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I have been VBuzzer customer for over 7 years, and I have 2 active voip telephone lines with them. I have there unlimited toronto calling plan and as per vbuzzer policy it was paid in 1 year advance. So i had paid for my service in a year advance, and vbuzzer already had my money in their account.
All of a sudden they charged me 8X of regular charges and also for local toronto calling which should be included in my plan. I had to pay 15 Cents (U.S) for every local call. when I asked them the reason, they told me that i use my VOIP phone outside Canada so they have to charge me this high charge.
I travel a lot and hence I use this voip service outside canada a lot, and there was no problem what so ever from past 7 years. No other competitors like Vonage, Comwave have such kind of hidden charges.
Vbuzzer didnot give any prior notice of their policy change, there was no email or whiteboard posting about these charges. Infact it makes no sense for a voip company to charge for calls if your laptop is logging from outside canada. It doesnot make sense. Its a ripp off.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I am on the same boat man...
Facts about vBuzzer desperately seeks money:
vBuzzer forcefully keep money that mistakenly charged from the clients as their vBuzzer credits
vBuzzer selling Google ads on the front page to generate a few more pennies of revenue.
vBuzzer started charging taxes on anything, which used to be tax free.
Yet vBuzzer charges in USD to take advantage of the dollar value
vBuzzer raised all their rates
vBuzzer charged 1-800 toll fee calls (which they claimed to be a mistake, and they at best only reimburse vBuzzer credits)
vBuzzer charges phone calls based on your physical geographical location, not the number you call.
E.g. If you login to vBuzzer from Germany, and make a 416 call with your 416 number, you get charged a long distance rate of Germany-Canada.
The list goes on...
Recently we received some complaints about Vbuzzer's pricing and business practices. This post is a response to the complaints. We don't expect it will completely change the mind of those who complained, but we do hope this post can trigger civilized discussions.
1. SCAM - Charges - Unethical
In my opinion, it is valid to say it is a wrong business decision and you don't like it. It is not true to accuse the "rip off", "scam", "evil", "fraud" etc. In fact the rates are publicly released on our website 30 days prior to its effective date; the rates are there every second, every minute, every day, week, month; we sent massive emails to notify those who are affected. It is simply not true that we are hiding something, or we attempt to rip off, or scam etc. In addition, we offer calling plans with even cheaper rate than before.
2. Higher pricing calling from certain countries (e.g. Middle East)
We heard your voice that you don't like it, we will review our pricing periodically and strive to lower it whenever possible. However, the higher pricing is nothing evil whatsoever. VoIP is a hyper competitive market, in theory, we can set our price high (say, a dollar a minute), and because competition exists (you confirmed this with multiple providers' name), customers will punish us by not using our service. The market will regulate itself and the greedy providers will get no customers, therefore making no penny. While I understand your frustration on the higher pricing, I don't understand why some users are so emotion. You have all the options in your hand, so what's the big deal? For calling from all countries in the world, we offer calling plans, which have better pricing than the pay-as-you-go rates. E.g. If you login to vBuzzer from low rate countries (e.g. Germany), and make a 416 call with your 416 number, you DO NOT get charged a long distance rate of Germany-Canada. If you do have such a charge, please contact Vbuzzer support instantly.
3. Honoring the contract
The issue is focused on those who subscribe to an unlimited local phone number and use it in Middle East. If you want to solve your problem and care to contact us, we will either offer you an alternative solution or offer you a refund for remaining period. Here's our take of the issue:
If a standard technology fails to work in Middle East (for example, Vonage service), you are fully okay, you don't whine, you don't protest, you don't curse the provider, you still need to pay up the full contract period, then you look for something new.
If an advanced technology works in Middle East countries (for example, Vbuzzer service), you take it for granted, you don't like to pay a little extra to reward the provider. Our suggestion would be you can choose any other providers as you like and we wish you good luck.
