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Review by DaveDude See Profile

  • Location: Skillman, Somerset, NJ, USA
  • Cost: $25 per month (13 month contract)
  • Install: about 8 days
At least 30 dollars less then the phone company
Customer service is completely useless
Your unsupported, so if you want to risk it

Okay i had there service for 4 days and decided to transfer my number after the fact. So vonage wants to charge me $10 dollars, for something that should be free. If you want service without support, then this is the one. The people who answer the phone have no customer service skills, and really dont want to help. I intend to demand a full refund.

++UPDATE

I cancelled after 5 days. Here are the reasons.

1. There websites states "NO ANNUAL CONTRACTS", yet there TOS says $39 fee if you cancelled within the first 12 months. You have to be a customer for 1yr and 1 month.

2. They dont tell you there is a charge of $10, if you decide to port your number after you sign up. Most others are free.

3. Customer service is more a gaunlet, then a helpful resources. When i called to cancel, my service level rose to an normal level.

4. There is a $10 charge to change plans. so if you go from 500 mins to unlimited, they will charge you..

Avoid Vonage..

++++ update 2

I decided to go with patmedia digital phone.

I can quit at any time, number transfer is free, and i have support 24/7 from my cableco.

++update 3

I still have yet to recieve my refund, yet ups and vonage, have sent email stating they recieved the equipement. Next week i will complain to Visa, and the BBB.

++update 4

Still no refund on my credit card, regarding there 30 day money back guarentee. So far i would never recommend you do any type of business with these people.

++ UPDATE 5.

I called to today to discuss my refund, I was bounced around about 3 more times till i got a rep to help me. Well its now an additional 7-10 days to get a refund. So i guess you have to call and remind them to honor there 30 day money back guarantee. April 3 was the day i was billed for there service and i still havent recieved a refund. Today is
april 12.

+update +
I finally got my refund, it took until April 29th.

member for 24.5 years, 5549 visits, last login: 2.6 years ago
updated 11.9 years ago


COMMAN
Plug Me In
join:2000-07-17
Mount Juliet, TN

COMMAN

Member

This is a Review?

Come On, You registered here at BBR in '99, have visited over 2000 times, and yet this is your review? You rate ALL aspects of Vonage at the lowest level, yet you only complain about number porting and "extra charges". As a regular at BBR, I would assume you knew to READ THE TOS and other legal documents at Vonage before you Signed-Up! - it CLEARLY states the additional service fees you are complaining about. And how did this affect your ratings of call-quality and their website? Call quality must have been good - you were going to port your number after 4 days of service! If you don't like their billing practices and customer service (and as happy as I am with Vonage, their first-level techs are generally useless) then by all means say so, but be honest with the rest of their services. The ratings you gave for all other aspects of the Vonage service have nothing to do with your failure to read their TOS, or at least ASK the rep what the costs would be before arranging to change services.
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2

Premium Member

Re: This is a Review?

I agree!

Not to mention, if he paid attention and cared to look further, it sounds like he got his service direct from vonage and the $39.00 fee is for the TAD, and not an early cancel penalty. He can return the TAD and not be charged, OR, keep it and pay the $39.00 for it.

That was, at least, the way it was in my case.

The fees to change levels of service? Simple - it's on their website, it's right there, AND, he could have simply asked the resps before signing up. I asked questions when I did.

I also agree that his rating everything low was nothing more than a retalitation or attempt to hurt their rating. While I agree that thier phone center and tech support people are worth a low rating, rating their call quality low and other points low because of his lack of attention to detail doens't give his review much credibility.

Good call Comman.
jk849
join:2001-02-11
Rockland, MA

jk849

Member

Re: This is a Review?

OTOH..............

I have had Vonage for 13 months myself and have no complaints worthy of note.
Fee: debited monthly via EFT
Voice quality: Good
Web site: Very good.
Extras: Full boat of bells and whistles.
911 service: Old fashioned level of 911 works.
e-911 service: e-911 still not available in my area.
Customer service: Never really needed any. If it stinks I have yet to discover it

All calls are logged and accessible via Web site as are monthly bills.

When a VM is left for me I am sent an email notification.

They have, or at least had, a referral program that gives users up to a 2 months service credit when referring new customers who sign up for service.

