Damien the Angry Consumer
So some people might be wondering why it is I feel so strongly about the Vonage stuff. You might think they're a great company with cool commercials or whatever, that's fine. You might think I'm a self-important ass who for some reason thinks he can take on a big company, that's fine. But I thought I'd spend a little time explaining why I'm fighting, and why I think it's important and why I'm so angry.
Partially I'm fighting because I want to believe there are people out there who are willing to stand up, who won't roll over and just take it. I'm fighting because I believe that other people out there get angry too and and want to make a stand, even if its just something small, like writing about what's happened. I'm fighting because someone has to get angry. And I want to tell you why I'm angry.
Obviously part of why I'm angry is from the terrible, frustrating service. The most unbelievably bad service. Oh so many wasted hours, always feeling like we're on the verge of getting the situation fixed, and getting disconnected, or finding out again they didn't give us back our money. But if that were everything, you'd would have just seen my one post with all my anger and vitriol showing. And that would be that. But that's not that.
I'm very angry about is how the system has failed in the case of Vonage CEO Jeffery A. Citron. The SEC charges against him are pretty clear: blatant stealing, blatant fraud. This wasn't "questionable" practices issue, it was clearly criminal. As clearly criminal as the guy who stole my car stereo last week. It's also clear that he paid what to him is a petty fine $22.5 million - only a fraction of the money stolen. This is the guy who loved to brag about his money, his mansions and jet. He took a helicopter to work because he's so important. He loves living it up and flaunting his wealth. And when he was caught stealing the money he used to fuel his excessive lifestyle, he didn't go to jail. He didn't go broke. He didn't do community service. He simply walked away, and with the vast majority of his stolen hundreds of millions intact.
That could be the retirement money for many people. My grandmother is in danger of going broke in her assisted care living (she has dementia), and might soon have to go a nursing home. I know excellent engineers with long successful careers who wanted to retire but now can't because the market wiped out a huge part of their savings.
And it's because jerks like this are completely gaming the system, they take their millions and never care about their unseen victims. And why? So someone waaay more self-important than I can have his own private jet and expensive mansions and take his helicopter to work.
I don't think anyone is so naive to think this stuff never happens. We've all seen Enron and Tyco. I expect that even in the best circumstances corporate crime is going to happen and you just can't catch most of it. But we'd like to believe the people who get caught are made to pay. So here they caught the bad guys ripping off the system in a big big way, caught red-handed, a well documented, clear cut case. But they were let go. Why? Because on the very same day the charges were filed, the bad guys "settled" in a deal where they pay a fraction of the money they stole and $70,000,000 goes to the SEC. The SEC gets to keep that money, and furnish their offices in a style befitting the SEC, I suppose.
And so not only did Citron get away with it, HE'S DOING IT AGAIN. He's stealing from decent people, by deliberately making it impossible and frustrating for people to get their own money back. Google "Vonage problems", it's the same story over and a over. Not everyone can afford to be ripped off. Some people choose this service because it's cheap. They NEED cheap, they don't make a fat salary. Some people really need that money. And they're getting ripped off and don't have the time to deal with it.
So I'm doing what I can, which is to point out what's going on. To what end? I don't know, but I'm pretty sure I'm getting my money back. And I'm really happy I got to yell at the Chief Marketing Officer (the second best person to yell at IMO). And every person who chooses another carrier and avoids getting ripped off again is a victory.
I was bluffing at first when I said I'd sue them. I knew I could turn it into a PR stunt, but it was an idle threat. I had better things to do, but I hoped it would get some results. But then I got really angry. I began to see this wasn't pure incompetence I was facing, this was a company ripping people off intentionally. I realized I could make it a very interesting story if I had to actually sue them. If they give me my money back by tommorrow (I have to call AMEX to verify) then I have no interesting story to tell, I've lost the angle. I almost hope I don't get my money back this time.
If I get my money back, I have one last low-effort measure I'll employ to draw attention. After that I'll just keep the page up, update it occasionally with people's latest stories. As more and more Vonage customers go through what I did (wait until you cancel), they too will get angry. And they will rememeber that lunatic Damien who had some trouble. And they will find and link to the page. It's not going to make the first page of "Vonage" search results overnight, it will take some time and it might never happen, but as long as they keep ripping people off, more people will find and link to my page.
Or maybe they clean-up their act and that's that.
Of course, if they don't pay the money back I really will sue them in small claims court and write about the whole thing and make it as interesting as possible. Ever wonder what really happens when you sue a big company in small claims court? I do. Hell, my family and I are pretty reality TV friendly and my wife is completely on board (it was originally her anger and frustration that drove me blog this), maybe some network would like to film my Don Quixote antics. Shoot it in a Roger and Me documentary style. Use the buzzword "blog" on every promo for it. And show me doing all the incredibly moronic stuff I do all day (ask my coworkers). Whittle it down, it could make for some television. (not a typo)
And I'm also sure the PR departments for their competitors would love to give me some press contacts. I quite certain I can find some powerful allies that can benefit from my rantings.
My point is, I'm a very resourceful guy, and right now writing software isn't as interesting as trying to mess with a criminal corporation. I've not even begun to show how resourceful I am, or how big of a pain in the ass I can be. I'm a hard guy to stop when motivated.
