TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·Comcast
|  Customer support typically nonexistent when price is cheap
Is anyone surprised by this?
When a company puts out a product at a very low price point, customer service is usually of very poor quality. Customer service and the employees needed to staff it are expensive. And Vonage spends all its money on those annoying TV ads. They have nothing left over to hire people to answer the phone. You get what you pay for.
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Jim Gurd
Premium
join:2000-07-08
Plymouth, MI |  Cancelling
Can't you just port your number over to another carrier? That should automatically flag your account as cancelled (or at least that's the way wireless numbers work). |
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Nate425
Premium
join:2005-02-03
Charlottesville, VA
clubs:
| said by Jim Gurd  :Can't you just port your number over to another carrier? That should automatically flag your account as cancelled (or at least that's the way wireless numbers work). They'll still charge you even after you port away from them. You're still stuck calling them and canceling. Makes voip in general look bad. |
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Jeffrey
too dark too early
Premium
join:2002-12-24
Dix Hills,NY
clubs:
·Optimum Online
 ·Verizon FIOS
 ·Vonage
·magicjack.com
| reply to TKJunkMail
Re: Customer support typically nonexistent when price is cheap
said by TKJunkMail :Is anyone surprised by this? When a company puts out a product at a very low price point, customer service is usually of very poor quality. Customer service and the employees needed to staff it are expensive. And Vonage spends all its money on those annoying TV ads. They have nothing left over to hire people to answer the phone. You get what you pay for. The only thing I'm suprised about is the people cancelling Vonage. While I have had the occasional hiccup a few times a year, and the annual outage of 5-10 hours on a given day, Vonage has been excellent for me in every aspect. Call quality, price, features. It has passed the "Mom and Girlfriend Test" with flying colors, after the initial issues I had when I setup the Motorola ATAs on my network, which in all fairness, were due to my errors.
The biggest obstacle in the beginning was the quality of my Optimum Online connection. Latency was a bit high, and I had some water damage at the tap causing some drops, which obviosuly effected everything on the LAN, including phone calls. Once that was fixed (by CV), the quality of the Vonage calls were much, much better (nearly perect), and after switching to Fios, I haven't had any issues at all with the quality of the call.
That being said, I ahve never had to call Vonage customer support to cancel. A less-than-technical friend who called Vonage when I was on vacation 2 years ago found their customer support to be horrendous, and they too, had a problem cancelling. (My friend insisted it was Vonage at fault, and not a 30 year old outside splitter feeding the cable modem.)
Regardless, if people want to cancel, any company needs to make that easy.
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"When you get lost in your imaginatory vagueness, your foresight becomes a nimble vagrant."
[Ramblings] [RIP Millie 1993-2006]
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morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs:
·Charter Pipeline
 ·AT&T Southwest
1 edit | new law: REQUIRE CANCELLATION VIA WEB
here's something that has bugged me for a long time: no company has "cancel" service option on their online account administration. some don't even have "downgrade" service options, yet everything else under the sun is offered.
requiring companies that have a certain level of account admin online to also have a CANCEL or DOWNGRADE option would solve this problem (and cut down on the endless cancellation stories from the consumerist too). It would potentially cost you all the goodies from the retention department, but keeping 40+ minutes of your life is worth it. giving consumers the choice is what it's about.
of course, corporate lobbyists will be out in force if a law like this ever makes it to the hill...
edit: to the parade of idiots (should be arriving soon) chanting "no new laws", just leave. |
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verolom
join:2002-03-23
Eagleville, PA | reply to Nate425
Re: Cancelling
This is ridiculous. Why closing an account cannot be a web-based account management function, just like opening one, and paying the bill are? Maybe that should be an important criteria before signing up for any service with any provider. |
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redhat1968
join:2000-10-17
Appleton, WI
clubs:
| reply to TKJunkMail
Re: Customer support typically nonexistent when price is cheap
Took me almost 65 minutes of being on hold to reach someone. They then said I didn't have an account with them so there was nothing else they could do and they hung up. I called back and was on hold almost 45 minutes this time and again was told I didn't have a Vonage account. After 2 days, I received a nasty email stating they were going to close my account if I didn't pay. I called them back and again was told I ddin't have an account with Vonage. Another call back (55 min) and they finally realised that I DID have an account with them but I didn't owe anything on it. I tried to close the account and was given a bunch of crap but I stuck to it and they finally closed the account.
