Why Clearwire is what it is
October 8th, 2007 | by Admin |**USER SUBMISSION by OneVoice, with follow up by fadexxoutxxagain**
I worked for Clearwire in the recent Nashville rollout and continue to work with them. Because of the consultation nature of my work, I’ve dealt with many different companies in in the Southeast and elsewhere in the country.
To be frank, I, personally, would never own a product or lease a service by this company. The reasons are somewhat different than the technological and customer service issues that are so well documented here and elsewhere, though certainly related and arguably the source of said issues.
My experience with them places them, at least in my mind, far closer to the private equity type of corporate model than the utility public service model. In my year and a half experience with them so far, customer experience seems to be the last criterion on the list when decisions are made, and frankly much of the time, isn’t even on the list.
A good example is their understanding and management of RF tech and how the end customer experience with regard to throughput and connection stability is affected, and what mitigating measures should be taken to provide a good customer experience in what is, by all accounts, a challenging technology to make work optimally. Anyone who’s ever worked in high frequency radio in general in a congested spectrum environment knows what I’m talking about. When I say “understanding” I guess that’s not exactly right, because I have dealt with a couple of smart people who do understand the issues and do want to do the right thing. But just as one example, from a corporate standpoint, Clearwire doesn’t understand that managing these issues well is key to customer satisfaction, because the customer just wants stable and close-to-as-advertised bandwidth, and that this is a very competitive and fast-changing business, and that customer satisfaction and retention are everything, if you had a more long-term and less grow-fast-at-all-costs model.
I will note that they understand customer retention, but their execution of it is through lawyers: by making it nearly impossible to stop paying Clearwire for service, no matter how bad the product delivered. As a few of you have discovered, they intentionally roll over the term without telling you, and I can assure you this is not a mistake; it is most deliberate. They know you won’t hire a lawyer, and they know the vast majority will just pay the fees and go away. In the short run I understand the arguments some in the company make that this is a very capital intensive operation and that “first-mover” status is everything, that the customers need to be signed on for growth, financing through cash flow, financing through equity, etc.
But they’re shooting themselves in the foot, imho. Because the end product is every bit as bad as the worst posts we see here, on dslreports.com and elsewhere. And the reason it’s this way is because the company simply is not organized around the customer, it’s organized for growth. And as long as current management stays in place, it will always be organized this way. All the hires are made with that in mind, almost all decisions look to that as the primary, if not only, parameter. In fact, in a couple meetings when I’ve stood up for the experience of the end-user, I’ve gotten dirty looks to the point where I felt I might be putting my job at risk because I was clearly stepping on someone’s toes who felt the need to defend his/her turf.
As in most companies, the culture of the entire company starts at the top and permeates through as the “right” decisions need to be made to move forward the vision of the senior management. Though Clearwire is worse than almost any company I’ve seen in this regard (particularly in putting the customer at the bottom of the priority list), in another sense, that’s simply how much of corporate America now works in this shareholder-equity driven world.
Anyway, I’m not sure why I babbled on so long. Just trying to help.
Long story short, if you’re looking for good reliable service technically, and good customer service when you need it, you must realize that Clearwire is from a corporate standpoint not missioned for that. If you have other options, you should probably pursue them.
**ANOTHER USER SUBMISSION by fadexxoutxxagain**
Im also located in the Nashville market. As sad as I am to say it, every word mentioned here was and is true. I was recently directed to sell service to someone whom I knew to be outside of the coverage area. I of-course did not, and was therefore reprimanded for my lack of sales for that particular business day.
I understand that this company is trying to do everything in its power to get the highest level of name recognition, but they are, as the previous poster stated, shooting themselves in the foot. There are multiple times a day when service is so bad at my point of sale, I cannot demo the product. I actually posted here defending the company when I first started working here a while back, but the more I see the ambition for development over customer satisfaction, the less respect I have for it.
Hopefully with the launch of the Wi-Max system, alot of the service issues will be resolved, but from a customer service stand point, they need to definitely rethink their customer retention policies. I have gone up to bat a number of times against our own retention department on behalf of customers that had every right to cancel their service, and the hoops that you have to go through, and the time spent on the phone with the cancellation line is completely absurd.
I came to this company because I thought that there would be a lot of room for growth, and I think there still is, but unless some of the customer satisfaction issues are addressed I don’t know how they plan to stay afloat when they are pulled into direct competition with comcast and at&t.
