Clearwire Subscriber Files Class Action Lawsuit Complaint AgainstClearwire Over Alleged Throttling Of Internet Data Connections.
A class action lawsuit has been filed against Clearwire Corporation (“Clearwire Corporation” or “Clearwire” or “Defendant”) in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, at Seattle (styled Angelo Dennings v. Clearwire Corporation, Class Action Case No. 2:10-cv-01859-JLR) alleging, among other things, that Clearwire promises that its high-speed Internet service provides a “fast” and “always on, always secure” Internet connection allowing users to “[d]ownload pictures, music and videos,” but that Clearwire allegedly slows the connection of its users because it cannot accommodate the high volume of traffic and engages in a practice known as “throttling,” which is the intentional delay and/or blocking of Internet communications, which purportedly deprives Clearwire customers of the ability to “[d]ownload music and videos,” and leads to slow connection speeds, according to the Clearwire internet data throttling class action lawsuit complaint.
The Clearwire internet data throttling class action lawsuit complaint reportedly is brought on behalf of the following putative class of persons, unless otherwise excluded:
All persons in the United States who purchased Internet access from Clearwire during the period from November 15, 2004 until the final disposition of the action (the “Class Period”).
For more information on the Clearwire internet data throttling class action lawsuit, read the Clearwire internet data throttling class action lawsuit complaint.
If You Have Thoughts On The Clearwire Internet Data Throttling Class Action Lawsuit, Share Your Class Action Lawsuit Comments Below.
I want help in getting info in joining this class action as I have been a long time user of “Clearwire”! I never could get any answers to the same problems I also live near the customer who started the case I hope I can be added, I know the man is right!
Charlie
I have experienced these Issues! I am in the IT field and I do know a bit about bandwidth and networking. They too told me I had a virus! I purchased new computers(it was time) and I was not surprised it had worse behavior! I monitored my bandwidth and it average 32% to 72% on a good day…all in all the total throughput was at 52%. I contacted them and gave them my findings. I told them they had to many concurrent users and not enough bandwidth, they said they had a work order out ” why bother”?. This is false advertising at its finest! Two week ago, Sunday we had a huge storm and knocked out the connection all together it was down for 3 days and I was still billed the full amount. No prorate just bend-over.
They recently bragged about 3G service the problem is if they don’t retire the old modems(legacy) the system will continue to function badly and breakdown. They as well charge for service to their modems which is way wrong! They can’t stand by their service so why are we forced to insure modems that are rebuilt and pieces of crap! They like all other providers need to supply the modem and not charge us for it, the modem they do provide is not compatible with their network platform! I will gladly join the lawsuit! Another note: They never tried to reach me about their service interruptions like leave an automated message on my phone. As a professional courtesy this should have been done, they should have as well had a back up plan. I am a student(very pissed) that had to submit my final on Monday…no service to do so! It was back up on Wednesday…to little to late. This course cost me 1600.00 and if I fail it due to their negligence they will have a great deal more to handle with me. Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
Why is it that all the negative comments I have been reading for the last 60 days about Clear seem like they are coming from self-centered as well as selfish, egotistical, pseudo adults. I call them that because a true adult would act like one at all times and realize that they do not own Clear/Clearwire and he or she is not their only customer.
First, let me say if Clearwire is throttling or limiting a customers use without justification then Clearwire needs to cease and desist immediately.
Now to address the issue at hand, LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, and I use that term loosely, Clearwire has more customers than you and here’s the rhubarb, if I am a paying customer and I only use my internet one day a year, I am entitled to the best internet experience possible just like a “data hog” that wants to use 100gb per day. Think if we were all having a party and we all were having steaks and the host cooked one steak per person and Joe over there, who thinks he is God’s gift to mankind, wants to be greedy and grab 3 steaks, that means 2 people have to do without, ther is going to be a big fight, or we can all do the proper thing, grab one steak apiece, and if there are any left over then first come, first serve. Now let’s throw into the mix that everyone at this party paid $20 to share in the food,. How many think that Joe is right???? Anyone who does can send all their money to my email address because you are too stupid to have any!!!!!!!!!!!
Secondly, what burns my craw the worst, is people like Mr. Timleck who scream that corporate greed is so evil; but yet, his personal greed, because he wants to use 10+GB in a month, while the person who only wants 2GB a month is meaningless. Mr. Timleck, Abraham Lincoln stated “It is better for one to keep his mouth shut and let others think he is a fool than to open it and remove all doubt. Here Mr. Timleck, you have opened your mouth and removed all doubt.
Now I will state that Clearwire DOES, I REPEAT, DOES need to make the policy clearer and simpler to understand. I would also agree that many of their CSR’s either need to be fired or sent back to numerous hours of training on how to handle upset customers. CLEAR DOES NOT NOW NOR NEVER SHOULD HAVE ANY OBLIGATIONS TO PROVIDE ANY SERVICE NO MATTER HOW MUCH OR HOW LITTLE WITHOUT BEING COMPENSATED!!!!! If Mr. Timleck, the lawsuit filer believe that, they can move to GA and I will work the dog sweat out of them and pay them NOTHING!!!!!!!!!! Any Takers??????
Here is another earth shattering development or idea. How about asking if there is a plan that can be purchased that would meet the needs of a heavy data user. This is where the lawsuit in WA should fail, unlimited is defined as usual and customary for an average family. So for all you selfish data hogs out there, how about stopping you whining and pony up the extra funds that a professional/business plan costs and get off the network and here is a challenge. FOR THOSE WHO THINK THAT YOU SHOULD PAY THE SAME PRICE AS SOMEONE WHO USES LESS, I WILL PAY $100, UPON VERIFICATION BY THE DEALERSHIPS, FOR THE FIRST PERSON THAT WILL SUBMIT AN INVOICE THAT SHOWS A FULLY LOADED MERCEDES-BENZ AT THE SAME PRICE AS A FULLY EQUIPPED KIA.
Well Mr. Fuller, either you work for Clear or you have no clue walk you are talking about…. For starters… I can be called as an expert witness because I once worked for General Instrument now Motorola Broadband… we developed broadband in the lab worked in… The definition of broadband and I do mean basic broadband is data transmission speeds of at least 4 megabits per second (Mbps) , downstream and 1 Mbps upstream as define by the FCC…
internet providers aquire bandwidth from the government based on the number of subscribers they intend to service. hence your IP address. each IP is allotted a specific freq. in the bandwidth… In other words they purchase bandwidth for your IP address that allows you to have the speeds noted above, however they OVERBOOK your bandwidth on purpose to increase revenue… YOU PAY for a dedicated bandwidth but THEY SHARE YOUR bandwidth with someone else . sorta like sharing you modem input with other computers in the house…. you can still get on but your speed is divided between the number of computers you have connected to that modem output…
In practice, the advertised bandwidth is not always available to you the customer; The Internet Service Providers OFTEN BOOK A GREATER NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS than their network can handle, UNDER THE ASSUMPTION THAT MOST CUSTOMERS WILL NOT USE THEIR FULL CONNECTION CAPACITY VERY OFTEN. This aggregation strategy works more often than not, so users can typically burst to their full bandwidth most of the time; however, peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing systems, often requiring extended durations of high bandwidth usage, stress these assumptions, and can cause major problems for ISPs who have excessively OVERBOOKED their capacity. IF YOU PAY FOR YOU BANDWIDTH THEN YOU SHOULD GET TO USE IT HOW YOU CHOOSE BECAUSE IT IS YOURS… So as you can see the person who filed the lawsuit is correct and it not only Clear who is in the wrong. Other Service providers do the same…. And consumers allow it so they continue….
Let me explain this to you simply, using your steak analogy. Clear’s unlimited plan is like a buffet. Everyone pays the sane price but can eat as much as they want. If you want some extra special stuff, you pay for it. But just because someone eats up all the okra doesn’t mean no one else can have any. You paid for a buffet, people don’t stop eating once the tray is empty, someone eventually comes by to refill it.
Also–no reason to insult people, just give us your opinion. Kind of ironic, huh?
Mr. Fuller, as for your steak analogy, if Joe was told that his $20 was for up to three steaks, then yes, for him to take three steaks was perfectly acceptable and reasonable. If it turns out that the caterer made this same three-steak arrangement with 50 people, but only cooked 75 steaks total, then it is not Joe’s fault that others did not get the steaks they were promised.
Your argument, on the other hand, seems to be that if 50 people were told they were paying for up to three steaks each, they should still limit themselves to one steak, because it would be greedy to take the three they were promised for their money.
As for your car analogy, that doesn’t even come close to applying here. Because in this case, EVERYBODY is paying for the Mercedes and getting the Kia anyway. The fact that some people (like yourself, apparently) are perfectly satisfied with the Kia does not mean that those who actually want the Mercedes they paid for are just being greedy!
And finally, I will respond to your challenge with one of my own: I will happily pay YOU $100 — upon verification, of course — for the specific title and edition of the legitimate, mass-published, non-satirical dictionary in which you found the definition of “Unlimited” to be “Usual and customary for an average family.”
dude, its not like we are at a ten-steak party. I pay $50 a month because they promised me unlimited steaks! They aren’t just randomly capping, they are advertising and selling services that they don’t have the capacity to run. I was convinced to upgrade to the 50 dollar plan so I could watch HD movies on netflix on my awesome TV, but found out later in an on-line chat with a Clear representative that “Clear speeds on average are not sufficient to run HD streaming video.” Then after I asked him the reason I was suckered in to paying more by the phone representative, he said “well I wouldn’t expect a phone salesman to know much about tech.” You tell me how any of that fits in your little steak analogy. Don’t get so ticked off at these people, we all work hard for our money, and Clear has obviously ripped off and conned their customers. Whether or not I want to be a “data hog” is my business if I’m paying $50 a month, and I’m sure many of these people were under the impression–like me–that we had purchased an unlimited data plan. Then they try to say it is unlimited, but there’s only so much to go around. That doesn’t even make sense!!! The reason people don’t get their unlimited fair share, is as many have stated before me, because they are using old, outdated technology, and because they refuse to invest in better equipment, and they wont build more towers, instead, they keep taking on more and more customers and over-using the towers, causing “network congestion.” It’s all very simple; we’ve been fucked.
hey prick!
I bought unlimited service with NO statement otherwise. I require unlimited as I am a huge user. I walked in and talked to reps three time at different locations to advise and verify it was totally unlimited because thats what I needed. At the third check I was still given yes. I gained service for two units. I quickly found trouble with the service. Since then have been working with clear to get it working properly.I have uverse and att dsl so its less of an issue. but I still want clear or the like as well. I have spoken to dozens of people on phone and in person. No one said a thing about it being them limiting me on purpose. I wasted so many hours and gas on there deceit. I have paid 320$ for 4 months of service that almost never works as it was supposed to. I found the information on the internet that no clear rep told me now finally. bad answer but at least I have one. No I’m not happy. No its not O.K.. I think anyone saying its my or any users fault that clear are deceitful is wrong.
So sterling fuller I bet you have a connection with Clear and your were paid to go around a write these things… I would like to say that a class action law suit is being filed about Clear Internet service. This suit is being filed some time in mid 2011.. And let me tell you there are a lot of upset customers that don’t like there Clear service myself being one. There internet connection sucks I have lost the connection over 150 times in 14 months and Tech support can’t seem to find the problem….. But it’s never an issue with the Tower and it’s signal…… It’s the modem they say….. No it’s the signal to and from the Tower………… And let me tell you if you think Clear is great that’s fine if you like to throw your money down the drain that’s fine to….. But I for one wouldn’t give Clear the time of day… And if you rear some of the complaints of the internet about Clear and the crappy internet service you will see that there are a lot…….
