The company, has reached a settlement in a lawsuit with 32 state AGs over the company’s payment of “incentives to customer service representatives for retaining customers in lieu of cancellation,” which resulted in customers complaining “that cancellation was extremely difficult, and sometimes impossible.”
Another problem: “Vonage failed to say clearly that customers signing up for its service needed a high-speed Internet connection…[making] customers pay activation, cancellation and return shipping fees for equipment even when those customers, particularly senior citizens, were not aware of the need for high-speed Internet.”
Vonage must now offer refunds to eligible customers with pending complaints involving “unauthorized charges from January 2004 through March 16, 2010.”
Alas - I wondered when Vonage would choke on it's own low-rate nickle. I will never forget when an agent insisted that my account was "closed" but remained "flexible to renew". And low and behold, they began charging me when 60 days had passed because that gave me the option to come back? It was bizarre, and I sent a number of BBB letters once they sent collection letters to recoup what I would not pay...
Posted by: Jeff Chase | January 22, 2011 at 08:26 AM