EXPOSING UNWIRED - HELP NEEDED

I am another unhappy Unwired customer and am looking to bring their fraudulent behavior to the attention to the ACCC, and to the general public through the networks (a current affair, today tonight, etc) and the national papers.

Below I have posted my story regarding my treatment from Unwired and I would like hear from other customers that have been ripped off.

Please feel free to post your stories here and/or email them to me directly.

Kind regards,

Joshua Evans
joshuawevans@hotmail.com

Customer Ref Number: 644863

To whom it may concern,

As I have not been provided with the service in which I purchased, I am writing for a complete refund of $39.95 (although one of your operators was today disputing that I had only paid $29.95) which was taken from my bank account on May 2, 2008.

When I purchased the Unwired package, It was made clear to me that this package would enable me to access the internet, (i.e. web browsing, downloads, uploads, etc) in a trouble free manner.

However this month, May 2008, I have been unable to access the internet. To my knowledge it has only once, briefly, connected to the Unwired Network. Yet, I have not made, or been able to make any downloads or uploads.

I strongly believe that this connection is not reasonably fit for the purpose of which it was supplied, or advertised.

I have tried calling the “Unwired Sales, Technical and Account Enquiries” on a number of times to complain about this issue however your company places me on hold for extremely long lengths of time and sometimes even drops out before I can reach someone. And because you are not providing me with this service (internet), it has been very difficult to contact you via email...

Therefore, you have not provided me with a satisfactory line of communication to express my concerns.

Unfortunately, if this matter is not satisfactorily addressed soon, I will have no choice but to take this matter further to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission with my close friend and solicitor, Sven Burchartz. side note: www.mk.com.au/macpherson...awyers_svenb.php

And although this would be a last resort that I personally wish not to take, we would also look at our other options in expressing our dissatisfaction with Unwired. Such as exposé programs, national papers/forums, etc.

I would greatly appreciate it if in the next point of contact the people I deal with are more helpful. One of your advertising themes, which initially attracted me to the company, is that as an Unwired customer you will “stop wasting money on a phone line”, however I have never wasted so much money waiting on hold for one of your operators. I find this a very deceiving slogan and many would interpret this as false advertising.

Basically, all that I am asking for is a refund of the $39.95 which was taken from my account despite the fact that you are supplying me a connection that is not reasonably fit for the purpose in which it was purchased/advertised.

Sincerely,

Joshua Evans

Hopefully other unhappy unwired customers will be able to get online long enough to reply to this thread or email me - before their connection drops out!!

Shouldn't the TIO be your first point of call, not the ACCC?

Not sure as yet, I will be speaking to my solicitor later next week regarding the issue.

Thanks for the advice.

I agree, contacting the TIO is the best approach.

BTW I'd remove your bank account details from your post unless you are asking for trouble. It is an open invitation for someone to rip you off even more.

Thanks and thanks.

you've had 7days to return it ?? Return it and get your $ back.

I wish I could return it! I need a refund for this months bill ($39.95) - as they have not provided me with the service that was sold/advertised to me.

It worked during March and April, but this month has been a total disaster - even though the modem is in the same position as those first 2 months.

Sounds like a common complaint hearing other peoples comments here...

jwe
u need the cut up coke can - don't laugh, it works.
cut top and bottom off, open up, and put behind rabbit ears. mickey mouse but it works.

I love Unwired's tag line:

Stop wasting money on a phone line... with the subtext being... come waste money on our service that doesn't even work!

hahaha thanks - but i'm really not happy with the whole Unwired experience.

If I knew that the service would be this bad (non existent), and the support I recieved was going to be so bad - I would not have started an account.

Maybe Unwired should include a chopped up coke can with their packages...

T.I.O. mate
(speaking from experience)

Maybe you deserve a refund, maybe you don't.

But if you behave on the phone the way you have behaved in this forum (cross-posting in umpteen threads) then you are going to get no sympathy from the people you speak to.

In my experience, all customer-service people respond wildly better if you treat them as seperate from the organisation that you have a problem with.

thanks for the advice, i really appreciate it. but sadly i have had to act a lot harsher in my telephone conversations, and I have got the result I am looking for.

I think they may have expected me to say "okay... i can't have a refund, should i bend over now?? or now??"

But i was pretty blunt with my message, and i got a result.

jwe writes...

It worked during March and April, but this month has been a total disaster - even though the modem is in the same position as those first 2 months.

Sounds like a common complaint hearing other peoples comments here...

It is a common complaint which suggests that you didn't do much research before parting with your money. Hey, don't get me wrong, best of luck getting a refund, but so many people complain about UNW and the fact (and it seems to happen too often to be coincidental) that in the first period (during the money-back period) they get good service and then it goes south shortly afterwards to suspect that they give priority (somehow) to new customers on their network.

Keep us informed as there are possibly thousands of unhappy users who wouldn't mind their money back but don't try because they are out of warranty period.

Mr Rip Curl writes...

