Moving on, recently I’ve been spending a fair amount of time at a friend’s house, and he uses Clear. When it’s working, it almost feels like dial-up; speed tests typically register at 150k down and 10k up. While this isn’t a deal breaker, every afternoon, the signal goes dead at around 5p and doesn’t come back until 8p.

If I (as opposed to my friend) was the customer, I’d force them to credit my bill for the full amount of every single day I had service outages…. the “home business —> lost revenue” excuse is pretty compelling.

But, I figure it’s my friend’s problem, and I won’t volunteer to do the phone call myself unless he authorizes me to dump Clear on the spot. So, I listen to his daily calls and get his rundown of their response. It usually comes down to: 1) the towers are busy or 2) your modem is broken.

Amazingly, they’ve yet to make any offers to actually fix the problem. Again, if it were me, they’d either be getting to work on a new tower the next day, or I’d be gone.

In closing, I’m glad I never fell for their bait. I’ll continue to stick with Comcast until a viable lower cost alternative comes along.

The service I subscribed to; 3MBps has never been reached in 4 months. Fact is that I’m getting less than 1.5 MBps when few people are even awake. And, at peak times I get constant drop outs. Download speed or less than .5 MBps

The customer service said move antenna. Shouldn’t the installer have set up for optimized performance? Now I have all the green lights going. And wire’s all over the apartment – Wireless NOT. Guess what…that’s right: it has no effect on speed or dropout problem.

I explained what I need to sales and they assured me this is GREAT. Although at sign up I asked all the right questions they sent me on this nightmarish ride.

I am a proud American. I understand the law. I will fight them till I get a complete refund. I think an apology is also warranted. Someone needs to come clean. Greedy, greedy, people. A fire burns for CearWire’s executives and shareholders!

I was going to seek pt. time employment with this company. Salesman was so Prompt and Friendly. I cannot image myself fielding calls from customers in my region.

I know half the people that live here. When I ask them how the service is…Slow, slow , slow, Dropout, dropout, …

I am petitioning on my vehicle and will be spending a ridiculous amount of time at the restaurant next to their local retail location.

Rise up America and Fight fire with fire! Don’t be taken advantage of. I promise that is the situation.

I will also add –since my last email– that I purchased a return label from UPS to send back the router & modem. I was still not able to get anyone to give me a return label there. But demanding the address as to where it must be sent, as I brought it to their attention two seperate addresses were on each of the boxes and giving me the address would give me the freedom to take the inititiative to send the box back on my own. $14.95 for a 4lb box, by which they obliged. lol.

Will go to the store today when it opens & and see if I am getting an actual mailing label. As I havent sent it back yet since it was the weekend.

address is as follows:

CLEARWIRE/RETURNS
STE #K
1051 MARY CREST ROAD
HENDERSON, NV 89074

one must add a phone# & email:

888.253.2794
support@clear.com

I will send you an update of my success or lack of.

bj d

CLear MEssage from store1
clEAR WIRELESS PHONE CALL 2 STORE message

I receive a second email from them telling me if I want my attachment to be included in my communication, I needed to call them. I called and spoke to a Thomas, who advised me the equipment had been received July 2nd, and my credit card had been credited.

I just checked with my credit card company, it has not been credited. I have put in a dispute with the Credit Card company at this time to have the charges removed.

Kay V.

Came across your site after researching why I was getting the run-a-around for a return label from Clearwire, which I still havent gotten 10 phones calls later, 8 emails of promised return label delivery, and even a store appearance. In short, I ordered their service because of what it promised. Unfortunately I did not do more research prior and what i read sounded promising. I have a business that requires a steady and constant stable internet connection. With that being said I love my current it provider, but I wanted a faster connection to keep up with the demands of my d/l’z & u/l’z and saw a greener side of the fence. Or so I thought- little did I know I’d be jumping into a nice deep pile of mud.

With that being said, I feel customers should know that Clearwire works off of radio waves and not at all how dsl or cable work. And no matter if you are near one of their boasted about towers a connection into ones home will be comprimised due to various conditions. I called to get tech support as I was getting 5 bars- but for 3 secs at a time then nothing for 10 secs at a time. I went to speedtest.com and various other sites to try the connection – all with failure. I then connection the clear wire box to my other pc- again major failure.