Spoken like a true clear executive. You want to read some good reports go to ripoffreports.com and type in clearwire and you will find a lot of these so called self-centered as well as selfish, egotistical, pseudo adults. My complaint is that after a year of service the modem they sent me started acting up and after complaining for six months they sent me a new modem. When I got the service they sold me a 3g plan which was to be upgraded in a month. After the modem they sent me took a dump I noticed on the shipping invoice when I repacked it to ship it back that the modem they sent me was 2.5g. I was downgraded not upgraded. I am on my third modem now and all I get are lies when I tried complaining. It is just as bad if not worse then the others. I recorded (legally) the conversation, er, I mean the lie by their representative when I called the last time and I am going to be posting it on UTUBE under “CLEARWIRE LIARS”. I urge all people who call Clear to record the lies and post them so others can see they are not professional in their business ways.
Apparently you don’t have three kids who’s constantly online or playing online games and when it slows to the speed as dialup then you’ll be mad as well when they start to complain about how slow the internet is when you pay for fast highspeed and only getting slow speeds. I have clearwire for three years and when they upgraded and promised even more speed and don’t deliever, yeah, we are mad as hell because they failed to deliever on a promise.
Since there are thousands of customer complaints all alleging the same issues THIS LAWSUIT IS WELL FOUNDED. As one of the unfortunate people who have wasted my hard-earned money on an ISP that rarely worked and who has spent numerous hours speaking to a call center whose employees have absolutely no knowledge of internet troubleshooting issues, I CANNOT WAIT TO FIND OUT ABOUT JOINING THIS LAWSUIT. PLEASE CONSUMERS, DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY ON THIS TOTALLY DISREPUTABLE COMPANY.
I think you are missing the point of the lawsuit. The main thing people are complaining about (and I have experienced similar) is that Clear promises a bandwidth and does not deliver. For my plan, clear promises 1.5mbps (in their marketing literature) of unlimited for $45/mo. I already paid for the 45/mo. This entitles me to no less than 1.5mbps bandwidth continuously for 24/7 for the month. If clear throttles my bandwidth even for 1 second, it is not living up to its marketing promise. What people are (and I am, as well) observing is not 1 second of throttling, but hours of throttling where the bandwidth consistently falls below 1.5mbps. This clearly is false advertisement.
1.5mbps promise means 1.5mbps all the time. not 10mbps at midnight, and 100kbps in busy hours. Clear clearly fails to deliver, so customers should be entitled to a refund.
you sound like an angry,bitter, and somewhat educated child.
” First, let me say if Clearwire is throttling or limiting a customers ” . I think it is painfully obvious that they are doing just that. you never spoke about the great service that you yourself get with CLEAR.Why is that. I am positive that you are an exec or a lawyer for CLEAR because no normal human being kisses that much(you know what for free).
Sterling Fuller(Clear Wireless Owner):
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/sterling-fuller/11/13a/97b
Listen hear Sherlock! If I go rent a car from a dealer, and the dealer tells me the car comes with unlimited miles for $45.00 per day, then Im going to pay the man $45 and drive the car as far as I want and as much as I want, because that is the terms of the contract of the service and product offered that I paid for in full. Now what backyard bar-b-que’s at grandma’s house in Michigan, have to do with sales and service of a product, I don’t know, but when someone tells me one thing and does another, and gives me less or nothing at all, that is called LYING and STEALING, or in business terms, Deceptive Advertising. Sue, Baby, Sue!
Deceptive advertising. Making knowingly misleading claims. Breach of terms of verbal agreements. I feel damaged by all of these. I’m a tech mgt prof. and not any kind of internet or networking newbie. The promised, and they purposely do not deliver. They systematically overbook their capacity then blame the very users they targeted (audio/video streamers) for using too much bandwidth. Perhaps they had no clue how big netflix and you tube and hoodoo (etc) would become, but use of those is the reasonalble norm in my town, not the behavior a a fringe group of internet abusers. Again, they clearly target marketed to this group of high volume users (review any of their radio adverts in 2009). When it’s time, I will certainly join the class action and testify if asked to do so.
I also want information on joining this class action lawsuite against Clearwire. I have never been so dissatified with a business in my life. I have never delt with a company like Clearwire, their reps ar far from people friendly. Not to mention the slowest internet in the world. Hell the libuary is quicker. When I pay my cable bill in full I will pay the extra to go back to them. I hate their phone service. An NO I WILL NOT PAY A RESTOCKING OR EARLY TERMATION FEE.
how would i go about joning the class action lawsuit.
you no i have to i agreed about the internet being so slow at times, the internet is not a fun place to be in anymore an it was my favorite type of media. some please need info thanks.
Hey if anyone can give me some info on how to join this lawsuit, that would be awesome. I have to pay another bill and keep their service because of this “restocking fee” nonsense.
classactioncentral.com/2011/01/lawsuit-claims-clearwire-corporation-misled-consumers-over-internet-speeds/#formBuilderCSSIDQuestions?SID
WELL, its 11:30pm on a Sunday night and clear is throttling my service to .25mbs (they advertise 3-6mb) from 4-5mb earlier today. My internet is now equivalent to the dial-up AOL I used 10 years ago!
After contacting their clueless customer service multiple times, I’ve gotten no help, and they in-fact spin the blame on me, telling me I have a virus on my computer!
I was going to state Clear’s bad customer service practices but the complaints stated within the PDF are spot on! I wish you luck Mr. Dennings!
I agree with you. The customer service rep I IM’ed with told me it’s due to high traffic usage. Anyone who pays for fast speed service should get the fast speed they deserve not some excuse.
Here is my back and forth with Clearwire… as to those who complain about how much people use the bottom line is we pay for UNLIMITED use… In December of 2008 I purchased a binding lifetime contract with XOHM Wireless, now Clear/Clearwire for wireless, HIGH SPEED internet service with UNLIMITED DOWNLOADING. Over the past 3 months there have been almost ONE THOUSAND COMPLAINTS in one of their on line forums alone about CLEAR’s questionable “throttling” (limiting access to the service network) of access to their over-capacity network (see here forums.clear.com/clearc… ) And not only here but on broadband/dsl forums.com as well (see here dslreports.com/comm… ) .
Basically CLEAR CLAIMS they do not “throttle” their clients. However this evening I was told by a customer service representative/tech that I was having my access limited because “The Tower” deemed I was “abusing” the network. He went on to say, as if we lived in 1980, that people who only check email aren’t abusing the network. Look, Clear claims itself to be a viable alternative to HIGHSPEED INTERNET access for the purposes of a) streaming video and watching movies and this from their most recent sales flyer gets to the point:
UNLIMITED DATA USAFE – UPLOAD AND DOWNLOAD, SEND EMAIL ***WHATEVER YOU WANT*** — WITH ***NO*** LIMITS AND NO EXTRA FEES… it goes on to say “Surf …at speeds that are 4X faster than the internet from cell phone companies”
When they BLOCK my access to their network because I use a viable highspeed network for watching netflix, sharing photos, doing large data transfers for working from home, getting and purchasing movies etc on iTunes then THAT is a VIOLATION OF MY TERMS OF MY CONTRACT. They note that **performance** may vary but not that they will THROTTLE service.
I want a refund in CHECK FORM for the last month of my service for $35.00 and I want it MAILED to my address. I will NOT accept “credit of service” since they can just abuse that more. And I want them to PUBLICLY DECLARE THEY WILL THROTTLE CUSTOMERS THEY DEEM ARE ABUSING THEIR NETWORK – not some “Terms of service” crap but something that says “Customers how use over X-amount of bandwidth/downloads will have their access throttled for …” and then state how long and at what speeds they will be throttled. ______________________________________________________________________ On December 04, 2010, the business (CLEARWIRE) provided the following information:
December 3, 2010 Re: Andrew Timleck Clearwire account #: *********** file number: 22267366
To Whom It May Concern:This is in response to your letter received by our organization on November 24, 2010, regarding Mr. Andrew Timleck.
We would like to thank you for the opportunity to respond to Mr. Timleck’s concerns. We at Clearwire do see customer satisfaction as our priority and therefore regard every issue as critical and deserving of our immediate attention. Clearwire stands by our network management policy which has always been in effect and is disclosed in our Terms of Service available at clear.com/legal/AUP.
Network management, a critical component of any wireless system, is used to ensure that our heaviest data users don’t negatively impact the service quality for others during periods of high network utilization. We are always up front with customers to let them know that we use a network management system. The intent of our approach is to only manage the network to the extent that we need to in order to provide a good experience for our broad customer base. The vast majority of our customers are having a positive experience. A small fraction of our active user base, our heaviest users, experience temporary speed adjustments during times of high network utilization in order to balance the user experience across a given area.
Our algorithm reviews several factors including long and short-term usage, current network capacity, and network demand to determine if network management needs to be applied. The intent of this approach is to manage our network traffic so the consumption by the heaviest users does not negatively impact the service quality for others. Heavy users, which comprise a small fraction of our active customer base, each consume nearly 10 times the amount of data as one of our average users.
The system is dynamic and evaluates network capacity, short and long term usage, as well as network demand, on a regular and frequent basis in order to make adjustments as necessary. But in the most extreme cases where we are still adding network capacity and coverage, there are certain users who consume in excess of 20 times our average user who may have their service impacted for longer durations. Network management is used in all wireless systems. Our intent is to manage our network traffic so that the consumption by the heaviest users does not negatively impact the service quality for others.
Clearwire already has a policy in place where the early termination and restocking fees are waived if customers who are affected by this system opt to cancel their service. Clearwire does not refund charges for periods where customers are impacted by our network management system as this is part of the Terms of Service they accepted upon activating their accounts.
Our records indicate that Mr. Timleck is in the process of cancelling his account. Any applicable refunds will be issued upon completion of the cancellation process. Clearwire regrets any inconvenience this issue may have caused Mr. Timleck If we may be of further assistance; you may reach us at 1-888-Clearwire.
We are available Mon-Fri 8am-4pm Pacific Time.
Sincerely, Diana Babin Corporate Escalations Analyst Clearwire US, LLC. __________________________________________________________________ Response
I quote Ms. Babin: First: “Clearwire already has a policy in place where the early termination and restocking fees are waived if customers who are affected by this system opt to cancel their service. “When I called to cancel my service I was asked why I was going to do so, and I explained the reason why quite explicitly. The service representative took my cancellation. This was 3 calendar days before what would have been the renewal date for my service.
However **THREE HOURS LATER** Clearwire “pulled the plug” on my account **entirely**. First there was no mention this was going to happen (I assumed since I PAID for a service I would have it til the END of the period I paid for it. Furthermore there was NO mention of any “refunding” if I chose to “opt to cancel” my service given I was affected negatively by this system.Second, per the discussion of the “dynamic” protocol and “heavy users” it need be pointed out that there is DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT of SAME USE customers – dependent solely on **Clearwire’s** ability to meet demand. In otherwords they over sold their network in some places and hence **punish** users DIFFERENTLY for the same data usage.
Ms. Babin says:”But in the most extreme cases where we are still adding network capacity and coverage, there are certain users who consume in excess of 20 times our average user who may have their service impacted for longer durations.”
