Vonage Number Roll Over Scam

Posted Tue August 14, 2007 12:48 pm, by Frank t. written to Vonage

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I signed up for Vonage back in December of 2006 I researched them for a little
while and thought it was a better deal than Comcast at the time.

So I went on the Vonage site and signed up. During the signup there is an authorization you had to authorize Vonage to roll the number from Comcast to Vonage. Standard practice between phone companies; what the authorization says is me the verified owner of the number authorizes the new company to take the number. This is a
FCC law which allows me the consumer to move to which ever phone company provides better service and/or pricing with out losing my number.

Vonage told us not to contact the current carrier because it could delay things and that the transfer will go through without a hitch. I did not have to contact Comcast and terminate because they where already informed of the transfer. The number took about 7 days to become active on the Vonage service.

After a couple of months my wife decided that she liked Comcast better and to avoid an argument I agreed to switch the number back. Since I wanted my own phone number and I liked the idea of Vonage VOIP service for my office I decided to add an additional number to my Vonage account before she switched our primary number.

So we did everything in reverse, we contacted Comcast and authorized the move of the
number back and waited. They told us not to contact the other carrier because it could delay things. The number switched in about 10 days and everything seemed fine.

Here is where it gets weird. I wasnt paying attention to the email about the Vonage invoices and just assumed everything worked as smoothly as when we switched to Vonage. Well about 2 days ago I look ed at one of the Vonage bills and noticed that they where still billing me for both numbers.

I thought it was a simple clerical error and that they would rectify it. So I sent them this message;

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Subject: [vonage.com #13777846] Other

We had our 412-734-xxx transferred back to Comcast 4 months ago and I just happened to look on our bill and noticed that you have been billing me for that number. Comcast has owned that number for months now. I need credited for the 1-412-734-xxxx. The only number that should be on this account is the 412-894-xxxx. Comcast confirmed to
me that they sent you all the termination/transfer and we have been receiving calls normally through Comcast.
---------------------------------- --------------------------------------

They responded with;


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Dear xxxxx,

Thank you for choosing Vonage, the #1 rated digital phone service!

I understand you have transferred one of your numbers to Comcast and you want
credit for non usage of service.

After further review, I am unable to process a credit as requested for the following reason:

I checked our records and found that your number 1-(412)-734-xxx is still active in your account. You will be charged for the monthly plan charges till your is Active.

I regret to inform you that we do not have the roll in porting out a number. Once the number transfer gets completed, you need to contact our Voice Support at toll free number 1-VONAGE-HELP 1-866-243-4357 to cancel y our account. We apologize for any inconvenience that may have been caused.

If you have any questions, your Vonage team is available to assist you 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Contact us whenever and however it suits you!

- On-Line Help Center at http://www.vonage.com/help.php
- Contact Us at http://www.vonage.com/help_contactus.php
- Or call Toll-Free at 1-VONAGE-HELP (1-866-243-4357)

Thanks again for choosing Vonage, a better phone service for less!

Sincerely,

Vonage Customer Care
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I responded with;

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So let me understa nd this, you are charging me for a number you do not own? When I transferred my number from Comcast to you, Comcast immediately
Terminated billing for that number once they received the roll over notification. Vonage on the other hand continues to bill customers even
when they where notified of a similar roll over request.

That some how does not seem legal and is completely unacceptable. I can not believe that even now that I sent you a complaint regarding incorrect billing, Vonage would still bill me for a number they are perfectly aware they do not own if I do not call them first.

Well now I'm wondering how many others you scamming, scam a month or so from customers that are not aware or this ridicules business practice. I was going to keep my second number but given the latest I will be terminating the entire account and notifying my five friends of your business practices and lack of customer care, hope fully they contact a couple of their friends, and so
forth. I'm sure they will terminate this scam.

In addition I filling formal complaints with the FCC and local internet regulating agencies because in my opinion this is a scam and last I looked I
still have plenty of options to be heard and Vonage be revealed.

xxxxxxxxxx

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Now remember that Comcast has had my number and billing me for months now. Even after I told them (Vonage) they dont own the number, they where still going to charge me for something they dont own or route. Remember Comcast has already
notified them and they (Vonage) switched the number to Comcast already. So Regardless of me calling them or not is irrelevant. So Vonage is very much aware of the disconnect.

