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Lingo Complaint - Lingo Was Good, Not Anymore!!!
Complaint
I am subscribing to their services for more than a year now. Initially Lingo was very good as it saved me a few bucks every month. The real problem came when I called in to cancel my account last month as I have already switched over to Vonage. When I had initially signed up, my contract with Lingo was only for a year, now out of nowhere they have changed it to two years with a higher termination fee. When I tried to dispute that with the call center people, they simply refused to listen to me stating that my Terms and Conditions has a clause which says that my Terms and Conditions can change anytime and I would have to agree to it. On top of that they said it is absolutely legal to change the Terms and Conditions, which I had signed on during signup, anytime.
I know that the call center people are somewhere in Asia who have no idea about the laws and ethics which needs to be followed by every American company. If you put a clause in your Terms and Conditions that you would steal from me, and you steal from me, it does not make the stealing legal.
When you say "Lingo was a good VoIP", I assume that you are not a customer with them anymore, so let me tell you the present ground realities about Lingo:
1) On my business number, my fax machine works with Vonage. Granted it does not work perfectly, but we still receive and send faxes on a regular basis.
2) With Lingo, I also find it tricky to reestablish a connection if the power goes off. Have to reset the cable modem, then plug in the Lingo unit, let it download and a couple of minutes later, the router.
However, I can't talk on the phone and download anything on the computer without it cutting out on the phone.
3) Call center staff for Lingo have heavy accents and they repeat the same things over and over again no matter what issue you have (seems like you are speaking to robots). Sometimes when they get bored of repeating the same sentences, they would put you on hold 5 minutes to consult a supervisor, and guess what, they would come back and still repeat the same sentences all over again. They have absolutely ZERO knowledge of their own product going along with their thick, heavy accents.
4) I have my business numbers from Verizon and Vonage and, really, others should learn from them how call centers are supposed to work, esp. from Vonage. These companies too have call centers in Asia - so how is it that they get it right and Lingo doesn't?
I don't mean to take away anything from your experience with Lingo, but it seems like you were amongst the rare breed of happy customers Lingo ever had out of those hundreds and thousands who have expressed their views on the internet. Lately Lingo customer service staff SOLICIT good things to be said about them in the surveys, etc.
As far as I am concerned I paid a heavy price for saving a few bucks a month, $100 to be exact because I have made up my mind to cancel my account as soon as possible before they change the termination clause in the Terms and Conditions to 5 years or $1000 penalty.
I know that the call center people are somewhere in Asia who have no idea about the laws and ethics which needs to be followed by every American company. If you put a clause in your Terms and Conditions that you would steal from me, and you steal from me, it does not make the stealing legal.
When you say "Lingo was a good VoIP", I assume that you are not a customer with them anymore, so let me tell you the present ground realities about Lingo:
1) On my business number, my fax machine works with Vonage. Granted it does not work perfectly, but we still receive and send faxes on a regular basis.
2) With Lingo, I also find it tricky to reestablish a connection if the power goes off. Have to reset the cable modem, then plug in the Lingo unit, let it download and a couple of minutes later, the router.
However, I can't talk on the phone and download anything on the computer without it cutting out on the phone.
3) Call center staff for Lingo have heavy accents and they repeat the same things over and over again no matter what issue you have (seems like you are speaking to robots). Sometimes when they get bored of repeating the same sentences, they would put you on hold 5 minutes to consult a supervisor, and guess what, they would come back and still repeat the same sentences all over again. They have absolutely ZERO knowledge of their own product going along with their thick, heavy accents.
4) I have my business numbers from Verizon and Vonage and, really, others should learn from them how call centers are supposed to work, esp. from Vonage. These companies too have call centers in Asia - so how is it that they get it right and Lingo doesn't?
I don't mean to take away anything from your experience with Lingo, but it seems like you were amongst the rare breed of happy customers Lingo ever had out of those hundreds and thousands who have expressed their views on the internet. Lately Lingo customer service staff SOLICIT good things to be said about them in the surveys, etc.
As far as I am concerned I paid a heavy price for saving a few bucks a month, $100 to be exact because I have made up my mind to cancel my account as soon as possible before they change the termination clause in the Terms and Conditions to 5 years or $1000 penalty.
Comments:
Posted by Soaring Consumer on 2009-07-08:
The ability to change the terms and conditions at any time does not give them the legal right to extend the term of your contract without authorization or just cause. Contact the Federal Trade Commission.
Posted by stingrayann on 2009-07-09:
I found the number of a senior management person at Primus Telecommunications (Lingo) on this website .... +1-703-902-2810. Call and see if this helps or at least give them a piece of your mind. After all they decide the policies, systems and find such pathetic customer service staff! Its time they get a wake up call.
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