I found this on another site complaining to Clear of the same issue I faced: “Throttling is based on the current utilization for each cell tower, and many low-use towers do not throttle speeds at all. For high-use towers, throttling occurs during peak-use times.[NB – Clear denies “throttling” because their **towers** do it – so that MEANS people DO NOT have unlimited access to download, a violation of their contract terms which state differently]and going on…”A customer’s maximum speed is based on the number of gigabytes of data transferred in the past seven days and the download speeds for the past 15 minutes. Speeds are recalculated every 15 minutes, at which point a throttled customer will be bumped up to a higher speed. Rather than implementing one speed for throttling, the calculations will move customers between 48 different speed brackets.”
So it’s NOT about “high use” in terms of the BANDWIDTH usage but in terms of how much TOTAL data is being moved. AGAIN this is violation of the terms of the agreement which stipulates UNLIMITED data. Furthermore it’s clearly a “shell game” then to make it sound like it’s about the hardware differences in market to market when two different people in two different markets, one with more capacity and the other with less will be PENALIZED THE SAME BASED ON TOTAL GIGABYTES downloaded.
So, I ask Ms. Babin: Perhaps you could clarify this with Mr. Mike Sievert, your commercial operations officer who said that the AVERAGE data user was using 7GB/month. I can imagine we might have used 10GB the month we were “cutoff” – hardly beyond “average”And our cut off of SEVEN+ DAYS WASN’T dynamic. It was clear that the throttling that took place on my account was perhaps activated through a dynamic read of data use initially, but the PERIOD OF SLOWER SERVICE that followed was not. Otherwise, given Ms. Babin’s assertion, and given we **couldn’t** even USE the system to anything remotely close to what was advertised to us in our contract, for SEVEN DAYS (that’s a 1/4 of our contract that month) then shouldn’t “the tower” (in it’s mystical 48 runged intelligence” have “dynamically” moved us up higher in access, allowing us to increase our speeds back up to network capacity overtime. Well, IT DIDN’T. So this whole response is plainly a falsehood. The towers throttle and the slow down is FIXED in order to PUNISH users.
As it stands, and since I was told that if we terminate service again it would be effective immediately we did elect to take a final month of this abuse until our new provider can set us up. As an acceptable compensation I would like to see this last month refunded, a total fee of $35 being returned. And to Ms. Babin I would point out that I have yet to see any such thorough description of your throttling practices. In fact, when all these problems began for customers (AFTER CLEAR took over from XOHM, btw) in late summer their clients have been fleeing like rats from a sinking ship. Their own help boards are replete with people who challenged the whole “throttling” problem, who confronted Clearwire, who then denied it, then gradually, ever so gradually as the “geeks of the world” revealed what they were doing, had to admit it was happening. And now we have people like Ms. Babin, here, in print, admitting that they DO do what they said they DIDN’T do (and Mike Sievert, etc. etc. etc.)
.Finally I would remind Ms. Babin that I purchased a lifetime contract with XOHM, not CLEAR, and at that time no such fine print was revealed to me (and I looked, and you won’t find it on the web anywhere either. But if you google clearwire+throttling you’ll get FOURTEEN THOUSAND hits of people complaining about it – were all these people also so stupid to not read their contract? Were all these people somehow “wrong”? The problem we are all complaining about (and I hope the FCC does investigate you all) isn’t some BS we’ve invented about caps and throttling that we’re not happy about – it’s about Clearwire exercising practices that were NOT clearly laid out in their TOS with customers, and about Clearwire doing things that it patently said a) it would not do, b) denied they were doing them when asked (because they knew they weren’t supposed to and c) overselling their network which itself caused the RATIO of data use to be considered as ABUSIVE to shift because THEY put too many people onto their network and sucked out the bandwidth. Why should **I** be punished for their corporate greed?I want my $35 and I want it before Clear goes under please….From their quarterly earnings report of November of this year:
“Based on our current projections, we do not expect our available cash and short-term investments as of September 30, 2010 to be sufficient to cover our estimated liquidity needs for the next 12 months. We also do not expect our operations to generate positive cash flows during the next 12 months. Without additional financing sources, we forecast that our cash and short-term investments would be depleted as early as the middle of 2011.
“It’s not our fault, data users, that Clearwire has botched a perfectly good 4G system launched by XOHM and the “data management” isn’t management it’s based on GB used and it’s not dynamic, it’s fixed. And so it’s not management, it’s punishment. And these practices are NOT clearly set out in the TOS. stopthecap.com/category…/
Thank-you for hearing me out. I wish you luck past the next half year. It’s interesting about how customers seem likely to “throttle” Clearwire right into wireless oblivion. Seems only fair given the treatment they’ve been put through for the past 8 months.
Andrew Timleck
PS – If this problem really isn’t a problem then why does your company keep deleting out those responses made in your own forums, those trying to solve the problem, so that only the most recent 10 responses can be viewed? Afraid of something????
FYI – Two articles in the NY Times on Clear this past week:
http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/14/from-clear-4g-for-the-home/
and this second one was as a response to the “flurry” of critiques of their service that the modem review prompted:
http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/17/clearwire-some-pro-many-con/#preview
I would like information about joining the law suit. They are the most overtly dishonest company I have ever dealt with. I found that out the first day when they signed me up for a two year contract without telling me.
Last night they told me that we are one of the highest users they have ever seen. We have three computers and we pretty much watch netflix and that’s it. Now it makes much more sense.
Please send me information about joining.
Thanks
For those interested in joining the class action, it will probably take at least a year or two. First they have to go throw all of the typical motions of summary judgments ect.. for the initial filing of the complaint. After that, the Plaintiff’s Lawyer will file for a Motion to certify the class, which will take a while if approved, because they then have a long period of discover for which the lawyers will mail letters out to every clear internet subscriber, asking if they have been affected, and if so, to fill out their information. I promise you, if this class action is allowed, you will be contacted way, way, way down the road.
And yes, I will also be a part of this class action because I am most certainly having my internet capped.
Please let us know how to become a part of this lawsuit. I accepted service with Clear less than a month ago, and it’s been pure hell. I’ve only seen two bars on the hotspot, and if we’re lucky, three bars on the modem after 1am in the morning – for about ten minutes.
First the tech support says we’re well within range, but we need to get the modem higher, hold it “just so,” get near a window! Then, when we call again, we have to remove the battery and reinstall the software. We actually put it outside in the direction of a tower that we’re supposed to be only 1 mile from, and guess what?
ONE BAR. ONE FRIGGIN BAR.
So finally I call and I’m officially pissed. The tech guy apologizes for my being mislead, stating, “You’re not within the mile radius for a good signal. You’re on the periphery.” We’re not internet virgins here, so even at that point, we should be able to get at least three bars, not dial up speed.
He connected me to customer service. She looked it up and told me I was well within the mile radius. I told her that she needs to work in tech support if her assessment is supposed to override the “assigned” tech who is supposed to know better.
My only real frustration is that I called them THE DAY AFTER they removed 80.00 out of my account to cover the next month’s service.
At a time when the economy is the way it is, there shoulld be a law against people/organizations/companies that intentionally serve to steal and deceive consumers.
Do not try ClearWire, you will pay for services you will not receive and be very frustrated. There is limited customer service and you will be lucky if you are able to maintain the exact service you are trying to report: lack of phone and or internet service to report the very same. I said that I did not know how there was not a class action lawsuit but am very glad there is one now.
i would like to become a party in this class action against Clear. Please contact me to provide whatever support is necessary.
thanks,
/shawn
I have experienced the same issues. I was told that I am in the spotty coverage however with in the last 2 months that spotty coverage is perfect in the middle of the night. I can’t even log into my clear account because the service is so slow. I took me 45 minutes to upload 73 pictures. Hell I think dial up is faster than that.
I’ve had the same problem with clearwire from the first i got on. Now when i call they say im a excessive user, but im not. Then one of the workers told me its there system and i should look into other companies for internet. I want in the class action also.
Hello,
I live in Portland Oregon, I thought I would share my trouble with Clear Wire as it stands. First the company says their service is unlimited, which should mean no caps whatsoever, right? Wrong, they cap your speed if you surf, stream, or anything they feel uses too much bandwidth or they will tell you they micro manage their systems. At some points during the cap that put on me I can’t even surf the internet, these people are frauds and this company in my view is a SCAM and lies nothing more. DON’T BUY CLEAR-WIRE!! I am suing them here in Portland,Oregon and would like to have other people help in my Class action suite as well..
I live in Portland as well and have Clear. They SUCK! At around 1am, the internet shuts off. I don’t play games or anything..just homework after my son is in bed.. I am getting really fed up but we don’t have Comcast cable soooo Clear was the best option.
I signed with Clear in August 2010. Beginning about three or four weeks ago, Netflix.com would stop in the middle of a streaming movie. I would reload and it would stop again. Last Sunday, January 9, I spent more than an hour with two Clear.com phone techs on two separate calls. I was given a runaround I couldn’t believe. They blamed it on viruses in my computer, accused me of removing the password so anybody in the neighborhood could log on, etc. I finally demanded to speak to someone higher up and got an “account service” person. He told me first that everyone using the Clear tower that I use was slowed down. I kept hounding and pounding on this dolt and he finally admitted that I was personally being limited because I had been watching Netflix.com. He said the limiting, done by a “surgically precise” piece of software, should end within fifteen days. He denied that it was a penalty or punishment.
Just now, 8:20 P.M. PST 1/14/2011, I used Speedtest.net and the result was 0.77 Mb/s. Clear.com reps all agree that my plan gives me a minimum 4.00 Mb/s.
Clear.com is dishonest. I am pleased to be part of this lawsuit and will testify if asked.
Thank you.
I want in on this class action as well. Clear has been nothing but trouble since day one. The cap on my speed just started last month. I had 2 weeks of NO INTERNET!!! I pay over $80 a month for this crap. I signed up because we do not have cable and we want to watch some of the shows from cable channels as well as Netflix. I have a home modem as well as the expensive 3G/4G plus wifi. There is no 4G network…. CLEAR sucks and I want my money back, no credit!!! Please tell me how to join!!!
I have been victim of this bate and switch. I even reported it to the regional manager. She was very helpful, and told me that my home was only guaranteed 2-3mpbs and not the “6mpbs” with burst of 10mpbs I was told when I signed up and from the information on their website.
I am in Oregon and and feel as if I’ve been deceived. I wonder if other folks in Oregon will be filing a class action law suit like the one listed above. I hope so, for I know that I am going to end up paying more for this fiasco than I intended to. Well live and learn as they say and buyer beware.
Hi I’m also in Oregon, if you find any info on local legal action against clear being taken, please email me. I’ve also been screwed by Clear, in too many ways to fit in this post.
stevomon92@yahoo.com
Completely agree this needed to be done… However, I must say that dial up is 56k or .05 mbps so those of us who receive even .25 are actually receiving 5x 56K or dialup. Is this what we paid for? No. But it isn’t the dialup you claim it is or even close to it.
Average dialup download speeds are 5-7 kbps whereas even when throttled I maintain 39-50 or a margin of .5 mbps, at worst my download rates drop to 25 KBPS or .25 mbps still 5X dialup.
Again despite this service at it’s worst still being better then dialup, it is not the 4-6 mbps of unlimited that I paid for when I purchased the service. More over, I’d like to say that I paid extra for that 4-6 mbps and am not receiving it. I may as well drop my plan down to the 1.5 mbps plan and save $10 a month if your going to throttle me for using the extra bandwidth I paid for. It’s just unfortunate that the lawsuit will take so long to be completed…
Clear would not have to manage their service if they openly placed a much lower cap on the speeds, but then they wouldn’t sell, so instead they give a throttled up speed that can be advertised as expected service, then cut you down when you use it.
