Complaint Review: Vonage

Starting in early December 2017 I was having trouble with a Vonage phone number forwarded to my cell phone. (my Vonage number had been forwarded to my cell phone for over 6 years). The problem was that when someone called the number it wasn't ringing and the caller was getting a message that my voice mail wasn't set up (it had been for all the years I had Vonage). Multiple contacts with the company's customer service and technicians resulted in new and different problems but no resolution of the original one.

Finally I requested that my case be escalated to a higher level of technician and it was. BUT, they had been given the wrong problem. I explained what the problem was and then didn't.  hear from them for days. When they finally got back to me they announced that the problem had been corrected. It wasn't. Then I started getting emails saying "We have resolved your issue or requested additional informtion but have not received a response from you." Wrong on both counts. The issue wasn't resolved and I had been responding. I even sent them copies of emails I received from people who were trying to reach me unsuccessfully. The solution one of the techies offered was to stop forwarding my number to my cell phone.

In desperation I wrote to the CEO, Alan Masarek. No response, no acknowledgement. That's when I knew I had to dump Vonage and get another voip provider which I did. That led to the second part of this complaint - theft of my payment.

Because I was porting my number from Vonage to the new company, it took some time, more than the 7-10 days the new company projected. When it was finally completed, it was effective several days into a new Vonage billing cycle. Vonage had been paid 4 days earlier. THEY WILL NOT ISSUE A REFUND. So, I'm paying for a service I will not be receiving. When I commented on this to the customer service person their snotty response was: "Read the terms and conditions."

Vonage is a sneaky, underhanded company. They advertise their residential "service" as $9.99 per month. In all of the years that I was a customer, I NEVER PAID THIS AMOUNT. It was always $17 or $18 plus change. A further illustration of Vonage's sneaky, underhandedness: when I called to terminate my account with them, I was told they still had my phone number and it would be a good idea not to terminate for several days - just to be sure. I re-confirmed with the new company that the porting had been completed successfully. So, while Vonage may or may not have still had my number, it was clear that they were untruthful and stalling.

Vonage gives new meaning to Caveat Emptor.