Never get a vonage phone

When we first got our Vonage phone, we were really pleased. It was inexpensive, it had a good Canada/US calling plan, and it e-mailed you a .wav file when you got a voicemail.

We soon grew to hate it, though. The info was carried over internet lines, not dedicated phone lines, and our reception was terrible. People often said they could only hear one word in four, there was a big delay, and many conversations ended with "well, I can't hear anything you're saying, so I'm just going to have to hang up - if you can hear me, call me back another day."

We decided to switch to a regular phone. We cancelled our service, and we've had a regular phone installed for ~2 months. Vonage keeps charging our credit card. Every time we call up to complain, they try to convince us to keep the service. It's like talking to a wall. Not only that, but they've charged us hundreds of dollars for the modem they sent us, which they swore up and down would be free. Of course, they can't disconnect our service without charging us for the modem. Not that they've disconnected our service. Douglas has been on the phone with them for *hours*, with no result. This is the man who recently got a refund for a doctor's visit that didn't meet his expectations.

It's all in the title line - *never* get a vonage phone.