Clear - Clearwire - Clear.com Unusual Delay Tactics for Refund - hurting Consumer Portland Oregon

My opinion is do NOT sign up for Clear.com or Clearwire in a Best Buy store, to get Internet Broadband around your city.

The product (called WiMax) supposedly lets you get Internet "all over your city" and not just in wifi cafes. It comes in a standalone unit that looks like a router, or a portable USB version that you plug into your laptop.

The unit did NOT get Internet ANYWHERE in my whole city of Portland Oregon except for one area I tested out of four. Even in the busiest areas it did not pick up the network.

You have 7 days trial period, I returned the unit before then, but Best Buy told me I have to call Clear to cancel the account (!) and that they couldn't just take the unit.

I stayed on hold for 20 minutes in a Best Buy store, and Clear.com then informs me that I must ship the unit back with a UPS label. I refused to wait for them to ship me a label, put it in writing that I want to cancel, after all it was already close to 7 days. Besides, Clear hinted on the phone that Best Buy had returned the units themselves so that the customer didn't have to.

I said I don't have this much time to spend on a refund, and I walked out. Now Clear.com says that I have to find the unit, ship it and may be liable for a 150 cancellation fee, and Best Buy says they don't know where they put the unit, even though I was just in there yesterday.

The average consumer expectation is that you walk into a store where you bought and item and return it. Period. This unusual delay tactic of putting people on hold and telling them they have to cancel in writing and ship the product is, in my opinion, part of a growing trend for communications companies to add to your bill, keep charging you every month and now, to delay and stall a refund.

Don't buy this.

Businesswoman
Portland, Oregon
U.S.A.