Comments on: Vonage files for IPO

One of the leaders in Internet Protocol telephony, Vonage will try to raise $250 million by going public.

[Dead Soulman]

Wow, no Vonage for me.

Now that's interesting. Why is Vonage bringing such a trophy as their main guy.
Wow, I was thinking of getting Vonage. But, when I see a company picking individuals with shady pasts, I often wonder.

Well, I'll be looking elsewhere for my VoIP.

[regulator1956]

??

I believe it's the founder with the shady past, not the new guy.

[dbpayer]

Vonage is not quite up to it

I just switched back to my local phone provider after using Vonage for one year.

The quality was affecting my business. There were times when the conversation just broke and the call was lost. There were many times when I got a strange echo/prolongation of sounds that effectively lost 3 seconds of conversation.

At the same time, Skype worked perfectly on the same net connection. I run an Internet access business and use our own company's DSL for access. I know it is not the connection itself. It could have been the Linksys router but we will never know.

I wrote the customer support via the email links and forms on the customer website but I got no response.

At times the website for customer support when down. This meant you could not see your voice mail from afar. You could also not transfer your calls. This happened on at least 5 times in the course of the year.

If they are going to raise money via an IPO, I think it would be better to spend it on quality control and a native English speaking support staff.

I was very excited when I saw Vonage coming into my city about one year ago. Since I am in the Internet business, I like to take advantage of developing technologies. I think one year is enough of a test. It is back to copper wire for me for the time being. I can't afford the quality that Vonage offered me.

DP
Des Moines, Iowa

[kped]

Vonage has the worst customer service!

First they lure you in with the claim that they are a pay per month service with no long-term contract. They hide the fact that they charge a $40 cancellation charge! And forget trying to cancel the service easily. It took me over two weeks to get them to cancel my account (several phone calls and email exchanges). Their own customer service department even admitted how ridiculous the situation was but told me too many people were trying to cancel their service at the same time and their account management team couldn't handle the call loads! Maybe this is why they are suddenly in a hurry to push forward the IPO before the whole thing comes crashing down. I'm sure all these defecting customers are running to Skype and Google talk services.

My advice: Stay away from Vonage!

[jroutledge]

AMEN

I became a Vonage customer/prisoner in 2003. Today is Feb. 28. I have tried to cancel my account since mid Feb. If they want to show people doing stupid things on their commercials, they should just play the audio of their customer support calls. I have never experienced such lack of concern for the customer. This company will most likely have a decent IPO and then crash and burn 18 months later so ATT or Comcast can come in and salvage the customer base. This company is a complete joke and I feel cheated, especially since I was one of the early adoptors.

[jallison007]

I COMPLETELY AGREE!!!!!!!!!!

The "customer service" at Vonage is a joke! I cannot send or receive a fax and can't get this simple problem resolved. First, you get the run-around by being transferred to different people within different departments who really can't help you! Then, you go straight to India where they cannot speak English AT ALL!!!!! This is not service, it's a joke! BUYER BEWARE