So anyways, I tried calling them this morning to cancel and the customer service was closed, so I called them around noon after I received this message from them;
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Dear xxxxx,

I understand you have ported your number to another carrier and you are concerned about the charges.

Though your number has been transferred to a different carrier, you need to call us to cancel your number. This is why you are still being billed for the service. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

You will be billed for the service as long as the number is active in your account. For security reasons I am unable to process cancellation requests via email.

Please call our Account Management Department at 1-VONAGE-HELP (1-866-243-4357) to remove your number. We are here to help you Monday to Friday from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM EST.

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So now they admitted they know its ported, they dont run it and yet they still billed me for it.

So at this time Im a bit angry because the logic is escaping them. They are charging me for a number they dont own and are aware they dont run. Whats so hard to understand? Simple right? Wrong!

I called them and got on the phone with their rep, and she said she needed to verify who I was to cancel. I kept my cool and answered her questions. She then came to the big question Why are you canceling?.

Trying to be mature about this I explained to her the entire situation that although the number has been ported, they know its ported, they where notified it was being ported, they did the porting, whats the point of calling you if I already authorized the porting? Crying out loud the y already received my authorization through my new carrier.

It not like Im still waiting for them to move it, nor have to authorize Vonage to let it go. Its already moved by my authorization that I gave Comcast.

She then paused, and said well what I can do it is credit you 50.00 or half the amount of the incorrect billing if you stay.

I responded with, why I should lose 50.00 of the 100.00 you robbed from me for? You incorrectly kept billing me for 4 months and now you want to keep 50.00 of the 100.00 that you should not have taken. I said no I want it all and if you cant credit the correct amount terminate the account and I will deal with this legally.

She puts me on hold for 10 minutes and returned to say are you sure you want to cancel, I said unless you credit me the entire amount that you incorrectly billed me for, yes terminate the account.

To my amazement and utter shock she said that there will b e a 39.99 early termination fee for each phone number. One of which the they dont own and havent owned for 4 months now.

I responded with this is going be the best legal and news story ever. Have a nice day.

I then got and email from them which stated;


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Dear xxxxxxx,

Your Vonage service has been cancelled and we successfully processed the below
amount to the credit card on your account.

Vonage Account Number: 10050xxxx
Date Processed: 08/13/2007
Debit Amount: $79.98

A disconnect fee of $39.99 per voice line is charged to all customers plus any applicable taxes per our terms of service. Your total debit of $79.98 includes the disconnect fee, all pending charges, credits and applicable taxes. For more
information about the return policy, please visit our terms of service:
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So I am now in the process of filing paperwork with my attorney, credit card company, FCC, and every news outlet that will hear me.

I think they have scammed thousands of customers on bogus policy that says you have to contact us for a roll over, when you have already contacted and authorized the new carrier to speak in your behalf. Its absurd and I bet if you look further into this I bet there will be a lot of 24.99 over billings they have over charged people for. This is not about the money with me.

So far I have been contacted by three news agencies, 1 local and two national scheduled for tomorrow and this weekend. I have filed complaints with the FCC IC3 BBB, Attorney Generals in my state and theirs, FTC, and the CrimesTaskForce on this scam they have been getting away with for years I bet.

Refund everyones money they scammed, stop this fraudulent business pratice

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Re: Vonage Number Roll Over Scam by Harleycat Fri August 17, 2007 @ 9:48 AM Not arguing by ViperCrash Posted Thu August 23, 2007 @ 8:36 PM Your right and I understand that. Doesnt mean that its good business practice. By the way I have got somewhere, like the news and Vonage just so happened to call me right after that and said they are going to comply with everything I ask. I told them them to keep it. You can watch it on http://kdka.com/video/?id=31020 Big point, just cause it says it in the terms of service doesnt mean its right. Thinking along your lines, if it says you have to pay them 10,000 and your first born if you dont call them, would you comply if you missed it in the terms or if you follow FCC rules that tells you to contact new carrier first, then new carrier says we will act in your behalf. I dont think so. Thats my complaint to charge for something they dont own or run is not right and will change their policies. You can print out and date it, cause it will happeb. Reply