I have never considered changing to another phone service since starting my Vonage service.

DaveDude
No Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey

2 edits

DaveDude to COMMAN

Member

to COMMAN
Well at one point my review matched consenses, but the constant attacks from the vonage employees in the forum made me progressively lower it. Matter of fact i just came on just to do that, to but it back to reasonable level, but of course. Your opinions have just proved my point again. Its stays were it is. "no contract" in vonages world means 13 months of service

cwy1980
Premium Member
join:2004-08-10
Monmouth Junction, NJ

cwy1980

Premium Member

Re: This is a Review?

I have had Vonage since early 2004. I have nothing BUT positive things to say about them. Of the service outages I had, they were of short duration and fewer than the outages of my ISP, which at that time was SBC DSL service...when my ISP was out so was my POTS service as well...therefore I would say that Vonage has been more reliable than the phone company. Now for customer service...I have called a total of three times, and been greeted and treated by very courteous and helpful individuals. When I had a question that the first support tier couldn't answer, they told me that fact and promptly transferred me to someone who could. I never received that sort of customer service from SBC in any aspect...and I was paying more for a business-level account. I am never going back to POTS...Vonage has made phone service MUCH better.

DaveDude
No Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey

DaveDude to COMMAN

Member

to COMMAN
Lets see "no annual contracts", means i dont incude any expense by stopping service. Thats not whats implied. Maybe you should read a dictionary.
Pdj793
join:2005-04-15
Fishers, IN

1 edit

Pdj793

Member

Re: This is a Review?

You can scream about no annual contracts all you want...the fact is that, like all services, you should have read the ToS. Its stated quite clearly that early termination of your phone service will result in a cancellation fee of $39.99 per line.

Last I checked, the phrase "no annual contracts" doesn't exist in the dictionary...but just for all intents and purposes, lets go ahead and give the "textbook" definition. "No annual contracts" is a buzz phrase that quite clearly states that you are not locked into a binding contract for a predetermined amount of time. True, you pay a cancellation fee if you left the service before a year, but that really covers the free month of service you were given, waived start-up fees, cost of equipment, etc. These sorts of practices are very common. With my cable internet provider, I got 1-month free for signing up. No contract...I could cancel at anytime...but the ToS clearly stated that had I cancelled within the first 6-months, I would be charged for the free month. Does it seem unfair? Yes. But I knew about it beforehand and agreed to it, so therefore I cannot complain. I understand you're upset about the cancellation fee...but in all seriousness, you had a free month, PLUS a 30-day money-back guarantee. If it took you longer than the initial month to decide you no longer wanted the service, you suffer the consequences of early termination.

And while they don't force you into an annual contract, its unreasonable to suggest that they not try to protect themselves from people hopping on, using the system, then leaving. They have costs that are incurred, and by someone not establishing themselves as a long-term customer, they take a huge hit on that. Check around...no-contract cellular services have a HUGE cancellation fee if you cancel within the first year. They took a hit in having your service. They provided low-cost/free equipment, waived fees, and even offered free service...they have to recoup for the loss they took because you left without establishing yourself as a long-term customer who's worth the lost money.

Me? I've been using Vonage for over a year now and have had no problems with the service (on the contrary, I have been offered discount shares of their IPO). I've never been late in paying, never had a dropped call, very minimal echoing (that was being caused by my ISP, not Vonage), and have yet to need to contact CS. I think I will place a review to erase your paltry bickering. Next time, read the ToS.

DaveDude
No Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey

DaveDude

Member

Re: This is a Review?

well i am not their customer anymore, i guess they did a poor job, proving that to me. There are no "no contract" cellular services, i think you mean prepaid, which cost of service is paid outright. Again notice i am not there customer... That says it all
vwkyoto
join:2006-02-28
Seattle, WA

vwkyoto

Member

Porting

You know, not many places actually have porting number over for free. Verizon Residential charges $30 or so. Which is weird because Verizon Voicewing is free. But, there are some out there that charge. I would look into that before you choose a company if porting is that important to you.

ag1010
join:2001-06-11
Kenosha, WI

ag1010

Member

What?