Keep us informed as there are possibly thousands of unhappy users who wouldn't mind their money back but don't try because they are out of warranty period.

yep will keep you posted

I posted this elsewhere.
unwired is on the 3.5GHz frequencw. which means they need twice the number of base stations compared to mobile phone operators. Instead they have half. 3.5 have very low penetration power. So unless the base staton is in ur back yard. forget abt a resonable connection. you would have thought that after 7 bought unwired things would improve. so much for that. and if unwired is gonna be the leading provider of wimax tech then i might as well forget abt wimax!!

dy4me writes...

unwired is on the 3.5GHz frequencw. which means they need twice the number of base stations compared to mobile phone operators.

This is only a part of the story. Beam-forming, available spectrum, transmission power and encoding have a large (perhaps larger) affect the number of stations required than just the frequency.

I am in need of a faster internet connection other than my current dial up connection and I am on the move in the next few months so a contract is out of the question. I have read a lot of negative reports on "Unwired" here and I am glad that I have had some warning as I was really interested in there service. Having read a lot of reports about "Unwired" I decided to give there demo a go today in Melbourne "Sandringham"! I was very happily surprised to find out that I live within 900 metres of there closest BST. Therefore my demo went very well and I had full Quality and signal on the modem. I know I am most probably an exception to most customers as I am so close to one of there BST,s, but I am very happy with the demo and will be signing up in a weeks time but not with a contract as I still have concerns after what I have read here. I will keep anyone informed on there service to me as time goes by.

Azzad writes...

I am very happy with the demo and will be signing up in a weeks time

Hope you do the decent thing and give the sale to the demo guy. I know they only get paid when you buy from them.
It does work resonably well for email and web browsing if you're in a good reception area.

Azzad writes...

I know I am most probably an exception to most customers as I am so close to one of there BST,

Closeness isn't the main issue, number of others using your BTS is the main issue. If that demo guy is visiting every second household in Sandringham and they all sign up then you will shortly be wondering why you bothered. Keep your fingers crossed they are concentrating on Carlton instead!

Yes " VoIP.ed (mr.wireless)", I will be giving the sale to the demo guy for sure. :)

It did seem to work well and compared to my usual dial up experience it was great.

Closeness isn't the main issue, number of others using your BTS is the main issue. If that demo guy is visiting every second household in Sandringham and they all sign up then you will shortly be wondering why you bothered. Keep your fingers crossed they are concentrating on Carlton instead!

I understand now that it is not just a distance thing, but more a volume of users competing for that signal.

I hope I don't run into that trouble, but that is why I will be paying the extra one off payment of $59.00 for a "no contract" deal so I can leave if that does happen without being penalised.
Thanks for the heads up "Mr Rip Curl"! :)

jwe writes...

Hopefully other unhappy unwired customers will be able to get online long enough to reply to this thread or email me - before their connection drops out!!

I sent a similar email about Unwired to the ACCC back in late 2004, I got a phonecall from the ACCC the next day saying that they will only take action if they receive enough similar complaints of "services not of merchantable quality" from other Unwired customers.

I'm no longer with Unwired, but my sympathies go out to everyone on the same boat as I have previously felt your pain.

defined writes...

I'm no longer with Unwired, but my sympathies go out to everyone on the same boat as I have previously felt your pain.

well said

+1

i only 2 days ago realised unwired quota now reflects Upload + Download. I dont think before thats how it used to be!!

ppl might as well be with virgin usb wireless one these days then. atleast they dont charge extra MB usage and does not shape to as low as 32/32 after limit reached.

TheLastOfTheWorld writes...

i only 2 days ago realised unwired quota now reflects Upload + Download. I dont think before thats how it used to be!!

no, not in the early days.

i set up unwired for my landlady, she sends emails, that's about it, prob 10 meg of browsing a month, she's happy.

me, it caused me nothing but pain, then i was able to step up to ADSL2+, pretty much i went from auswitchz to bondi beach emotionally

TheLastOfTheWorld writes...

only 2 days ago realised unwired quota now reflects Upload + Download. I dont think before thats how it used to be!!

If you are still on an early plan then it is still downloads only I think. It is only if you signed up or changed plans since late last year (from memory) that the Up+down applies.

you should get your money back... their service is not very professional, very limited coverage and not optimal during rainy days I noticed lots of outages ....

I noticed very slow downloads during peak times 9pm-12pm or so , are they throttling traffic ? is this with all wireless connections ? i have left them but luckily they dont owe me any outstanding amounts....

VOIPED posted sometime ago about using a coke can and I've done that.
The reception is miles better but maybe its the users leaving is making it less crowded?

ahmad007 writes...

I noticed very slow downloads during peak times 9pm-12pm

Do you mean 9pm – 12am? I find speeds after 11pm not too bad. I have a friend who downloads songs at 3am and he reckons no probs. I have serious problems 9am-12pm, and 3-7pm. I doubt they are throttling traffic, just too many users in many areas and insufficient infrastructure.

I've been an unwired customer for something over a year. In Carlton. I appreciate that others have had problems, but I bought the modem, set it up, registered and it's just worked. The speed isn't as fast as ADSL, no where close. But it has been reliable.

Maybe in this instance, I've been lucky.