Bait and switch, false advertisement, whatever you want to call it, it is most certainly not a moral business practice. If they want to advertise unlimited then they should advertise a rate at which they can effectively provide a TRUE unlimited service to ALL of their customers even if it’s not a rate that is competitive with other service providers such as Comcast, Qwest, Roadrunner, etc.
My suspicion is that if they imposed a speed cap that limited their towers to what they could handle on everyone the number would be around a 1-2 MBPS range. If advertised as such and capped as such they could effectively provide EVERYONE with that amount of bandwidth 24 hours a day 7 days a week with NO MANAGEMENT. They refuse to do so only as a means to remain competitive with higher speed land line providers.
Technically you’re correct in saying that .25Mbps or so isn’t the same as dial up at 50kps, but comparatively speaking it is.
Years ago when dial up was the standard the internet was mostly just text based websites with the occasional graphics here and there. Todays internet is drastically more advanced. A .25Mbps speed when used to surf the internet today is actually slower in comparison to using dial up 10 years ago.
Even using speedtest.net with a speed around .250Mbps, the flash application takes upwards of 5 minutes to load before you can even do a speed test. Ive sat in the phone with tech support and they will have me go there to test my speed and they will keep asking me “has it loaded yet?” and I’ll keep telling them “nope, it hasn’t!” ive gotten to the point that I can tell how fast or slow my speed is going to be just on how long it takes that site to load!
I know i am only 13 years old but most 13 year olds out there play video games. My mom just recently signed up for clear about 4 months ago. On CLEARS site it lists that its great for gaming. I have been so frustrated because of this. I have done everything to modify the settings from static ip, port forwarding, upnp, dmz , configuring ddwrt with my router, etc and nothing has worked. I finally came up with the conclusion…ITS MY ISP. The off and on speeds are affecting me too i try to sometimes i will download fast and an hour later its slow. On my modem it ranges between 2 and 4 bars it hardly is ever stable. I want this company BANNED and SEWED.
Clear is not good for gaming. The latency is too high for gaming. If Clear is claiming that they are good for gaming then they are being dishonest.
I was conned into paying for the $50 plan for xbox live, and my games lag far too much to stand. This lawsuit needs to hurry up. And as much as the idea of the CEO being pricked with a needle soothes my anger, we need to sue him, not sew him. 😀
Same as above. My main need for internet was to be able to Skype with my son who is currently deployed. I could not achieve or maintain the speeds necessary to maintain a connection.
When you think each communication could be your last, the last thing you need to worry about is whether your internet service provider will hold up its end of the bargain.
I finally cancelled service after being told that my tower would be upgraded by May, 2011. The final straw was when I was told that I needed to pay an additional $40 restocking fee or as an alternative I could transfer my service to a friend.
They are ruthless. They know they can’t maintain the speeds promised, but they still keep selling the service.
Clear is not “clear”! The Federal Trade Commision needs to hear from all customers that have been lied to by Clear. I live in Oregon outside of the 4G range and was sold a 4G/3G mobile unit. The only way it could be sent to me was if I used my work address which is in a 4G area.
I would have purchased the service from the mall representative but I was told my the phone sales department that the mall does not tell the truth nor do they have the most up to date equipment. I was then told that if I was not satisfied I could return the unit within seven days and only have to pay for restocking. This is the most absurd thing I have ever heard. I read that I could return the unit and cancel within 14 days if not satisfied without paying a restocking fee or any penalties.
I’m sure that all the customers will agree with me when I say that Clear has then worst web site of any service provider. The site is set up for sales and is not user friendly to account holders. I followed the direction to find my account information just as spelled out in the FAQ and from the online help but to no avail. It wasn’t until I clicked on support instead of choosing the drop down menu did I find the option for accounts. Even then I had to select it once more before I could see my information.
I will be following the class action suit closely and doing a complete consumer report on my blog and in the newspaper I work at.
Buyer beware! Clearwire is not clear.
First of all i would love to say thank you to all for posting about all these unfair tactics they use against their customers. I had no idea any of this was going on until I, myself got capped. I play world of warcraft and in the middle of something i get disconnected. Checking my internet speeds in at .23 mbps. So i log into my clear account to see whats going on when i stumble accross these types of forums and what not. I don’t know if anyone else lives in california besides myself that is having this problem. I’m very glad to hear that people are standing up to this injustice. I for one will not stand for this. If there is a class action lawsuit in california i will be MORE than abliged to join you. This bait and switch, shady tactics ect.. worries me because I go to school and dont make very much money at all, it was a big step for me to buy internet for myself considering my income isnt that good. To be swindled like this is just wrong to say the least. This was my first ISP and i am greatly dissapointed. I hope to get a refund or at least have my fees waved if not they will not get away with stealing. Again i would like to say thank you to all who posted here and on their forums. I will be cancelling my service asap.
Majority of the ISP,Cellular companys do that such as a “bandwidth cap” or Throttling the service. So im not sure why they are treated different from any other carrier out there. The only difference i see is they just got caught. Not %100 of the people are gonna be satisfied. Thats why they have other options to choose in as ISP. Good luck on the the Venture!
P.S no i am not a CLEARWIRE subscriber.
I would like to become a party in this class action against Clear. Please contact me to provide whatever support is necessary. I signed up with Clear’s 2-year contract two months ago and bought one of their $120 modems. The service was great for the first two weeks, and then it quickly degraded as soon as the trial period (during which service could be cancelled without penalty) ended. I now routinely get less that 1 Mbs speed (even though all 5 lights on the modem are always lit), not the 5 -8 Mbs I got during the first two weeks.
I’m not a power user; I never use bitTorrent, and I stream only the occasional Netflix movie. If I’m being throttled, it’s certainly unwarranted. If I’m not being throttled, I guess I’m just getting terrible service. In any case, I’m cancelling my account within the week as soon as my Comcast internet service begins, and I’m sure that I’ll have to pay the early termination fee and be stuck with a $120 modem that is effectively useless to me.
I am currently using their new “Clearspot wifi 4G+” device.
-The connection stays relatively decent at 300-500 kb/sec (3-4mbps)
under normal usage.
However, when i am using consistent non-stop bandwidth such as downloading/uploading torrent files, Clear will block my bandwidth completely until I power cycle the device. In doing so, I’m then able to resume my torrent files for another 10-15min of downloading before I am guaranteed another disconnect. This has been going on for weeks..
I also would like to join this suit. I had to get DSL to resolve my issues. I still am with Clearwire, but I am waiting for them to fix the problem. I made a mistake and PRE-PAID for 6 months of service.
I have had this problem with them for a year and a half. I just gave up calling tech support. They sent a tech to my place of business and he said, “We’ll this sucks. I suggest you go with another company. This is the best your going to get here.” LOL. My speedtest.net report was .20 download…….
Sadly Clear does not perform as well as it should. My “on the road” usage in Chicagoland goes very slow or stops every afternoon Mon-Fri from about 3 pm till 6 pm. The home service is not much better during those hours. 4G on the road is VERY spotty if it works at all. Got to go to Verizon for on the road and Comcast for home. Good luck to all!
The reason I signed up with Clear was to benefit from the unlimited high speed connection and NO throttling. What I’ve experienced is a Hotspot 4G+ unit “cycling” routinely, causing me to loose connections.
Additionally I’ve voiced a strong concern over the extreme heat that the unit generates – so hot you can’t touch it or the battery. I’m concerned that I could be the recipient of an electrical house fire due to their faulty equipment.
The last straw was this weekend when I spent 4hrs dealing with the “tech support”. Did you know that we, the customer, have to pay for the shipping fees associated with sending/receiving replacement equipment?!!! This is absurd.
How do I join the lawsuit?
I signed up with Clear during a promotion here in Portland, Oregon a little over a year ago and was very satisfied with the service; my download speeds were routinely 500 kb/sec-800 kb/sec and higher with 1.6 Mb/sec+ common. I was thrilled! I was certain I had gotten the deal of the century; high-speed internet service with unlimited download speeds and telephone service with no long distance fees or limitations on times or minutes…talk all you want 24/7. And all for $45.00 a month for life as long as I stayed with Clearwire. I was so happy to be done with Comcast…still am.
That is until mid-January or so of this year(2011). Now my D/L speeds are rarely faster than 60 kb/sec; the actual D/L speed is mostly between 35 kb/sec and 50 kb/sec, I am not making this up. The only exception to this deliberate throttling is during the early morning hours from 1:00 or 2:00 AM to 5:00 AM, 6:00AM if I’m lucky. Even my speed is never faster than 400 kb/sec, usually 125 – 350 kb/sec.
And I find it outrageous and insulting when Clear states they have to lower download speeds or the towers will shut down due to high or excessive usage by a few customers; then point out that I had downloaded 36 GB in the past month and that it was excessive. Excessive my big white butt, How dare they! What happened to their “unlimited downloads, guaranteed” sales pitch. I saw it in the newspaper, on television, and in the mail they sent to me.
Clear ran a very strong all out campaign to win the hearts and minds of the folks here in Portland; it was practically carpet-bombing advertising.
As for the folks who decided to vote with their feet and leave clear, the fees Clear wrongly charged should be refunded. While those unsatisfied customers held up their end of the deal by paying their bill in a timely fashion each month, it’s blatantly obvious that Clear did not…deliberately. And those who wish to quit Clear jn the future should be able to do so without charge.
As for me, I’m not hoping for some kind of refund as a penalty to Clear for all the inconvenience and countless hours that I’ll never get back (tho I’d take it). I’d much prefer Clear be ordered by the court to live up to the promises they made to their customers, Clearwire gave it’s word in newsprint, through the U.S. Mail, Television and Radio. Clear should be held to it.
After all, a deal is a deal.
I have had nothing but problems and issues with my Clear service since I first got it.
I purchased the 4G hotspot, which I primarily use on my television to watch shows/netflix & online gaming. Our service continuously disconnected and slowed to points where we were completely unable to use it, although we were told we live in an area where we are surrounded by 5 towers. We were calling in to Clear’s trouble shooting line weekly attempting to have our service fixed. We were even told that we needed to purchase a home modem as well if we wanted to be able to successfully use the hotspot for television and still be able to access internet on our home computer. We actually had about 3-4 weeks where we were unable to get service AT ALL.
We experienced so many problems with our hotspot we requested a new one & were told by the tech support team that we had to take our hotspot in to a store for a replacement. When we went to the store we were told that they had no idea why anyone would tell us that – they would not replace our device.
We went home & got back on the phone with Clear & 3 phone calls later and 6 months of HORRIBLE service, we got a new device sent to us, a 3G hotspot. They were kind enough to drop our bill to $65/mo., which is still $5 more a month than what they are offering to new customers for a home modem & 4G hotspot.
I have equipment I didn’t want & found out I don’t need. I have a 3G hotspot now & not a 4G, still have slowing issues & a 2 year contract.
Needless to say, I am NOT a Clear fan.
I would like to take part in this class action lawsuit.
After spending 1 hour and 10 mins on the phone with Clear Tech support and after transferring to a Supervisor. I go the supervisor to acknowledge Clears system was load balancing ( a Clear term to avoid the
real term called Throttling. I am an IT dude and did a lot of testing with
Clear as to the reasons I was down to .900 down and .256 up. from a 3.4 meg down and 1.4 up. Clear was sold to me as a method to stream movies
(bandwidth hogs), This was back in August. For the last 4 weeks my speed is slower and slower. I feel there is a breach of contract here. May I join this suit as an expert witness ?
