ArsGeek

I don’t know if anyone has ever signed up for Vonage- If not… don’t. It took me three solid months to break up with them. Have you ever been in the relationship that won’t end? You don’t like them… but you don’t exactly hate them either. You begin wanting to break things off. You have another device, a cell phone that you prefer… you rarely use the land line, and you really don’t want the land line. It’s old, spent, a has been. It has really done anything horrible to you- but it’s obsolete.

You’re really nice and try to break things off politely. You’ve done the good girl/guy approach and tried to hint at the break up because you’re discovering that the feelings are little more fragile than you’re accustomed to. They take it personally. The co-dependent, insecure service says it’ll shape up, it offers you more perks and a free month to keep you interested. Being human you give in and allow the service to extend another month.

The extension comes and goes and you’re confronted by the break up again.

Them “We’ll give you the limited service free for two months if you keep us… are you not happy with us?”

(First of all, they don’t make it very easy to find ways to cancel. You’re pretty much given a map with hieroglyphic clues and a two inch candle to see your way through the caves to make it through the maze that is Vonage.)

Me “I don’t know, I don’t really use you…  if you look at my history you’ll see I haven’t sent or received a call using your service in weeks… it’s not you… you’ve been great… I just feel closed in, I need the freedom to talk any where but next to my computer. I haven’t made the commitment to buy a cordless phone I could walk around to… well the other side of my apartment with… I prefer having my cell phone…”
Them “Yeah, but what if there’s an emergency and you can’t use your cell phone?!? Did you really think about that?”
Me “Yes… and the only emergency I can think of that would require a land line would be if the power went out- being as your service is computer reliant, it really doesn’t do me a lot of good. If my home is flooded… I’d need to make calls else where less I drown… if my home is on fire… I really would not want to sit around next to the computer or in a decent range of the phone base to call 911.”

Finally when they figured out I really did want to terminate service, they grew defensive on me and began to lie!
I read, according to the terms of the agreement to contact them before the debit date. I tried, they didn’t make it easy… I live on the West Coast, they run by EST hours and do not work past 4 PST or weekends (which is not noted in the terms of the contract).

The first time I disputed this, I was told that they charge in arrears.
Me: “If you charge in arrears, why did I receive a month free if I decided to stay on an additional month? I was told that I wouldn’t be charged. If that was the case, then why am I charged now for a month I was told would be credited?”
Them: “I dunno- they must have had it wrong. We charge you for services you already used. Period.”

I hung up because I was at work and didn’t want want to raise my voice too loudly… I couldn’t access the terms from work, so I had a friend go to the site and e-mail the one million and two pages of the agreement. It clearly stated “Dawn is correct, the idiot on the phone is wrong.”

I called back immediately to dispute, and once I mentioned the “Terms” that I had in front of me, they reversed the charges and let me finally break up once and for all.

Since the break up I’ve received several e-mails trying to get me back. I’m very thankful I never gave them my mobile number!

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