winsnomore
join:2007-01-03
New York, NY
 ·Optimum Online
 ·voip.ms
1 edit | Vonage - Real Monthly Charge
I would like to post this based on my experience with Vonage.
They advertise $24.99 monthly charge and it's grossly deceptive.
The charge you will incur over 12 months in somewhat like below.
24.99 + 6.52 (various fees they tack on) * 12 = $378
49 (for adapter)
40 number porting/activation
40 (cancellation if you cancel before 24 months)
31.50 for the last month (they pre charge and NEVER refund)
Total ~ $538 ~ $45/month for 12 months.
If one were to amortize partial cost of high speed internet .. the numbers become worse.
Say you can be happy with basic DSL $15/month but now need $30/month plan because of the voice.
Now your real cost is $45 + $15 ~ $60/Month
(You may not be able to get a naked DSL for the price listed above and your DSL price may be far higher.)
For this I would argue you are better off with Telco's unlimited calling (TDM) plans or even a cell phone
Even Cable appears a cheaper solution because of their better policies on cancellation, tack on chargers and adapter cost.
I would love to hear from Vonage to correct any mistake in my calculation, and please let's not talk about promotions of 1/2/3 months free, you only do this when you want to make your quarterly numbers, not when someone needs the service.
(Folks sorry about the mistake in the original math .. the number is higher than what i had thought)
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RockyBB
Premium
join:2005-01-31
Longmont, CO
| what does the monthly average amount become when you don't add in the one time charges for adapter, porting/activation, and cancellation? also, wouldn't it be fair to not add in the last month's charge to an average of all months -- isn't that double counting the last month twice? While you're checking your math, where does $318 come from? you wanna try again?
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"Teleblend has an agreement with the Assignee to solicit and support former SunRocket customers." |
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DMS1
join:2005-04-06
Carrollton, TX
| reply to winsnomore
said by winsnomore  :Say you can be happy with basic DSL $15/month but now need $30/month plan because of the voice. Why would you need to upgrade your Internet speed? Even at the highest quality, Vonage only needs 90kbps in each direction (when on the phone - zero when not). Unless you only have 128kbps upstream then you are unlikely to notice the effect. If you do have only 128kbps upstream then just set the Vonage Codec to its 30kbps or 60kbps setting. |
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winsnomore
join:2007-01-03
New York, NY
·Optimum Online
·voip.ms
| reply to RockyBB
@RockyBB
#1 Corrected math .. should have been 378 instead of 318 - in NJ the monthly bill is $31.52
#2 The point is that they do charge for 13 months when you use the service for 12.
#3. The cost of Adapter/Activation/Cancellation is what you have to pay, so ignoring them doesn't do you any good - This is how one would compare with landline where there may be activation charge, but not an adapter or cancellation.
#4 Cost of Vonage without "onetime charges" for 12 months will still be $31.50*13/12 for the year or about $35/month |
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winsnomore
join:2007-01-03
New York, NY
·Optimum Online
·voip.ms
| reply to DMS1
I was offering a simple explanation and amortization of the costs, I have checked, there is NO way to get naked DSL at the low rate in my area. It comes with a line, without phone line the DSL price is $50/month.
If I was using cable and pro-rated for Phone use at 50-50, the cost will be at least $20/month or $25/month (depending on whether you had TV service with data plan or not).. Either way I was figuring absolutely the lowest possible cost and even then it doesn't make sense. |
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DMS1
join:2005-04-06
Carrollton, TX
| reply to winsnomore
said by winsnomore :#2 The point is that they do charge for 13 months when you use the service for 12. Since they bill for a full month on the monthly anniversary of you signing up, why not just cancel a couple of days before the end of the 12th month? |
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winsnomore
join:2007-01-03
New York, NY | I would like to see someone do it, or let's see if we can hear from someone who has done it successfully.
I am certain they don't let you cancel "in-advance". |
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DMS1
join:2005-04-06
Carrollton, TX
| said by winsnomore :I would like to see someone do it, or let's see if we can hear from someone who has done it successfully. I am certain they don't let you cancel "in-advance". I'm not suggesting cancelling in advance. I'm just saying that when you do cancel, do so immediately before the monthly anniversary and not afterwards. |
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winsnomore
join:2007-01-03
New York, NY |
How is "immdediately before" is not in-advance ?
If you have to hit them just the nano-second before they bill/charge you, you loose. |
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dazed6
join:2007-08-05
| reply to DMS1
Exactly.
And it would be wrong to entitle this thread Vonage - Real Monthly Charge if you will include the cancellation and the adapter charge. Should have been Total Charge (from sign-up to cancellation
 Grey
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Be patient...God isn't finished with me yet. |
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blohner
join:2002-06-26
Cortlandt Manor, NY
clubs:
·Vonage
·Optimum Online
| reply to winsnomore
My real monthly cost is what Vonage charges me per month. After 5+ years the startup costs are completely irrelevant (ok - if you want to do math I paid 29.99 startup cost, so spread over 5 years thats 0.50$ per month). I am not sure why you base your calculations that you cancel after 12 month - that's not very relevant to most users that are happy and long term customers....
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I am addicted to speed --- OOL speed that is --- |
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DMS1
join:2005-04-06
Carrollton, TX
| reply to winsnomore
said by winsnomore :How is "immdediately before" is not in-advance ? If you have to hit them just the nano-second before they bill/charge you, you loose. "In advance" would mean that you expect the service to continue after you cancel. It really is very simple - Vonage charges for whole months. Whenever you cancel you lose whatever you have paid for the remainder of that month. If you cancel later in the month then you lose less than if you cancel earlier. |
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winsnomore
join:2007-01-03
New York, NY
·Optimum Online
·voip.ms
| reply to winsnomore
@DMS1
I don't want to argue, but the point is whichever way you do it, they will not refund the last month (pro-rated of course) and will not let you cancel in advance. So you will pay n+1 months for n months of service.
