I have had Clear internet service since November 2010. At that point in time they didn’t offer month to month plans. I leased my equipment with a 2 year contract. I have a Clear home modem and Clear Spot mobile device. I never really had trouble with the service, every once in a while I would get a slow connection and have to reset the device which always worked after unplugging it for a few minutes.

Then I moved from New York to North Carolina. You would think that with towers everywhere I would be fine, after all one of my devices is a mobile hot spot. To a degree that should have been a correct assumption. My downfall with Clear came when I called to change my address in their system. All of a sudden I have no internet. Ok bill is paid, plug is in properly, set and reset…..nothing.

My last resort with most companies is the dreaded customer service call. I have several associates who work in call centers that tell me horror stories of how some employees just don’t take their position seriously and use tactics to avoid dealing with clients. The famous disconnecting the call so it goes to another representative or placing you on hold for long periods of time to avoid hanging up and taking a new call. Also I do not support any company’s use of offshore call centers but I digress.

So in calling Clear I explained my situation to a representative who then took me through the trouble shooting steps (which I already did about 20 times) I unplugged, plugged, cleared cache, cleared history, blah blah blah…It’s still not working. The representative stated that since I just updated my address I should call back in 48 hours to let the change take effect. Really?

48 hours later I call back still complaining of no internet connection. I go through the same drama with a new representative who suggests that I try the modem on another device. Ummmm lady I only have one computer, then she tried to tell me it’s because I have a Mac. Did she just insult the Apple deities? It can’t be my computer because it’s happening on both Clear devices. Let’s just stop throwing stones in the dark okay! Now I’m boiling but she caught me in a situation, I was getting ready to leave the house for an event. Good for her bad for me. She suggested that I return my equipment for a new modem and clear spot device, so I should call back when I have more time to get this suggestion processed. I was happy with that solution.

I call back the next day and guess what not only did I have to go through the same BS again with trouble shooting protocol but I am not eligible to turn in my equipment. Why not? I’m in a lease, I pay extra for this protection every month. Oh no we have to do more trouble shooting before it can even be considered. I got so frustrated I asked for a supervisor…..and the phone disconnected……we knew that was gonna happen eventually right!

I took my frustration to twitter on my iPhone and in every tweet @clear was subjected to my rant. I had several of my followers deep in a dialogue about how poor clear customer service is. I even had some random tweeple direct message me to chime in on the conversation from profiles that I don’t follow. Well @clear has a great social media presence and immediately came to my aid to quell the situation. Through a series of tweets turned direct messages I was able to exchange my equipment. So after almost two weeks of not being plugged in, I was back in my virtual world.

I give accolades to the representative that ultimately assisted me on twitter. It was redemptive to say the least. So you think my story is done, nope! Clear took that act of redemption away when I received two e-mails later that week stating that my device does not satisfy the requirements for a warranty exchange by reason of: device outside of warranty period.

All I have to say is if I see any additional charges on my bill regarding the replacement equipment that was sent to me….all social media outlets be prepared for my campaign against Clear.