I called- they told me to put the modem in another room & try it in various rooms. I found this quite annoying, but did it. My thought- it should work as expected without any tedious relocating. I will also mention my current service with another company has never failed me- again it was the promise of more speed.

I let them convince me to send me a router by linsys to assist in my relocation of the modem. I will add that the linsys router that was sent was def one of their lower end. But I entertained the fiasco and once again went wornd the house and tried to find this promised steady balzing fast connection. NOthing.

I called them they offered to send out a tech to investigate, I naturally declined being I am quite seasoned on how these things work & Clearwire would work better if it wasnt radio waves they were using.

It has been 3 weeks & still no label. So yesterday I went to a Clearwire store near by and showed them my print-outs of the label return requests- which are to be followed by an actual label delivery that one must print out- which is promised to be delivered via email- why it takes 24-48 hours to send via email is beyond me. I also told them of my experience & asked them to print me out the labels from the store. Their response was they dont have a printer. hmmmm…somehow I dont believe that but forcing my way back into their office was not an option so I continued to attemt to persuade them to give me a label form that store. The manager of the store called someone – who I was then given the phone to talk to. The conversation started out civil then the rep on the phone found it necessary to begin ignoring me and talk about cookies with someone else nearby along with laughter and it sounded like the phone had been put down on a desk. So when she returned with a voice- I asked for a supervisor, by which I was ignored for about 5 more seconds. All I know about her was her name was Mel. I then gave the phone back to the manager in the store and asked that he get a supervisor.

He then assured me that I would have the labels waiting in my email when I got home. As of writing this – I still have no labels. And have called the store again, but the manager I dealt with was not in.

What I find most ironic of this whole situation is the fact we are in a society with advanced technology and an email takes seconds to send & recieve.

They also have my account suspended so they claim I will not be charged. And not one clear employee seems to understand my concern about the modem & router still be in my possession. As I am guessing if it is not sent with the allotted time frame I will be charged.

I will also add that I looked on both boxes of these items came in to see the addresses of where I can independently send these back to as I dont care at this point if i have to pay the shipping- I just want them sent back to where they came from. I can’t even get an answer to where i can send that as they have told me sending it back on my own will possibly cause confusion and it may not be registered that I returned it. This too me is as ridiculous as telling me they have no printer. lol.

I also found this:

http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/05/clearwire-broadband-internet-technology-internet_0205_clearwire.html

A reputable word of mouth source, as most know and now am here hoping to get assistance in how one actually gets a return label. As I have vested over 20 hours with Clearwire’s false empty promises and am quite over their shanigans. They are anything but efficient and should stop advertising what they are NOT providing and really need t o get with the times.

Something else I forgot to mention is when I was in the store – three of their displays had no it connection and the phone I used kept dropping the call, which made me clueless at first that i was being ignored by the ever so sweet Mel .

I will also add they use Fed-ex – a pretty sophistaicated mail service and again I do not see why this has become a complicated ordeal. SO any help would be deeply appreciated.

Oddly I have remained very calm through all this but am about to start cussing and felt obliged to send this so others do not feel they are alone and WILL NOT get this service.

I will also add I have a production company and am quite fluent in many of the areas of how a pc & it connection should work. Their employees are not.

My quest for speed has brought me to a screetching halt! BUYER BEWARE!!! CLEARWIRE IS NOT WHAT IT CLAIMS!!!

Sincerely,

BJ D. of MLP- a little company hidden in Phila. ;P

They later called me and talked me into the phone deal and told me I had to come pick up the phone splitter myself. I had them set up the phone number port and was told everything would be fine in 3 to 4 days. Over those days the internet was in or out. Finally on the 4th day, we started getting phone called for someone we had no idea who. I checked our current phone line and it was still active. I checked on line and it say the port was complete, but here’s the catch it was the WRONG number, they ported the WRONG number. And charged me for it. After 3 hours on the phone and 6 departments, I was told they would port the right number. I also had to make them extend my trial time for 2 more weeks. The new port took nearly a week.

