Comments on: Vonage customers bolting for the exit. Try Skype next time

VOIP stinks, unless you stop paying and use Skype.

[robzarev]

How bad could have Vonage been? It sounds as if switching to Comcast has improved the situation? I have had a very plausible experience with Vonage thus far.

[scifidaddyo]

My father in law is wanting to switch to Digital cable and their phone service. He currently has Vonage, but just recently their address was changed by the U.S. Postal Service. They informed Vonage of the address change and the bills have been arriving with the new address. However, Vonage will not 'release' their phone number because the address on file does not match. How then did they know to send the bills to the new address?

[edfc]

actually with Vonage, you don't get printed bill.You will be given a username and a temporary password and a personal web account at their website. Your bill will be sent to that account everymonth instead of recieving a printed bill.The address is mainly for 911 purposes and you can update your address yourself at the website. Pretty cool because it gives you full control of your account. It gives you a sense of authority and ownership. Not really slick for people who are high maintenanace,people who want to have someone to do almost anything for them.

[JCPayne]

I knew Vonage had to be bad....... Esp. When their high pressure sales force over in India was telling me that it didn't matter that I had a question before signing up.... That I should sign up than right away and they would answer my questions after I had signed up.... I was like Ummmmm. NO--- your service has a 2 year contract like a cell phone answer my questions now or I'm terminating the call.

[nem9x]

I've been with Vonage for almost 4 years now and have been happy. Wile there are some features I wish I had, there are many Vonage offers that Comcast does not even come close on. I use Skype on occasion, but mainly for video calls between my kids and parents

I've been with vonage for years now and its worked flawlessly. I actually have two vonage accounts across two geographical locations. Web interfaces for features like call forwarding have been really useful while traveling and missing or added for more $$ on other providers. For 15 or 25 dollars per month I think you get great quality and its saved me TONS of money. Now since its worked flawlessly I've never had to use customer service so I can't comment about that.

I also use skype a lot and vonage voice quality is far, far better. I also find that vonage is far far easier to get setup with people who are not tech literate but maybe things are better now skype has hardware. I don't argue with the writer around customers leaving vonage since I've not seen the stats but I think we have to be fair to vonage here in that they blazed a trail and put a lot of pressure on the incumbants to improve service. I've used vonage over comcast and verizon fios with no issues. Oh and my router does not reset itself ;-)

[jslande01]

I've also been with Vonage for quite some time (4+ years), aside from the fact that I still can't get a fax machine to work reliably (which will ALWAYS be the case with any ip based solution), it has been great, even on a Comcast connection. I haven't been able to use Skype for anything, period. All I get is the first letter of every word I try to speak, then the rest gets clipped.

[rkadel42]

I had Vonage for two years and had terrible problems trying to send faxes over their service. But I switched to Comcast digital phone about six months ago, and their service has been (surprisingly) stable. I can send faxes on my second line at 36,6000 baud ECM. No problem, and no different from using a standard phone line.

[cdm9002]

Sounds like comcast is worse. I use both vonage and comcast, and although when vonage first started it's service was variable, it has been fine for a long time. I have had more problems with comcast high-speed internet dropping than anything else. And why switch to a service which is more expensive? I also have skype with the netgear phones, but no end of problems with those. Vonage has no contract, good features and service. Shame they are losing business so a greedy corp. will change all that.

[mindhead01]

I have the same experience as you. I have been using Vonage for about 4 years. Early on I used Vonage via Verizon DSL and it performed well on the lowest setting. I then switched to RCN cable (Wash DC Area) and had no problems. I recently moved and now use Comcast and experience intermittent problems that I attribute to Comcast and not Vonage.

[dank2010]

I'm a regular user of Skype and i totally agree that it's one of the best you can get! I have subscribed for the call in and out service using registered phone numbers and it works wonders. I do agree to the fact that there is much room for improvement on the software side and the advancement is very slow. Had Skype been acquired by one of those main stream telecom companies, we would have something much better. For now, i'm happy!

[ppsyco2]

Same Here. Voange customer for multiple years and I haven't had any major issues.

I only had to use customer service once when setting up my home router to work with Vonage and the calls were still handled in America then. I haven't had to use CS since it has been forwareded to India.

[Matt Asay]

You know, I used to have a flawless experience with Vonage. I was an early customer and in the beginning it was bad, but it was perfect for nearly two years. Then, for some unknown reason, in 2007 the service became terrible for me. I couldn't go a day without the service going down in the middle of a call. I finally gave up in despair, which was very painful for me since my company is headquartered in London so the free calling to the UK on Vonage was a big deal for me. But the service became so unstable (even on great download/upload speeds) that I just couldn't stay with it.

[seanupton]

Despite a few years of good service, Vonage has gotten weird for me (quality inconsistent, missed calls that go straight to voicemail), but I'm locked in. Cox actually offered me a bundle with my internet and cable that would save me $10/mo over Vonage (long-term, not introductory), but when I tried to switch, Cox said Vonage would/could not port my specific number from Vonage (this may be because I was in a Time-Warner Cable service area in San Diego prior to moving with my VOIP number). So I'm stuck with Vonage because my phone number has become an important part of my and my wife's identity with friends, acquaintances, etc. Cox did, however, manage to sell me a basic line (I could use for fax) that still cut my cable bill by $10 -- strange.

[stevefuzzy]

When I decided to go VOIP, I looked into both Comcast and Vonage. I needed to switch 3 lines (2 voice, 1 fax), in separate rooms. the Comcast Rep did not know if they could do it (totally clueless support), so that clinched it. I went with Vonage. Initially service was spotty (specially when calling overseas), but it's gotten much better over the last 6 months or so. And usually I have no problem with the fax line.

