Vonage
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"Don't think about leaving them..." on by costas
Pros: Web features
Cons: Low call quality; overcharging you when disconnecting service
Summary: Contrary to CNET's review, their voice quality is low.
There is also echo, which their FAQ attributes to not using Panasonic phones (I was using a Panasonic device).
Even if you are unlucky the previous user of your new phone number to have been a "popular" person they will not change your assigned phone number, in which case prepare for several late night disturbing phone calls.
I was with them for two months yet still they were not able to switch my SBC number to Vonage.
Once I decided to cut my loses and disconnected, they overcharged me (they even took back a discounted month they had already offered).
I wish I had never joined them. -
"Very Poor Customer Services and Billing" on by paksys
Pros: Easy Installation
Cons: Poor Customer Service, Gotcha Billing practices
Summary: We signed up for vonage servicve with number transfer from verizon. Within over 20 days phone number was not transferred. I faxed authorization form and verizon phone bill 3 times to Vonage. I believe, they purposely delay so trial period is over and then you have to pay $39.99 for cancellation fee if you want to cancel. I figured it out when I cancelled my service after 20 days. I was charged full for the 1st month $79.99 plus $39.99 cancellation (even the equipment was shipped day after cancellation and I have proof USPS tracking they received it within 3 days) plus setup fee $29.99. I was on promotion for 1st month free but this trial for 20 days cost me about $149 even I did not use phone that much (1 or 2 local calls only for test purpose). I have been calling them and CS tranfer me to billing which automatically disconnects me after 8-10 minutes of waiting, it happend 4 times. No reply of any emails it has been over a month now. Their equipment installation was easy and temp number was up as soon as I plugged it it after activation.
After this horrible experience, I sgined up for AT&T Callvantage, though a little expensive but I am very happy. They tanferred my number within 10 days and excellant customer service. -
"Vonage Sign-Up Is a Contract for Phone Hell" on by Opinionator
Pros: No real pros - "pros" were just for bait! Beware!
Cons: No customer service; getting charged for non-existent service; gross misadvertisement
Summary: I signed up as a new CNET member just to deliver this review and warn everyone through sharing my abyssmal experience. Vonage has let me down to such massive dissapointment and abandoned this customer. My business suffered because of their poor service. The fact that they haven't offered to make up for their poor service has incensed me enough to write this. In sharing this I hope someone else is spared the hell I went through with them.
I live and work for myself in New York. Fairly recently there was a lot of travelling I had to do, but I couldn't afford to be away from my office and my clients during that time. My business is my lifeline; it was not an option to put it on hold for as long as I was on the road. Enter Vonage and its seductive promises. I can take my number, even area code intact, for a fraction of what I'm paying for my traditional phone service. That means my clients won't need to learn a new number, I save money in phone bills, and I can continue to be accessible by phone anywhere there is cable.
Here I must emphasize why I must keep my number at all costs. For years it's been the main source of communication for my most loyal clients, my old friends, and family. It serves as a clever calling card, because by pure chance it spells out my company initials, year of birth and the headquarter's street address. And those of you who live in New York, know how rare the 212 area code has become. You can't get a new 212 number as easily as one used to. I am very attached to my number, affectionately and through business. Such an important, serendipitous number shouldn't be given up.
Ok, so I cancelled my traditional phone service, effective 30 days from the date I called to cancel. That's an extra 2-3 weeks more time than Vonage needs to pick up my number, or so a Vonage agent assured me. I enrolled in Vonage and set up the equipment successfully. Strangely, the phone didn't work, even though everything was set up properly, and my account was active and fully functioning online. I contacted customer support. After a 40-minute hold, the girl - and I say girl, because she had a high, toddler-sounding pitch and formed sentences like she didn't want to let on she was over 8 - could offer no explanation, except that maybe my number was still in the process of being switched to Vonage. I was advised to give it more time, while my case is forwarded to the dept. that tracks these numbers. I'd be notified if anything comes up. The asked if I tried calling my old phone company. So I did, and when I got a hold of their customer service dept. (within 3 minutes compared to Vonage's stupid hold time! My old company is Verizon, a huge conglomerate with a high volume of customers to attend to, and they're on it in 3 minutes - what's Vonage's excuse?) Verizon tells me it shouldn't be me contacting them about the matter, but the company who is taking up my number from them. Yet Vonage says I should be the one to fix it with Verizon. ARGH.
