will forward our calls to the POTS line automatically when our internet is out. We also like POTS for 911 service - even though we setup Vonage for 911, I like having the true e911 through POTS.

One line, 500-minute plan. Total monthly bill: $19.50.

Been over 3 years now - working great!! Love the features (and the price!!).

Update: Over 4 years now, still working great!! Better quality and reliability than our POTS service from at&t.

Update May, 2009: 5 years now. Switched from the $20/mo 500 minute plan to the $300/yr unlimited plan. Now worry about minutes. No issues.

Update October, 2010: Over 6 years; service is still great. I REALLY like receiving my voicemail in my email - WITH a transcription of the message so I can read it instead of listening.

Update December, 2011: Another year of excellent service. $365 per year including all taxes and fees.

Comments:

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Review by AbleinTruth See Profile
member for 52 days, 4 visits, last login: 45 days ago
updated 52 days ago

  • Beverly Hills,Los Angeles,CA
  • $50 per month
  • (24 month contract)
  • about 30 days
  • "NOT anything... ZILCH!"
  • "EVERYTHING... where do I begin??? It has been a HORROR SHOW. Oh my GOD!"
  • "NIGHTMARE from HELL!"
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)

My Other Reviews

·VOIPo
Events and TIMELINE

2003 became their VoIP customer; entered into Vonage's beta program; was DISASTROUS! Jumped out after three mos. and went with AT&T CallVantage. The BEST VoIP service... ever!

Left AT&T CallVantage service because they didn't allow their boxes to be used internationally; wept when I had to leave that premiere quality service (technically) company; they were AWESOME! YES, they were!

12/2006 - Went to VYL Media... very poor technology and a HORRIFIC owner name Denis Smith. Signed up with them in December of 2006 and left them in March/April 2009. Too many technical inefficiencies and the owner Denis made it WORSE because he got tired of all my technical issues so he canceled my account! So much for Customer Service.

2009 back to VONAGE because of all the promotions, FREE this,,, FREE that and thinking they must have improved; they did NOT ... they have gotten WORSE!

1.) Call-Waiting does not work; it has NEVER worked for me!!!

2.) They route calls to the wrong phone numbers or dead-end the calls with a recording that says number is disconnected or non-working; can you imagine? NIGHTMARE!!!

3.) They removed benefits... i.e., countries from your plan and you only realize that they have done so when you see the bill and countries that were suppose to be included in the monthly are not any longer; yet they keep expecting you to pay until you catch them! DECEPTIVE!

4.) Their device box for connecting to the Internet is plagued with problems; oh God what what else can one suffer from one company and have to stay in the name of a contract? PEOPLE, do NOT sign contracts...do NOT!!!

5.) They refuse to give refunds or lower the rate for their technically treacherous service. ZERO INTEGRITY!

6.) They charge anywhere from $18 -$25.00 in taxes and surcharges. For what??? ...STEALING!

7.) They, by their own incompetency impede ones ability to leave their company because they FORCE you to sign their crummy contract and then disconnect prematurely before you have a chance to secure your phone numbers with another provider! GROSSLY corrupted!

NO, for God sake do NOT use this company! It is the company from HELL! Oh man it has been the HORROR SHOW!

Comments:
DoctorStinky

join:2011-11-10
Brunswick, ME
Reviews:
·voip.ms

Somewhat Unfair

While I am no longer a Vonage customer, I did subscribe to them for 7 months earlier this year (two DIDs). I had no technical issues with the service, and their customer support was pleasant and helpful. Their feature set was superior in every way to what was offered by the local land-line carrier, and was significantly less expensive.

When I joined, the only plan I was offered was month-to-month with no cost for the hardware, and the first 3 months for each line were provided at a significant discount. There was no long-term contract, and no requirement to return the hardware when I canceled (indirectly, by porting my numbers out).

I left for two reasons . . . the first was that they did not offer a seamless service to support "extensions" at multiple location without the acquisition of additional DIDs (and therefore additional fees), and that their subscription fees were a LOT higher than my current BYOD provider (VoIP.ms). In fact the only issue I ever had with Vonage had to do with the release of my DIDs to my new provider; they dropped them both without notification and the 2nd number was actually dropped on a Saturday. My new provider was unable to add it to my account until Monday . . . which is the one ding I gave them in my VoIP.ms review.
AbleinTruth

join:2011-12-20
Beverly Hills, CA
Reviews:
·VOIPo
·Vonage

Re: Somewhat Unfair

You had your experiences and I have mine. Who are you to be determining that REVIEW is Fair or Unfair? ? ? Ahhh ...duhhhh!

My report on VONAGE is precisely as it has been. You can rejoin them if you want; however, don't tell me that my posting is 'Unfair'. VONAGE is a NIGHTMARE from hell. You were with them seven months and I have been stuck with them for almost two (2) yrs... big difference.
DoctorStinky

join:2011-11-10
Brunswick, ME
Reviews:
·voip.ms

Re: Somewhat Unfair

I stand by my statement. You have your experiences, and I have mine. You posted your opinion, and I posted mine. Please review my experience with Vonage and find any indication of bad service, or anything remotely resembling a "NIGHTMARE from hell."