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I cried because I had no shoes, until I saw a man who had no feet..
»www.mnrstudio.com
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chemaupr
join:2005-06-06
Alexandria, VA | reply to verolom
Re: Cancelling
Tell me just one telecom/cable/cellphn service you can cancel online.
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DaveNJ
No Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey | reply to TKJunkMail
Re: Customer support typically nonexistent when price is cheap
Thats why Cable is better, because CS is already there, and its there system. Vonage better cosy up with ATT, because there a perfect fit. This was ATT can get triple play in non-att areas. Actually i think ATT should just buy Comcast. |
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Pizz
Hi
join:2000-10-27
Astoria, NY
·Verizon Online DSL
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to morbo
Re: new law: REQUIRE CANCELLATION VIA WEB
By making it on the phone, they're hoping their retentions department will make you stay. they'll keep you on hold to try and drag out as much as they can out of you, so you'll eventually hang up. its a old trick used by shady businesses for years.
you just gotta file complaints with your BBB or the state they're operating in, contact the FCC as well, and make a huge stink about it. |
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lesopp
join:2001-06-27
Land O Lakes, FL | Hmmm
Looks like they borrowed more than code from Verizon! |
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dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
| reply to Nate425
Re: Cancelling
said by Nate425 :said by Jim Gurd :Can't you just port your number over to another carrier? That should automatically flag your account as cancelled (or at least that's the way wireless numbers work). They'll still charge you even after you port away from them. You're still stuck calling them and canceling. Makes voip in general look bad. Thats why you sign up with a prepaid credit card.
When you want to jump ship, quit reloading the card and things work out naturally.
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You can never be too rich, too thin or have too much Bandwidth |
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Mactron
el camino Real
Premium
join:2001-12-16
CM94sv
| More in common than thought
Sounds like Vonage and Verizon have more in common than just lawsuits. CS for both of these companies is lousy. Guess Vonage wants to ensure that once folks leave them, they will never come back. After a CS experience like this, I know I wouldn't ever comeback. 
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If only the Verizon CSRs worked this well. |
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dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
| reply to lesopp
Re: Hmmm
said by lesopp :Looks like they borrowed more than code from Verizon! And AOL too
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You can never be too rich, too thin or have too much Bandwidth |
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ztmike
Mark for moderation
Premium
join:2001-08-02
Michigan City, IN
·Comcast
| Jump the sinking ship
People are probably leaving by the boat-loads after hearing Vonage got sued. As sad at it is Vonage is going to loose the battle, and probably be sold off or just shut down.
Although i have the Comcast triple play with their phone service, Vonage really didn't seem like a bad deal, but it was just so easy to go with the Comcast triple play. |
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verolom
join:2002-03-23
Eagleville, PA | reply to chemaupr
Re: Cancelling
Have you or anyone you know demanded such capability? I have, not very successfully indeed, but if many people make a point maybe it will happen. |
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unixwolf
join:2007-05-04
Flower Mound, TX | reply to dvd536
Thats a great idea!!! Or if you are just about to cancel, change your card number over to a prepaid card, port your number, and tell them to go F%$* themselves. |
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ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA | reply to dvd536
Re: Hmmm
Verizon and AOHELL have NOTHING on Vonage for horrid retention agents. |
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mobbo
join:2005-04-13
Denton, TX
·Verizon FIOS
| reply to Jeffrey
Re: Customer support typically nonexistent when price is cheap
I loved their services and never had an issue (issues were always my ISP, not Vonage). But I just realized how seldom I used it and just didn't need it anymore. I experienced the same crap... on hold forever and the looping torture voice.
If they wish to require phone cancellation, then it means they want someone to speak with me about staying maybe for a lower price or plan. But who in the WORLD would want to stay after being treated like that. If it was a quick process, I would have considered staying for a lower price since I don't use it so much but it's nice to have... but I wouldn't even consider that after that ordeal. |
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ColorBASIC
8-bit Fun
Premium
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA
|  They did it to me too, VONAGE SUCKS!
Vonage is by far the worse VOIP provider I've tried and I've had 5 before settling on ViaTalk. Cancelling Vonage's sucky overpriced service is a nightmare of long hold times, arguing and arguing, and being insulted and lied to by their retention agents.
I wouldn't recommend Vonage to my worst enemy.
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Macintosh Users Group Serving the Inland Empire |
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