You might think I'm crazy, but at some point you too will get angry, you'll see what is allowed to happen, you will be disgusted that the people who steal the most from us, even when caught, aren't made to pay for what they've done. And when you catch them stealing from you once again, you too will want to strike back with what you can. And when that happens to you, I hope you have the courage and energy to join the fun.
Posted April 6, 2005 12:04 PM
Comments
Go get 'em Damien. I had actually considered switching to Vonage in the past and heard a few stories about poor customer service, but figured that was the exception. Your details have opened my eyes, and I guarantee you I will NEVER consider Vonage as an option. Thanks.
Ed, April 6, 2005 3:28 PM
I will join you in your fight against having your hard-earned income taken from you without your consent as soon as I finish filling out my taxes. They pay for bureaucrats who live in mansions and take helicopters to work too.
I live in DC. I seen ‘em!
Ronnie, April 6, 2005 6:56 PM
I wish you luck and hope you'll blog about it. I'm sick of big corporations rolling over the little people as well.
Not exactly your situation, but this guy took on a big company and kicked their ass (http://www.taubmansucks.com). It is a very satisfying read.
Eric, April 6, 2005 7:05 PM
Damien, you saved me from almost contacting Vonage, whew!
thanx, j
j, May 13, 2005 7:42 AM
Well I work at vonage and I think that sometimes people need to read before they click..... Some people are not tech savvy and just dont need this service because they dont have a clue.. I know I listen to them everyday... If you dont have broadband why sign up for a broadband service? If you dont have an ethernet port on your modem why sign up??????
Vonage Employee, July 31, 2005 8:04 PM
Hey can we get in on the law suite to Vontage. WE are so frustrated! Vontage has our phone number held hostage and will not release it back to my original telephone service provider. After having this telephone number for years my only option is to start new service and get a new telephone number. I can't believe all the trouble this company has caused me.
Vontage is charging me $125 for cancelling my account. The TV advertisement says you get the first month free, well, it will take you over a month to get throught to customer service to cancel your service and then they have you in the trap.
Stuck in telephone hell. I don't know how they get away with calling it telephone service, it's no service or very little service. The static is the worst, the calls are dropped in mid sentance, not just once but several times in one conversation. Don't even think about walking around the house with the phone, you can't hear what the other person is saying or the call is just dropped. The messages either don't record on the voice mail or they come a day or two late. My husband and I have elderly parents, the telephone connection is very important to us and this stuff has to work...not with Vontage! People do stupid things...like signing up with Vontage. Most folks are trying to save a little money going with Vontage. The little people are screwed again by BIG business. I should have kept track of the amount of time I have spent trying to resolve this problem, but who would have thought you could have a company like this? This just isn't right...something needs to be done about thier fraudulent claims on TV...please.
Let me know if I can get in on the Vontage law suite. Thanks for a place to vent!
Kathy Marlow, February 11, 2006 12:12 PM
I have finally found an outlet for my frustrations with Vonage. People beware. Here are some of the problems I have faced. First, to be fair, Vonage is incredibly cheap. Much cheaper than any other phone company. but you pay a price. first, expect poor voice quality. often times your voice cuts out or you have to speak really loud for people on the other end to hear you. second, becuase the service tends to cut out, when you reach those 'self service" customer service lines and they ask you to punch in your phone number or your SS number using your touch tone pad, forget it. it cuts out and you get the annoying, "i'm sorry, I didn't get that... please try again," over and over and over again. very frustrating. and fianlly, if you think you're going to get your existing phone number transfered to vonage, think again. I've been waiting for 2 months. and it still hasn't been transfered. And after I complained I learned that it may never be transfered. apparently, according to a Vonage Customer rep, my old phone company doesn't have to transfer my old number to vonange if thay don't want to. and until it's transfered, guess what? you have to pay your old phone bill until the transfer is complete. so right now, I'm paying vonange and ATT. how much does that suck? vonange will reimburse you one month for every two months the transfer is delayed. But that still means I'm being double billed every other month. hmmmm. very frustrating.
Michael, March 8, 2006 9:26 PM
I've had Vonage since August last year. I discovered that some people cannot reach me because they get a fast busy signal immediately after entering just the phone prefix (or area code + phone prefix). This became a BIG issue recently when I was expecting a call from a doctor and they couldn't get through. But this only happens when the call is placed from certain locations in the LA area... other areas have no problems getting through. I would say that the issue is probably with the phone service of the person trying to reach me, except that there is never any connectivity issues when they call my separate landline.
I also have the $10 fax number added onto my Vonage service, but I also discovered last week that some locations in LA cannot receive a fax from my number. I had to disconnect my fax from the Vonage router and re-connect it to my landline just to send a fax.
I give up... I'm going to have to get rid of Vonage since it doesn't work 100% of the time.
Jennifer, March 24, 2006 4:56 PM
Good Luck, Damien. I feel like a small fish in a big pond too, sometimes, and people like you help restore my faith in human beings!! I'm definitely staying away from Vonage. Any more advice?
Carole, April 27, 2006 8:07 PM
I signed up for vontage 10 days ago. I tried to cancel and was charged a $44 cancellation fee and $36 for my first month. I was told when signing up for vontage that I would have my first month free and no cancellation fees. Hmmm...that wasn't true.
Amanda , September 1, 2009 1:54 PM
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