It looks our effort to make VoIP work worldwide at the same price is not a wise business decision. It makes no sense to continue that, as it gives us nothing but all these accusations. In contrast, if the voip doesn't work, people just accept the fact that it is been blocked by local telecom and Vbuzzer is just another "nice" standard VoIP provider, at least not "evil". :)
4. Vbuzzer sucks?
Yes sometimes we really suck. A lot of mistakes have been made, a lot of decisions need to be reviewed, and probably changed. We know it. On the other side, we also know we've done a few things right, that's why we are still in business, grow fast, and will continue to be in. For those users who dislike Vbuzzer, this means we will "suck" around for a long time, so be prepared for this annoyance. :)
5. Billing errors and customer support response time.
We recently find some users complain about their billing errors. Some are because the users are not aware of the change of the policy. We will explain to these users. For those customers who do have a billing error, we will correct and refund as soon as possible. Our customer service department will take care of each customer inquiries and will typically reply within one or two business day. If we agree to your refunding, we will do so. Typical refund will take about one to two weeks. Not only to your Vbuzzer account, but to your credit card.
6. Taxes
If you subscribe a Canadian number, call to Canada, call from Canada, or located in Canada to subscribe any service, you are responsible for the tax. Every penny of the taxes are collected on behalf of Canadian government.
7. USD
USD is the currency for Vbuzzer, which is explained well in the website.
8. 1-800
It is free for most users. Only for some users who either located in high rate countries (e.g. Middle East), travel to high rate countries, or share accounts with friends in high rate countries, it is no longer as a free feature.
vBUZZER.COM is A HUGE SCAM !
"rip off", "scam", "evil", "fraud"
what a contrived RESPONSE FROM VBUZZER.COM...
-----
8. 1-800
------
I CAN NOT CALL MY LOCAL BANK 1-800 NUMBER. CANADA's LARGEST BANK. If I wish to call for SUPPORT. A PHONE NUMBER FROM ANY PAY PHONE THAT IS FREE.
VBUZZER.COM - THE COMPANY DOES NOT OFFER A SUPPORT PHONE NUMBER !
why hide from your paying customers ?
.
OTHERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE POOR SERVICE OF THIS VOIP PROVIDER VBUZZER.COM
RBC - the largest bank in Canada:
[protected] for personal banking customers
[protected] for business banking customers
I just checked and it is working.
The error may due to your account only. Please contact our customer support to solve the problem.
Just checked the following number and ALL OF THEM work well:
CIBC: [protected] within Canada and the U.S. for service in English
CIBC: or call [protected] for service in French
RBC: [protected] for personal banking customers
RBC: [protected] for business banking customers
TD: English [protected]
TD: French [protected]
Scotia: 1-800-4SCOTIA
BMO: English 1 877 CALL BMO [protected])
BMO: French [protected]
i have an account also in vbuzzer but it is blocked here in uae and still they charging me in my credit card even I' m not using it. How could I close my account? I can not access it anymore? please help. my e-mail add abhegulf@yahoo.com
Cannt delete t keps sayingthathe Program s still ruing?
I have a similar issue and whatever vbuzzer says they are engaged in barefaced fraud. I have the following advice for anyone considering subscribing to their service:
Whatever you do, don’t opt for the monthly plan – the only way you can do this is by authorizing an automatic recharge on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. When you sign up they tell you that you can cancel the plan when you want. But when you actually get around to doing it there is nothing more difficult. I had to try to contact them repeatedly by email and after taking their sweet time with it they dropped the bombshell ‘this is an annual contract and you cant cancel it – if you really want to cancel there is a cancellation charge of 39.99!’
Honestly I went through the terms a couple of times before subscribing and nowhere had they mentioned anything like this. I am sceptical of companies as it is but I never expected barefaced fraud like this from a seemingly reputable company. Desperate times perhaps but totally unethical/ illegal in my view.
My credit card issuing bank was nice enough to block them from endless recharges but they had to issue a new card to do this, totally needless expense for the bank. Apparently this was not the first time they had such a complaint.