I was told when I signed up that I could get a paper bill but would have to go on line and request one. When I called customer service they told me they do not do paper bills at all. I was completely lied to just to make a sale, makes me sick how low their sales people will go. I was also told I could set it up so I only did cash payment and they wouldn’t pull from my account, have yet to have that one happen. I’m still fighting with him over 200 they owe me. I’m about to call a lawyer over this.

I also recently had to change my bill date due to a new job and payday. They told me everything was fine. The 4th rolls around and I get a e-mail telling me my account is pass due, they tried to pull from my account and over drafted it. Charging me $35.00 bucks. I called customer service and yelled at them. They credited my account the $35.00. But they doesn’t fix the fact my checking account is now -$35.00! I still have in and out service and have to call all the time to get credit added to my account.

I’m only a few months in and feel like this is one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made. DO NOT USE CLEAR!

I found the below article by Jane Wells at CNBC posted yesterday “Is WiMAX Workable?”. She cites the exact complaints many of us have. Clear corporate has already begun a spin campaign against her even though the article is BURIED on her personal blog. Clear corporate/lovers are saying “no one has complained” about their services and her sources are just a few “disgruntled employees”… Well I say we all email Jane at funnybusiness@cnbc.com and tell her your story and have CNBC put this article on their front page!!! A few hundred emails from each of you should get CNBC’s attention then you will have Clear, the Attorney General, and any other unsuspecting buyer’s attention too.

All the email needs to say is: “WiMAX article – should be a lead story.” to funnybusiness@cnbc.com .

Tell your friends, neighbors, aunts, uncles, and your local Clear sales guy to send one too!!!

Article: http://www.cnbc.com/id/38222498

Is WiMAX Workable?

By: Jane Wells at CNBC
The funny business of cell phones signals.

Consumer Reports says you may need a little duct tape on your iPhone 4 to guard against dropped calls.

Sound like a step backward? What about a cellphone signal that may fail in the middle of a large building?

————————————————————————–

Some fear that is the problem with WiMAX, a form of mobile WiFi being used in 4G phones, like Sprint’s HTC Evo.

One analyst estimates the company has sold 300,000 of the phones with their large screens, two cameras, and ability to play Flash videos.

The reviews rave that the Evo’s internet speeds are lightning fast compared to 3G phones.

But not everywhere.

Sprint is using Clearwire’s WiMAX technology, and reviewers like David Pogue point out the limitations. The signal can be “spottier than a kennel of Dalmatians”, he writes. There are apparently enough unhappy customers that someone started a web site called Clearwire Sucks.

Trent Cannon worked for Clearwire as it started up in Houston, but he left the company over what he says were concerns about the technology’s viability. “The signal has tremendous difficulty passing through things like walls,” he says. “WiMax won’t work inside large structures like high rises, malls, and stadiums. You have a major presentation on the 4th floor of a building downtown and you need wireless internet to complete your demonstration. Hopefully, the conference room is near a window or you will need Robin William’s improvisation skills.” Cannon believes WiMAX will eventually give way to a competitive technology known as LTE, which Verizon and AT&T will use in their 4G rollouts. Sprint and Clearwire have the option of eventually switching to LTE, though Clearwire says it continues to move forward with building out its WiMAX network, having recently raised almost $300 million.

“There are often differences between indoor and outdoor coverage because of how wireless signals work. That fact isn’t unique to Clearwire and affects any wireless network signal,” Clearwire’s Mike DiGioia says. He says the company provides very detailed maps on signal strength at www.clear.com/coverage.

The company has let go its direct sales staff but says it plans to add 2,600 jobs this year. Many Clearwire products are sold through Best Buy, where a source says the chain is paid $240 for every full activation, but where one store “well within the coverage area” has had a 23 percent churn rate. “Overall it’s a good service, they just need to work out the coverage,” says the source. One independent salesman calls Clearwire’s products “decent”, adding they can provide very fast speeds when you are near a tower. “But if I’m two to three miles away, where they say I’m still covered, it’s not working.”

Have you bought a 4G phone or do you use WiMAX? What has your experience been? Let me know in the comments section. funnybusiness@cnbc.com

“The tower was not providing service as advertised. You are barely getting 1 mg of download speed. Basically, the tower has reached its capacity.”

