Quest began to piss me off (I'm lying, they've always managed to do that) earlier this year when the cost for their service jumped and nearly doubled in a six month period. People tell me the rates didn't go up that much, but mine did - two lines, no long distance and DSL - $139.00. I'm tired of paying all of the regulatory fees and the taxes and a little more for this and only a couple of dollars for this. And that whole long distance pig really gets me -$10 or $20 a month just to have access to long distance and THEN so much per minute. Oh, sure, they are always changing plans and offering specials - and free stuff to get you in before they sock it to you. Did you know that if you want to disconnect your long distance service, they charge money to disconnect? Did you know that they have a no solicitation calls feature that is identical to what the government offers for free - only they charge something to hook it up and to maintain it every month. I called the FCC on this one and got my money back. The person I spoke to couldn't believe it.

Anyway, I'm tired of all the fees. Oh, and one more complaint - I moved, disconnected my phone and six months later they were charging me for DSL in a town I didn't live in. On top of the DSL I had in my new place. Best part - took four months to get them to finally quit billing me (an hour or more on the phone with them each month) for it and three months to get a refund from then - but cash those Quest checks in a hurry because by the time I got to the bank it had expired. Do I want to go through it all again?! Hmph.

After much thought I decided to give Vonage a try. Vonage is a broadband phone company so you have to have a high speed cable connection to get it - which I already have. The unlimited Vonage plan (unlimited talk time and long distance -UNLIMITED- and all of the features, three-way calling, call waiting, call forwarding, voicemail and caller ID - all for $24.95 per month. First month is free - of course the hook-up fee is $24.95 - and you get an instant rebate on any equipment purchased from Vonage. Sounds good to me.

I went on line to sign up. On the first day of signing up for Vonage, I couldn't locate the retail sign up section (where you already have a router).

On the second day of signing up for Vonage, thirty minutes of being on hold, three phone calls and only being hung up during a call transfer two times, because they were busy with orders, I discovered the retail sign-up screen. My router device wasn't acceptable equipment for Vonage.

Third day of signing up for Vonage and five phone calls later, one hour on hold, three people that couldn't tell me that my device wouldn't work, three failed call transfers later. On the fifth call my voice began to rise. "Hey, I'm just trying to be a customer here - can you help me do that?" Finally, I was told that I needed a different device.

Back to the computer to sign up for Vonage and the router device I needed. I paid extra for a two-day delievery. Okay, that was done - they gave me my new vonage phone number. One thing I forgot to mention - with Vonage, you can request your old phone number - or request an area code anywhere.

So, I got to thinking, wouldn't it be nice to keep my cell number and just change the area code. I logged in to set that up - cost $10. Then I got to thinking, I wasn't keeping an old number (because of the area code change) so why should I pay $10. And, of course, I couldn't find where a person can request a specific number.

Fourth day of signing up for Vonage and two unanswered e-mails - still no answer! No reference to this question in help. On the phone again. Vonage has a lot of employees whose first language isn't English. I applaud giving everybody a job, but when I want help, I want the person to understand my question and I want to understand the answer. Have you ever gotten those people who talk like a robot and have the same answer for every question? And they don't let you finish answering the question? I've gotten to where I politely say, "I'm sorry, we seem to have a language barrier here, might there be someone else who can better understand my question." Trying to find out about the number - three language barriers, three hang-ups (or accidental disconnects.)

Finally, we are still on the fourth day of signing up for Vonage. I'm told they don't have the phone number selection capability. "By the way," I ask, "I'm supposed to receive that device today but see it hasn't been shipped - when will it be shipped?" "Uh, I don't know what's up with that, why don't you give it till tonight - they'll probably ship then. Or, you could go to a store and buy the device." "Uh, I paid extra to have it here today." "Yeah, we might need to reimburse you on that one." "Can you find out what the hold-up is?" "Just give it some time." Now this guy was friendly, but quite lazy.

I went into town and bought a device. Got home to cancel the device that still hadn't been shipped. One language barrier - can't find my account. Second language barrier - oops, lost the call. Third call, SMART ASS! Mocking, ridiculing - not the kind of person you want representing your company. "Might I speak to a manager?" I ask him. On hold for almost 9 minutes! Finally the manager comes on. I tell him how long I've been on hold. SMART ASS kept the call for that long. I told him the guy had been rude - he'd deal with it. Manager very reasonable, helpful and friendly.

He had to completely cancel my previous account and start over - now that I bought that device. My cell phone battery died. Plugged in and trapped on the floor, the manager called me back. He asked for the device number. He typed it in and got an error message. "This says Vonage right on the box - it has to be one of yours." I'm sorry, I can't help you. (He really was sorry) Me, I'm bewildered! "Take that box back and get another," he told me. "I have to drive a long ways," I told him. "I'm sorry," he said.

On the fifth day of signing up for Vonage, late in the afternoon I decided to type in the device code myself. It went. I signed up for Vonage! I hooked up the phone and the device. Internet signal, no dial tone - computer won't recognize the device. After much cussing, I unplugged everything, hooked all the wires up and plugged everything back in, and flipped the switch. Phone, Internet, everything! I have a phone.

Moral of this story, Vonage is worth the hassel and much cheaper - just make sure you go to the store and puchase a Vonage router in the phone section - go home, get on the retail screen, register the device. UNPLUG everything, hook-up the wires before turning on the power. Don't send e-mails asking questions and go straight to the manager when you have a problem.

My advice to businesses everywhere - be nice, be helpful, answer all questions and e-mails, get rid of the rude employees and always treat your customers with care, because you never know when one might have a blog and a big mouth!

Nothing worth having is easy!

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