My sincere advice is not to touch them with a barge pole.
PLEASE READ!
It's very troubling when a phone and chat provider doesn't have a phone number, chat line, or email address for customers to contact. It's even worse when they provide contradictory (if not misleading) information.
I signed up with vbuzzer because I believed I was getting unlimitted local calling for $4.50 US per month. As indicated here:
https://www.vbuzzer.com/phone/phonenumber/canada.php?ct_id=6
Plan Monthly Fee Plan Details
1 $4.5 Unlimited Local Calling
After a couple of months without problems, someone in my family made a *local* call that lasted a few hours. Eventually they were cut off, and when they tried to dial the number again, they received a message to the effect that our account didn't have enough credit to make another call.
The next day, I received an email from Moneris (vbuzzer's payment handler) informing me I'd been charged $10 US. I contacted vbuzzer thinking this was a mistake, but they said my plan only included 250 minutes per month, and once that's exceeded, they consider it "pay-as-you-go", so they "auto-recharge" your account by billing you in $10 increments.
I checked my account page, and sure enough, it said I only get 250 minutes per month. However, this information is nearly hidden. You have to hover over a "detail" link, and then a pop-up appears with all the countries you can call. The number of minutes in your plan is tacked onto the very end of this paragraph.
Nowhere on their website can I find a plan that includes exactly 250 minutes per month! There's the information I listed above for the "unlimitted local calling" plan, and then there are the following two calling plans listed elsewhere:
World Select (33 Countries)
Select Mothly Minutes/Month Cost/Minute Savings
$5.00 400 $0.013 N/A
World Select (57 Countries)
Select Mothly Minutes/Month Cost/Minute Savings
$5.00 200 $0.025 N/A
So which of these three plans do I have? None, apparently.
Now their website claims you can opt-out of this "auto-recharge" feature at any time, but their instructions for accomplishing this are vague.
Their "Support" page says:
https://www.vbuzzer.com/account/compose.php
"If you want to change your plan, please go to "Service & Plan" and follow the instructions there."
However, there's no "Service & Plan" page on their website -- anywhere!
On their "Terms and Conditions" page, it says:
https://www.vbuzzer.com/terms.php
"(4) Auto-Recharge Default Feature: Unless you indicate otherwise when registering for Your Account (by unticking the relevant box), Vbuzzer will automatically deposit Your Account with an amount equal to your original deposit by charging your designated payment method on a monthly basis. You can disable this auto-recharge feature at any time by accessing Your Account and unticking the relevant box. Disabling this auto-recharge feature will not affect your responsibility for any charges which have already been submitted. "
As far as I'm aware, the only box on the registration page is the box to accept the terms and conditions. If you uncheck that box, you won't be able to register at all! And there's no so-called "relevant box" anywhere else on their website after you register. It seems there's really no way to turn this "auto-recharge" feature off.
I paid for a phone adapter and a year of service. I've sent vbuzzer a message indicating I won't be renewing after this term is up. I want my $10 US refunded, and this "auto-recharge" feature turned off. I also want at least the 400 minutes per month -- if not the unlimitted local calling I signed up for in the first place!
(Note: the information above is from vbuzzer.com on June 19th, 2010 2:13 PM PST.)
What is option that i need to cancel/deactivate my vbuzzer account? in my country its not working properly due to blocking issues from the internet/telecom provider, I have already informed to vbuzzer but no reply, still charging through my credit card.
Just wanted to post an update: Vbuzzer seems to have resolved my situation by switching me to a phone number prefix that qualitfies for the unlimited local calling plan and applying the $10 charge towards extending my plan by 2 months. For the moment I'm satisfied, and I hope this will be the last problem I have with them.
