Ok, my daily bitch for the day is Vonage. Ya know, the whole VoIP provider who likes to hold your checking account/credit card hostage. Here’s my Vonage story …
I ordered Vonage in February, got 2 months free yada yada yada. I signed up for their $17.99 500 minute plan because I figured thats all I was going to use in fact, it turned out I was using less. So I got my first bill and was amazed at all the effin fees I was charged:
Residential Basic 500 Minutes Plan for xxx-xxx-xxxx (14/Apr-13/May) $17.99
Regulatory Recovery Fee $0.99
Emergency 911 Cost Recovery $0.99
Federal Program Fee $1.52
State Communications Service Tax $1.07
State 911 Fee $0.75
Total Amount $23.31
So um yea, paying $23.31 for a $17.99 plan. I wasn’t all too happy but I was using it for a business line so I was like oh well. It’s not too bad.
Then I get this notice in my email a few weeks prior that says, oh btw, our fees are going up! So I got my July bill:
Residential Basic 500 Minutes Plan for xxx-xxx-xxxx (14/Jul-13/Aug) $17.99
Regulatory Recovery Fee $0.99
Emergency 911 Cost Recovery $0.99
Federal Program Fee $1.72
State Communications Service Tax $1.08
State 911 Fee $0.75
Total Amount $23.52
Then in August, I get ANOTHER notice saying oh btw … fees are going up YET AGAIN!!!
Residential Basic 500 Minutes Plan for xxx-xxx-xxxx (14/Aug-13/Sep) $17.99
Regulatory and Compliance Fee $1.49
Emergency 911 Service Fee $1.49
Federal Program Fee $1.80
State Communications Service Tax $1.14
State 911 Fee $0.75
Total Amount $24.66
After that, I had had enough. I can see they like to nickel and dime you to death where your so-called “Good” plan just turns into a whole friggin other bill than when you started.
So, I called the mofos up to cancel … or so I thought. I called them up and they begged and pleaded me to not cancel and offered me the Residential 100 plan for $9.99. I was only using about 50 minutes a month anyway and I thought to myself, hey, what’s $10 and fees will be less maybe around $11-$14 a month.
Today I changed my mind though. I was like I dont really need this line, I barely even use it. So I call them up to cancel … or so I thought.
Btw … when you call Vonage, its never anyone American its almost always a muchacho(a) so its not always easy to catch every word said. This time I stuck to my guns and said “I WANT TO BE RID OF YOU!” she says that she’s an account manager and could offer me a complete unlimited plan for $14.99 for a year then it would return to $24.99 after that … I said no! I want it off! So then she says for me to turn the service off it would be $123!!!!
ROFL ROFL ROFL ROFLcakes!
Why on earth should it cost me $123 to turn off a $9.99 plan?
It wasn’t informed to me when I signed up for the plan. The girl said its in the Terms and Agreements. I’m like wtf would you put something like that in Terms and Agreements nobody reads that 20 page bull crap? Why not put it with the plan when you sign up online!? in BOLD print where it can be seen and not hiding behind the disclaimer. When I had asked the cancellation fees prior months ago, the guy told me it would *only* be $39.99 to cancel. She said it was only $39.99 to cancel *IF* I keep the service for more than a year.
Then she says I’ll give you 2 months free if I want to “decide” later. I was like whatever, and hung up. So thats where my story stands now. I’m calling them back and going to ask them for a break down of fees of the $123 and I’m pretty sure that Terms and Agreement when I signed up is not the same Terms and Agreement now as it has changed about 3 times since I’ve had the service. I found it really funny how she says at the end of the call “thank you for staying with Vonage” … I’m like bitch! I’ve been hijacked and it wasn’t like I had a choice!
So I’m reporting all this to the Attorney General and to Vonage that they need to make their fees clear when people order … not to hide it behind a 20 page Terms and Agreement cuz if it had been, I would have agreed they could kiss my ass.