User Submission by “Outraged in Virginia”

I recently moved my law office to office share with two other attorneys and a paralegal. We contacted Clearwire so that we could have four phone lines (three for each attorney and one fax line). The sales representative was informed that we would not be starting the service until the first of February (we purchased on January 20), but was also informed that we were merely trying to get all the needed hardware so that our clients would not notice any lag in phone service. We were sorely mistaken in choosing Clearwire to handle such a hefty task as providing a smooth transition.

First, in telling them to port the old number from Verizon, my sales representative told me a week was adequate, but when tech services called a week later, they informed me that more like two weeks was what was required.

Secondly, when my credit card called me to authorize the charges that Clearwire had charged my card, I found out that they were charging me for $395 when they quoted me $250. I had to email the sales rep multiple times to get that straightened out.

Thirdly, when we moved into the new office on the 31st of January, none of the four modems would find a connection. When one modem did find a connection, it wasn’t until mid-day on February 2nd.

Fourthly, while trying to get my service fixed with tech support, they attempted to have me put all of my modems in one office… as if it were a service closet… at one point in time, I was standing in the middle of the room with the modem held overhead as I slowly turned it quarters of an inch in a certain direction to see if connectivity would get better… all under the direction of my wonderful service rep.

Fiftly, when they finally decided to send a service truck to my office to see if connectivity was possible, the service tech himself said that as for service, our office was, “screwed” and we would need to find another provider of internet and phone.

(Meanwhile, when the sales rep had initially talked to me about the service agreement, he said that one of the terms of the agreement was that I had to agree that Clearwire would be the ONLY local or longdistance phone provider at that address. Nothing was ever mentioned about a seven day cancellation limit.)

After the Tech left informing us that Clearwire could not provide us with adequate service, the sales department refused to waive “early cancellation fees” for the one modem that had connected to the service with spotty connectivity. I was finally put in touch with a “manager” who supposedly had the credentials to sidestep company policy and was soon infuriated by his unwillingness to understand that my contract called for four lines and he could only barely provide me with one. He refused to cancel my service and refund my $265.20 activation fee. By the way, early termination fee for the one line was $220.00. He kept saying that there was no notice in the notes that I had EVER been charged for any activation fee, despite the fact that I was sitting in front of my online account and reading the charges and times to him. Most infuriating was that he kept telling me that he wanted to make me happy and was trying to help, yet also kept making snide remarks about the concerns I was raising.

I am still outraged and think that I will sue Clearwire for the lost revenue and for the two hours of billable time that I spent on the phone with them…

Outraged in Virginia