Vonage

Marc of Havertown, PA September 22, 2009

I was signed up with Vonage a few months back after having left Comcast. My phone service has been terrible since day 1. I tried contacting the company with the hopes of finding a reason and resolution to my phone problems: Both parties hear their voice echoed, Outgoing calls aren't completed, Static on the line, Voices sound like robots, Can't hear the other party, Dropped calls

The response from their Technical Support person was that Verizon (my new FiOS internet provider) was to blame and there was nothiong Vonage could do about it. They didn't even try anything else to trouble shoot it. I told the rep that I would be cancelling service as soon as I returned from vacation and they said "OK. Sorry to see you go."

Now, it took another 2 weeks to get the number from Vonage to Verizon. It was completed on the morning of 9/21/09. I called Vonage to close my account and was told they would charge me a 39.99 disconnection fee plus 33.20 for the current month (only 4 days into it!) plus 79.99 for their adapter. I told them I shouldn't have to pay any of it because they never provided me with the quality of service they promised. They dropped the total to 60.32 and told me they couldn't do anymore than that. I protested this and they gave me the number for their corporate office and said I would need to dispute the rest with them.

They just returned my call, 9/22/09 11:30 AM EST, and said they would drop it to 39.99 for the disconnection fee and would not do anything beyond that. I don't see how a company can be so corrupt. They didn't even try to fix this issue when I called about it and now they want more money.

Rachel of Sacramento, CA September 18, 2009

I signed up for Vonage July 2008. In May of 2009 I moved into a home that already had phone service so I no longer needed to pay for something I didn't need. When I called Vonage, I was told I would be charged a 39.99 disconection fee and some rebate fee if I canceled before my one year anniversery and was advised to downgrade to the 9.99 a month package and just wait until July to cancel my account so that I would not be charged any fees. I agreed to do this so I wouldn't be charge a hundred and something dollars. It is now Septemeber, after my one year anniversery and I called to disconnect my service. Now I am being told that I have to wait another year if I don't want to be charged a disconection fee, when I was told I wouldn't be charged ANY fees after one year. Of course, I can't find the ORIGINAL terms of conditions for when I signed up, because they recently changed them!

Anthony of BARRINGTON, NJ September 18, 2009

Signed up for Vonage 9/18/08 with a 1 year contract, after a year was the worst phone service I ever had and 20% rate increases over 10 months (remember their commercials about the phone co. rate increases "but not with Vonage" haha.

I called to cancel and was told I had to do this n 9/18/09 or I would have to pay early termination fees, plus 49.99 rebate back on the adapter plus disconnect fees, sold my home on 9/4/09 and waited until 9/18/09 so as to say 100.00 + in fees and right after I hung up the phone with the worst customer service broken English speaking person I eve encountered I logged onto my credit card account and they immediately billed my card for charges I wasn't to be billed for, I filed a dispute with my credit card company, a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and now this.

Jeffrey of Lake Oswego, OR September 18, 2009

I canceled Vonage Service in May after one year. I had prepaid the entire year prior to get a better rate (19.99 per month vs 24.99). After a year, I canceled and switch carriers taking my number with me. Vonage kept sending me bills for the next year, which I ignored having already canceled the account. The next thing I get a letter from a collection agency trying to collect 329.03 from me.

I called Vonage customer service and got the run around. The customer service person admitted that Vonage was in error, but said she was not able to correct my account. I asked to speak with a supervisor and was told that the charges were wrong. They put me on hold for over thirty minutes.

Finally, I hung up and called back. Same story. They said they would call me back, but I haven't heard anything and I still have the 329.03 balance showing on my online statement. Time wasted on the phone more than two hours. Possible credit report damage. Harassment from RMS Collections.

Judith of Miami Beach, FL September 16, 2009

I have never been connected to Vonage services yet they have charged my bank for services rendered for 10 months & given my information to third parties who have done same. I have made repeated phone calls as has my bank & they do nothing. They are now threatening my credit.

kushal of jersey city, NJ September 16, 2009

I was a vonage customer and first ordered vonage in december 2007,then after i was not using it for long time in july 2008 i have decided to close that service. I have called customer service and told them that i am not using the service for long time and now want to close this service.They were asking me to go for some cheaper plan that will cost me less. I told them that i am not using it so i do not want to use the service and please disconnect my service. After that i thought it is disconnected and now i found they are still taking the money from my account for more than 15 months. That cost me more than 150.00 till now.

Hugo of Hermitage, TN September 5, 2009

Activated service with Vonage. Tried to cancel service after two weeks because of multiple problems with the phone service: the same phone No. had been issued to us and to another vonage customer, the line was down most of the time, customer service people could not resolve the problems (some cust. people could hardly speak English).

They refused to close the account, but, continued to access our final institution, withdrawing funds without our approval. We had to close the account to stop them from taking more money out of the account. Vonage took over 400,oo and as of this date they still refuse to return it.

