FRUSTRATED
In our quest to pinch pennies recently, we decided to drop our local & long distance AT&T telephone service, instead opting for Vonage VOIP (i.e. telephone service over the internet) since we now have a much faster and reliable connection with U-verse.
Here’s a rundown on my experience so far:
- 8/24 – I set up my account with Vonage online – service will only be about $15/mo as opposed to about $37 w/ AT&T (the cheapest they could give me)
- 8/25 – received email from Vonage saying they couldn’t transfer my number b/c DSL was still attached to my number. Called AT&T; DSL disconnect should have automatically been generated when U-verse was installed, but (shocker) it wasn’t. She put in a disco order for me. Called Vonage back and gave them the disco order #.
- 8/27 – received voicemail from Vonage saying they couldn’t transfer my # b/c DSL was still attached to my number. Afternoon comes around and suddenly we have no dialtone. I called Vonage to give them the disco order # again, and in the process mentioned I have no dialtone and asked if that was normal. Vonage dude said no, they haven’t transferred anything yet so I need to call AT&T – number must be in service in order to transfer it. I called AT&T, apparently after all the humans went home for the day, and spent nearly an hour going through menus trying to get some information. Discovered a completely different order # attached to my line, but wasn’t able to get anywhere.
- 8/28 – Called AT&T; the first woman I spoke with confirmed neither of the order numbers was to disconnect my line. One was to remove DSL, the other was to remove some DSL provisioning code. She sent me to repair. Repair lady supposedly tested my line, it came back ok, so she asked if somebody would be home on THURSDAY to let somebody in if they needed access. Excuse me?! So I’m supposed to go home, unplug everything, plug it back in, and if the phone still doesn’t work just sit around until Thurs to see what happens. (U-verse, btw, still works just fine coming in on the phone line) When I got home I unplugged everything connected to a phone jack, reconnected and surprise, surprise – no change. I emailed the repair department asking for the issue to be escalated and received this response:
I have reviewed the dispatch availability in your area hoping to find a sooner date for you, but unfortunately you already have the soonest available date for a technician dispatch as your area is experiencing a service emergency conditions and heavy work loads due to inclement weather. I apologize for the time it’s taking to have your service restored.
You will receive out of service credit on your bill, please contact our customer service department at 1-800-288-2020 if you don’t see the credit on your bill, as this repair department can’t address any billing or credit issue
- In the meantime Vonage is calling and emailing me because they still can’t transfer the number b/c AT&T is telling them DSL is attached to the line. Additionally, the hardware they were supposed to ship on 8/25 still has not been shipped yet. From Vonage:
I verified our records and found that the current Order Status is in “Pending Shipping”. I apologize for the delay in completing your order. Due to high order volume there was a minor delay in your shipment.
I have escalated your request to the appropriate department to expedite your order request and it should be completed shortly.
And then:
I understand you want to upgrade the shipping method.
As per records, I found that you have placed the order for Ground shipment, I regret to inform you that the shipping method cannot be changed. I apologize for any inconvenience caused.
So we have no landline service whatsoever right now and it could be Thursday “by 7pm” before we get service restored. And as far as Vonage they still haven’t even shipped the equipment necessary to use their service once it is set up correctly.
And last night I learned of another VOIP service, CallCentric, which offers one of the features a Vonage rep lied to me about when I called, assuring me they offere it – the ability of the voicemail system to receive faxes. I will look into this service more and may end up canceling the Vonage setup, we’ll see.
Today will be a short day for me at work – around 11 I’ll leave the office and go in for my Remicade infusion. I always look forward to them – I get to kick back in a recliner for 3 or 4 hours and read a book. :) Kind of a mini-vacation! (as long as I don’t watch the nurse put in the IV!!)
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 29th, 2007 at 4:37 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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