Vonage Hell.

I have been a Vonage customer for 3 years. In that time I've been reasonably happy. Yes, it was a pain not to have a phone when the internet was down or the power went out but it was cheap and it worked well.

And then I had the power surge on Tuesday which killed my router ('phone adapter' in Vonage speak) and since the cell phone travels with my husband the decision was that we'd cancel Vonage for now. In the future I might be getting a cell phone and we might go back but now, in a winter full of storms, having a phone that depended on the power wasn't a good idea. So I called Vonage.

The first call (my dad has lent me his cell phone until the local company can get us connected) was me saying over and over, "No. I want to cancel my Vonage account", while the rep tried to convince me to stay. Now I understood why you can't cancel your account online. Anyway, although going back to Vonage at some point wasn't just a possibility before the call but probable, after my third refusal of two free months I decided I would never be a Vonage customer again.

Eventually that rep started getting beligerant and even sounding angry. Good. That kind of behaviour from someone I don't know tends to send me into a rage and that means my thoughts clear, I get very calm and my resolve becomes a concrete wall that stupid people can't even hope to chip their way through.

He sensed this though and figuring all hope was lost, put me on hold and then dropped the call.

I called back. The next rep let me talk long enough to say that I wanted to cancel my account and then also dropped the call.

I called back. The next rep simply picked up the phone and then dropped the call before I could say anything.

They must tag customers.

So I stopped calling them for a bit. I called my mom and vented. I went out into the living room and screamed (sending the kids into giggles) and then after ten minutes I called again.

The rep answered, took my info and asked what she could do for me.

"I want my Vonage account cancelled"

She offered me two free months. She offered a new router. She pushed and pushed but the rage was back and I stayed firm, finally saying, "I want to end my relationship with Vonage."

After I said that she gave up and closed my account.

Altogether it took close to an hour.

I used to reccomend Vonage to any who asked about it. No more.