Kurt Guseman
I read the class action document and man oh man! Exactly what I have been going through. Have tried support and they said to reset the 4ghotspot, had me jump through hoops and nothing, same old @#$%%!! I hope that I can join the class-action lawsuit! Nothing irritates me more than a business that cant deliver and then tries to bilk you out of money.
I am enrolled in a masters program online and at times have 3 -4 browser windoes open doing research. Most of the time, I am downloading several documents at the same time, ranging from 553 k to over 5 mg or higher. Bam the stupid hotspot shuts off and I loose everything. I know you are suppose to save, but I am not using that much bandwidth most of the time all I need is the document to download so I can print and read it to complete my research. I am sick and tired of this and hope someone reads thise to add me to the lawsuit.
I would LOVE to get in on this as well. Clear throttled me down to .17Mbs for exceeding my unlimited internet. At least they admitted that they were throttling me and didn’t try to blame a virus. Although, it did take 3 customer service reps and 2 hours before they finally “figured out what the problem” was.
I know that it won’t but I really do hope that this lawsuit does some serious damage to Clear. They are hands down the worst telecom that I have ever had to deal with.
Id love to be a part of this suit they were deliberately misleading and i have been told by their people that it is done knowingly…If there is anything I can do please contact me
WHEN ALL DOCUMENTS HAVE BEEN FILED AND IN PLACE, ALL CLEAR CUSTOMERS will be notified by mail. I have been part of many class actions suits. From B of A, Countrywide, etc. The most that will happen (if they are found liable, of course, without admitting guilt) is CLEAR will get a slap on the wrist and promise to change and YOU will get about $15 or a maybe one months credit with good ole CLEAR.
How’s that for justice?
I have had clear for about 4 years now. I cant speak for the service in other cities but here in Abilene Tx the last year and a half or so the service has been horrible. I have done speed tests and I often receive results as low as .05 Mbps, which is equivalent to dial up. However most times I’m in the .200-.300 Mbps range, which is still slow by todays standards and a far cry from what I’m supposed to be getting. Those speeds are junk unless all you’re doing is surfing the net and checking email.
I have read here and at many other online forums and see where people are complaining about only getting 1.0-1.5Mbps, hell I’d be ecstatic if I was getting that speed! The fastest I can recall getting in the last year or so is around .75Mbps, and I’ll only ever get that in the wee hours of the morning.
I wouldn’t consider myself a high user, I seldom download anything aside from the occasional program or updates, about the only thing I do on a regular basis is watch Hulu, and to do that I have to set the playback quality to 288p, and even at that low setting many times I’m unable to watch due to slow speeds. I just ran a speed test and got .16Mbps, I realize its evening and this is the peak hours for internet usage, but good grief, .16Mbps is not even close to what I’m paying for!
I’ve gone round and round with their tech support over the last year or so and I’ve had my modem replaced at least 6 or 8 times. It will work fine for a couple weeks then my speeds drop back down again. I was told by a representative at my local clear store that I was being throttled back, most likely due to using bit torrent or other peer to peer downloading. I explained to him that I NEVER use any peer to peer downloading or file sharing.
I would have canceled years ago but I’m basically stuck. I don’t have home phone service, I use a pay as you go cell phone, and I don’t have cable television either. Wireless is my only option for home internet.
I would love to be involved in this law suit. I can provide speed test results to prove they are not giving me anything close to what I’m paying for.
I switched to Clear 3 months ago because I was told by salesperson that I could save about $50 to $60 a month by switchingfrom Comcast to Clear. I have had nothing but problems with Clear from the start. Extremely SLOW to do anything, upload, download, log on…. EVERYTHING. Also, have had to call every month to straighten out billing issues as the billing department CANNOT seem to take my information and correctly input it into billing system…. so every month I get a notice that I’m past due for three straight months… thismorning I have no phone service????? Can’t reach anyone at Clear to help! Very frustrated…. would love to help in anyway possible!!!! Saving money is great but not at this price and when the services you were told you would get are nowhere to be seen yet!
I am thrilled to see that this lawsuit has been filed. I signed up for 6Mbps (download speed) service in Feb. 2010. I have been through 3 of their modems since then, plus numerous customer service/tech support phone calls trying to find out why my actual service speed has only reached 2Mbps approximately 5 days total out of the last 365. My usual download speed with Clear is actually only .219 Mbps-.495 Mbps, which isn’t even a tenth of the speed I’ve paid faithfully for every month! Luckily (for me) I went with the month-to-month option instead of the two year contract, so I won’t be charged an ETS fee if I cancel. I will just be throwing away the cost of the modem purchase and the $45.00 per month service fee for the last year+. Now, the only thing I REALLY want to know is…how can I join this lawsuit as one of the class members that Clear has wronged?
After a year of great service suddenly everything ground to a screeching halt about 4 months ago. With a disgusting typical (evening) speed of about .3 down I have gone back to AT&T DSL and a (ick) landline. I’m waiting for the modem in the mail and then it’s bye bye clearwire! I too want in on this class action goodness. Go DENNINGS! We are behind you all the way!
We know they are throttling us because the system goes down at the same time every day and only comes back up before 7 pm when we call and complain. They then make us move the unit around from window to window before they turn it back on. We caught on and now we don’t move anything but it always comes back on right after we tell them we did. Looks like I’ll be joining in that suit myself!
Yes, I want to be part of the Class Action too. Connection is suck for my business…and modem doesn’t always work when I take out travel to used at home and it is very slow. but sometime it seems little bit okay….
Have any of you ever just thought of cancelling the service if you are not satified and trying another company? Why waste all that stress on something that is not worth it? Let by gones, be by gones and move on!
When I first tried clear on trial I quite literally abused the service. I told those selling it to me I would do as such to see just how it well it worked. I had QWest DSL and Comcast before (yes Qworst and Comsuck). I had nothing but praise for Clear at this point. I even bought the modem on the condition they gave me the latest omnidirectional modem. All was fantastic for about a month maybe 1.5 months after I purchased. Now, this is the worst service Ive seen from any company hands down on any service. Granted the connection rarely goes down but then again when you drop from a supposedly given 3-6Mbps to 50-80kps it might as well be “down” in todays terms. Clear is clearly running a con game. Welcome to the corporate competition protected by government subs right wing big gov bad results. In the end you will pay them out the butt, for something you must have, and you wont get anything for it but grief. Welcome to the new america. You think its just your net? Think again. This is only the start.
I lasted for about a month on this service. I signed up for Clear, knowing that I was getting good coverage about a 1⁄4 mile from a tower and could get good download speeds. My intent was to use this not just for internet but for TV, streaming movies, etc. – As Clear advertises.
Everyone I talked to in sales insured me this was possible. I got an email from “Jeff Barnes the General Manager of Clear for Seattle” – I responded telling him that I was happy to have the service and that I was going to use it to replace my TV service with Comcast, “Awesome!” was the response.
Meanwhile I see all these posts online about throttling and track the issue, while enjoying my service for about a month. Then I got hit with the .25/mbs download throttle. After two hours of ridiculous hoops with service on the chat system, I finally called in and got a very nice – HONEST – operator.
She at first gave me the script of saying I was being limited in order to “ensure over all good experience” blah blah. After challenging her on this – stating the obvious, that I was being punished not limited, that Clear was using false advertising, deceptive business practices, etc. – and saying I would file a complaint, we began to have a real conversation about it. In it, She admitted that this was a major complaint. That the support reps were trying to raise it as an issue, that she didn’t know what the limit was but that there was a fixed limit above which you would be shut down, and that this contradicted everything Clear communicated in its advertising. She said that her son complained to her about it all the time because he couldn’t stream videos on the service. She said she read the forums and knew what was going on but had no answer about what to do about it.
I would also like to join this class action lawsuit, and I used to WORK for CLEAR. Rotten company, top to bottom. I cancelled my service due to non-performance and was hit with all kinds of charges. I’m going to tell everyone I ever meet who mentions CLEAR to avoid them AT ALL COSTS!
Would like information about joining the law suit. They are the most overtly dishonest company I have ever dealt with. I found that out the when I signed up for the contract without telling me. There was a fixed limit
Please add my name to the list. In the two years that I’ve had the service, there have been countless times where I had to find a payphone to call Clear and complain because my internet service was down – and when the internet is down, I don’t have access to my landline. Now, what if there was an emergency like my house being on fire – I can’t call out becuase Clear has screwed me with yert another outage. The latest snafu with Clear is…. no voicemail service going on four days now. I’m unemployed and can’t get messages regarding potential interviews because no one can leave a voicemail message. I had to bypass my voicemail, by forwarding it to a ‘pay as you go’ cell phone at the rate of 20 cents a minute. Did I mention that I’m unemployed – like I have money for this crap.
I was looking for info about “Clear” hook up in Orlando, Fla.. I end up here reading this page…
I really didn’t believe any of you posters until I showed up at a local “Clear Store” to hook up service today. As soon as I got into the green store I noticed costumers arguing very desperately with a representative about poor service, modems, lack of speed ,not 4G etc, etc…. I stood inside for 10 minutes listening how the representative was handling these frustrated customers. WOW! One costumer said she didn’t have connection for days! The Representative was passing blame to the tech support ,managers, etc, etc. One lady walk out with the same defective equipment she was trying to replace. I decided based on your comments here and what I witness at ” Clear Store” to get the HELL OUT and find other better internet provider!!
NO WAY I WANT TO GET SAME TREATMENT as those people who are paying for bad service….I really understand now what you say here.
Thank you all for saving me from getting CLEAR bad service!
This is intentional throttling. For instance, when you go to syfy and watch videos of science fiction episodes, they are throttled to the point of unintellibility and are unwatchable. However, the obnoxious e-harmony commercials are crystal clear in all their fascist glory!
I am very happy to see this class action suit. I whole heartedly want this company to pay heavy fines and publicly apologize to all of us. Better yet, I wish all the executives are sentenced to prison time for adopting ponzi schemes. The support folks are very cocky and openly said that they are restricting my bandwidth because I am a high usage customer. I feel stupid to have signed up for this service in the first place.
I read all these complaints about how inept Clearwire is,= and how ignorant they seem to be with all these concerns. I, unfortunately, am yet another victim in this horrible company. Honestly, they must pay school children to run their customer service…there is no other reasonable answer to the ignorance I get each and every time I call them. They offer different solutions for the same issue. I lose my connection within 2 minutes of me either restarting my computer or re-establishing a connection through the router. As soon as the customer service rep hangs the phone up, off it goes again! Could it be on purpose?…don’t think so, they don’t seem that smart! Clearwire is a deceiving company that feeds off of honest people looking to better there internet connections. I had exceptional service for about 7 months, then all of a sudden I’m getting all these connectivity issues? Don’t think so. My computer? Nope its happening with my new one right away. Too many people trying to connect?..why now, after it had been working for over 7 months with no issue? They ofer no solutiona, just more of the same. Clearwire is pathetic!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think schoolchildren are smarter than Clear tech support. I called them today to complain about download speeds. I was getting .3 Mbps at best. The first tech support guy first said the the problem was likely a virus on my compter (on both my computers, my iPad, my smartphone, and my AppleTV?) and had me do a couple of speed tests, and when my speed went from .3Mbps to .11 Mbps he tried to convince me that .11Mbps was FASTER then .3 Mbps. Oh, dear, but my grade school math teacher would have had fits. After arguing with him about this for about a minute, I asked to speak to a supervisor – no point in continuing a conversation with an idiot.
