if you live for the weekends and the vacations your shit is broken (@garyvee)
You may not know this, but I have real sucky Internet access at my house. I am using a worthless piece of crap service from HughesNet. They are satellite based, speeds sucks, I pay $70/month, and I am limited to less than 400MB / day of downloads. I can just forget watching Hulu.com or downloading the latest ISO of Ubuntu.
With all of this in mind I have been constantly looking at different options for an Internet Provider and here comes ClearWire into (changed their name to Clear) with options for me to get on the Internet. Awesome!!!
They have plans for me to have a 6MB pipe for downloading and their is no limit on the amount of usage. I am so there. In early December I talked to a rep and he mentioned it wasn’t available yet in my area and it should be ready in Jan. Well with it being December 31, I thought it was close enough to Jan 1 to see what I could get.
I go to the website and see if coverage is available and look at that I can sign up for the mobile plan, but not the home plan. WTF? So, I start a chat session to get more answers and here is how it went.
Kasey Jones [8:18:02 AM]: Welcome to our real-time support chat. How can I help you today?
aj [8:18:02 AM]: Looking at service available for 20565 sw kruger road 97140 and I don’t have an option for a home plan. Why?
Kasey Jones [8:18:18 AM]: One moment please while I validate your address
[8:20:27 AM]: The service is offered at in your zip code but not at your exact address.
aj [8:20:41 AM]: Doesn’t make sense
[8:21:10 AM]: Can I get the home service then?
Kasey Jones [8:21:18 AM]: That is why mobile plans are only offered.
[8:21:30 AM]: The service is not available at your exact location
aj [8:22:26 AM]: I am sorry, but that doesn’t make any sense. Are you saying I cannot get WiMax service at my address?
Kasey Jones [8:22:39 AM]: Yes
aj [8:23:45 AM]: Any reason why it is not available at my address? This is like cellular service in a sense and I get cell service. Really confused
Kasey Jones [8:24:05 AM]: You are just outside the coverage area.
Kasey Jones [8:24:16 AM]: Our modem receives our signal wirelessly, similar to a cell phone, then connects to your computer or router. There is no need for a technician to install anything for you to always be connected to your life online.
aj [8:24:23 AM]: Is there any way I can see the coverage area on your site?
Kasey Jones [8:24:37 AM]: Since we’re fairly new, we do not have a final coverage map posted on our site just yet. However, we are working to get one for you. You can check coverage by entering in familiar addresses that you go to frequently, though.
aj [8:26:28 AM]: It would really be nice to get coverage in my area! I am currently paying 70/month for Hughes Net which really sucks. I cannot get cable or dsl. This would REALLY be nice to have home service.
Kasey Jones [8:26:41 AM]: Can I help you with anything else today?
aj [8:27:03 AM]: Any idea if your coverage area will include my address in the near future?
Kasey Jones [8:27:25 AM]: We are working to expand; however we do not have a date of when service will be offered in your area.
aj [8:27:55 AM]: Wow, thanks you have been a real help…….
Kasey Jones [8:28:07 AM]: Thank you for chatting with Clear today, have a great day!
I am not sure if this person really wanted to help me or not. It almost felt like I was talking to a bot. There were can responses in the chat, but this is really not a good sign of customer service for a new company coming out……
Will this stop me from using the service? Unfortunately, no. Why? I HATE HughesNet with a major passion and anything is better then satellite based modem dial up.
Tags: clear, clearwire, wimax