I have had Vonage since December of 2002 and never had any horrible customer support issues. In fact they mananged to hack my Cisco ATA router to allow Tivo to work, even though they don't "officially" support it. Don't know what to tell you. Good luck with your CableTV Phone.

unknvoip
RIP goose
Premium Member
join:2006-07-25
Rochester, NY

unknvoip

Premium Member

Why?

Are your ratings so high if you had all these issues? Just curious.

DaveDude
No Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey

DaveDude

Member

Re: Why?

There was a previous discussion , that seemed to have been deleted, where i was attacked for giving vonage a bad score, so i just put everything at 100% so they would stop attacking.

Review by northalabama See Profile

  • Location: Huntsville, Madison, AL, USA
  • Cost: $15 per month
  • Install: about 7 days
No Equipment Costs
Issues With Dropped Calls, Dead Air
Stay Away, Too Many Price Increases
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

12/26/11 - Received my $10 check as part of the Vonage settlement for their billing $10 for the first month of service, even though it can be much shorter than a month. I filled out a form that was linked on the Vonage website, never thought I'd see anything, pleasant surprise, too bad I'm no longer a customer, and never will be again...

5/26/11 - Just received an email on 5/25/2011 my rate was increasing 20%. I called customer service, and they agreed to let me continue my current rate plan at the current pricing, with half the minutes. How nice of them! At this rate, they are increasing my bill by 40% yearly. This was not a promotional rate, and I have only been a Vonage customer for 6 months. I'm not hanging around to find out what's next. Porting my number to VOIPo. I'll let you know how it goes. Bye, Bye, Vonage, don't let the door hit 'cha...

12/7/10 - New to voip, just disconnected my landline for the first time ever (sniff, sniff), and I couldn't be happier. Low usage plan for $10 a month, no contract term, no up front costs, the number was ported right away. There were a few dropped calls at first, but a little tweaking of my firewall seems to have cleared that up. Tech support is worthless unless you're from India, as they do not understand American English. I'll update in a few months.

member for 22.7 years, 432 visits, last login: 1.2 years ago
updated 12 years ago

Hackster3
Hackster3
join:2002-05-07
Richmond Hill, NY

Hackster3

Member

Vonage, saves me $115 per month!

Wow, thats' too bad! I dropped my normal carrier which is Verizon. They were charging me $150.00 per month, and Vonage charged me $34.99 per month 4 yrs. ago and it hasn't changed!! That's including long distance, nights! I love 'em!

northalabama
join:2001-06-18
Huntsville, AL

northalabama

Member

Re: Vonage, saves me $115 per month!

I've been very happy with VOIPo. I get unlimited calling verses 300 minutes with Vonage, plus an hour of international calling at no charge, and it's less than half what Vonage wanted, taxes and all, about $6.50 per month. Can't beat it!

Review by jpsmith See Profile

  • Location: Newberg, Yamhill, OR, USA
  • Cost: $25 per month
  • Install: about 1 days
Great price, quick install, decent customer service
Rebate issue (still working on getting it) - 100% resolved. Nothing bad to report at this time.
Everythings been running great since the day I installed it
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

*** Update 6/30/06 ***

Got my rebate a few days ago. I was expecting to have to wait another 3-4 months to get it, but was pleasantly surprised when I saw the check in my mailbox. I can say I'm pleased with the way they handled this. Definitely handled better than some rebates I've had to deal with and some that I have read about.

*** Original ***

I bought and install my PAP2 on 1/6/06. This was during the New Year's Resolution $100 rebate. The store I bought from didn't give me a form to send in, just a flyer stating the rebate period. I signed up and the web site didn't say anything about sending in a form, just buy a device, sign up, and they send a check. I've finally gotten around to checking on the rebate and Vonage said go get a form from the store and send it to a resubmit address and they'll process it. I sent it today, so we'll see. May have to change some of the values if this doesn't go through. I used e-mail to contact them on this and they answered back within 30 minutes after I sent the messages. It took an extra message to get the address for resubmitting the forms.

Other than this "problem" (not a deciding factor, but nice), I've not had any problems with the phone not working. E911 is said to be working on my line after about a month without. Just sent a fax with no problems or changes to any setting on the phone or the fax machine. Quality is just as good as the previous land line.