15 Responses to “Why Clearwire is what it is”
By fadexxoutxxagain on Oct 8, 2007 | Reply
Im also located in the Nashville market. As sad as I am to say it, every word mentioned here was and is true. I was recently directed to sell service to someone whom I knew to be outside of the coverage area. I of-course did not, and was therefore repremanded for my lack of sales for that particular business day.
I understand that this company is trying to do everything in its power to get the highest level of name recognition, but they are, as the previous poster stated, shooting themselves in the foot. There are multiple times a day when service is so bad at my point of sale, I cannot demo the product. I actually posted here defending the company when I first started working here a while back, but the more I see the ambition for development over customer satisfaction, the less respect I have for it.
Hopefully with the launch of the Wi-Max system, alot of the service issues will be resolved, but from a customer service stand point, they need to definately rethink thier customer retention policies. I have gone up to bat a number of times against our own rentention deparment on bahalf of customers that had every right to cancel thier service, and the hoops that you have to go through, and the time spent on the phone with the cancelation line is completely absurd.
I came to this company because I thought that there would be alot of room for growth, and I think there still is, but unless some of the customer satisfaction issues are addressed I don’t know how they plan to stay afloat when they are pulled into direct competition with comcast and at&t.
By sourceofinfo on Oct 9, 2007 | Reply
I too am a Clearwire employee, but not in Nashville – i’m located in Kirkland WA at HQ. I have seen products delayed or canceled specifically due to the possible customer experience. Sales Reps and Managers are compensated on just that – SALES. The company’s business plan isn’t to screw the customer. With any young company there are going to be problems and of course they don’t want to make it easy to cancel; however, it costs the company X to pay a representative to work the customer through this process. It’s not cheap. CW knows their sales reps are aggressive and goals are high. It’s a fine line between overselling and meeting targets. My personal option is they might press the sales team to hard, but I know they are cautious of public option.
By Adam from Clearwire Ohio on Oct 22, 2007 | Reply
To fadexxoutxxagain if you have this to say about the company that you work for get out, you need to believe in the company you work for. Also Nashville just launched and hasnt even went through its Hard launch that is where they find out where the kinks are. I helped launch a market just this year and the first 3-6 months after launching are the most difficult in a markets history,1 they have to prove themselves so they need quaility partners so look at your value card that you got when you were hired and look at the first thing “hire and develop great people” this definatily doesnt apply to you and any other partner that puts down their company. I want you to name me one company that is a MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR INTERNATIONAL START-UP company, there isnt many out there. So if you are still with this great company when you read this or any others of you get out of the company, we do not need partners that think negitivly of this great company. There are many people that would love to be working for this company if you are a RAE and AE AR or national you need to have a positive outlook about our company to be successful.
By Tim on Oct 22, 2007 | Reply
Adam = Clearwire’s finest.
What a tool.
By fadexxoutxxagain on Oct 24, 2007 | Reply
Adam…I don’t even know where to start w/ you man..First off I did leave clearwire..I was the top seller in our market, but I couldnt let myself continue to screw people over on a day to day basis. Clearwire was just a step in the road for me, and all I can say is that you might want to go get yourself a college education like I did so that you dont have to work in a mall for the rest of yourlife for a company that is much more interested in developing name recognition inplace of a superior product. Oh and also FYI, you being the all knowing clearwire employee that you put yourself out there to be, you would possibly know that Nashvilles hard launch was 2 months ago. Thanks
By Amy on Nov 15, 2007 | Reply
If the quality of Adam’s message, spelling and thinking is any indication of the competence of Clearwire employees….ouch.
By long live dialup access on Nov 26, 2007 | Reply
ok, I’m sort of laughing from everybody’s comments as I wasn’t expecting to see bad comments. I somehow was expecting to see everybody happy. I still use dialup Internet but only from home as we have a fast connection at work. Clearwire is supposed to be coming to my area in the coming year. Wow, I might actually want to keep my dialup. Either way, I’m excited and will try Clearwire knowing I should expect possible problems.
By Goodbye Clearwire on Dec 11, 2007 | Reply
Well I moved last week and connected my clearwire modem and it could not find a signal. I contacted customer support and was told that my double pane windows in my new house were most likely the cause and that a solution would be to put the modem in the attic. I patiently explained that this was quite possibly the silliest idea I had heard in quite some time.
I then called Comcast. They were out less than 48 hours later to install my new cable modem.
So after a week of BLAZING FAST downloads I called Clearwire again. Seems the first person I talked with wasn’t aware that since I had moved (i gave her the new address) that it was possible that I was in a new service area (who knew that you had to be provisioned on different networks for a mobile service?). So the Clearwire service returned with four bars.
