Clearwire Complaint – (I have also filed this on My3cents.com) – User Submission by Deanne

My daughter was in college at the University of Hawaii and in February, 2009 she needed internet service. She called Clearwire over the phone and asked me to call them also to check it out. (I live in Oklahoma) I did call and I talked to them about their service, etc. At that time, they needed my credit card number to start the service.

I agreed for them to charge my credit card monthly for this service for my daughter while she finished the semester.

Once my daughter had the service for about three months she got a new roommate that had service with another carrier and she did not need Clearwire anymore. She called Clearwire to inform them she needed to cancel. At that time, they told her it would be a fee of $250 to stop the service because she had a TWO YEAR CONTRACT! That was the first time we had ever heard such a thing from them and WE BOTH TALKED to Clearwire customer service before signing up with them. NEVER did they say anything about a contract and I have NEVER heard of an internet service having contracts, let alone not telling you about it!

Even after she returned the modem and moved back to Oklahoma (Clearwire is not in Okla) they kept billing my credit card. I was paying for service we did not even have and it was a nightmare because you are at their mercy once they get your credit card number! I talked to customer service time and time again and they finally said they would not charge my credit card anymore. Then I got my last bill last week and they had charged my account with a $185 cancellation fee even though they said they did not charge anything more! So it cost me $488.45 for three months of internet service for my daughter. This company takes advantage of young college students and parents by not revealing all of their policies/terms at the time you sign up.

They are crooks and their name should be called “HIGHWAY ROBBERY CLEARWIRE INTERNET SERVICE”. Consumers please beware of this internet provider and I would never sign up with them……..I am just praying that next month they won’t have more charges on my account. I have also contacted the Better Business Bureau and have a complaint filed with them on this scam-er business.

Update 10/22/2009

I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.com) and after that Clearwire credited my account with $163.50. The three months my daughter had in Hawaii with Clearwire Internet still cost me $324.95, which is too much. But at least I did get some of my money back. Future prospective customers still need to be aware of this internet service because you will be in a two year contract and not even know it!