Vonage is a definite choice for most of the Indians in US. It comes at a great price of just 14.99$ + taxes (apprx 23$ per month). Of course there are referral bonuses, gift cards etc. too which make the price look even smaller. And not to forget that the 14.99$ + taxes is ONLY for the first 3 months. Later on the price is 25.99$ + taxes (apprx 34$ per month).
QUESTION 1:
==========It's quite normal for one to get carried away on the very first month of subscribing to Vonage. You call your friends, relatives, colleagues, ex-girl/boy friends.. everyone whom you can.. :) This happens atleast for the first 20 days of taking the connection and a week more for few.
Now, The interesting part is here. You're not familiar with vonage rules neither are they available readily somewhere well documented. This is why your call frequency is at its peak.
Suddenly one day you receive a mail from Vonage with an approximate contect as below:
====================================================================
Mail 1:
Dear ,
We appreciate your business and thank you for using Vonage for your phone service.
In order to provide the best value to all our customers, we track usage of Vonage residential calling plans. At the time of signup, you agreed to the Vonage Terms of Service (TOS), which explains that our residential service is for normal residential use only. The TOS includes guidelines regarding usage that is not considered normal residential use. If you would like to review the usage guidelines again, please refer to Vonage's Reasonable Use Policy by clicking here or see sections 5 and 10 of the TOS.
We have observed usage on your account, 1XXXXXXXXXX, which is not consistent with normal residential use. Specifically, your account shows irregular patterns of use and/or international-minute usage that is more than twice that of our heaviest users.
At this time, you can remain on your current plan, but your usage will need to be changed to fall within normal residential use guidelines which are based upon the predominant patterns of our residential service customers. For example: this usage would generally not exceed more than 3,000 international minutes per month in combination with a reasonable number of unique international numbers called. As another option, you can switch to a different calling plan, or you can disconnect your service without penalty.
For additional information about your options please respond to this email and one of our associates will be glad to assist you.
Regards,
Vonage Customer Service
Mail 2:
Dear <name of the customer>,
Thank you for your reply and for agreeing to change your pattern of usage to fall within our normal residential use guidelines. These guidelines may be reviewed in our Terms of Service (sections 5 and 10) at anytime by visiting www.vonage.com/tos/#SERVICE. The previous email was sent from an automated system that determines lines that are inconsistent with normal use. It was sent to make you aware of these guidelines as the usage on your account is very close to crossing that threshold.
So at this time, you can remain on your current Vonage World plan, but we would need to see your calling patterns stay within the normal residential guidelines. Use of more than 3,000 international minutes per month is one of, but not the only, indicator we use to assess whether usage is outside of normal residential use.
For example, almost all of our Vonage World customers use less than 1,500 international minutes each month compared to your use of over 2,906. Additionally, Vonage World customers call fewer than 13 unique international telephone numbers each month compared to your 48 unique international telephone numbers. Lastly, the average Vonage World customer uses 300 international Call-Forwarding minutes each month.
If the guidelines of our Vonage World plan do not suit your needs, we also offer a Power User plan for $49.99 per month. This plan includes free domestic calling and 3,000 in-plan international minutes to the countries included within the Vonage World plan. Additional in-plan international minutes will be charged at the rate of $.03 per in-plan minute thereafter.
You may view the information you requested by accessing your online account and navigating to your Billing/Call History section. Then you will be able to view call details in current or past invoices/billing cycles. Alternativley, you may access your call history by following the steps below.
1. Go to www.vonage.com and select My Account/Login (upper right corner of screen).
2. Enter your Username or 10-digit phone number/Password.
3. Select Activity from the Quick Links drop down menu and click Sign In. A detailed list of your call activity is displayed.
Please feel free to reply directly to this email with any concerns that you may have.
Sincerely,
Vonage Usage Department
====================================================================
After reading this mail, you're stupefied. Not knowing what to do, you'll start calling/mailing customer care. If you've concentrated on having a online account, you will start getting the user ID and password. You will be in a situation not knowing if you can make a local call, or can call to toll free number or atleast can receive a call. This is the greatest pain and all your near and dear one's all of a sudden seem too far since you are afraid to make a call... :)
In order not to bring down yourself into this situation i suggest few tips.
1. Get an online account activated immediately after subscribing to vonage.
2. Track your international minutes on a regular basis. They will be displayed in dashboard of your home page.
3. Remember that your international minutes are 3000 ONLY. You will receive a mail from vonage when you are near 2700.
4. Vonage is FREE to any number(Mobile or Land line) in US (Incoming or Outgoing).
5. Vonage team also advices you not to call numerous international numbers. They say it ideally as 9 different numbers which is practically impossible, but, keep a watch on that.
This should address most of the queries a new Vonage customer has.
QUESTION 2:
==========
I should be charged only apprx 24$ for the first 3 months but charged more than that. Why?
Vonage has no hidden charges. The reason for that charge is due to your incautiousness.
Vonages lists 60 different countries to which calls can be placed in their home page. For your convenience here is the link :
If you observe closely, you should be noticing ** condition apply lines written in the same link as:
**All calls to landline phones included. Calls to cell phones may be included depending on destination. Subject to change. Excluded certain call types such as calls to non-geographic and premium numbers.
And also a (c) suffixed beside countries which says "(c) =Calls to cellularphones included" meaning, calling cell phones is not free in all the countries. So, how do you check and ensure if it is FREE or NOT?
Here is simple the procedure:
Go to this page, enter your number in the text box and click Go. You shall see if the call to the given number is FREE or at some charge. Now, cross check your bill and see to which number it is charged and cross check here. If there still is any discrepancy, you can proceed to contact customer support.
QUESTION 3:
===========
How do I get referral bonus?
Availing referral bonus referring a friend/colleague is the most simple job.
1. Your friend has taken a vonage connection. He should provide your name and number as reference while taking the connection. Dont worry if he has missed giving your details.
After the payment is received by Vonage, you friend can call CSE (Customer Support Executive) on 1-866-243-4357 and give your vonage phone number and name as vonage.
2. You should call vonage and say you have referred your friend and ask for the money to credit in your account. The CSE will right away credit the amount into your account.
3. You can verify the credited amount by logging-in to your account and verifying the "Current Account Balance ($X.XX)" field in Dashboard. It should show as 14.99$.
4. So, you've now received a discount and this amount will not be charged in your next month bill... Happy referring... :)
