A lot of Consumerist readers use Skype. (I mostly use it to call my cell phone when I can’t find it, but I also use SkypeIn for my business line.) Many of said readers, such as George, have technical or billing problems with Skype, but can’t get a response out of the Web-based customer support system. What should they do?
Having Problems With Skype Technical Or Customer Service? Use Twitter And, Well, Skype
By May 12, 2009
Vonage Silently Adds "Optional" Feature, Refuses To Refund Your Money
By February 25, 2009
We’re having a hard time figuring out how Vonage can justify pulling their “Visual Voicemail” scam on customers without even offering the option of a refund, but that’s exactly what they’re doing to Daniel. They quietly turned on the feature over a year ago. You’d think in a year of logging onto the website, an observant customer would catch that sort of thing—only Vonage makes it actually look like it’s not enabled on your control panel, all the better to sneak it past you. Here’s how they pulled it off with Daniel’s account.
FCC Investigating Whether Comcast Is Messing With Rival Phone Services
By January 21, 2009
A few hours before Republican FCC chairman Kevin “Kevvy” Martin officially lost his job — he launched an investigation into whether Comcast is deliberately degrading rival phone services.
Vonage Says "If You Hang Up We'll Cancel Your Account"
By January 10, 2009
We don’t know what the hell happened with this customer service situation, but somehow the CSR for Vonage decided that when Sarah abruptly hung up on him, she agreed by default to a service cancellation and $92 cancellation fee. That sounds like the kind of angry-CSR “mistake” that can be fixed with a second call—but according to the next CSR Sarah spoke to, that’s just Vonage policy. What?
Vonage Says Merry Christmas By Raising Rates On Cheapest Plan
By December 27, 2008
William got an email from Vonage yesterday telling him they’re raising his bill starting in February.
By March 28, 2008
Wanna cut down that phone bill? Here’s 102 of the best free phone services on the internet. [VOIP-News]
Vonage Probably Owes AT&T $39 Million For Patent Infringement
By December 24, 2007
Vonage has settled with AT&T over claims that the VOIP provider infringed on some patents held by the telecommunications giant.
Contact Vonage Executive Customer Service
By December 13, 2007
Vonage has a handy web form which forwards all issues to their Executive Response Team. A reader says he submitted his issue and he got a callback and resolution within 3 hours. “A 3 hour turn around isn’t bad at all,” he writes, “considering I’d already wasted 2-3 hours on the regular phone support over the past 3 days.”
Appeal Rejected, Vonage Must Pay $117 .5 Million To Verizon
By November 16, 2007
Vonage’s appeal was rejected by a U.S. appeals court, and so troubled VOIP provider Vonage will have to pay $117.5 million to Verizon as punishment for infringing their patents. In addition, Vonage will be required to donate 2.5 million to charity. Ouch, ouch, ouch.
Executive Email Carpet Bomb Against Vonage Results In $450 Credit
By November 2, 2007
Score another point for consumers making it over the unyielding wall of “customer service.” Keith writes in about his recent struggles with Vonage, over an account he thought had been completely canceled six months earlier, “The carpet bomb instructions were inspired and within 3 weeks of sending my carpet bomb I got my resolve… The great part is I got my credit from the same person who stone walled me the months previous. Oh success is sweet.”
Security Firm Says Hackers Can Access Vonage Calls
By October 26, 2007
It’s not a good week for Vonage. VoIP Security firm Sipera has announced that they’ve discovered a vulnerability in Vonage’s equipment that can allow hackers to take control of user accounts to intercept calls, make calls via the accounts, eavesdrop, or launch DoS attacks. Although most VoIP systems are about as secure as sending IM messages over a public wifi network (that is, not secure at all), Vonage has a couple of special problems with its Motorola adapters not authorizing requests, which leaves a special door open for bad people doing bad things. The problem also affects adapters from Grandstream and Globe7.
Vonage Destroys Router, Refuses To Issue Refund
By September 15, 2007
I have been a loyal Vonage customer for 3 years. Within the last year (I can’t remember when) I purchased a new Linksys WRTP54G router to replace my existing router. This router has built-in Vonage voice ports. What Vonage and Linksys do not tell you when you purchase this router is that Vonage has 100% full access to your router and can do with it what they choose.
Comcast Testing "Do-It-Yourself" Phone Install Kits
By September 4, 2007
Let’s face it, you are probably smarter than your last Comcast technician—at least, you probably think you are.
By August 20, 2007
Last week’s two-day Skype outage was due to millions of users across the globe restarting their computers after a Windows Security update. [Skype]
Free Calls From Telemarketers With Digital Voice Service Activation!
By August 13, 2007
Subscribers to Comcast Digital Voice service get more than just digital phone service installed when they sign up. They also get the pleasure of Comcast selling their phone number to telemarketers, fresh out of the box!
Making Cheaper Phone Calls (Some Assembly Required)
By August 3, 2007
If you have a landline telephone and a cable modem, then you’re in the perfect position to take advantage of cheap (sometimes free) phone calls–provided you’re willing to try one of the many oddball companies reviewed by tech columnist David Pogue in this week’s Circuits section of the New York Times.
SunRocket Tells Customers KTHXBAI, Thanks For The Money
By July 20, 2007
SunRocket customers received a Dear John letter last night informing them SunRocket was kaputsville.
