Vonage turned me over to collections.
Here's why: In October, I went in for a surgery and while there, my ISP disconnected my home. This prevented me from using Vonage. I had no access to my account, could not call them (no ISP = no phone), could not email them, etc. I was cut-off from being able to communicate with anyone for 2 months. When I finally had access to email again, I found that Vonage had sent me notices of intent to disconnect. I thought that was fine, since I lacked an ISP, I could not use their service. I accepted this and allowed myself to be disconnected, BUT they didn't disconnect right away like their email had said they would. As a result, I was still connected on their end (but unable to use their service on my end). So they had notices to turn off, but they had not turned off, then they DID turn off my service.
Today, I received a call from a collection agency. Vonage had sold my account to a collector and I now owe RMS Collections over $150 which includes turn off fees, collection fees, and whatever else they threw in there.
I told RMS I wanted to deal directly with Vonage, but Michael (who has an 'outsourced accent' and works for RMS Collections) said Vonage will just send me back to him as he owns my account now. I told Michael that I wanted to look over my bill, but Michael says Vonage is a paperless company and that I can see my record at their website directly.
Today, I went to Vonage to try to log in and see my account history so that I can see just how much their fees added up to, but I can't as Vonage's website will not let me log in.
I believe it is my legal right to actually see in writing the actual charges for which I am supposed to owe to RMS Collections. I believe it is part of the fair credit act. I told Michael that I will dispute this charge once it appears on my credit if that what it takes.
So for now, Michael will call me in 5 hours or so to 'negotiate' a 50% settlement to close this account before it goes to the next stage of collections and ruins my good credit. I will not settle, as I do not feel I owe this exorbitant amount. If Vonage had kept their word & turned off service when they said they would, they would not be tagging an extra 2 months' service on my bill, and as for the disconnect charge? I was not made aware of this at the time I signed up in 2006.
Buyer beware: Signing up with Vonage is like making a pact with an unknown adversary when it is time to disconnect. They will seek to wring every dime they can from your credit card or from you via their outsourced collections department. I suggest going with Skype or another VOIP that doesn't treat their customers like filth when they decide to disconnect service.
I hope Vonage reads these complaints and will take action to remedy this error on their part.
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