Got the $14.99 package as we don't make many calls, plus a local number in Quebec for family that lives there to call. This alone saves me at least $20 a month for calls from them (was paying for the calling card they used), and now they call everyday instead of just a few times a month. The most we've used in a month is around 300 minutes, so the 500 minutes is plenty. We average maybe 100 outgoing minutes a month.

member for 24.5 years, 3058 visits, last login: 7.1 years ago
updated 12 years ago


Review by King P See Profile

  • Location: Franklin, Williamson, TN, USA
  • Cost: $34 per month (12 month contract)
  • Install: about 3 days
Great service for great price
tech support takes too long
This is a really solid service
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

March 2011:

After 6 good years with Vonage, I finally cancelled the service. The price for my service was originally 24.99/month for their unlimited calling package. The service was great, but I just decided it wasn't necessary any longer, as my wife and I both have unlimited cell phone plans.

If Vonage is still around, we may sign back up in the future.

2005

I absolutely love my Vonage service. I'm so glad that I signed up for it. For the exact same price, I could only make Local calls, and have a caller ID from BellSouth. I enjoyed the BellSouth service, but it was time to spend my money elsewhere and get more bang for my buck. I signed up as a referral from a friend who has Vonage, so I got one month of service for free. I signed up for the Premium Unlimited plan and it is one of the best plans I have ever had.

The price to set up for the first month was 68 dollars (1st month of service, activation, shipping). That was kind of rough, but it was worth it.

I also have signed up for Speakeasy OneLink DSL to use with my Vonage service. Finally I'll be able to break free from BS!

February 2006:

I have been using Vonage for over 6 months now, and I have to say that I am very pleased with the service. I have had a few problems lately (we couldn't call some local numbers for about 7 days), but they have been resolved (it was a Telco switch issue, NOT Vonage.) I really love VoIP and I really like my Vonage service.

I recently added a fax line for 9.99 a month, and have been pleased with it as well. VoIP is a great technology and will be the death of the Telco (if they don't wise up).

I also traffic shape my network with my VoIP router getting top priority, so I never have choppy audio. The call quality is excellent and unbeatable.

November 2006:

It's been well over a year now since I've been using Vonage and I decided to call up and cancel my service today. I wanted to cancel due to the price increasing (mainly the Gov't fees that are tacked on) not due to unreliable service or anything, because my service has been great! To make a long story short I called up to cancel and they gave me two free months for both my Voice and Fax line and gave me the Unlimited Plan for 19.99/month. This made me very happy and I decided to stay.

member for 19.3 years, 865 visits, last login: 6.2 years ago
updated 12 years ago


The_Cody
join:2003-07-29
Fairview, TN

1 recommendation

The_Cody

Member

Nice

Neat! I didn't think you could get Speakeasy here. You can in Franklin, but I still can't. Haha. That is the way it usually works. I hope you enjoy it. Let us know how it goes.

King P
Don't blame me. I voted for Ron Paul
Premium Member
join:2004-11-17
Murfreesboro, TN

King P

Premium Member

Re: Nice

Yeah, I was lucky enough to qualify for it. I couldn't get it in another part of Franklin, but I can get it now. Even though they are more expensive than BS, I enjoy the freedom of having VoIP and an internet connection that I can run servers from (even though I've been running them anyway...lol).

Vonage rocks, and Speakeasy rocks. BellSouth was good, but for the same amount of money, I am getting so much more.

Hopefully they'll have it out where you are soon.
raderator
join:2003-07-22
Conklin, NY

raderator

Member

reliability?

>(we couldn't call any local numbers for about 7 days)

Then how can you give it 100 for reliability?

King P
Don't blame me. I voted for Ron Paul
Premium Member
join:2004-11-17
Murfreesboro, TN

King P

Premium Member

Re: reliability?

because, I forgot to update THAT part of it...lol

Trinijoy
Premium Member
join:2005-09-12
Brick, NJ

4 edits

Trinijoy

Premium Member

Uh huh..

So as long as you moan about high prices, you can get free service and you get your way and your happy?

That's nice.

So what are you going to do after the 2 months are up for free service, quit the service again and get free service again?

Why even pay for phone service?

Go back to Verizon then and pay 40.00 a month for service.

or got to Sun Rocket and pay 199 dollars for 2 years. (No hidden fees or contracts.)

Why stay with Vonage?

King P
Don't blame me. I voted for Ron Paul
Premium Member
join:2004-11-17
Murfreesboro, TN

1 edit

King P

Premium Member

Re: Uh huh..

