IM CREATING THIS WEBSITE BECAUSE AFTER 1 YEAR OF WORKING THERE I BELEAVE THAT PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW SOME FACTS ABOUT VOANGE.VONAGE IS THE WORSTE TELECOM COMAPNY I HAVE WORKED FOR IN THE LAST 10 YEARS. EVERYTHING THAT I STATED ABOUT THE SERVICE AND FEES IS TAKING RIGHT FROM WWW.VONAGE.COM. I WOULD LIKE TO CREATE A WWW.VONAGESUCKS.COM BUT VONAGE HAS BOUGHT ALL DOMAIN NAMES SO THAT COULD NOT BE DONE, BECAUSE VONAGE ALREADY OWNS IT. JUST FOR FUN TRY WWW.VONAGESUCKS.COM. THE BLOGS ARE ALL FROM OTHER BLOGS AND NEWS PROVIDERSVonage is not a full-proof telephone service. They don't mention in commercials or adds that you must have cable or dsl modems to use the service(not all DSL modems will work with Vonage). If you call to cancel because of this after going through several differnt non-fluent english speaking people they tell you to get a cable connection(more money out of your pockey just for the service which most likely will only work 50% of the time). If you refuse and still ask to cancel they send you to retention where they offer 2 free months to keep you. Don't buy into it they get you in the long run. Make sure to cancel before the end of the 30 day trial. So you want to cancel right? They have offered you the two months free and a free 2nd line, well you will be banged with chrages for the second line activation fee and also after a month or to for the service of it. (you pay for service per line, even to activate and to cancel) Canceling can be expensive. If you cancel after 30 days up up to 6 months of having the service they charge you $39.99 (per line) to cancel and then they charge you for rebate you recieved on the device usually $49.99 and up. After you went over the 6 months they just charge the de-activation fee. After a year they don't charge anything. So thats canceling.
If you want to cancel when you first call ask for the office in the united states or the holmdel nj office they "should" transfer you to that office, then so you aren't transfered from person to person ask for account managment. I will get the number to the direct holmdel office, it is on the Vonage site but is very hard to find. I had to know the site like the back of my hand durring training so I will provide the number for you.YEH this one bothers me, if you get a device that doesn't work and have to send it back once you recieve a new working device you pay shipping charges for BOTH devices. So they send you a crappy device and you pay to send it back plus you pay for a new one to be sent to you. If you call and ask for the credit they will most likely give it to you depending on who you get. Some of the customer service reps have the "NEVER" give a credit mind frame. Me on the other hand, I gave people the credit they deserved. I refused to argue with the people because 80% of the calls I took due to Vonage mistakes.WE are told never Apologize to any customer and never admit its are fault.Vonage changes things daily. I was in the middle of a call with a man on the line yelling at me because he didn't get the refer-a-friend free month because his friend didn't sign up through the email he sent her. The rule I was taught in training was if they don't use the direct link from the friend they don't get the credit. After a half hour of him screaming at me my supervisor comes over and tells me they he just recieved an email saying as long as you can find the friends account you can issue the credit. I felt like such an asshole. I was being so nice and pleading with my supervisor for 20 mins beforehand to just give the guy the credit because I had found his friends account and they refused to let me. Then they come over and tell me now it's ok.The number portablility (which believe me has ALOT of problems)(number portability- getting your old number transfered to your vonage line) I had a man yelling at me because it would take 20 days to port his number over as soon as I hung up I recieved an email stating that the number portability changed from 20 days to 10 days. They never know whats going on things CONSTANLY change. Very unstableand unreliable!The thing that made me quit was that they really don't have it all figured out. They have the first call the customers make go to India, yet they DO have an office in the US the main headquarters is in Holdel NJ where I worked. So when you call you get transfered from one person to another and another and another before thye finally send you to us, which is tier 3 customer service, Advanced Customer service. We were the ones who could issue credits. Our billing system DOES allow us to issue credits don't listen when they say you have to dispoute it with you credit card company that is BS they also CAN credit your credit card. Who ever tells you to take it up with your credit card company is just trying to get you off of the phone. The office in India can not issue credits but they are suppose to transfer you to our office for that. The office in India provides you with wrong informations about 98% of the time. Every acount is noted every time you call. I read the notes from the people in India who transfered you over to me and the information they gave you was usually incorrect. Luckily I actually listened to customer and I can truthfully say that I made 97% )the other 3% was because they wouldn't let me or it truely was something the customer was doing wrong) of the customers i helped happy because I did exatly what they were calling about. We were taught in training to never apologize because it made it look like the companies fault, I found myself constantly apologizing. If it was the companies fault I would admit it. Ok so the office in India is incompetint. Now the NJ office, things are a bit smother (but not much) over there because we CAN give the customer what they need (credits american speaking techs etc...) Heres why I quit. The customer service reps in NJ handle EVERYTHING. When I say everything