This is what I have learned – a tower has 3 sectors and can only support a small group of users. Clear subscribers are sharing the bandwidth on a tower. So whenever there is heavy usage or the tower has reached it’s capacity you will not get the blazing speeds as promised.

Clear should not and cannot promised any bandwidth speeds because the nature of its transmission and delivery methods. This whole thing about having you clear your cache is a redirect from the original issue when the real issue is when a tower has reached its capacity. Having people do all these technical gymnastics is not a solution. And they know that.

DO NOT BUY INTO THE HYPE OF WIRELESS 4G BLAZING SPEEDS.

Clear Fine Print

Performance
Typical CLEAR download speeds are 3-6 mbps with bursts over 10 Mbps. Any posted CLEAR download times are calculated proportionately by using (a) these average download speeds and (b) indicated file sizes for the specified audio/video download activities. Other carrier’ performance based on their recently published claims. Actual CLEAR network performance may vary and is not guaranteed.

Hello David. Please wait while we find a CLEAR specialist to help you.

Your question is: I am losing my patience. After many calls and repositioning my home modem, I am still getting poor service. It seems to work for a little while then its back to being slow again. This is my last attempt after this I am going to cancel this service because it is not consistent. The modem is positioned in a stationery direction. As well as my computer.

All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.

All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.

All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
An agent will be with you in a moment. Thank you for your patience.
The next available Agent will be with you in a moment.

All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
You have been connected to Kristy Jackson.

Kristy Jackson: Hi David! I’ll be happy to help you today!

David: Thank you.

Kristy Jackson: May I have the phone number associated with your account, please?

David: 404-XXX-XXXX

Kristy Jackson: Thank you, One moment please, David.

David: alright

Kristy Jackson: I would be happy to troubleshoot with you, David.

David: What’s next?

Kristy Jackson: Let’s make sure we have you set up in the system correctly. Can you please verify the MAC ID on your modem?

David: 00:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

Kristy Jackson: Thank you, One moment please, David.

Kristy Jackson: I’m going to reset your connection to the towers. This will take a minute to process. Thanks for your patience.

David: Got it.

Kristy Jackson: We will need to optimize your browser for the best performance. Which browser are you using?

David: Firefox and Safari

Kristy Jackson: 1. Quit all open browser windows (except this chat) then reopen the browser.
2. Select Tools at the top of your browser.
3. Select Clear Recent History.
4. In the drop box Time range to clear choose Everything.
5. Select every box. Select the Clear Now button.

Kristy Jackson: 1. Quit all open browser windows (except this chat) then reopen the browser.
2. For Mac: Select Safari – for Windows: Select Edit.
3. Select Reset Safari.
4. Select every box except Remove saved names and passwords, unless you know them. Select the Reset button.

Kristy Jackson: There is to optimize both of those browsers.

David: Safari done

David: Firefox Done

David: What’s next?

Kristy Jackson: Please go to www.speedtest.net and run 3 speed tests using different servers, and let me know your download, upload, and ping results for each test.

David: Test 1 ATLANTA, GA PING 115 MS DOWNLOAD .42 MB/S UPLOAD .18 MB/S

Kristy Jackson: Thank you.

David: TEST 2 CHARLOTTE, NC PING 110 MS DOWNLOAD .51 MB/S UPLOAD .25 MB/S

David: TEST 3 TALLAHASSEE, FL PING 93 MS DOWNLOAD .43MB/S UPLOAD .20 MB/S

Kristy Jackson: Your antenna is located on the skinny flat edge of your modem, the side opposite the Ethernet connection and power, and should not be obstructed by anything. To find better signal, please disconnect the Ethernet cord (at which time your Internet will go offline and this WebChat session will be lost) from your computer or router. Next, relocate modem to different parts of the room (or a different room as necessary). Plug in the power adapter for the modem and see how many lights you get. Most times, a higher elevation will aid in reception. Fine-tune your modem by turning it a 1/4 inch at a time, allowing 15 – 20 seconds between turns, to the left and right, until you identify the position with the strongest signal. Make sure to point the edge of the modem on the opposite side of the Ethernet cord towards the outside.