I do not disagree that you had a bad experience. But many, many others have had good service from them.

Obviously, though, it's all about you.

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Review by Scilicet See Profile
member for 6.8 years, 893 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 56 days ago

  • Nusquam, USA
  • Contract price not specified.

My Other Reviews

·Comcast
Please delete this review

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Review by connor79 See Profile
member for 100 days, 44 visits, last login: 11 days ago
updated 61 days ago

  • Toronto,ON
  • $30 per month
  • (12 month contract)
  • "Nothing, steer far away!"
  • "Awful customer service that lies"
  • "Far better providers out there, never go with Vonage"
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:
(ratings well below consensus)

My Other Reviews

·TekSavvy Cable
This is an older review but my friend just told me they had issues with Vonage and it reminded me of my situation a couple years ago so I thought I'd post a review. I'm in Toronto and a few years ago I had Vonage for over a year, no problems but cancelled then I moved. We moved into a new house which Bell hadn't installed phone lines to yet so when we called to order a line (as this was in the Winter) they said they couldn't until the spring. I then decided to get Vonage in the mean time. So I call their toll free and explained I was thinking of coming back. The person I spoke with would not stop going on about how they're so happy to have me back and have great deals for me etc. She told me I'd get my first 30 days free and that I could cancel any time I wanted within 30 days if I was unhappy. Every other sentence from her was "we are so happy to have you back we are going to do this for you and that for you." At the end of the call she made me answer a series of yes or no questions which I pretty much had to say yes to, such as I understand 911 works differently etc. She also told me the service "activates" when I connect the voip gateway to the Internet.

Anyway a couple weeks go by and I have no phone. FINALLY Canada Post delivers the Vonage modem to me as it turns out she entered my postal code wrong even though we verified it a few times. The problem was, a day before it arrived Bell showed up and installed my new line and hung the lines over the posts down the street and said its temporary and they would bury it in the spring. So great I thought I don't need Vonage. At this time I was going on vacation for a week so I left.

A week later I get back, this is now 3 weeks after I signed up for Vonage and had not even opened the box they sent me. I call in to cancel because I no longer need it. This is where all the fun begins. First the person I speak with says I might as well keep the service because the fees they are going to charge me to cancel are more expensive than a years worth of service! He tried to tell me I'm on a 1 year contract which I also never agreed to or was told about. I was blown away, I told them they said I could cancel within 30 days and they said no that that is not their policy! I told them the box isn't even open and the other girl told me it activates only when I connect it and he also said that was wrong. He said no one would ever tell me that!

I was furious as he then said it was something like $150 for the modem, plus $25 for the shipping plus a $200 cancellation fee. I can't remember the exact amounts but it was close to $400. I demanded to speak to a manager at this point. Actually "demanded" sounds harsh as at this point in time I was a customer service manager at IBM so I know to stay calm and how to deal with people.

After being on hold a good 15 minutes, someone comes on saying how can I help you? I ask him if the previous rep explained my situation to him and I'm not even kidding, his words were "Yes, they explained that you want to cancel and that you expect to not pay any termination fees which you certainly will be!" I couldn't believe it! I went through the same scenario with him explaining they said 30 days to cancel etc etc. He said that isn't their policy and that it's all on their website. I said the rep never told me to go to their site to check anything and he said they don't have to, it's my responsibility as a customer to go to a company's website and find these things out on my own!!! I then asked for his full name, address and the name of the President for Vonage which he refused to give me. He told me they will not be waiving the cancel charges because their system can't do that! He said it's impossible so I might as well just pay. I couldn't even believe it, it was like talking to a 16 year old child. I've had bad customer service experiences but this is still at the top of my list. The worst part was I had all my calls recorded, so I had proof that the rep never explained any of this, and that she told me it was free for 30 days and could cancel, but of course I didn't have her permission to record it so it was useless. I recorded the call just for myself, in case I miss a user name or something important, not for any other reason. So I knew 100% I wasn't crazy that they never told me any of this.

Anyway they send me a bill for the $400 that I owe. I then tried to file a complaint with the BBB and couldn't as they advised me they no longer accept complaints from Vonage as they have such a negative rating! I then opened a dispute with the CCTS and had my lawyer send them a letter. That was 2 years ago and I've never heard from them since. I can't tell you enough times to stay far away from Vonage. IF anyone remembers the old days of AOL and trying to cancel that, they've got nothing on Vonage!

Comments:

bond007

@verizon.net

government action against VONAGE

Vonage and Comcrap are 2 evils I refuse to patronize.

»www.bbb.org/new-jersey/business-···11005249

"...January 21, 2010

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal announced that consumers who have unresolved complaints against Vonage -- an Internet-based phone service -- may be entitled to restitution under a $3 million settlement reached with his office and other attorneys general.

Blumenthal urged CT consumers to contact his office in writing if they have unresolved complaints against Vonage dating as far back as Jan. 1, 2004 that may involve: unauthorized or questionable charges; inability or difficulty in canceling service; and confusion about the need for consumers to already have high-speed Internet service and to purchase additional equipment in order to receive Vonage service..."

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