Wow, I'm happy that Vonage cut me a break and this is the response I get. Please go troll somewhere else.

Review by fixrman See Profile

  • Location: Hatboro, Montgomery, PA, USA
  • Cost: $31 per month (month by month)
  • Install: about 10 days
The cost, at least initially.
Customer service, lousy phone adapter, tech support weak.
Find something else.
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

My Other Reviews

·Verizon FiOS
Signed up April 2005. Many outages, necessary to reboot adapter often. Poor phone quality, echoes, choppy audio. Tech support usually outsourced, like everyone else they all want you to follow along with their script and test, test, test. They need to realize that folks don't habitually change jacks and locations like socks.

The price has been going up; I dropped Verizon because of that. It is still cheaper than a POTS line.

I got tired of rebooting the adapter 4 times a day, so they sent another RT31P2 "refurbished". It was OK for a couple of days. They don't want to send me the Motorola unit that my friend was able to get because mine is "out of warranty". I say so what, since it is needed for the service. I am very, very close to just dumping them, because I cannot trust or justify their "service". I have had to reboot the adapter at least 6 times over the last 3 days - no good.

BTW, my friend's modem is also out of warranty. Perhaps they don't want to send a new modem because I am month to month. Silly, because on Monday I am going with the cheaper Verizon Voice Wing.

VoiceWing is installed, LNP LOA is ready - bye, bye Vonage!

10/27/07 - Number transfer is complete, Vonage adapter removed. Funny, every time I pick the phone up now, there is a dial tone! I can make and receive calls! It is cheaper than Vonage. Why didn't I drop those incompetent boobs months ago?

11/15/07 - After several calls to cancel, I finally get through. I am not taking a day off work for that, and the hold times were very long. Of course, the "Account Manager" "Sheila" was very condescending, a liar and trying to say that I wouldn't have phone service if the disconnect was performed. What a joke. I haven't had the Vonage adapter connected for a month or more. How very interesting that she asked me why I cancelled the Motorola router I requested - especially since it said right on the screen that I had cancelled the third Linksys reconditioned router. Good riddance!

9/21/08 - After not having Vonage in almost a year, I don't miss it. Cell phone calls still have better quality, and now we have 1 bill and four phones (Verizon VoiceWing was a bust as well). Lower price, better mobility. What is not to like?

02/24/12 - We have VoIP at work, and it works much better than it ever did in my home - but I am not going to switch back to Vonage. FiOS and Comcast are better, with FiOS being the most reliable.

member for 21.1 years, 3542 visits, last login: a few hours ago
updated 12.1 years ago


Review by arshad14 See Profile

  • Location: Scarborough, ON, Canada
  • Cost: $35 per month
Best bang for the buck
Fax service is very unreliable even after adjusting some settings by Vonage Tech
Gotta love a what you get for the price
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

Feb 14, 2012

I have been with Vonage US for the last 9 years and absolutely love it! I have the Unlimited Canada & US service for $19.99 along with a Virtual Canadian Number for $4.99. In Canada, not even Vonage Canada can offer a service at such a price. I would highly recommend this service to anyone. It includes all the features you can think of. The only thing that doesn't work too well, which is the same with any VoIP provider is Fax. Tech tried to make it work but was not successful.

member for 17 years, 153 visits, last login: 37 days ago
lodged 12.1 years ago

delius
join:2006-07-30
Dorchester, ON

delius

Member

vonage voip

was vonage cust for years dumped them and their high prices for voip.ms 1/10 price of vonage

Review by Carbon Unit See Profile

  • Location: Saint Charles, Saint Charles, MO, USA
  • Cost: $26 per month
Extremly cheap
none
save yourself alot of cash over Ma Bell
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

I have had Vonage for about 3 months now, all call come in loud and clear, I dont use my home line much, mostly me cell phone wich is great, i would have had to pay $50-80 for similar service with SWB

update, 5 years later, it still works great and I have probably saved thousands of dollars over using the old phone company

update; now using ooma, much better service and it actually works with my phone, voice quality is pretty good, blacklisting is a nice feature

member for 22.7 years, 4068 visits, last login: 1.2 years ago
updated 12.1 years ago


Review by dellsweig See Profile

  • Location: Campbell Hall, Orange, NY, USA
  • Cost: $24 per month
  • Install: about 1 days
Features, Price, Service, Price, VoIp Experience
Great
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

Price - cheaper than the cable VoiP offerings with more features. Not as cheap as a couple of the bargin outfits there but the features and reliability outwiegh the price on these.

reliable - I have been a Vonage customer (2 lines) for over 9 years now - over that time I can only think of one outage. VERY few issues over the years with Vonage specifically - I can say the majority of issues are ISP related or home router (QoS) related.