David: I was getting much better speed before. Why is this happening? The modem is already in the most optimal position.

David: I have already done what you are asking numerous amount of times.

Kristy Jackson: Finally, I would like you to powercycle the modem, which will disconnect you from chat. Please write these steps down and complete them in order, then if you are still experiencing slow speeds, please come back to chat for further assistance.
1. Unplug both the power and Ethernet cables from your modem.
2. If you are using a router or any other equipment, disconnect the power and remove from the modem and computer.
3. Turn your computer all the way off.
4. Now reconnect the power only, to the modem. Wait until you have a minimum of 2 lights flashing together, and then reconnect your Ethernet cable (if you do not get at least 2 flashing together, please reposition your modem slowly until you receive better signal).
5. Reconnect modem directly to the computer.
6. Turn your computer on and surf to a few different sites to see if your speed has improved.

David: Three bar is the most I get.

Kristy Jackson: I do apologize, David. Electronics near the modem will affect this,

David: there aren’t any electronics in the dining room.

Kristy Jackson: Are you using a surge protector?

David: It seems that I keep doing this steps and the results are the same

David: no surge protector

Kristy Jackson: One moment please.

David: To be honest I have contacted tech support about this that is becoming almost a monthly thing. I am trying to be patient but I am not getting what is promised; blistering 4G high speed wireless internet.

Kristy Jackson: I am very sorry, David.

Kristy Jackson: There could be signal issues with the tower.

David: I think someone should declare that there is an issue an correct it. It is very frustrating while trying to get work done and these issues keep showing up.

David: What are the next actions?

Kristy Jackson: I understand and I do apologize, David. Please try rebooting your modem for me and see if that helps.

Your session has ended. You may now close this window.

[REBOOTING THE MODEM ENDS THE TECH SUPPORT SESSION. A CRAFTY WAY TO GET OUT DEALING WITH THE ISSUE.]

I am line-of-sight to a transmitter about half a mile away. The first series of calls resulted in Clear sending me a replacement modem. It didn’t help.

The next series of calls in response to the next rash of drop-outs had the CSR requesting me to remove the screen from the window where my modem sits and hold my modem out the window and pointed at the transmitter. When the modem picked up just enough signal to connect, the CSR decided he had fixed the problem (guess he expected me to hold the modem out the window whenever I want to connect to the internet) and refused to do anything more since my connection was now “working”.

The next time I asked them to send me another modem at their expense which they agreed. I didn’t know what else to ask them to do or what else to try to stay connected. A couple hours later my service was suspended. When I called Clear, they stated this was their policy to terminate service until the new modem is connected. Clear told me that I should not complain that they had suspended my service because I would get my modem in the next couple days. The CSR was completely uninterested in helping me restore my service because, “She wasn’t the one that cut my service off”!!!!!!

I am trying to establish a record with them of their regular and frequent service failures so they will agree to terminate my contract without paying any early termination fees.

