Vonage Phone Service Rules...so far

If you've been following my cell phone drama, you know how unhappy I've been with AT&T. While it appears my cell phone issues have been resolved, I can't take the chance of being held hostage again if my service decides to go out. In addition, I was paying some God awful high cell phone bill every month for unlimited calls. I liked not having to watch my minutes, but I work from home and was talking on my cell phone in my home office most of the time. I can't really justify keeping an expensive cell phone plan, and I don't feel I should be giving my money to some ungrateful corporation.

In an effort to solve my phone issues, I did some research on Vonage. They provide voiceover IP service, which is an adapter that connects to your internet box. You must have high-speed internet in order to qualify. My last company used VoIP service exclusively, because we worked from home when we weren't traveling and it was very cost efficient. A good friend of mine (you know who you are), who is my technical guru and hero, came to my rescue when my cell phone service went out. He's had Vonage for years and has never had a problem, and convinced me to give it a try.

I called and spoke to a Vonage representative on Monday and then ordered my service online. What my technical guru didn't know was that if I put him down as a referral, we would both receive two months free. What a bonus!

I received my Vonage adapter today via UPS. All that was required of me was to plug in a cable from the Vonage box to my internet box. Voila! So far, so good.

If you are considering putting in another phone line or switching to a less expensive plan, I would recommend considering Vonage. They can port over existing cell or home numbers. One of the bonuses is that you can take the Vonage box with you anywhere you move in the country (as long as you have high-speed internet) and keep the same number. It's great for those of us with home businesses, because you never have to change your number. You can also pick any area code in the country you want. If you always wanted to live in New York, pick a New York area code.

If you try Vonage and are referred by an existing customer, make sure you click on Benefits---Benefits of VoIP---Refer-a-Friend, or mention the Refer-a-Friend if you call to order the service. You just need their phone number. This is the only way to get two months free for you and your referral. If you do not personally know someone who has Vonage, I would appreciate if you would use me as your referral. You have 30 days to try it so if you don't like it, you didn't pay for the first month, so nothing lost. Depending on the phone package you order, the adapter is usually free. If you don't want to wait to receive the adapter from Vonage, you can buy it at your local electronics store (Best Buy).

Just presenting another cost savings idea!

AT&T Issue Resolution

As a follow-up to my cell phone saga with AT&T, as of today, it appears to be fixed. Since the problems are now intermittent (sometimes I can make a call from my home and sometimes I need to drive a block away to make a call), I am going to bite the bullet and get a VOIP phone in my home. I will be cutting back on my monthly cell plan. AT&T's CEO's office continues to e-mail me, and are monitoring the situation. It's great to have that level of service and a contact at the top. It definitely helped with expediting a resolution. I will be getting a month of free service.

I've been Twittering on this issue for the past few days, and my Twitter updates go to my Facebook page. A dear friend of mine in San Diego, who knows me very well and who has been following this issue, posted this on my Facebook page:

Given your reputation for extracting fine customer service I'm surprised that:

(1) The CEO of AT&T hasn't personally called you to apologize.
(2) He isn't onsite personally directing the erection of the replacement cell tower.
(3) The replacement cell tower isn't named after you.
(4) He hasn't invited you to work from his office and use his personal cell phone while yours is out.
(5) You haven't rearranged his personal staff, including firing two executive VPs where just laying around to make the entire operation more efficient at a cost savings of more than $1M annually.

This is the same friend who returned from Iraq several years ago, after serving there for a year in the US Marine Corps, and turned to me and said "JM, you could get the Shiites and Sunnis to stop fighting!"

You know the personality profiles and leadership exercises where you have to ask the people closest to you to describe who you are as a person? Well, it seems pretty unanimous. I am now, and will always be, a Gumptionista.

Beware of the Gumptionista, AT&T Wireless!

I hope my hellish day today is not a reflection on what my week is going to be like. My morning started off fine. I drove to my doctor’s office and picked up the sick note to fax to Southwest Airlines so I could get a refund. I haven’t needed a sick note since second grade, but, whatever it takes. I then tried to make a phone call on my cell phone, and lo and behold, nothing. I receive a Call Failed on any outgoing call, and all incoming calls go straight to voicemail. When I try to get into my voicemail, I get a Call Failed. I went to the local AT&T store twice today. The first time, they removed the battery and waited and it seemed to work for about 5 minutes. As soon as I got home, I had the same problem. The second trip to the store, they recommended that I go to the warranty location and get a refurbished phone. Through a friend who works as a Project Manager for AT&T, I was able to get my hands on the e-mail address of the CEO. I sent him an e-mail this afternoon explaining that I am a business owner and this is the only phone I have. I paid a lot of money for this phone a mere 5 months ago, and will not accept a refurbished phone. I requested a brand new phone (Blackberry Bold is what I currently have) and also a month of free service, since the Call Failed problem happens often.

A friend of mine, who sensed that I was going to slit my wrists over this issue, came over after work last night. He is my technical guru friend. As soon as he stepped foot in my parking structure, he lost his cell service. Thank God! I am not crazy after all! He called AT&T via Skype from my house, and was told that a cell tower had been down in my neighborhood since 8:00 AM. They were having issues bringing it back up and expected that it would be up with service back to normal by the morning.

This morning I woke up to the wonderful sights and sounds of Call Failed, again. I decided to get in my car and drive to see where I could get a signal. I got less than a 1/2 block from my house and was able to make a call. I called AT&T Customer Service and talked to them for 30 minutes before they switched me to technical support. Customer Service said that there was no report of an outage, but then Technical Support said there was an outage, and it was expected to be back up in 1 hour. Here we go again. While I was on the phone with technical support, the office of the CEO of AT&T left me a voicemail. I called him back and we discussed my e-mails and the situation. He was a nice guy, and very helpful. He has since called me twice today to give me updates. As of 1:00 PM, my service is still out so needless to say, I am getting frustrated. I am looking forward to a resolution. I supposed I should go back to a home phone for these types of situations, but I am fighting it tooth and nail.

Regardless of the situation or the problem, always go to the top. It may seem like a small issue, but if it's important to you, let yourself be heard. Also, it helps to blog and twitter on these issues. As someone recently told me, companies are starting to pay attention to social networking, because of the press issues.

I'll keep you posted.