Issue with Clearwire, please help.

macross

Hey folks, I'd appreciate any feedback you could provide me on this issue.

I had been with clearwire for 22months. I rang them up to cancel the service as myself and my housemates were moving out of our rented accommodation. I paid a cancellation fee and was told that the our clearwire connection was about to be cancelled. Having already paid for the rest of the month I asked would it be possible to have internet access until we moved out seeing as this was already paid for. He said that that was fine and that although my cancellation fee had already been paid he would credit my account and to ring up when I was moving out.

I packed up a few weeks later and left the modem behind (this was stupid i admit, I didn't realise that it was something I rented from the company and needed to return). I rang up the next day and cancelled and was then told that I would be posted out a package to return the modem in. I ignored this, thinking it wasn't a big deal and thought all of my dealings were complete. The next month my ex-housemate contacted me to say that she was receiving texts messages from Clearwire saying that they were trying to access payment for that month and couldn't (I had cancelled my DD and they had my housemates phone number instead of mine). I rang my landlord at that point and he said he had thrown out the modem after we had moved out. I rang up the company and was told that I owed €250 to replace the missing modem and also owed my usual €30 per month for the two months that had since lapsed. I thought that this was a pretty steep cost and told the company I was unwilling to pay it seen as they had not made it clear to me during my first phonecall that the modem would need to be returned. They said it was stated in the terms and conditions on their website which I, typically, had never read.

I hung up, didn't pay and forgot all about it until my estranged housemate contacted me to say that I needed to ring up the company. I have not heard from them personally as they did not have my phone number or new address. I rang them up today and they said that I have to pay the money, a sum total of €310 (€250 for the modem and €60 for internet access for the two months after I had cancelled as the account was still charged until the modem was returned.) I know I more than likely have to pay this money, I'm just wondering is there any way to avoid it. I felt as if I was not informed fully at time of cancellation, although it is indeed explained on their website. Also €250 seems very steep for the modem, surely it is not worth this much money...though I could be wrong. Anybody got any information or advice they could give me?

Sorry about the essay

nevaeh-2die-4

i had lots of issues about 2 years ago with these tossers.

They were over charging me, taking too much money etc bad signal, so I told them I was cancelling
They were having none of it; they said I would have to pay the remainder on the contract of around 6 months payment.

I basically told to **** themselves and cancelled the D.D they rang me a good few times looking for the modem.

After a few calls and me been abusive they haven’t bothered me in 2 years, the modem was never returned and is still under the stairs.

BroomBurner

By the sounds of it, you will have to pay them the money. Chalk it down to an expensive lesson. Next time, read all the T's & C's.

Becoming abusive over something that is your own fault is never the way forward, and never nice for the poor individual on the other end of the line.

foggy_lad

being abusive is definitely not hte answer but i would ignore them as they do not have contact details for you and tell your ex housemate to ignore all calls from them!

macy9

Unless you move to Afghanistan I think you're going to have to pay. There's nothing in anything that you have said that legally absolves you of your obligation to them.

nevaeh-2die-4

being abusive worked for me, so yea it works or go right ahead & waste over 300e.

nmesisca

nevaeh-2die-4 wrote: »

being abusive worked for me, so yea it works or go right ahead & waste over 300e.

so he decided to ignore the request to send the modem back (he was asked on the phone, didnt even have to read the T&C), admittedly never reads the T&C and you say he should give them abuse?
He knew he had to give back the modem, or else why leave it in the old apartment?
They should record his phone call and sue him.
No wonder companies ask for deposits in the 100s euro worth to cover for this type of abuse. thanks for that.

neilthefunkeone

Id argue out the 2 months after you requested cancellation.. Surly they can block your modem's ,mac or ip on their network so is not used..

As for the cost of the modem.. i guess you could try ignore it but maybe they will make a fuss of it..

BB company i used to work for would give you a little time to make back your dept then they would hand over the debt to a collection agency.. and as far as i heard they were fairly efficient!!

robo

nevaeh-2die-4 wrote: »

After a few calls and me been abusive they haven’t bothered me in 2 years, the modem was never returned and is still under the stairs.

macross, why don't you offer a lower price to nevaeh to buy their modem and give that back to Clearwire and save yourself some money??

nevaeh-2die-4

robo wrote: »

macross, why don't you offer a lower price to nevaeh to buy their modem and give that back to Clearwire and save yourself some money??

sounds good to me!!!

amcalester

nevaeh-2die-4 wrote: »

sounds good to me!!!

Why not help a guy out and give him the modem. You're not using it.

Yawns

I was with this company about 2 years ago myself. I moved out after cancelling and about a month later I got a phone call stating i owe money etc as I didn't return the modem. This went on for a few months, i refused to pay on the grounds that they're service was so poor. It ran about as fast as 56k so after a couple of phone calls I just got snotty with who ever was on the phone.