The supervisor said that my account had been identified as having heavy usage, and to be fair to all subscribers, my usage was being limited. What? I signed up for “unlimited usage and broadband speeds”. I would have remembered the salesman saying “oh, but after a certain amount of usage we’re gonna cut you back to .25 Mbps”.
“The Difference is Clear”? Yeah, the difference between the truth and what Clear advertises.
After many many years of being a Clearwire/Clear customer I started using NETFLIX . Within one week of use I started having the “slows”….. I was told it was my computer….. I can run a speedtest.net as they asked me to do and I get all of .12 to .56 for speed. I have been told it is their tower here in town and they dont know when it will be fixed….. but now I know it is throttling…..we don’t have comcast, at&t or verizon in our small town or I would quit for sure….they lie about the lousy service and don’t deserve to continue this farce.
I purchased a new computer at Best Buy last year and I also purchased a two-year agreement with Clearwire at the same time. I am a grad student and take several classes on line. I have spent many nights waiting for papers, forms, and data to download with Clear…sometimes going to bed after 2 am and having to get up at 6 am to get ready for work. What was even more frustrating is that I was unable to access other available networks! I have made my payments promptly because of the necessity of internet service, but I am and have been very unhappy with Clear. I hope that my input will contribute to putting an end to companies that trick people out of their hard earned money, while making false promises.
I have had “CLEAR” for about 6 years. It has gotten so bad that getting rid of them is my next project. I am going for COMCAST/XFINITY. They throttle me down to .30 mbps (300 or less kbps) UNBELIEVABLE. I AM NOT EVEN ON-LINE BUT A COUPLE HOURS PER DAY!
HERES THE SITUATION —
I’M A BRAND NEW CLEAR CUSTOMER IV HAD IT FOR 3 WEEKS. I DON’T HAVE CABLE AND PURCHASED CLEAR TO WATCH HULO AND NETFLIX. WHEN I TAlKED TO THE REP I WAS TOLD THAT 1. THE PLAN I AM ON HAS A MIN DL SPEED OF 1MB A SEC BUT AS IM RIGHT NEXT TO A TOWER I SHOULD GET 3-6. 2. THERE IS NO LIMIT TO MY INTERNET USE AND OR DOWNLOADS.3. I HAVE A MONTH TO DECIDE IF I WANNA KEEP MY SERVICE WITHOUT ANY TYPE OF CANCELLATION FEE. ———
HERES MY EXPERIENCE SO FAR.. DAY 1 (SPEEDCHECK 4.27 MBS) I WATCHED 2 NETFLIX MOVIES AND ON DAY 2 WHEN I WENT TO WATCH A 3RD IT TOOK ME 4 HOURS TO WATCH A 2 HOUR MOVIE DUE TO BUFFERING. I CHECKED MY SPEED AND IT WAS NOW .44 MBS CAUSING THE PROBLEM. I CALLED AND WAS TOLD IT WAS BOX AND IT NEED TO BE RESETED AND TURN IT OFF AND WAIT 2 HOURS. I LEFT IT TURNED OFF OVERNIGHT AND IN THE MORNING BACK TO 4.9MBS. DAY 5 AFTER DOWNLOADING A 1GB FILE MY SPEED WAS DROPPED AGAIN TO .42MBS (DIALUP SPEEDS) AFTER 3 DAYS OF THIS ON DAY 8 I CALLED AND WAS TOLD THAT MY TOWER IS CURRENTLY DOWN AND TO CALL BACK. DAY 11 CURRENT SPEED (.67MBS) CALLED AND COMPLAINED AND WAS TOLD THAT THEY ARE SORRY AND WOULD CHANGE MY TOWER BUT I HAD TO LEAVE MY MODEM OFF FOR THE NIGHT. DAY 12 TURNED MY MODEM BACK ON AND IM BACK TO (3.9MBS). DAY 13 WATCHED 3 HULU SHOWS AND WHILE WATCHING THE 4TH IT BECAME UNWATCHABLE BACK TO (.58MBS). DAY 17 AFTER 4 DAYS OF (.55MBS) I AGAIN CALLED VERY VERY UPSET AND AFTER A LONG CONVERSATION WITH CLEAR REP
Nathen ID 209586. I WAS TOLD THAT THE TRUTH IS THAT CLEAR DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH BANDWITH TO PROVIDE ME THE SERVICE I PAID FOR AND THAT I WAS NEVER SWITCHED TOWERS AND THAT ALL CLEAR MODEMS ARE AUTOMATICALLY SET TO SCAN EVERY 15MIN AND EVERY 12HOURS AND IF YOU HAVE USED ANY DOWNLOADING OR UPLOADING BANDWITH -EX. HULU,UTUBE,NETFLIX,ITUNES . THAT YOUR SPEED IS REDUCED TO COMPENSATE OTHER CLEAR USERS. HE ALSO SAID HE UNDERSTANDS HOW I FEEL BUT THE TRUTH IS HE CANT DO ANYTHING EXCEPT INSTRUCT ME TO LEAVE MY BOX OFF OVERNIGHT UNTIL THE NEXT SCAN. ————————————–
DAY 21 I TRIED TO CANCEL MY SERVICE BUT WAS TOLD TO CALL BACK TOMORROW.
DAY 22 CALLED TO CANCEL BUT YOU CANT CANCEL ON SAT
DAY 23 CALLED TO CANCEL BUT YOU CANT CANCEL ON SUN
DAY 24 CALLED TO CANCEL AFTER THEY TRIED TO CONVINCE ME TO NOT CANCEL I FINALLY WAS ABLE TO CANCEL BUT WAS TOLD I HAD A 120.00 DOLLAR FEE TO CANCEL AND THEY WILL DEBIT THE CREDIT CARD ON FILE .
DAY 25 I WRITE THIS ARTICLE
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THIS IS MY STORY NOT AN OPINION PLEASE READ MY STORY AND BE THE JUDGE IF YOU CLEAR WIRE IS WRONG I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK
———————————————————————————
I am canceling tomorrow. You should notify your credit card company and dispute charges. Refuse payment . This is what I am going to do tomorrow after I cancel and if they try to charge my credit card. My contract expires Aug 2, 2011
This company is horrible and they know it! CLASS ACTION needed! This company is a scam. They take your money and hold it for 30 days plus ! They avoid helping you solve any propblems with equipment which you get the next day, again which doesn’t work. And when you try to cancel they don’t send a return label until after your 30 days conviently for them. This way you are over your 30 days return policy and they keep your $$$. All they do is give you a 1888 # to call! You wait for an hour only not to be helped at all. They won’t even call you back. Oh and they say they have to investigate why you get your refund even if they have the equipment back . This is a very bad joke. Its a vicous cycle we need to stop this company from scamming others. I’m talking showing up at every media promo they have and exposing them right. They have South America, India, and the phillipeans anwsering their stupid call center. HELP please CLASS ACTION!!!
as I said, I cancelled! yesterday I was getting .2mbps (not 2., but .2) here is today, speedtest.net/result/1414723131.png speedtest.net/result/1414719208.pngs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
25 mbps with COMCAST
YEAH
http://www.speedtest.net/result/1414723131.png
Clear is a deceptive and should go out of business. It is amazing to me to see the level of scam this company is engaged in. It does not matter what I did to resolve the connectivity issue or close that account, those scambags are unwilling to help. The problem is, clear lacks the technical capability to provide internet service in my location (Hartford CT). Although their modem is not working and giving no signal but yet they expect me to keep this bad device. I attempted to return the modem but clear refused to get its device back. Obviously, they want to steal the $135 that I paid for the modem. Everytime I asked for my refund but the clear representative hanged up on me. These folks in the customer service are acting like gangsters and shown no regard for the customers. So please include me in this class action lawsuit and we should teach them a lesson. Please call me at 203-347-5644.
Please go to this website and file a report against clear internet service.
I already filed one and you do your part.
http://www.ripoffreport.com/FileReport.aspx
I just used mine for the occasional e-mail check-in. I had a weak signal or none at all most of the time. I cancelled my service with them. Now, their collections department is calling me 7 times a day for a $40 cancellation fee for a 2 year contract that I was never told about, as I signed up over the phone. I refuse to pay it out of principle, though it would be much less stress and would protect my credit to do so. I am so fed-up with companies bullying people into corners because they can affect one’s credit rating. I checked to see if there was a class action going on this, and hallelujah!
I’ve been a customer of Clearwire for many years.I too have been a victim of poor connection & slow speeds at premium prices for way too long.I have 2 modems at my home address plus I recently bought another one on eBay for my daughter who lives 25 miles from me. They have a tower near her. The used modem I bought on eBay had connection problems.I spoke with tech support repeatedly about her modem and connection.I was getting frustrated because I was paying for service they could not use.Clearwire claimed they’d give me 2 free months plus they’d send me 2 free modems.I received the 2 free modems.Again,the new modem located 25 miles away did not work.I waited until my account was due to make the change in service and cancelled the service 25 miles from home but kept the modems I had at home.Clearwire still charged for the whole month in advance and also charged me a cancellation fee.They have not refunded me my money for the month of October even though I shipped their modem back within a week from cancelling service on the one modem in late September.I’ve talked with 2 supervisors and had ticket numbers denied both times.
I too want to join this lawsuit against this company .They possibly have the worst customer service of any company I’ve ever did business with.Their business practices are not only unfair & unethical but a financial hardship for the working class people like myself who have fallen into their trap .I can’t get out without undue cancellation fees and unauthorized charges for services I’ll never receive.I’m been a long term customer but I’d love to see this company go down!
I also want to join the class action, over a month of Ims to clear and I find out I am a “heavy user” so they are adjusting my speeds to allow everyone the same experience. I have slower speeds than dial up in the 90’s with aol. I would love to see this corporation taken out quickly. Worst customer service and even worse internet service.
I work for a company that sells CLEAR. When we first got it, our rep went around and talked alot of us into “dealer” accounts-an account that does not have a contract and is $25 a month. We were given the option of taking a modem home and trying the service for 2 days for free. It seemed to work fine at my house-I don’t do gaming, but upload a few pictures a month to my on line picture site, and very rarely watch videos. I tried all of these and everything went fine.
After I decided to sign up on the dealer plan, things just went down hill fast. First of all, our rep seemed to have trouble switching me over to the non-contract plan of $25. This went on for 3 months. She finally just disappeared, leaving our region of stores with no rep and no support to sell CLEAR.
I called to cancel my service last January (I signed up in Nov 2010) and a very friendly rep said he would honor my dealer plan rate, and check into my service speed. The speed seemed to be better-for about a month, then disconnected all the time after that. I checked the map for my coverage, and apparently, there is a “tower” about a block away from me. I actually drove to try and find it, and I’m guessing it is just some sort of repeater in someone’s attic or something! I started travelling a lot for work, and decided to live with it for the time being.
I just got a smart phone, and tried using it as my hotspot (extra $15 a month for a user like myself) and it worked great! So, I called CLEAR yesterday, and they told me that I was in a 2 year contract, and if I cancelled, I would be charged a $200 early termination fee, plus restocking. They never told me that I could send my modem back, and when I asked about that, he said, “yes, I could do that”.
I told the CSR that I would not pay an early term fee, that I was roped in my my rep, and he didn’t understand a word I was saying. I finally threatened to join the class action suite, and he said he would put my account on suspend, which would not charge my anything. He said to assure I would not be charged, he gave me his personal ID number. I’m not sure what good that will do me yet.
Please, if anyone has information on this suit, could they post it on this forum?