In reply to the last comment, you can cancel your account by logging in and going to the Support page. There is a "Service & Plan" link there (as someone pointed out to me). That link will give you the option to cancel... however, if you click that link you'll be charged the $39.99 cancelation fee. On the other hand, their terms and conditions page says they may waive the fee at their discretion, but it says you have to send them a letter in writing to cancel. My advice would be to first contact their support department and tell them about the problems you've been having. I believe I read on another forum that someone was having a similar problem, and vbuzzer offered to refund their money.
Terrible customer service, hidden fees, a $40 Cancellation fee? Those three things should be enough alone to make anyone stay away from this SCAM of a company
I was hoping my problems were over with this company, but the surprises kept coming. They have charges for everything. I recently made what should have been a local call. I didn't dial a 1 in front of the number, and the call went through without a warning. I later found out they charged me for that call. I asked them why the number was considered long distance when Telus and Bell do not, and all they could say was they'd look into it "later". THAT WAS TWO WEEKS AGO! I also pointed out that their sign up page for my plan said I'd get 250 minutes of long distance a month. They didn't respond to that.
I asked why I'm able to place long distance calls without dialing a 1 or receiving any warnings. They said if I don't want to get charged for long distance, then I should just let my account balance decrease to $0. That's nonsense. How the heck are customers supposed to know what is and isn't long distance if they don't apply the same rules as Telus and Bell?
I wouldn't recommend this company to anyone!
I have had a similar problem with VBuzzer. These guys are using deceptive marketing practices to gain revenue.
My credit card information was required to try the free credit and complete the signup process. The offer specifically said that there was no obligation to purchase anything or to continue using it after the 7 day period. I have cancelled my subscription yet my card was charged and the details of my card are still stored on my account on the VBuzzer site.
By these actions, VBuzzer has shown blatant disregard for the Competition Act, specifically 52(1)(a) of the Competition Act - misleading representations and deceptive marketing practices, by advertising that customers can claim a free $5 calling credit.
Attached is the email I received outlining the offer. It states, "You don't need to pay anything for it". VBuzzer has already wasted my time and duped numerous North Americans with this bogus offer. I have repeatedly requested that that they credit my card account with the $10 that they took without my authorization, express or implied, and then delete my credit card and personal information from their servers. They have inept support staff working on my case who take days to respond and then accuse me of using the $5 credit. I did use the $5 credit and I am not disputing that. What I am disputing is their illegal use of my credit card.
from newsletter@vbuzzer.com
sender-time Sent at 5:41 PM (UTC). Current time there: 5:56 PM.
to bob@gmail.com
date Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 5:41 PM
subject Vbuzzer Calling Credit
mailed-by vbuzzer.com
unsubscribe Unsubscribe from this sender
hide details Aug 27 (2 days ago)
Hello Bob,
Thank you for signing up Vbuzzer on 2009/03/02
Remember your username is schoolbob, your password is noobrules
To thank you as a long-standing customer, we are very pleased to offer you $5 calling credit. You don't need to pay anything for it, simply download the new Vbuzzer version from the link below, login your account, take 2 easy steps to claim this $5 bonus credit.
Download Vbuzzer Messenger Here
You will have 7 days to use up this credit.
Happy calling!
Vbuzzer Team
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We need a class-action lawsuit.
I have a local phone service for $54 per year. Suddenly it stopped working. Each call made by Vbuzzer Messenger ends with "You do not have enough credit for this call" message. For a week nobody responded to my requests. Finally I got a question if I use their service.
Instead checking logs, configuration of the line etc. they start a discussion. The local phone line still not working.
Vbuzzer company are scam, fraud, i didn't have id caller and sent them 100 request to fix it and nobody care about it.
My service stopped working and they keeping up to charge me, that is why they don't want to answer phone, because they steal money from people.
I have been left more than 2 weeks without service. I sent more than 20 messages to ask for help from vbuzzer.com. one reply can take more than 2 days and does not help to solve the problem at all. I paid them 8 months in advance. even though I might not get my money back, I decides to leave this company.I totally agree with you guys, this company is a scam. anyway, I am leaving vbuzzer now for whatever it takes.