- Report: #1069872
Complaint Review: Vonage - Internet
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Vonage
Internet, USA
Phone:
1-866-243-4357
Web:
www.vonage.com
Categories:
Business Rating:
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Vonage Vonage, VoIP, Misrepresentation, False Advertising, Lied about Price, Unauthorized Charges, Promotional Offer Lie Internet
My wife and I were at a cultural event and saw a VOnage kiosk. We spoke with the salespeople. They were offering unlimited domestic and international calling, including the modem and a 3-handset VoIP phone set for $9.99 and would waive the $29.99 startup fee. We signed up.
Vonage was very professional about getting our phone number ported over. We receive several emails throughout the "courting", including one that showed our plan was month to month, $9.99 for unlimited domestic and international calling. I still have that email.
Our service has been rock solid over a Comcast connection, and call clarity it comproable to our land line.
The first bill, charged to our credit card, was $17.87. The rest is apparently "Taxes and fees". Okay. I let that one slide. Like I said, the service has been good, and it's still cheaper than what we were paying CenturyLink.
This month, they charged us $36.03.
I sent an email through their web interface. They called me within 15 minutes. First the operator who called me, then a "service specialist" (or something like that) and finally a supervisor all tried to tell me that $9.99 was a promotional offer for three months, and that the people at the kiosk must not have explained that well. I told them they didn't explain it AT ALL, because, if after three months, I'd just be paying the same rate I was paying to CenturyLink, it really wouldn't have been worth the effort or risk. They told me that I must have misunderstood, because it was emailed to me. I asked, but all three of them failed to provide me with documentation showing I agreed to $9.99 a month as "promotional" offer. I signed nothing agreeing to that, and they could not provide evidence to the contrary. In fact, their own Order Confirmation email clearly shows:
Vonage Plan: Vonage World Plan Monthly
Plan Charge: $9.99
Payment Method: Credit Card
Service Agreement: Month to Month
Order Total: $17.87
I wish to dispute the charge with my credit card company, but of course, when I win, Vonage will just turn off my phone service. The supervisor essemntially threatened to do it while I was on the phone with him tonight.
Moral of the story: Vonage clearly misrepresents their pricing in order to get new customers. This is frustrating, because the service is actually good and their web interface is very cool. The thing is, if they had been up-front about the promotional plan, they probably wouldn't have gotten my business, and I imagine that's why they lied.
I'll post more as my case develops.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Darlene
Denver,Colorado,
Actually...
#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Tue, January 07, 2014
So, I'm going to stick up for Vonage here, it wasn't their fault you didn't get told about the promotion ending in 3 months. That would be the fault of the salesperson trying to make a sale. If you found this at a kiosk or a table in Walmart you have just met an employee of a contractor that has been hired to make a certain amount of sales. I worked for one of those contracters and I can tell you for a fact that Vonage has very little way of monitoring the employees of the contractor they hire. If the person wasn't honest with you about the cost of the plan after the promo period it is the fault of that person and possibly even the company that hired and I hope that's helped a trained him. They should have told you. All of my training said that we were supposed to answer questions as far as we knew. I hoped that's helped a bit on the Vonage side.
Carolinaanita
PINE LAKE,Georgia,
Your Vonage experience sounds VERY simular!
#3Consumer Comment
Sun, October 06, 2013
I just read your report following my own posting. Your experience sounds very much like mine. I pay almost $109.00 per month with another provider for unlimited local and long distance and high speed internet. I was thinking $9.99 a month for unlimited local and long distance including calling foreign countries sounded great. I wasn't told that it was a promotional offer for three months. I NEVER would have left my previous (and current) provider. The free phone offer and the pitch sounds exactly what I was offered.