Now ATT has started fining the user if they exceed 150GB in one billing period, charging $10 for every 10GB over the limit. I bought the DSL Extreme service to use the bandwidth I contracted for–and that was no limit. Recently, at will and being notified by an email of the change in the contract between ATT and the customer, and that if you buy their DSL service, then you accept the contract. This is highway robbery—but since they are close to a monopoly, whats one to do. Clearwire is a fraud, and Comcast is my only alternative. I do exceed the limit every month, with a household of 4 computer users, streaming movies, video games, etc.
These companies are guilty of bait and switch, and there must be a law to protect us from such tactics. I will pay for what I use, just dont sell me an unlimited plan, and then change it later.
bottom line, i pay for unlimited i want unlimited! my friends cell phones run better internet speed than my modem, WTF is up with that? and you wana talk about clear stating there policy clearly? ok there website and policy says that after test if a modem is found defective, they will send you a pre paid pack to send it back for a replacement. so then tell me why the woman was trying to charge me $67 for a replacement modem, and shipping and handling? after arguing with them for an hour about the website policies they told me and i kid you not. “on our end we have different policies than what is stated on the web site” ummmm is that not illegal? so after another hour long argument and fighting to speak to a manager which i never got to do, after threatening to bring legal action into my complaint, they finally agreed to send me a new modem at no cost. when i received it, i had to call back and argue again to get he pre paid shipping label to send it back. these people are frauds and taking peoples money, they should be closed and all customers atleast no charged for leaving there contracts!
I had purchased a Clear connection on 28-Oct. I paid $50.35 for the same. I received the instrument on 31-Oct. I was told by customer care professional that it’s a 30 day trial free period. If I am unhappy with the connection, I can cancel the connection and I would get a full refund once clear receives the instrument. I was unhappy with the service in 4 days due to 3 reasons:
1) Slow speed
2) Unable to use my Vonage connection
3) Getting a much better speed with another provider for a better rate
I called up on 9-Nov to cancel my service. I was offered the entire service for half the amount. Since the speed was bad and I wasn’t able to use my Vonage, I still dint want to continue with Clear. Hence, I declined the offer and asked the customer care professional to cancel the service. The customer care professional gave an offer that since my connection was still on free trial, I could still use the connection till 30-Nov and cancel at around 29-Nov. I disagreed stating that I might not remember to cancel it later and since I was not using the service, I would as well cancel the service on 9-Nov. The customer care professional confirmed that my connection is cancelled and I would receive the label to return the instrument within 24 hrs. He confirmed, that as soon as Clear received the instrument, they would return the entire $50.35 back to my account. I had not received the label to return the instrument till 14-Nov. When I called on 14-Nov, another customer care professional spoke to me and said that my connection is still active. I was annoyed and asked the customer care professional to cancel the connection and send me the return label so that I could return the instrument. I even gave the choice of returning the instrument in the Clear physical location in Sal Lake City. The customer care professional disagreed to this and said that the instrument had to be sent back to Clear office which sent the instrument to me. He confirmed that I would receive the return label for sure in 24 hrs. This time, I was cautious to get the cancellation confirmation number (3929797). Again, I did not receive the return label till 28-Nov. When I called the customer care today (28-Nov), the representative confirmed that my connection was cancelled on 14-Nov. However, he said that I can keep the instrument and they have already sent the refund of $21.81. When I asked him the reason, he said the trial period works in this fashion and I would get only part of the amount for the days I have not used the service. After convincing him on the fact that I had cancelled the service on 9-Nov, and not the 14-Nov, he agreed that he could see the representative’s notes stating that I had called on 9-Nov to cancel and agreed to refund back another $15 (Confirmation no: 10399357 for the same). Havent received the $15 back. However, I am still unhappy as to why I was fooled by the customer representative who sold me the Clear connection for the first time when he said the entire amount is refundable? And the customer rep whom I spoke with on 9-Nov, who spoke abt the same and suggested I cancel the connection on 29-Nov rather than on the same day. Why is Clear fooling the customers? Why don’t you state clearly what the terms are? Please note that I have not used the service since 7-Nov. And I have wasted more than 6 hrs with Serve’s customer care professional to explain the reason for my cancellation to each of the representatives and the entire history again and again on 9-Nov, 14-Nov and 28-Nov.I would need an explanation on this and would want Serve to take the responsibility to train the customer care professionals so that they make the customers understand what you mean by 30 day free trial.
I have used Clearwire WISP for 8 months. NEVER had a worse internet service provider ever! I tested my bandwidth speed at http://www.speedtest.net and it never went about .90 kmbs, which means I can’t even watch a YouTube video without it buffering the whole time. I’m in a 2 year contract so I’m going to cancel early and have to pay a huge fee. They shouldn’t sell a service you can’t use. CLEARWIRE NEEDS TO BE SHUT DOWN FOR BAD BUSINESS PRACTICES!! REPORT THEM TO THE BBB!!
I would have to agree whole heartedly.
i have never dealt with a company that refuses to provide payment history or receipts of any kind. i am trying to do my taxes and am being told there is NO way for me to get any payment history from them. After going back and forth with a “Supervisor” for over an hour, I was finally told that if i had a business account that it would be no problem to access this info. I am furious. I own my own business and have worked for many corporations – this would never fly in a brick and mortal business but, it seems that with an technology curtain to hide behind, customer service and standard business practices go out the window. Its a sad day.
My experience has been the same as many others. I joined Clearwire in Fall 2008. The concept sounded great – wireless Internet with high speeds comparable to lanline service. However, even though I lived just down the street from the tower and had 5 bars on my modem, I got crappy slow speeds. So, naturally, I contacted Tech Support. I can’t recount the number of times that I called. The routine was always the same. First, they wanted to go through a hundred different steps to prove that the problem wasn’t on my end. Even when I told them to read the reports of my previous calls, they still insisted on this. Then, they would transfer me to a supervisor. More tests would be done. The speed would remain unchanged. Finally, a still higher supervisor would come online, and sure enough, the speed would suddenly jump up to where it should be. I now know they were simply removing the throttle temporarily. The call would end, and I would think all was fixed. However, a day or two later, the slow speeds would reappear. I would call Tech Support and have to go through the same process again. This happened over and over. I was so frustrated.
Toward the end of 2010, on one of my Tech Support calls, one of the tech supervisors finally broke down and explained that there were too many customers in my area and their equipment couldn’t handle the bandwidth. When I asked what they planned to do about it, I was told a work order had already been issued for my area and that more transmitters were scheduled to be installed January 2011. Well, here it is December 2011, and the problem remains. The only reason that I’m still with them is that I’m waiting for Cable modem in my area. It is due to be up and running January 2012. When it does, I’m going to cancel Clear so fast it’ll make their heads spin.
They definitely are guilty of false advertising. They don’t deliver a fraction of what they advertise. My subscription is for 3MB/sec download, but I average 0.5 – 0.6MB/sec, or 1/6th the speed I pay for. It’s rediculous. Additionally, their employees are deceptive and untruthful with customers about what is really going on.
Recently, I called Tech Support one last time concerning my slow speeds. The tech representative’s suggestion to me was that I unplug my modem when I wasn’t using it to make the network go faster for other customers. That’s the extent of the help I got from them. I’m so frustrated and disgusted with their nonexistent service. I can’t wait to be free from them. COME ON CABLE INTERNET!!! Get here soon!
ditto all the above. Paying for broad band, getting below 1mpbs. Don all above TS. total BS. Can do better with dialup. What I want to know is, is there really any legal action taking place and how can I get involved?
J206
I signed up with Clear in March 2010. The overly eager sales person explained to me upon intial sale that I would be in contract for 12 months, I would be allowed at any time after to terminate the service free of charge. I Experienced many problems with the slowness of my internet and sometimes not working at all for days at a time. I called a couple of times to get assistance in which I was informed to move my modem. The other answer that I received was that it was because I had a wireless router hooked to it. After 12 months was up, I continued service (what I thought was month to month plan) and in July 2011 I called to cancel service because I was moving and no longer wanted the service nor needed it and it’s issues.
The “friendly” customer service rep explained to me that after the 12 month contract was up, they renewed the contract another 12 months automatically and that if I wanted to cancel right then, I was subject to a ETF. I was NEVER notified at time of renewal that the contract was being renewed. She then told me that they could ‘hybernate’ my account for the rest of the contract term and that I would be able to call them back this week (first week of Jan. 2012) and cancel service completely without a ETF.
Today I called to complete the transaction I started in July only to find out that what I was told was “mis-information”. They still want an ETF on top of 2 months that I supposedly owe to them. They wanted to know my reason for cancelling which I explained I did not need their services anymore. They responded to me with “that is not a valid enough reason to cancel service and avoid an early termination fee.”
At that point, I decided that I needed to hang up and will call back tomorrow. How can I become a part of this law suit?
Today when speaking to Clearwire I was told I receive less that 1.0 mbps of internet speed because I must to have too high of Internet usage and that “people like me” have to be restricted so “normal” users are allowed the internet access they pay for. Well I pay for the same service and should be allowed the promised speeds whether I meet their definition of “normal” or not. I would like to learn how to join this lawsuit.
I have had similar experiences as noted above pluswhen I relocated from the Tampa, FL area to the Denver area they did not have service and still wanted me to pay and told me they will be charging me a cancelation/termination fee. I tried to be a good customer but their cusotmer service was totally useless with their understanding of English; theykept on charging me. I had to put a stop payment on Clear and Clearwire at my bank. I would like to join this class action and expand it to include financial fraud.
I was told by a Clear rep that I was being managed at level #3 because I used 2819.15 mb. Never mind the fact that for close to 9 months I had little usage at all. I asked how long will I be managed? I was told by the rep, I would have to check back everyday to see if I am still being managed by their system. I am going to track it for a while and continue to do speed tests.
i know they are ripping people off…..a rep from clear actually told me and my wife that they throttle back the service….i really felt violated…what the heck are we paying for….
I would like to be apart of the Class Action Lawsuit. We have had clear-wire for awhile. At first there were no problems, then all the sudden there was no reception, speeds slowed way down. I was promised that Hulu+ and Netflix would not be a problem and that speeds would always be fast enough. Never been able to get Netflix to work. As soon as Clear-wire pulled out of our area, Hulu+ now doesn’t work. Was told that it was our wireless router or our computers. After speaking with a local IT guy, we now know that there was never a enough speed and have been throttled. Clear-wire still taking our money because we have been unable to cancel our service without high dollar fees for cancelling even at the end of our contract, we were told that it had already rolled over and that we would be fined. I have just now went over the terms and agreements and noticed that Clear-wire snuck in a statement that as of October 2011, customers cannot participate in the class action…I was a customer long before that date and believe that the company amended the terms and agreements because they have been doing wrong. I WANT IN !!!
Hadnt had long but I knew something was wrong and even allow me to but the 3-6mbps from1.5mbps knowing it was the same . It left me use and only phone I had was cell so kept me on line pretending to try all this differnt mess. Nothing happen no one even call back when told. I just dont know. Theirs more to it but nothing Chang and they know the problem.
I want in on the class action lawsuit against Clearwire..I have had Clear for over a year and when I first got it, it was pretty fast, for the last several months, every speedtest.net test I do averages 85 pings, 0.12 download speed, and 0.50 Upload speed. they promised an average of 1.5 Mbs..I have an additional clearwire connection and it is equally as slow. I cant do anything at all on 2 computers but sit and wait and get frustrated..I pay 90.00 a month and I want back plus compensation for business money I have lost. count me in please….
Well, an update to my October post. CLEAR just informed me that they will start billing me again, after my account was suspended. And guess what? By being suspended, that means that they extended my contract another 2 years? I did not agree to that, so now they want to charge me a $200 cancellation fee?
