It would appear that something weird went on in this case, but I don’t really think it’s as cut and dry as it first appears…

IT CAME IN the mail - the old-fashioned mail with an envelope and stamp delivered to a box outside your home or through a slot in your door - and sounded like it could be a good deal.

So Mary Ellen Ehly called Vonage in the fall of 2005 to see if the company really did offer better phone service for less money.

After spending 10 to 15 minutes talking with the woman from Vonage who answered her call, Ehly knew the deal wasn’t for her. Vonage sells a service that routes phone calls through the Internet. Ehly didn’t spend much time on the computer and had never even used e-mail. The customer service representative told her billing statements were sent by e-mail.

“I said, you know, I don’t think this is going to work for me,” said Ehly, who had already given Vonage her name, address and bank-account information.

The woman at Vonage sounded peeved about that, but Ehly insisted she didn’t want to switch her phone service. A few days later, Vonage shipped some equipment to Ehly. She refused the package, sending it back to Vonage.

Fifteen months later, Ehly bounced a check and wondered why. She checked her records and found Vonage had been charging her $28.75 a month since November 2005.

Of course, the writer jumps immediately to the conclusion that fraud was involved, which it may very well have been. My question, and the one thing I don’t seem to understand, is how does someone get a bill for something for 15 months and not realize it?

I was paying the infamous AOL bill for a long time before I decided to cancel it, but I was well aware that it was out there. I find it hard to believe that anyone with even half an inch of common sense can pay a minimum $15 bill every single month and not realize that they’re paying it.

Sounds fishy.

Also sounds fishy that she put the order in, gave all the information, and then cancelled the order when she found out that they bill only via e-mail.

It also sounds fishy that a random hotmail account was created for her.

It sounds fishy that Vonage can’t go back and find out who took the call, particularly since up until right before this whole thing blew up, they were still billing her.

I’m just confused.

Lesson learned: Don’t be stupid. Check your bank statement every once in awhile. You might be surprised at what you find!

Philly.com via Consumerist

Technorati Tags: vonage, customer, fraud, consumerism, weird

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