Vonage offers a $3.99 per month retention plan to customers who might jump ship to providers with more certain futures. The plan is meant to shore-up Vonage’s customer churn rate, especially as the internet telephony company struggles to stay alive amidst a patent dispute with Verizon. Vonage’s churn rate last quarter was 2.4%, high enough to spook investors or anyone considering a potential acquisition. A comment left by a self-avowed Vonage flack tries to put a positive spin on the offering:
telephony
How Not To Submit To iPhone Envy
By 6.29.07
We could be standing on line outside an Apple Store waiting to get our grubby little hands on an iPhone. We are not, and we’re ok with that. You too can resist the little charmer’s curves and siren song ringtone by remembering the iPhone’s imperfections:
Consumerist On Marketplace Talking About 6 Ways To Cancel Cellphone Contracts So You Can Get Yor iPhones
By 6.29.07
Marketplace interviewed us about our 6 tips for canceling your cellphone so you can get an iPhone. We told people to die…
CA Judges Issues Opinions That Tmobile's Mandatory Arbitration Agreements Are "Unconscionable" And "Not Enforceable"
By 6.28.07
A California judge issued an opinion that Tmobile’s contract terms forcing customers to go into arbitration instead of being able to sue were, “unconscionable and therefore not enforceable,” reports BoingBoing.
Trying And Failing To Cancel US Cellular Over Text Message Rate Increase
By 6.28.07
“Did you hear any success stories from readers who tried to cancel their US Cellular contracts over the 5 cent increase on text messages? I forwarded the notice to my mother (who is usually quite talented at dealing with customer service) and she attempted to cancel three US Cellular contracts held by our family, but was met with a definitive “no” in two different attempts….”
Tmobile To Receptionless Customer: "One Bar Is Good Enough To Make Calls"
By 6.28.07
subject Ludicrous customer service from T-Mobile
By 6.28.07
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Big banks are bringing banking to your cellphone so you can easily see how broke you are from anywhere in the world.
By 6.27.07
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If you quantify the language experts used in their hands-on iPhone reviews you get a critical consensus of, “Buy the amazing device, if you can afford it,” writes Valleywag.
6 Ways To Cancel Any Cellphone So You Can Get An iPhone
By 6.26.07
If you want to get an iPhone but you’re stuck in a contract, here’s six ways to escape your service plan without paying a $175 early termination fee:
What Is The "Federal Subscriber Line Charge?" And How Can I Buck It?
By 6.26.07
Tucked into your landline phone bill is probably a very official looking fee called the “Federal Subscriber Line Charge,” but did you know it doesn’t go to the federal government?
The Onion Reveals iPhone's Hidden Features
By 6.25.07
The Onion skewers the iPhone’s “most highly anticipated features:”
File A Complaint With The FCC
By 6.22.07
If you have a complaint about anything that happens over a wire or is otherwise communicated, you can file one with the FCC. Telephone, cable, debt collectors, and more all fall under their jurisdiction.
AT&T Cold Calls You, Demands 4 Digits Of Your SSN, Disconnects Your Phone
By 6.20.07
Dustin paid the price for following Consumerist’s advice and never giving personal information to people who call and claim to be from your phone company or your gas company or your bank. Someone called Dustin claiming to be AT&T and demanding that he confirm the last 4 digits of his SSN. Dustin honestly thought, as we would, that it was a meth-addict trying to get his SSN.
Vonage Changes Your E911 Information To A Different Address, City
By 6.19.07
Each time Andru updates his address for his Vonage E911 profile, Vonage responds with a confirmation email listing the wrong address in the wrong city. Andru updated his address for the fifth time just days before needing an ambulance for his 3-year old. Thankfully, the 911 operator had the correct address, but Andru had an email waiting for him when he returned from the hospital.
Yup, confirmation from Vonage that they accepted our E-911 address settings, again, set to the wrong address. Basically, this means that if we had to dial 911 one day later, paramedics would have had to have been rerouted from the address they were provided when we called in, which is over 10 minutes away, to our home – all thanks to Vonage and their incompetence in designing a fool-proof E-911 system.
VOIP still has a long way to go before it can be relied on for 911 service. In an emergency, the best way to get ahold of 911 is through an old fashioned landline. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER
Vonage: Sorry, You Can't Cancel Without Speaking To The Retention Department
By 6.15.07
Vonage: I’m sorry sir I can’t do that, you have to call back during regular business hours.
Watch out, Vonage. We thought Verizon held the patent for the cancelation gauntlet of doom. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER
Disconnect Fee For Canceling Cable? Oh Yeah? How About I Cancel Internet Too? Oh, Now The Fee Is Gone? OK, Good.
By 6.13.07
Exercising your power of consumer choice can yield amazing results, even when doing battle with the Grendel that is Time Warner Cable, writes reader James:
Phone Books Are Getting Thinner As Cellphones Take Over
By 6.8.07
One upon a time if you knew someone’s name, you could go to a thing called a “phone book” and look up their phone number and where they lived.