About 2 months later, a supervisor rings me stating the same thing, trying to give the offical line that they will start legal proceedings for cost of modem. I simply told her I moved out months ago, no access to house so no access to modem if it was even still there, she could take me to court for it if she wished, just simply send the legal documents to my current address which you must have if your trying to threaten me with legal action. Seeing as she realised at this point that I NO LONGER LIVE AT THE OLD ADDRESS, she informed me that she will just cancel the fees and make a note that the modem request was never issued and I wouldn't be bothered again. Which I wasn't

I got the feeling she was training somebody in and my phonecall was the purpose of a "how to deal with a overdue acc etc".

+1 to me over clearwire.

macross

Thanks everyone for the feedback, I really appreciate it. Will indeed chalk it down to an expensive lesson and pure naivity!

I will pay the €300 as I have been in contact with my ex-housemates and we feel it was a group problem and therefore we will split the cost so hopefully that will be the end of it.

I am a pretty timid person and work in a job where I deal with the public. While dealing with clearwire I was very aware that I was at fault and do not feel I was abusive in any way. I was frustrated at my own stupidity and to be honest, a bit put out that it hadn't been made clearer to me that the modem needed to be returned in the initial conversation. Although I explained this during my phonecall and my frustration was probably pretty clear, I remained calm and polite on the phone (particularly during my most recent phonecall). In return I did not find them approachable or friendly on the phone. Working with the public is tough. You meet all kinds of abuse, but when you work in customer service it is your job to be helpful and friendly. I did not find this with Clearwire.

dekbhoy

im also having problems with clearwire .... i decided to ring them to cancel my contract with them as i was moving house and didnt require their services any more but i was informed that i will have to pay them for the rest of the year as my 12 month contract doesnt expire till november , when i inquired how much they told me the full amount for the next 10 months even though i wouldnt be availing of their services ....to have to pay the full amount seems crazy, i even tried to come to an agreement but point blankly told no and just pay up.

devnull

macross wrote: »

I packed up a few weeks later and left the modem behind (this was stupid i admit, I didn't realise that it was something I rented from the company and needed to return). I rang up the next day and cancelled and was then told that I would be posted out a package to return the modem in. I ignored this, thinking it wasn't a big deal and thought all of my dealings were complete. The next month my ex-housemate contacted me to say that she was receiving texts messages from Clearwire saying that they were trying to access payment for that month and couldn't (I had cancelled my DD and they had my housemates phone number instead of mine). I rang my landlord at that point and he said he had thrown out the modem after we had moved out. I rang up the company and was told that I owed €250 to replace the missing modem and also owed my usual €30 per month for the two months that had since lapsed.

To be honest you should have read the terms and conditions of service when you signed up etc. Although when you did cancel you should have been told that you would need to return the modem so if that did not happen then partly that is their fault. It is stated in the terms and conditions of service however that you could be charged 250 euro to replace the modem so they are covered here.

nevaeh-2die-4 wrote: »

I basically told to **** themselves and cancelled the D.D they rang me a good few times looking for the modem.

Giving someone abuse will never get you anywhere in phone any customer facing department, you just create a very bad impression and make people less willing to help a lot of the time.

Cancelling the direct debit won't get you anywhere either, could just affect your credit rating in the long term and just get passed on to debt collection agencies, bills will not just go away.

Yawns wrote: »

I was with this company about 2 years ago myself. I moved out after cancelling and about a month later I got a phone call stating i owe money etc as I didn't return the modem. This went on for a few months, i refused to pay on the grounds that they're service was so poor. It ran about as fast as 56k so after a couple of phone calls I just got snotty with who ever was on the phone.

But you still had their modem which you did not send back to them as per the terms and conditions of service, whether you are unhappy with the service or not it's no reason to withold the return of the modem.

macross wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the feedback, I really appreciate it. Will indeed chalk it down to an expensive lesson and pure naivity!

In return I did not find them approachable or friendly on the phone. Working with the public is tough. You meet all kinds of abuse, but when you work in customer service it is your job to be helpful and friendly. I did not find this with Clearwire.

Clearwire call centre is outsourced to a company in Belfast if you did not know this, generally at the end of the day as with most outsourced centers its all about hitting targets which will trigger payments from the company who is contracting you, rather than customer care as such, things are much easier to manage when they are all in-house all under one roof.

dekbhoy wrote: »

im also having problems with clearwire .... i decided to ring them to cancel my contract with them as i was moving house and didnt require their services any more but i was informed that i will have to pay them for the rest of the year as my 12 month contract doesnt expire till november , when i inquired how much they told me the full amount for the next 10 months even though i wouldnt be availing of their services ....to have to pay the full amount seems crazy, i even tried to come to an agreement but point blankly told no and just pay up.

I don't know what the process is now, but up until early last year at least, the cancellation price was the full cancellation fee, which I believe is 200 divided by the length of your contract, multipliex by the number of months left. They may have changed their policy since then however.