Too late. The damage was done. Why on earth would I go back to my throttled Clearwire connection where I had never had a download reach more than 212k/s when my first Comcast download hit 1200k/s???
THe Comcast deal was 14.95 per month for the first 4 months which is about $120 less than my CLWR premium service for the same amount of time. That offset was enough to convince me to give up on them.
I called in and told them I was quitting. They told me I needed to talk to tech support. I said there was no need, just send me a bill for the early termination fee and that was it.
If you only check emails, never stream video or download files larger than a PDF and don’t expect much when you contact customer service, then I suppose that CLWR isn’t terrible. BUT, if you play online games, enjoy YouTube, or anything that requires even a tiny bit of bandwidth, avoid them like you would an Aurora Avenue working girl with questionable sores on her lips.
By screwthem on Apr 2, 2008 | Reply
I was told that Nashville Clearwire “accidently” sold refurbished products as new ones from one of the salesmen that work there. He has no reason to lie to me, so it has to be true. He also brought in two more modems to “test” them b/c he did not know which were refurbs. Luckily, it did not work in my house and I did not waste my money. The Voip is terrible for long distance as well. I tried calling a friend long distance and they said I was breaking up and sounded like a computer..
By Mourg on Oct 21, 2008 | Reply
Hello all. I just moved back home and am in desperate need for a job. I have a friend who works at the CW call center in Milton, Florida. He suggested I try them, so I have an interview in roughly 2 hours. After doing a lot of research I DO question Clearwires reputation and future. I will be working as a Tech Support Rep here. I am just out of High School and am working towards a better education in engineering. Will this be a suitable job? I don’t have any experience working in a call center but very high referrals for my excellent customer support. I was taking classes for A+ but had to move before I got to OSes and Networking :*( I have crammed and studied for this interview. I need this job, but if this company is as bad as its been made out to be I want to keep looking for another job. I would like to thank all of you for your detailed and precise post. They have helped a lot in my search for the true ClearWire.
By T.A. Clark on Jan 19, 2010 | Reply
I was very excited to move away from Comcast, thinking I would get in on the ground floor of 4G. When I first heard about Clearwire (Clear) it was before the new “blazing fast” 4G network and the dealer was frank about the speed of their 3G network and said to wait. So I did.
I was also interested in the flexibility of moving the modem with me and I live in an earthquake prone-area. Especially after the disaster in Haiti, I thought about how a satellite internet connection would be the best thing However, this past week when I took the modem with me it didn’t work.
Fortunately I kept my Comcast connection. The Clearwire connection is abominably SLOW and my computers are a bit aged so I need all the speed I can get. I am not sure if the web age is ever going to load.
Unfortunately I did sign a contract but I think it will be well worth paying termination fees and the like to get out of this service. I feel that I’ve been foolish to try Clearwire because now Comcast has 4G and a mobile option as well. So they have everything I want.
I am glad to have stumbled on your site. Although I’m not one to want to pursue things in court, it may be worth it in this instance.
Whatever process folks pursue to receive what they paid for, I will support in anyway I can.
Thank you for this forum.
By fuckem on Aug 17, 2010 | Reply
they took advantage of me and there products sucks.
By Jameth Mckinney on Jan 12, 2011 | Reply
I have Clearwire and it is not the best internet service. I am always having issues also. When it gets rainy outside it stops working. At 1 am and at 1pm until 2 the service stops daily. The 4g is more like 1g or below. I am not satisfied with the 2 year agreement either. Their service is indeed garbage.
By Jeff on Jul 18, 2011 | Reply
That is just wrong. I have been a clearwire customer for 2 years next month and on that very day if not before I will be gone. Worst experience I’ve ever had with a company tech or otherwise.
I cannot imagine how they have managed to stay in business. My connection is slower than dial up at times and that is with 5 light signal.
There is nothing about clearwire that is a great company. Just because a company grows doesn’t make them great it just means they grew and expanded. This blog is perfectly named at clearwiresucks.com
By sharon on Jul 20, 2011 | Reply
I have been with clear wire for over 2 years and the first 18 months were pretty good, but now I am constantly kicked off the internet in the middle of doing stuff. I have called several times, got a new modem and they even charged me for that. It did not help. I live close to the tower, have moved the modem to different parts of the house, to no avail, very rarely do I get 4 bars, and even with 3 bars it won’t connect. So sick of it. Customer service just gives me the run around, in their hard to understand English. Maybe they should hire people in America instead of India. Getting more ticked off every day. Going to cancel and go to cable.