One, then two weeks passed without service or notification from Vonage. I contact Vonage by phone and email regularly, only to be met by long hold times like before, the same repeated words as before, and nothing more. My clients were having a hard time reaching me by phone. Some of my senior clients, averse to newer contact alternatives (like email) cannot be bothered to try new technology. A month goes by. My business is starting to suffer. Plus, Vonage charges me for that month, even though I never got service. I'm told that I must pay before they can work on any change to my account. Begrudgingly, I pay. They have my number, and I can't lose it. But I contact them later about having to pay for nothing. Also another source of long holds and no progress.
The next two months go on in this pattern: me waiting for service, being charged for said non-existent service, my business suffering from said lack of service, and me regularly contacting customer service over and over only to be put on 40-minute holds and no real answer. By now my only phone is my cell, and from the hold time alone, it's seriously costing me per minute. Ironically, I got into this mess to save on phone bills. But I can't give up. They still have my phone number. Plus I'm being charged for these months. I'd better have something for this.
By the fouth month since I first enrolled, I finally get that notification from Vonage. In all this time, turns out that Vonage dropped the ball, and never picked up my number from my old phone company. As a result, that number was disconnected and discontinued. I can't get it back, even if I return to my old company. After all this, Vonage does not offer to make up for their mistake that cost me alot, AND they charge me for that month as well!!
I finally cancelled my subscription with Vonage right then and there. YET, I continue to get charged for the next two months after that, even though my account is closed! I had enough and stopped giving them my money or any more of my time. I kept getting emails every week about the amount of overdue charges I'm racking up. Funny how they can get back to me so quickly now, huh? I just kept ignoring them, and only then, six months after I signed up, was I finally free of them.
Long read. But I put it all out there because I want everyone to know what they might be getting into. Try the competitor VoIP companies instead. Trust me. -
"Hate their customer service" on by george68
Pros: clear voice and reliable
Cons: Expensive compared to others & horrible customer service
Summary: I tried Vonage for few months. Their customer service was terrible - Long wait periods and when I finally reached their customer service, they ticked me off! I was new to VoIP back then and perhaps I should have known better. No Dial-tone I suffered early on was not with their service but had to do with the router I used. However, their lack of empathy and condescending attitudes were certainly not called for. It certainly left a bitter taste in my mouth. At least in my business, we treat our customers with great respect. Unfortunately, not wanting to deal with hassles of getting another VoIP service, I kept the Vonage account for a while.
I suspect that Vonage's strategy of getting as much customers as possible, while loosing money on each customer they sign up is having a huge negative effect on their ability to deal with customers.
Since then, I've signed up with RNK Telecom, a profitable telecommunications provider. Their customer service is available 24x7, and answers with almost no wait-time.. Their International call plan saved me enough money to pay for the Vonage's disconnect charge. As far as I can tell, their service has been up since I signed up several months ago. Their prices are very competitive and quality is at least as good as Vonage. Lesson for Vonage - In this age of abundant competitors, you better treat your customers right! -
"I'd give it a ZERO if I could" on by orionpooh
Pros: There are NONE.
Cons: quality of service, customer service, business practices
Summary: Stay away from Vonage. They lie, lie and lie. We had terrible service - lots of dropped calls and awful sound quality. Not only that, we didn't get anywhere with transferring our landline phone number to Vonage. They promised us a credit for the inconvenience and delay in transferring the number, finally gave us a transfer date, and then jerked it away from us by making up some story about a problem with our account. Oops! They made a mistake, but not before we lost our transfer date and had to wait for who knows how much longer. Finally, we decided to cancel service, but they refused to give us the credit promised. They charged us over $40 for termination, claiming that they would refund the termination charge when we returned the device. We returned the device, they e-mailed us that they received it, and the refund of the termination charge? $0.00. We had to contact them, again, and get the Better Business Bureau involved before we saw any refund. We are still in the middle of dealing with them through the BBB for other issues. Finding that they don't even bother to read the letters we send, just keep responding with the same B.S. I know they have a lawsuit filed against them by the state of Texas for lying. I am so upset with Vonage I am on the verge of checking into whether a class action lawsuit can be brought against them by all of their former and current clients who have been ripped off by them.