I wish to file a complaint against the company “CLEAR”.
Clear is an internet provider service that uses broadband signals to provide so-called high speed connectivity.
I want the BBB to know that they have essentially perpetrated a hoax or a fraud upon me.
When I originally signed up for their services, I was told that the slow speeds and connectivity difficulties would be resolved over time. Essentially they told me that the signal from my modem to their antennas would be coming from a part of the city that was probably not populated at that time, and that the presence of my signal would cause them to amp up my area’s signal. I understood that they were a growing business, and that such growth problems might occur. But I also understood that my services would improve. They said that they were continuously building and adjusting microwave systems throughout the city, and that this slow or low signal area would be resolved quickly. However, such speeds never really happened. I repeatedly reported outages and slowness to them. During this same period of time I also complained numerous times about “errors” in billing in which they charged me too much money.
At one time, on a remarkable situation, the signal strength was briefly turned up to an acceptable level. However, as I said, this was extremely brief, and it went back to the slow and painful levels of before. The technical reasons for this can be explained by them, if they wish to do so. I have my own theories. I maintain that they made the choice to keep my signal strength low, and hence abrogate our agreement.
At one point, I was charged enough money so that the result was that I was inadvertently “paid ahead” for months. This “mistake” created the situation that I was essentially obliged to hang on and hope for improved service for months longer than I otherwise might have done.
Essentially, in total, this was the fraud, but unfortunately it did not stop there.
When I finally gave up and told them I was canceling my services with them, and I was expecting them to return the extra money that was still on their books that had been paid ahead, I was told “okay.” When I was told that there might be a restocking fee I said that I would not be paying for that, as I was an unsatisfied customer, and as such did not see any reason to pay to discontinue services that never met with expectations or to return a rented modem that also did not perform as expected. The person handling this matter said that this was okay. To use their jargon, I was told that they would put in the request for that, but I understood that this was the end of it.
I also offered to mitigate the costs of “restocking” this rented modem. I told them that I could just as easily take the modem back to their local Henderson store as to the UPS location where they wanted me to take it. After all, it was going to end up in the same place. They refused. I understood their refusal, since I would have been a disgruntled ex-customer taking back a modem possibly to the same place where the company wanted to sell such services to unsuspecting buyers, and they did not want our paths to cross. I understood when this was explained to me that they would be willing to pay for this convenience to them, and so, at their insistence, I used UPS to deliver a package a couple of miles away, for which I have the receipt.
They billed me for the restocking fee anyway. Over $43.
It’s like I was in a bad movie, and they wanted me to pay to get out.
I called and reminded them that the original contact had told me that this was removed. This customer service rep told me that it was a mistake, and they would remove it. Furthermore, I wanted to know where was the refund of the extra money that was in the account that had been paid ahead. This about $5 amount eventually was returned, but weeks after being originally promised, and weeks after the so-called restocking fee was levied.
After some more time, when the charges has still not been removed, I again called them and asked when the charges would be removed. Again I was told that this would be handled immediately, and I got the tracking number of the “request.” I seriously did not know that this was merely a “request”, I thought it was an order.
Finally, when the bogus charge was never removed, I called and asked to speak to someone who could do more than issue a fake “request.” This is when I got the information that they considered all of these charges “valid”, and that I would never be getting any kind of refund on them.
So, I have sought to get my money back from the VISA card company that represented me in this transaction.
I want the BBB to know that CLEAR will say whatever it takes to get business, even when they know that they won’t be providing adequate services.
And I want the BBB to know that they even make broken promises about their numerous “mistakes” in billing, presumably because they hope the customer won’t notice it, or until the customer gives up in disgust.
They are not okay as a BBB business.
Thank you.
Michael

My name is Samantha and i first handedly can defend these clients accusations whole heartedly, i work for a company called The Connection, which is a call center for Clearwire/Clear. So there for when people call about our services we answer the phones for the clear company. i have only been working there a short time and if it was not for the fact that i have 3 infants to support i would no longer be working there. i cant stand working at a place that is nothing but lies, cheating, and scandals. i have taken many calls where the customer has clearly been charged for no reason, i have had cases that i have had supervisors as well as account services department look over and niether them nor i can justify a charge and yet they still force the customer to pay. they have secret terms to make things sound better. like instead of early termination fee sometimes they will say restocking equiptment fee but its all the same thing, as well as we have reps out there selling products lieing to customers to get their money when customers dont even get service and then the poor customer has to turn around and pay a fee to cancell because we lied to them, its bullshit and on behalf of myself not this company but myself i would like to apologize for being part of a scandalizing company, i am currently lookin for new work to support my babies but i am willing to support any one who needs my help on taking this company down, i have the inside scoop. and this company does not deserve to continue, and on top of all that in my experience we have severly poor customer service i have heard reps screaming and swearing at customers.

Mike from Philly

In their defense….Clear seemed to want to try to fix the problem. They continued said that they would not adjust the price nor would offer any refunds. They were honorable and said that they would release me from my contract without fees or penalty. With that, I am going to Comcast. (of wich after hearing the issues with clear offered me high speed internet for $19.99 for 12 months) just enough time to find another plan with another provider that is cheaper!

It is unfortunate that a company with this much promise and potential dropped the ball and continues to drop the ball. Way to go clear!!!