Vonage took funds out of our account for service that was never provided. We spend time and money transferring messages (doctor calls, hospital calls) to the other vonage customer after they issued identical phone nos. to us.

Kim of Ellenwood, GA September 3, 2009

I signed up for service almost 2 years ago, I had service for 20 months, then I decided to cancel since I lost my job. After cancelling I asked for the address to return the products, but I was told that I could not return the equipment and that I would be charged the 175 for the router. My last bill paid via my credit card was 218 and now they do not want to take the equipment back and have charged me the fee.

I have lost a total of 200. Even though I faxed over documentation that shows I should of never been charged those fees because these conditions were not described to me at the time I signed up.

Alecia of Lake Hamilton, FL September 2, 2009

Upon signing up for the phone service, there was a special promotion that they had going on, the first 3 months for 9.95 and 24.99 after with waived activation fee. The package included unlimited local & long distance in the U.S.A, Canada, Puerto Rico, and 5 countries in Europe. Went through the information with the male representative I spoke to, told me that if I canceled before 30 days I would be refunded my money, if I can cancel after the 30 days then I would be charged a 35.99 cancellation fee, and I would have to send the device back and if I failed to do so then I would be charged a fee for the Vonage Router. Which I agreed to, I was also told by the representative that all I was going to be charged for that day was the shipping and handling of the Vonage device (router).

Come to find out I was charged for the shipping & handling as well as the first months bill after I asked the male representative 3 times what I was going to be charged for before giving him my credit card number. I also asked the male representative if I could pay my bill online since I wasn't home all the time to keep track of things and he told me yes. What he failed to mention was that was indeed my only way of paying my bill by having the company take the money out of my account each month at their convenience. I did not find this out until after the first month went by and I was wondering how come I haven't received anything from Vonage in the mail as far as a billing statement, I gave their company a phone call an that is when I was informed of this information. I shared my concerns with the representative that I can not always be positive that the money will be in the account for the company to take at their convenience verses mine. I asked to speak to a supervisor and was told that the supervisor was at lunch and would give me a call back. I never received that phone call.

I left to go out of town and when I returned I call the company back again to try and resolve this issue, while at the same time trying my best to make the funds available so the company could get their money, as well as keep my bank account from being over drafted and being charged a fee by the bank. I left town once again with this issue unresolved. When I returned home again I tried calling the company back again, this time to turn off the phone because I had the issue of the company taking the money out of my account every month. Didn't get the phone turned off because the representative I spoke to was having issues verifying my account. About 1 week later when I have all possible information needed to verify my account I call back to once again to cancel the service. I explained to the representative why I was canceling the service and how I was lied to about the things that I was being charged for in the beginning as well as how it's inconvenient for me as far as the payment option(s) with the Vonage company. As I was canceling the service the representative was telling me everything that I was going to be charged for as far as the cancellation fees goes. Come to find out that not only is there a 35.99 cancellation fee but as well as a 70.00 rebate fee for the Vonage router & about 8.00 in tax.

I then informed the female representative that I was speaking to that I was not told about this 70.00 rebate fee and had I known that, I wouldn't have signed up for the phone service as well as had I known that my only option to pay my phone bill was by the company taking the money out of my account each month. She apologized and told me there was nothing she could do. I asked to speak to a supervisor and I was put on hold and sat on hold for 20-30 minutes waiting to talk to a supervisor. I immediately called back and told the other female representative I spoke to what happen and how I was on hold for so long. The representative put me on hold once again to find a supervisor for me and told me that the supervisor was busy with another customer and that call would take anywhere between 20-30 minutes as well as there were 2 other calls ahead of mine. I thanked the representative and hung up. I attempted to contact the corporate office, every time I punched in a number to get a hold of someone from their directory I was either told by a recording that the number I reached was no longer in service or there is no one there by that name. I finally got a hold of the receptionist who forwarded me to someone's voice mail, so I left them a message and a gentleman from the corporate office called me back.

I told him about the issue I had about being lied to in the beginning of this as far as what I was being charged for as well as how the male representative I spoke to did not tell me about the 70.00 rebate fee for the Vonage router and once again the payment option(s) that the company has. The male representative from the corporate office told me as far as the 70.00 rebate fee goes that is included in the cancellation fee and I could have looked it up online. I told the male representative from the corporate office that not only did I not have a computer in front of me the time of the set up but also that his representative still failed to tell me the accurate cost of the cancellation fee. And he also told me there was nothing else he could do besides credit me back the 9.95 I was charged in the beginning.

Glen of Houston, TX September 2, 2009

Signed up for service in July 09. Actually received on August 09. Phone calls dropping, reset system over & over. Cancel in August 09. Vonage charged 140 cancellation fee to bank account.

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