Clearwire Sucks!

I'm reading something this morning talking about how companies usually will resolve a complaint and lose the company a bit of money in order to avoid bad publicity or bad reputation by word of mouth.  And I thought, fsck that.  Clearwire sucks and people need to know that and avoid their product.  

Don't get me wrong, the service is really easy to set up.  Plus, if given no other option, the Internet they provide wouldn't be too bad.  As I post this with my new DSL connection, i can tell you that wires have a clear advantage for Internet service delivery.

I stuck with the year contract, but only because I did not want to be penalized with and early termination fee (ETF) and, as mentioned above, the service wasn't terrible.  But this company is not on the customer's side.

One thing I like to do with my Internet connection is audio/video chat using iChat.  So its not too long into the contract that I realize this functionality is broken when I used Clearwire.  I had to speak/yell at at least five people before they would admit that they were blocking the ports used for these services.  i then told them that I believed Clearwire was violating the good faith of our contract to use my Internet connection for legitimate purposes.  Finally, after quite a tussle and a lot of my mobile minutes dispensed they took a/v port restrictions off my connection and that was solved.  What a fscking pain.  btw, they called these the VoIP ports.  Blocking these ports can only serve the purpose of encouraging customers to purchase Clearwire VoIP instead of Vonage, 8x8, etc., which is clearly anticompetitive.  (funnier still is Clearwire does not offer its VoIP service in Honolulu as yet.)

So, I suffered this service for the duration of the one year contract.  I planned to smoothly quit Clearwire after 12 months and move to a wired alternative.  Their system did not allow the transition to be smooth.  On 30 November I called to cancel my service that would end 8 December.  The agent said a UPS mailing label would be emailed to me and I was to use that to ship the equipment back to the company.  However, the system didn't work very quickly, I was told, and I would have to wait up to a week for that emailed label.  Oh, and check your junk mail.

The system didn't work.  I didn't receive an emailed UPS label and my account had been charged for another (the 13th) month of service.  This is no big deal to me since my DSL was going to be 4 more days and I just hoped they give me a prorated refund.  So I called again on 12 Dec after my DSL was working.  "Hey guys. Label no come in email.  I check junk mail and everything.  Please send another."  "No problem sir.  Sorry system no working.  It may take a week.  Aloha."

Again, the system doesn't work.  Before I call again on 19 Dec I am reconciling my ledger with the banks online and find that Clearwire has charged my $210 on 17 Dec in addition to the $44 for the service I'm not using.  Their modem has been in a box since 12 Dec waiting for a label.  Now I have to call again about the label and this ridiculous $210 charge.  

The label thing works this time.  The CSR pushed it through, tried three email addresses, and I had three return labels in my junk mail folder within 15 minutes.  I drop the package off at the UPS store the next afternoon 20 Dec.  I think this other charge is ridiculous and will be easy to take care of through a Saturday phone call.  This was terribly difficult.  After I lost my cool, cussed the first CSR out and nearly busted my mobile phone, I called again an hour later.  I was told conflicting stories that the $210 charge was an equipment charge or an early termination fee (ETF) depending on the Jimmy on the other end.  Both explanations are obviously not going to satisfy me because both are ridiculous.  I had fulfilled my contract and shipped their equipment the very next day after I received the shipping label.

Clearwire was penalizing me $210 because their system didn't work.  I come to ascertain that there was a 14 day shot clock that started when I asked to quit on 30 Nov, after which I would be charged $210 until they received their equipment.  Ridiculous, but understandable that the automated system wasn't smart enough to figure this out.  The humans I thought would be rational enough to fix the situation.

I threatened to call the FCC, State PUC, Better Business Bureau, and their moms if they didn't fix the problem and let me have my money back so I could buy Christmas presents for kids.  After about 90 minutes of this extremely fun back and forth I got a guy on the phone who canceled the service so I could get my $210 back and put in a request to refund the $44 charge for Dec (which was granted).  

So they finally made it right, but boy did I have to fight for it.  I had to fight through an untold number of "There is nothing we can do about the charge."  They had to put up with new witticisms such as "There is no Early Termination Fee!" and "You are penalizing me because your system doesn't work!"

Fsck Clearwire right in the ear.

Comments

[Linolumixa]

Gut, now you can return to your frequent commenting on Aina's blog days. Or did I just create a statement that will disappoint me later on.

[fleur]

I was considering getting Clearwire sometime last October, but my Powerbook could not find ANY Clearwire towers without using my Cantenna and I lived in Waikiki! I was angry that week because one of my neighbors' internet connections shut off. Thank God I got the Super Cantenna after that :) It's a life saver! 

[Zechariah Kowalski]

[this is good] Idea good, I support.