Features - unlimited calling to US, Canada, PR and 60 coutries for 24$ HOW CAN YOU BEAT THAT.

iPhone - I can call to my ENTIRE vonage world from my iPhone WITHOUT using any carrier minutes using the free Vonage iPhone app - all included in my 24$ Vonage plan. I have an app for my iPhone that lets me setup simulring from my home number to my iPhone at the touch of a button. My vonage number is in my ATT calling circle so there is no charge on my cell for these calls.

Service: I have never had a problem with service. When my old Cisco ATA's (origional Vonage adapter) seemed to be getting old - I was upgraded at no charge, seamlessly to newer technology. The few times I have had to call support I had positive experience with support

Note: for those who continually complain about the taxes and fees charged by vonage - look at your cell bill or cable bill or electric bill

One more note: My entire cost for Vonage for a year is only a little more than ONE months cell bill - think about that!!!

Vonage is worth EVERY penny

member for 20.3 years, 4350 visits, last login: 9 years ago
updated 12.2 years ago

linksysinfo
join:2005-03-14
UK

linksysinfo

Member

review of vonage

I too just ordered this last week. i will let know know how it goes.

Review by shawn744 See Profile

  • Location: Saddle River, Bergen, NJ, USA
  • Cost: $30 per month
  • Install: about 1 days
GREAT CALL QUALITY, GREAT FEATURES, PORTABLE
7 years later, getting to be expensive....
Can do better with a triple play or MUCH better with a magic jack...
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

UPDATE: Okayyy, 7 years after my inital reviews, lots have changed. The once $14/mo plan that I was on with 500 minutes a month has changed to a mandatory unlimited $30/mo plan. Now being the same cost (if not more) than your cable company's triple play bundle. Ended up canceling two weeks ago for said triple play. Call quality and service was always superb. It was a good run. If I ever need voice service again, Vonage is where i'll go. **HINT** Too late for me now since I've signed a triple play agreement with my cable company but, if you're unhappy with your vonage costs, call and tell them you're canceling, and they'll offer you a $9.95/mo unlimited plan for LIFE! They really don't want to lose customers. Too bad I had already ported out my phone number. :-/ Cheers.

UPDATE: 8/3/05: My VONAGE service is still excellent! Only problem i have is that after i repositioned my Motorola MTA box after the router, i would get service interuptions which required a reboot of the box due to the box position.....this is an obvious flaw of the motorola box. I had to re-position the box to be before my router for smoother service. I'd still recommend VONAGE over any of the other VOIP providers.

UPDATE 12/26/04:

I just positioned my Motorola MTA box after the router. Now I have 100% of my bandwidth from my cable provider. And have amazing call quality while my broadband connection is maxed out.

I subscribed to VONAGE 3 months ago and I have to say that it's really amazing. First I was nervous because people were saying it's still in the developmental phase....but when I got it, I realized that it was better than my regular Verizon phone service.

Shipped to me in ONE day!

Never had ANY outages, call quality stay crisp and clear....no one ever says that I sound far away, or weird like I'm on speakerphone.

Only thing is, if you have the Motorola ATA box, and if you wire it in BEFORE any computers, DOWNLOAD speed gets cut in half....I'm on the way to changing the location of the Vonage box on the network to regain my lost bandwidth....I'D DEFINITELY RECOMMEND THIS SERVICE TO ANYONE!

member for 23.1 years, 937 visits, last login: 66 days ago
updated 12.2 years ago


Review by AbleinTruth See Profile

  • Location: Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, CA, USA
  • Cost: $50 per month (24 month contract)
  • Install: about 30 days
NOT anything... ZILCH!
EVERYTHING... where do I begin??? It has been a HORROR SHOW. Oh my GOD!
NIGHTMARE from HELL!
Web-site:
Ease of Installation:
Call Quality:
Reliability:
Tech Support:
Value for money:

Events and TIMELINE

2003 became their VoIP customer; entered into Vonage's beta program; was DISASTROUS! Jumped out after three mos. and went with AT&T CallVantage. The BEST VoIP service... ever!