@razorsharp
Again all I wanted to point out was that this is the Total Cost of Ownership of VOIP .. some visible some not.
Real Monthly Charge is what I thought a reasonable title, you can disagree with this but that was my intention.
The key points are -- and no one really has questioned the basic premise:
1. VOIP is not "cheap" compared to other options, actually it's priced very high .. no longer you have the $19.99/month, it's rarely less than $30/month from voip providers ..or you take the risk like sunrocket and loose even more.
2. What you pay the voip company is not the only cost, there are other costs and if you add it up .. it's not such a great deal.
As far as VOIP plans are concerned, they are done, the party is over ..what we are seeing here are last gasps of business that came and went in a blink of an eye! |
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DMS1
join:2005-04-06
Carrollton, TX
| said by winsnomore :@DMS1 I don't want to argue, but the point is whichever way you do it, they will not refund the last month (pro-rated of course) and will not let you cancel in advance. So you will pay n+1 months for n months of service. I'm not trying to argue. Instead, I'm trying to make sure that I understand how it works.
As an example, suppose that I signed up for Vonage service on January 1 2007 and eventually cancel it on December 30 2008. I will have made 24 monthly payments - one on the first of each month. I will have had 24 months minus 2 days service. Therefore, I haven't paid for 'n+1' months as you put it. Is this not correct? |
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redshift
Premium
join:2004-03-23
Beverly Hills, CA | Even with POTS you usually have to pay an activation charge when you connect a new line. That's especially true when you move into a new house or apartment...but if you've been living in the same place for 10s of years, you forget about that. |
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winsnomore
join:2007-01-03
New York, NY
·Optimum Online
·voip.ms
| reply to DMS1
DMS1 .. fine .. then you don't get your 2 days of prorated back. Though, I would like to see how it works, I am almost certain they will claim that now you owe cancellation charge because your TERM of SERVICE is 2 years and not 2 years - 2 days. I would like to hear from someone who has been able to walk away without paying termination charge or leaving a month on the table. |
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DMS1
join:2005-04-06
Carrollton, TX
| said by winsnomore :DMS1 .. fine .. then you don't get your 2 days of prorated back. Though, I would like to see how it works, I am almost certain they will claim that now you owe cancellation charge because your TERM of SERVICE is 2 years and not 2 years - 2 days. I would like to hear from someone who has been able to walk away without paying termination charge or leaving a month on the table. If the minimum term you agree to is two years, then cancel after 2 years and 1 month - 2 days. Then you won't have to pay any cancellation charges and you will still only lose two days.
The point you don't seem to agree to is that most people don't sign up for a phone service with a view to cancelling it as soon as they can. |
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winsnomore
join:2007-01-03
New York, NY
·Optimum Online
·voip.ms
| DMS1 you keep insisting.
I should have pointed out one more quirk in this equation.
I presume you would want to keep your number. So you CAN'T Cancel at at time of your choice .. first you have to enable another account, that account will need to get the porting done, that is a variable time, though with wireless callers the time is a few minutes with Vonage it's more like 3 weeks.
It will surely put you over .. and they will bill you or you loose your number .. Take your pick.
Sorry I didn't say this before .. just got caught up on your insistence.
This game is being played EVERY day .. |
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La Luna
Surviving Ashraful
Premium
join:2001-07-12
Warwick, NY
clubs:
·Optimum Online
·Vonage
| Your analogy is highly flawed. Adding in the cost of startup/cancellation fees and local fees/taxes that Vonage has no control over to the monthly rate only looks like an issue based on your "12 months". Most people keep the service for much longer than that (years, actually), so those costs become non-relative per month over time. High speed internet? You didn't know you needed that beforehand? You don't use high speed internet regardless of whether you have Vonage? If you do, those costs have nothing to do with Vonage. Why not add in the cost of having to buy a telephone to use the service while you're at it?
This is just silly.
I used to pay upwards of $200-$300 PER MONTH for long distance calls on a POTS line....now I pay $32.99 per month for ALL CALLS, including international. A so called "barebones" $20 per month POTS line ends up costing approx. $60 by the time they add in the taxes and fees they don't tell you about up front. And that doesn't include any calls except to your next door neighbor, if you're lucky.
Don't even try to tell me I'm not saving a TON of money with Vonage.
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JIHAD WATCH~~9525 DEADLY TERROR ATTACKS SINCE 9/11 |
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winsnomore
join:2007-01-03
New York, NY
·Optimum Online
·voip.ms
| Now who is being silly ..
$20 basic that totals to $60 charge is an absurd statement.
I have basic $5/month TDM line (unlimited incoming) that adds up to $12/month from Verizon after taxes.
For 6+ years ATT/VZ have sold unlimited local+ LD for a $70(gross) so you clearly were behind curve for paying $200-$300, and me thinks you may again be behind curve for the "cheapest" solution 
And when ATT/VZ offered unlimited there was no hidden 5000 minutes/month max .. so there.
The point was to point out the TCO .. total cost of ownership and one shouldn't just look at $24.99 that is now close to $32 in NJ, you must look at additional costs too.
And this jive about keeping the sevice forever -- come on - look at Sunrocket customers and tell me that was an odd ball scenario. That story is going to be repeated many times in the next few months/years. |
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