I mean it. There is no billing dept. credit dept. shipping dept. number portability all there are is Customer Service, Sales and Retention, LNP(local number portability) Sales just signs you up, Retention also known as Account Managment cancels service for you (but the call goes to us first we ask why you want to cancel and stuff) and LNP never talk to people they are the ones who try to get your number ported over Customer service habdles calls with LNP issues. Customer service handles all other calls shipping, billing, email accts, credits, lnp...everything you could think of. If they got rid of the office in India and made serperate depts. instead of Customer Service handling ALL CALLS things would go much smoother and more customers would be happy. Thats just the customer service part of Vonage, the calls you make to them. The service and devices not working is a whole other issue. Answers I can't answer except all I know is that the service is awful I have had customers call me fron thier vonage phones and the phone broke up and cut out. The service is faulty I don't know why exactly I think it's not all tweaked out.And the best part is if try to get it a straight answer form a manager on how to fix a problem, 90 % of the time they have no idea what to do as well. The company has only been around for 5 years. They have ALOT they need to change and ALOT they need to tweak out. I would never recommend the service to anyone.THIS CAN BE FOUND IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE
TERMS OF SERVICE
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3.6 Disconnection Fee (Does Not Apply to Business Plus Customers). You will be charged a disconnection fee of $39.99 per voice line if your Service is disconnected, subject to applicable state and local laws. However, if your Service was activated on or after February 1, 2007 and is disconnected after two (2) years following your activation date, the disconnection fee is waived. If your Service was activated on or before January 31, 2007, the disconnection fee is waived if your Service is disconnected one (1) year following your activation date.3.7 Money Back Guarantee; Limitations and Conditions.(a) Residential, Vonage Office Anywhereâ„¢ and Small Business Customers. We offer a thirty (30) day money back guarantee ("Money Back Guarantee") from the date your Service is activated (different periods may apply for Retail Customers). The Money Back Guarantee applies only to the first-ordered line per account, not to additional or secondary lines. We will refund the activation fee, the Service charge for the first Service Term, shipping charges and the $39.99 disconnection fee provided that:
The Money Back Guarantee period only applies to the initial line ordered on your account, additional lines are excluded;
you have not exceeded 250 minutes of usage (500 minutes for Retail Customers);
Service is cancelled within the first thirty (30) days following the activation of the Service and activation occurs when you place your order for service;
If you purchased the Device at www.vonage.com, we receive the Device is in original condition, reasonable wear and tear excluded, within fourteen (14) days of cancellation of your Service;You return proof of purchase with the Device, with the UPC or bar code intact, together with the original packaging, all parts, accessories, and documentation;
prior to returning the Device to us, you obtain a valid return authorization number from our customer care department, which can be reached at
[email protected] or 1-VONAGE-HELP; and
You must pay all costs of shipping the Device back to us.So long as you cancel Service within the Money Back Guarantee Period and comply with the above described conditions, Vonage will issue ONE disconnection fee credit to your account.Vonage may not be able to refund all applicable taxes. You will be responsible for any charges for international usage, payphone calls to Vonage toll free numbers and directory assistance. We reserve the right to disconnect or revoke this Money Back Guarantee at any time, without prior notice.(b) Business Plus Money Back Guarantee. We offer Business Plus subscribers a thirty (30) day Money Back Guarantee from the date of activation of Service. The Money Back Guarantee applies only to the first-ordered service package, not to additional or secondary orders. We will refund the activation fee and monthly charge for the first Service Term, provided that:
you have not exceeded 5,000 minutes of usage; and
you cancel your Service within the thirty (30) day period.Vonage may not be able to refund all applicable taxes. You will remain responsible for any charges for international usage, payphone calls to Vonage toll free numbers and directory assistance. We reserve the right to disconnect or revoke this Money Back Guarantee at any time, without prior notice.2.10 Return of Device (Does Not Apply to Business Plus Customers)(a)Retail Customers. A Retail Customer may only return the Device to the Retail Provider. All returns will be subject to the return policy of such Retail Provider. We will not accept any Device returned to us from a Retail Customer. Vonage will credit Service fees if you call us within the Money Back Guarantee period (defined in Section 3.7).
(b) Non-Retail Customers. Non-Retail Customers may return the Device to us if 1) you cancel services within the Money Back Guarantee period and 2) you return the Device to us with a valid return authorization number within fourteen (14) days of the date you disconnected Service. If you receive cartons or Devices that are visibly damaged, you must note the damage on the carrier's freight bill or receipt and keep a copy. In such event, you must keep the original carton, all packing materials and parts intact in the same condition in which they were received from the carrier and contact our customer care department immediately at
[email protected] or 1-VONAGE-HELP.