[katiewol]

Another alternative similiar to Skype is ooVoo. I work for the company and we just launched the 1.5 version that allows phone calls. From now until March 1, the service is allowing free phone calls from anywhere in the world to the US or Canada. No credit card required as well. After the 1st, users can pay small monthly fees for unlimited calls anywhere in the world or pay as you call. It should also be noted that you can do audio and video conferencing. Up to 6 people can video chat at one time. You can also record and upload chats to youtube plus send video messages to non-ooVoo users. Its worth checking out if your current VoIP is annoying the heck out of you. Here's the link: http://www.ooVoo.com. Hope it helps someone!

[ja-watson]

I find your article to be misleading, in that you imply that Skype provides a "free" alternative to Vonage and Comcast. In fact for equivalent service (call out to fixed or mobile phones), Skype charges rates which, when you consider the subscription fee, connect fee and per-minute charges, often exceeds what one pays for Vonage or Comcast.

Further, you state that you are unhappy with Vonage (and Comcast) because of problems with customer support, and you fail to mention that Skype has arguably got the worst customer support on this planet! Support requests are not responded to for a minimum of FOUR DAYS, responses are, as a rule, complete gibberish, and paid customer accounts are blocked for no apparent reason (and requests for explanation and assistance are subject to the FOUR DAY response rule mentioned above).

Last, but certainly not least, you mention quality of service issues with Vonage and Comcast, but then say "Skype soldiers on...", and fail to mention Skype having a three day worldwide service outage, or several other outages in various parts of the U.K., or their arbitrary decision to cancel dial-in numbers from paying customers, often business customers, with 30 days notice and no rational explanation.

It would provide your readers a considerably better service if you were to give an open and complete presentation of alternatives, rather than steering them blindly to Skype, with misleading claims about it being "free", and no mention of potential problems and pitfalls.

[reol9]

Matt:
I'm sorry to hear you had terrible problem with Vonage customer service. I, for once, had an excellent experience. When my router and my vonage phone modem did not want to communicate I called Vonage. The rep did everything he could think of to help me out. When he could not figure it out, he actually called my router customer service line and had him help us out. At the end of the day, this rep went the extra mile to get me my service... of course, this was probably one in a million. On the other subject, the only reason I have Comcast is because they have a contract with the builders of the house I bought and they provide their cable service for free...otherwise I would be with Brighthouse Networks.

[Barçafan]

How can that be true?

I have had Vonage for three years now and have nothing but good things to say about both service and technology. It's much better than any phone company that I had in the past.

And what about prices? Try having unlimited calls to the US, Canada, western Europe plus all the features with a phone company for $24.99. With Comcast, by the way, it's $33.00 but only if you have cable and internet with them.

I just can't believe that someone is recommending switching to Comcast because of a bad customer service experience when Comcast is possibly the company that has the worst customer service and technology in the planet. I have Comcast cable (and their 9 HD channels) because where I live it's the only option if I want to watch tv. No way to have DirecTV (over 80 HD channels)... Their internet is really good , though.

As for Skype, yes, it's something nice to have, but it cannot be compared to a phone service. It's free when used Pc to Pc, but if you call a land line or a cell phone it's not free. And the sound quality is still too far from a regular phone call.

[tg_iv]

This article is a prime example of why it's better to step back from an emotional situation before writing. While I've had an excellent experience with Vonage for over 4 years, I certainly allow room for others not having the same experience. Another news flash is that Comcast is not the only cable service provider. Time Warner Cable's service is $130 more per year and has inferior voice quality. The TWC service can't automatically forward calls to my cell phone in case of network or power outages, and it can't send me email attachments for each voice mail when I'm out of town.

I don't know anyone in my area who's switched from Vonage to TWC, but I know many who've gone the other way. My Vonage bill is $240 less per year than the baseline service I was receiving from Bell South--and that didn't even include long distance! The prices offered currently from AT&T are still just has high. The idea that Skype is free still has me laughing.

Vonage has some issues, and whether it's the best solution for individuals will likely vary by location. I'll switch from Vonage when someone else offers similar or better features, and can reduce my bill significantly below $30/month for unlimited long distance calling.

[Barclay]

I have been a Vonage customer for over three years now, and untill recently have had no problems with their service, or call quality.

My main problem ATM is the hardware. Linksys no longer makes their routers. I had a linksys wireless but the call waiting stopped working. Vonage sent me a D-Link to replace it. It's HORRID! Every time the router resets, it reverts back "factory" settings. (I live out in the sticks and my power will "flash" anytime there is rain or wind.) I then loose all my settings, and it leaves my WAP unsecured.

Even though Vonage customer service is in India, their reps have allways gone the extra mile to try and resolve any problems, which is commendable as I am not the most plesant person to deal with.

[glennowak]

Hmmmm, I find it interesting that you had so many problems with Vonage and now you are having problems with your router? Perhaps the problem wasn't with Vonage and the problem lies with Comcast. I have had Vonage since July of 2004. I had a few issues in the first six months with the voicemail indicator not turning off on my phone and two outages, but since then I have had three plus years of great service. I have saved quite a bit of money. My average bill over those nearly four years has been $17.50 a month versus the $35 per month I paid back in 2004. My recently set my parents up on Packet8 because they offered a lower cost unlimited package if you purchased a year at a time. They have been satisfied with them also. Call quality has been equal on both Vonage and Packet8. I would say the quality is better than traditional land line also. As far as Skype......it is a joke. To call it free is misleading. I've tested with coworkers and found it to be unreliable and only is PC to PC for free. Again, I would have Comcast check your lines or something because it is quite odd that your new service is crashing out too. You might have been too quick to blame Vonage.

[anteeter]

Magic Jack is the new way to go. Forget about Skype and Vonage and other services. Magic Jack is only $20 a year (not per month) for unlimited calling in the US. All you need is a high speed connection and your set.