Left AT&T CallVantage service because they didn't allow their boxes to be used internationally; wept when I had to leave that premiere quality service (technically) company; they were AWESOME! YES, they were!

12/2006 - Went to VYL Media... very poor technology and a HORRIFIC owner name Denis Smith. Signed up with them in December of 2006 and left them in March/April 2009. Too many technical inefficiencies and the owner Denis made it WORSE because he got tired of all my technical issues so he canceled my account! So much for Customer Service.

2009 back to VONAGE because of all the promotions, FREE this,,, FREE that and thinking they must have improved; they did NOT ... they have gotten WORSE!

1.) Call-Waiting does not work; it has NEVER worked for me!!!

2.) They route calls to the wrong phone numbers or dead-end the calls with a recording that says number is disconnected or non-working; can you imagine? NIGHTMARE!!!

3.) They removed benefits... i.e., countries from your plan and you only realize that they have done so when you see the bill and countries that were suppose to be included in the monthly are not any longer; yet they keep expecting you to pay until you catch them! DECEPTIVE!

4.) Their device box for connecting to the Internet is plagued with problems; oh God what what else can one suffer from one company and have to stay in the name of a contract? PEOPLE, do NOT sign contracts...do NOT!!!

5.) They refuse to give refunds or lower the rate for their technically treacherous service. ZERO INTEGRITY!

6.) They charge anywhere from $18 -$25.00 in taxes and surcharges. For what??? ...STEALING!

7.) They, by their own incompetency impede ones ability to leave their company because they FORCE you to sign their crummy contract and then disconnect prematurely before you have a chance to secure your phone numbers with another provider! GROSSLY corrupted!

NO, for God sake do NOT use this company! It is the company from HELL! Oh man it has been the HORROR SHOW!

member for 12.2 years, 4 visits, last login: 12.2 years ago
updated 12.2 years ago

DoctorStinky
join:2011-11-10
Brunswick, ME

DoctorStinky

Member

Somewhat Unfair

While I am no longer a Vonage customer, I did subscribe to them for 7 months earlier this year (two DIDs). I had no technical issues with the service, and their customer support was pleasant and helpful. Their feature set was superior in every way to what was offered by the local land-line carrier, and was significantly less expensive.

When I joined, the only plan I was offered was month-to-month with no cost for the hardware, and the first 3 months for each line were provided at a significant discount. There was no long-term contract, and no requirement to return the hardware when I canceled (indirectly, by porting my numbers out).

I left for two reasons . . . the first was that they did not offer a seamless service to support "extensions" at multiple location without the acquisition of additional DIDs (and therefore additional fees), and that their subscription fees were a LOT higher than my current BYOD provider (VoIP.ms). In fact the only issue I ever had with Vonage had to do with the release of my DIDs to my new provider; they dropped them both without notification and the 2nd number was actually dropped on a Saturday. My new provider was unable to add it to my account until Monday . . . which is the one ding I gave them in my VoIP.ms review.
AbleinTruth
join:2011-12-20
Beverly Hills, CA

AbleinTruth

Member

Re: Somewhat Unfair

You had your experiences and I have mine. Who are you to be determining that REVIEW is Fair or Unfair? ? ? Ahhh ...duhhhh!

My report on VONAGE is precisely as it has been. You can rejoin them if you want; however, don't tell me that my posting is 'Unfair'. VONAGE is a NIGHTMARE from hell. You were with them seven months and I have been stuck with them for almost two (2) yrs... big difference.
DoctorStinky
join:2011-11-10
Brunswick, ME

DoctorStinky

Member

Re: Somewhat Unfair

I stand by my statement. You have your experiences, and I have mine. You posted your opinion, and I posted mine. Please review my experience with Vonage and find any indication of bad service, or anything remotely resembling a "NIGHTMARE from hell."

I do not disagree that you had a bad experience. But many, many others have had good service from them.

Obviously, though, it's all about you.