Being a nerd, I really wanted to embrace this technology, Vonage seemed like a really cool alternative to phone service, it was relatively inexpensive (because at the time I needed long distance, cheap) and they offered some really cool features…and it was only a month to month low cost fee of $29.99! Seems too good to be true, I thought…I was right.

Slowly, service began to degrade. I would get a phone call (that often times would ring only once for some bizarre reason) and I would say “Hello”, hear nothing for a good 5 seconds and then suddenly hear the pissed of “EXCUSE ME HELLO?!” of the person on the other line. This happened on a regular basis and really pissed me off to no end.

As I began to say, my phone would often ring only once, and then forward off to my cell phone..which was a nice feature when I wasn’t home, but was terrible when I was. I would run to grab the phone, only to have to run back to my cell phone in the other room, what a pain!

Also, I had friends complain about voice quality and general audio lag in long conversations, even when I wasn’t doing anything on the web!

So I decided (nearly 10 months later) that I should cancel my account. Of course, the only way you can do this is by calling them during their 8AM-5PM EST Monday - Friday window, and you have to be put on hold for a majority of your day. The first time I called them I was on hold for nearly 2 HOURS, and I NEVER spoke with anyone (after basically repeatedly hitting 0, so I could have been anyone requesting service or support!). The next day I called and got through to a human in about 10 minutes (good for them), and then “had to be transfered to account management”. That took another good 10 minutes, and then the fun started.

The service rep started to go on about how she was so sorry that I was leaving but that I should reconsider the service, in the event of an emergency the vonage service might be more reliable than my cell phone. I responded, “My cell phone has actually been consistently more reliable than your service, no thanks”. She then retorted, “Is the monthly price an issue? we could lower it to a $12 a month fee..etc.”. I responded, “No, I’d pay $100 bucks a month if your service worked half as good as you advertise it does”. More begging and negotiating ensued and finally she says to me “Okay sir, I am sorry you feel this way I will cancel the account, please hold”.

Finally! its about damn time! She returns about 4 minutes later and says, okay sir “is there anyone you’d like to transfer this account to in your family or a friend perhaps?” I said, “No, I don’t wish this on anyone”. She responded saying “well, reason I ask is because since you are terminating your service within your 12 month agreement, there will be a termination fee”. TERMINATION FEE?! (It was a whopping 30 bucks, whatever..) I actually had the rep cite me the clause in their Terms Of Service that states this is the case, and it was true:

3.6 Disconnection Fee (Does Not Apply to Business Plus Customers). You will be charged a disconnection fee of $39.99 per voice line if your Service is disconnected, subject to applicable state and local laws. However, if your Service was activated on or after February 1, 2007 and is disconnected after two (2) years following your activation date, the disconnection fee is waived. If your Service was activated on or before January 31, 2007, the disconnection fee is waived if your Service is disconnected one (1) year following your activation date.

Amazing, so, this service actually lived up to nothing they advertised…

In conclusion, I would not recommend this service to my enemies. It seems from what I’ve read, the service is “regionally acceptable”, so depending on where it is your using this service, it could be better. I didn’t figure I’d have an issue in San Jose, CA..but I sure as hell did.  I am most likely going to try my hand at Skype next. It has always been far more reliable.