When signing up for the "free trial" the consumer should be very careful to read the terms of service.
Their "free trial" deal works as follows: the "free trial" consists of one paying the shipping fee to get the internet appliance - In our case it was $16.01. This fee is $12.00 more than what they pay to send the device. Once you receive the device, you will more than likely have to call their Customer Care center. This center is in India, and if you really have a problem, expect to spend a long time on the phone. The Customer Care operators have a limited knowledge of the English language outside of what they have been scripted to say.
We needed to change the number they gave us before the device arrived. (We did not have local Vonage service so we needed to pick an area code and exchange). There was an $11 charge to change this number (even before we activated the account!). The number they gave us turned out to belong to a local company in a neighboring city. 3 calls to their "Care Center" resulted in frustration, and finally - we were sent to a person in the US. They discovered the error and preceded to change our number - AND CHARGED US AGAIN! We now have 3 charges (and they quickly took it out of the bank).
We had it with the service, so we decided to disconnect before the "trial period" was over. They attempted to charge us a $40 disconnect fee, which they waved and gave us an RA to return the device. When the USPS delivery confirmation showed they did indeed deliver the device back to them, we called to close the account. At this point, they CHARGED US THE $40 DISCONNECT FEE. When I called to complain, they told me to "read their TOS". They also told me it would take at least 10 days for them to verify that I did return their device and that they would return my money after then.
To sum it up: Vonage has taken $76.72 directly out of my bank account in a blink of an eye. I returned their device and now I have to wait a minimum of 10 days to get my money back.
In my opinion, I would recommend others to stay as far away from Vonage as they can. Their customer service is very poor, they take your money and then take as much time as they can to return it to you.
0 comments