WildBlue Sucks

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1. 1 On February 8th, 2008, wildbluesucker said:

   Thanks for hosting this site. Here’s my latest WildBlue story: Over the 2+ years I’ve been dealing with WB, I’ve experienced all the usual stuff everyone seems to note, i.e., speeds that don’t come close to advertised service, far too little improvement for more-expensive levels of service, polite but clueless customer service, etc.. In May of 2007, however, we detected WB double-billing us. This was corrected with a LOOONG telephonic correspondence. After that, we puttered along with the marginally-faster $80/month service, putting up with the constant need to reboot the modem, etc., until this week, when service suddenly stopped. When I got through to WB, they told me the problem was an unpaid bill, and connected me to their financial office. There it was discovered that WB had failed to collect on our bill — for which they have our credit card info and a contracted right and responsibility — since July! (I’m still double-checking this, not to take their word for it.) And WB insisted that it would not restore service unless it received ALL the months’ fees at once.
   Now, this is why we contract for automatic billing: so companies can be responsible for providing uninterrupted service. Clearly, since the credit card was still validand in use for other transactions, this snafu was entirely WB’s fault and, if the company had any such notion, its responsibility.
   Still, if the money is owed, it’s owed. A DECENT company would admit responsibility and allow a payment plan, so the financial shock of ITS mistake isn’t imposed on the CUSTOMER, but that’s never been what WB is about. I was disgusted but not surprised when they insisted on all-at-once-or-no-service.
   No, when I thought it over, the real offense was this: WB discovered its OWN mistake one day and then, without contacting the customer — who was clearly not at fault, who had volunteered automatic payment access, paid up for a higher-level of service and always paid install and service bills, etc. — just cut off service. Not an e-mail, not a phone call, not an “our bad, but we need to resolve this…” Just a slam.
   cse the ending, :

2. 2 On February 8th, 2008, wildbluesucker said:

   Thanks for hosting this site. Here’s my latest WildBlue story: Over the 2+ years I’ve been dealing with WB, I’ve experienced all the usual stuff everyone seems to note, i.e., speeds that don’t come close to advertised service, far too little improvement for more-expensive levels of service, polite but clueless customer service, etc.. In May of 2007, however, we detected WB double-billing us. This was corrected with a LOOONG telephonic correspondence. After that, we puttered along with the marginally-faster $80/month service, putting up with the constant need to reboot the modem, etc., until this week, when service suddenly stopped.
   When I got through to WB, they told me the problem was an unpaid bill, and connected me to their financial office. There it was discovered that WB had failed to collect on our bill — for which they have our credit card info and a contracted right and responsibility — since July! (I’m still double-checking this, not to take their word for it.) And WB insisted that it would not restore service unless it received ALL the months’ fees at once.
   Now, this is why we contract for automatic billing: so companies can be responsible for providing uninterrupted service. Clearly, since the credit card was still validand in use for other transactions, this snafu was entirely WB’s fault and, if the company had any such notion, its responsibility.
   Still, if the money is owed, it’s owed. A DECENT company would admit responsibility and allow a payment plan, so the financial shock of ITS mistake isn’t imposed on the CUSTOMER, but that’s never been what WB is about. I was disgusted but not surprised when they insisted on all-at-once-or-no-service.
   No, when I thought it over, the real offense was this: WB discovered its OWN mistake one day and then, without contacting the customer — who was clearly not at fault, who had volunteered automatic payment access, paid up for a higher-level of service and always paid install and service bills, etc. — just cut off service. Not an e-mail, not a phone call, not an “our bad, but we need to resolve this…” Just a slam.
   There are laws against doing this — cut-off with no warning — to phone customers who depend on service for safety; to heating customers who depend on service for health; etc., etc.. Lawsuits have punished providers who injure other businesses with no-warning shutoffs.
   Like many WB customers, I work at home. What if I’d been intending to make a major customer delivery that day? What if I’d lost thousands of dollars because WB panicked about sending a few more unpaid electrons my way while it waited for a polite resolution to ITS error?
   Is there ANY excuse for treating customers this way?
   Clearly, WB is and always has been in the business of charging as much a possible for shoddy service to people with no other choice. Clearly, WB knows that its service is so bad, everyone will jump ship the moment they get access to ANY other service. This is an exploitative, in-it-for-the-quick-hit business, and all I can hope is that WB is as incompetent in its self-management as it is cynical and irresponsible in dealing with its customers. Maybe WB will cut one corner too many and end up in te red, in court or in real trouble.
   I know this post is long, but it raises a new topic in WB behavior: the no-talk shutoff. If you want to repost it elsewhere, please do.
   All best,
   wildbluesucker

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