Absolute bullsh*t. How can consumers being taken such advantage of for so long? How does a company get away with this and go unregulated?
I would like assistance with joining the class action lawsuit. I have complained about there service. Lost opportunity as I do online trading. Until, I cancelled services because of poor, slow or no connectivity. Now, I have collection agency trying to get termination fee. No only should I have my refund for paying the service until I said no more,but payment for lost opportunity and harassment. After, I terminated services I received over 50 calls before I stopped counting that were automated calls from clearwire asking me to return to the service. After a while, I got tired of the calls and would hit a prompt to get to a person and the call would be disconnected. If any one has information on who to contact for the class action law suit pleas contact me at robgspot@yahoo.com. Thank you Robert
this clear is a problem with billing and others things like slow .
I would like to know about the law suit.
Just as so many others, I have had the same issues from day one. I began service well over a year ago and it has gone from bad to worse. I am so frustrated that these folks want to charge a fee for breaking my two year contract. It seems that I should be able to charge the fee because they broke the contract for services not rendered…
How do I join the class action lawsuit??????
They misled me by telling me I would get a specific speed, but when the unit came there was so little speed and connection that I couldn’t us it. when I called them they told me I would be fine with less speed, even though it was less than what they promised me. I called to for return instruction, but they stalled me by telling me I would get a return call. Then once I heard from them I was told to wait for a few more days to get an e-mail confirmation. I then I had to wait for a UPS label from them. They continued to stall, hoping that my warranty period would expire and I would be stuck with the bill. They only gave me 15 days to get a refund, and the clock stated ticking when I called them the first time, before even receiving there modem. I believe they are making money by not giving disgruntled people back there refunds. They are clearly selling a poor product that does not live up to there claims of productivity and ripping people of by not returning their money. They should not only be fined but should do jail time. I believe they have been willingly, knowingly ripping people off.
This company will not last, but the sad thing is, they will be ripping off and disturbing tens of thousands of people before they go out of business.
by another screwed clear / clearwire customer
Clear store sold me a service when my address is not served by them. The store people told me to go ahead and buy an antenna. Bought the first one ($15) and it didn’t work then a bought another one ($37), still no service till after midnight. Called customer service several time to ask for help and did everything they suggested to no avail, still paying on my account and up to date. Finally I sent an email instead of calling, to technical service, and here is the body of the response I received:
“Hello Enas,
Thank You for contacting Clear Support. From checking our coverage areas against the address on your account, it appears that you have been sold service in an area where our towers do not cover. We have towers to the WNW and ENE of your location, but they do not reach your address per our coverage map. Your address is about one block outside of coverage. After checking your modem history, I see that you were receiving very low signal strength. It would be my recommendation to call our Account Services Department @ 888-888-3113 from Sunday – Monday from 4:00 AM to 9:00 PM PST and cancel the services. I do not believe that you will receive adequate signal from your current location”
Called the CS again, to cancel my service and return the modem, at first I was told since I already paid for September I was only going to get half of my money refunded, which didn’t make any sense. I told them they need to take the modem ($99) back and to not my so surprise they said they can’t because I am past my 15 days trial, but they will now refund the whole amount for the month I just paid. I told the CS Jen that I was acting in good faith and was constantly calling trying to work the issue and it was their store who assured me I was covered, she had the audacity to say “but you are getting service and we can see it” [please see the Tech Support message again], I said indeed after midnight, what’s the point of having internet service that is barely there till after midnight, check with your tech people, same answer “but you are getting service, you are within the covered area” was she not listening? I asked her to escalate, and she indicated she already did and there is nothing they can do.
I am being penalized for acting in good faith basic contracting 101, even if it’s not in writing it’s implied by them selling me and me buying a “service” that doesn’t exist. Stay away from this company, or make sure you’re at least getting a strong enough signal. By the way, they are not BBB accredited so it doesn’t do you much good to go to BBB, Clear just doesn’t care. Talk about a scam.
I HAVE HAD IT FOR 2 DAYS THEY LIE AND STEAL COUSTOMER SERVICE IS A JOKE I HACK THEIR NETWORK WHILE ON THE PHONE WITH THEM AND AM STILL ATTEMPTING TO HACK THEIR ENTIRE NETWORK CLEAR LIKE MANY SCREW THE CONSUMER THE GOVERNMENT MAKES MONEY OFF THESE PEOPLE SO THEY WONT GO AWAY GROW BALLS AMERICA SOMTIME TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT WE MUST DO SOMTHING THAT IS CONSIDERED WRONG OR ILLEGAL SCREW CORPORATE AMERICA I WILL ACT AS OUR FOUNDING FATHERS DID AND WILL FIGHT DIRTY TO GET WHAT I WANT I SUGGEST THE REST OF YOU DO THE SAME THE AMERICAN JUDUCUAL SYSTEM IS CORRUPT PLEASE FIGHT IT PEOPLE BAND TOGETHER AND STEAL FROM THEM AS THEY STOLE FROM YOU ROB THE RICH TO FEED THE POOR I HOPE THIS REACHED MANY PEOPLE YOU MUST STAND UP AND FIGHT BACK I PROMISE IT PAYS OFF A COUNTRY WAS FOUNDED ON THIS BELEIF
THEY SUCK!! Have had their internet for almost three weeks, unless I am up at 3am, I can hardly read or send emails. Forget getting online to check weather updates, read news, etc. It won’t happen. If it does, you’d better read fast because it will be back down in no time. Never have had over two bars on the dang thing. Called customer no service to complain and they don’t care. Will have to cancel my credit card and get another one because they aren’t going to take any more money from me. If this law suit is still an ongoing thing,PLEASE let me know. I want in!!!
I thought this would be a good value, but from Syracuse, New York, I can walk to Texas faster. This is the “nub” of it all. I used to get super fast speed, contacted them numerous times recently to no avail sending me here and there and I just did not catch on until recently. We pay for a service, and behind our backs, we get the shaft. As much as I need this service, I hope they pay up real good for lying to us all.
Huh? Lemme outta the darn law suit.
Doesn’t work perfectly, but at least I’m not a cable/telco slave.
Move 2x times in 3 years & still have my internet. Can you say
the same bout any wired connection?
So what – you get what you pay for. Driving a hyund** but want
a Hond*? Go pay for what you want – stop b*tching bout it to everyone
no one forced you to choose them. (I’m looking at cable at the end of
the year)… (So I’m not forced to stay with them – Yeah it’s getting
harder to understand their tech support-philipino speakers) but
they’re still in business…..
My boyfriend had been using Clear for many months before I moved in with him and said that he had problems with the internet not working when he tried to watch Netflix on the PS3 and use the internet on his computer at the same time. I use my computer all of the time so we could never watch Netflix of play games online on the PS3.
We went to the place where he first got Clear and they told us that if we wanted to do multiple things on the internet then we would have to up our service. At the time he already had “unlimited” and “fast” internet. It should have been able to handle our daily activities. When we asked what the difference was between his service and the one they were trying to get us to “upgrade” to (since we didn’t see one) they told us that it would allow us to online game and browse the internet at the same time. So we decided to “up” our service.
Well guess what…it didn’t change a thing. We were paying more for the same old crap. When I tried contacting them to figure out what the issue was, they said (very rudely) that what we were paying for was the MAXIMUM speed available and that we would not always be able to get that speed because other people were using their towers. So basically I was paying money for a service that they could not provide me because other people were using their service. So basically your internet speed changes depending on how many people are using their service, despite the fact that you are paying for a specific speed that should be available all-day.
Our internet service slowly got better, but recently it has started to go to crap again with really slow speeds and bad connections. I cannot load a Youtube video without it kicking my boyfriend out of his PS3 game.
Can anyone tell me how can I be included in this lawsuit. Mr. Fuller is just a person that has no sense at what is going on that’s all so lets just ignore his stupidity.
Hell,
I have been with clearwire for over ten years and have had enough of their poor service.This is the last month I will have my clearwire account.(October) I will be switching to gmail.Please contact me how to join the class action law suit as I have had many negative effects from clearwire,from forcing me to purchase modems for better service that nevr happened to poor service.Please e-mail me at ebuechelmaier2@gmail.com.
Thankyou,
Sincerely,
Eric Buechelmaier
Note I’ve also been ripped off by Clearwire more ways than one. Slow or non working being over charged for a device I own and not renting. Also being charged 3 times on one device.
I have been a clear costumer for over three and a half years.
We had chosen the service because I travel a lot, and my family and I needed
a service that fit our business and family use,on the go.
Like so many others we have been extremely disappointed by the service.
Clear Wire promised us a fast Un-Limited Hi-Speed Connection. But it has been very slow,
And many times so slow we could not stream any video or audio.
Once it took over 25 min to send a simple email.
When called clear costumer serve, they told me we where g to much bandwidth.
And that our service would be in this condition until we stopped.
This is Un-expectable for any service provider to promote a service of Un-Limited Hi-Speed Connection and turn on its costumers because it uses it’s service.
i was a costumer who were dissatisfied for my internet services and promotions they advertising and poor quality and hi-speed connection and the biling was unaccptable for my chargesand half my business i couldn’t take care of cause my internet service wasn’t acting right
I have had clear for around a year now and noticed my connections would slow significantly between mid and end of my cycle. I was advised that it would be great service for my online gaming. I use my xbox for netflix and xbox live gaming alot and the clear rep was advised. Recently my service was so bad with my online routines that I cant even enjoy use. I contacted clear and we ran speed tests my download speed was reduced ranging from 1 to 3 mbps and upload speed of .53 to 1.05. The tech rep advised its normal but then told me the tower was damaged due to congestive use by subscribers and gave me a repair time of approx 24 hrs. I have since realized they will promise unlimited use but will shadowly drop your ability upon their decision. I feel like im using a bad dial up. How do I get on this lawsuit filed. I received a letter months ago saying im envolved and to make contact if I wanted out of the suit. I wanted in but have not received any new info
I am a part of this class action lawsuit!!!
Hello Carl,
My name is Alethia and I’m also a clear wire customer and would like to know how do I become part of the clear wire class action suit?
Thanks in advance
I’m a customer with clear wire and have been for Approximetly a year and it’s not fast, I call every month to complain, I always have to wait a while for a page to open and when it finally opens the page freezes up and takes a few minutes to load, which causes the page to completely crash!!! I would like to be part of this class action suit!! How do I become part of this suit?
I just got off the phone with Clear and cancelled my service after 18 months of atrocious service. The rep couldn’t complete a whole sentence without saying UH thirty times, he didn’t listen and kept saying “well we can give you 2 months free” even after I repeatedly asked to speak to a supervisor. 33 mins later I was told I would have to pay $34 as an early termination fee and return the modem. Good riddance! Worst service ever.
Oh and I’m a part of the class action suit as all current customers should be. I hope this serves as a heads up to other internet companies to take care of their customers better than Clearwire did.
I’m also a unhappy customer of Clear. My two year contract is almost up. Trying to decide what to do? I use be with Qwest DSL now Century Link but had the same problems with download speeds. The problem I see is that their advertising lists speeds up to 6 MBPS or what ever the speed they are trying to promote. There is nothing about minimum speeds Guaranteed which I feel they should be made to maintain. This may be something an act of Congress may be needed to force these companies to keep minimum download speed levels where they would be usable for downloading movies, ect.
i have been a clearwire customer for 5 years how do i join the class action suit?
I still have clear and daily i have connection speed problems and streaming problems and i never get answers from clearwire