🚀 go-pugleaf

Wow, that's too bad.  So what were the promised speeds and what did you
actually get?

"ddt" <ddt@ddt.ddt> wrote in message
news:p7FP6.549432$Sv5.11440782@news.easynews.com...
> File under: Wireless Web Connect:  Wireless Internet, Ricochet, Novatel,
> Metricom
>
> I think I just canceled my Ricochet wireless service with Wireless Web
> Connect. But you know what? I'm not sure.
>
> I started in September of  2000 with the stand alone Ricochet modem. It
> wasn't too useful because of its bulk, nor as fast as promised, but when I
> needed it, worked. Sometime around the new year, I saw and bought a
Novatel
> Merlin PC card at a Fry's Electronics. It was quite cool. I could stick it
> in my laptop, or my Compaq iPAQ Pocket PC and life was good... Until the
> card burned out. I went to sleep one night with it playing music from the
> BBC, the next day the card was dead. Both the laptop and the iPAQ said it
> was an unknown card, and in fact putting it the laptop tended to make the
> laptop hang.
>
> I called Novatel and after around thirty minutes of the tech telling me
> "that's very interesting... now lets have you do this... now restart the
> laptop" my laptop stopped booting. I sighed, told him I'd call back when I
> got my laptop running again, then thought better of it. I  called my
> Wireless Web Connect representative. I told him the story and told him
since
> I wasn't happy with my Novatel experience I'd like to order a Sierra
> Aircard. He said he could only take orders for new clients, but if I
called
> WWC's sales line they should be able to help me out. [By the way, the
sales
> rep is a nice guy. I'm not cheesed at him in the slightest.] I called
sales
> and since they were not answering the phones directly, I left a message
> detailing what I needed and asked them to call me back. No call.
>
> I sidelined everything for a couple of months until I realized I was going
> to be traveling again. I called the WWC customer service line on May 8,
and
> after only ten minutes or so on hold,  got to tell a customer service
> representative (CSR) what I needed. She understood, and said it was in
> stock, I'd need to pay $300 for a new card... and probably $30 for an
> activation fee. I complained about the activation fee and she said she'd
> check with someone about it. I said "fine, ship it standard. And since it
> will be a few days, can we turn my old modem back on?" She did do that.
The
> modem never arrived.
>
> On May 18 I called back and talked to CSR #2. She couldn't find an order.
> She could see the re-activation of my old modem. She could see who CSR #1
> was, and she could see the serial number of my dead Novatel modem. She
> thought I may be able to get the Aircard as a warranty replacement for the
> Novatel, but if she couldn't, she'd have to charge me for it. She didn't
> mention the $30 activation fee, so I thought I was doing good. This time I
> wanted it shipped FedEx. It was to arrive Monday May 21. The modem never
> arrived.
>
> I called May 24, talked to a third CSR, who initially, could find no
record
> of an order being placed. I'm on hold a while. He comes back online
> apologizes and says he'll personally ship the modem May 25, and I'll have
it
> on Saturday May 26. I was in the process of telling him to cancel my
account
> when what he said sunk in.... I'd have the modem in a day and a half. I
> agreed and sincerely thanked him.
>
> Guess what. Today May 25, customer service rep #2 calls. She doesn't sound
> quite as nice today. She apologizes for the problems, attributes it to me
> buying the Novatel modem from Fry's and says. "I'm sorry, but what you
will
> *have* to do is..." I lost it. I didn't swear at her, what I said
was"Cancel
> my account, this isn't worth it. Cancel my account." Then I hung up. Bet
you
> guys $50 she didn't cancel my account. Based on my experience with them,
> I'll be calling them for months, trying to stop them from billing me.
>
> My advice is stay away, far away from Wireless Web Connect. It seems like
> something is terribly wrong there. This whole stupid train wreck of a
story
> took place over seven different phone calls and two months of time. If I'd
> been trying to weasel a better modem out of them without paying for it I'd
> feel better somehow, like cosmic justice had been served.  But I was
asking
> them to take my money, if necessary, just please sell me something that
they
> all said they had in stock,  and send it to me.
>
> Good Luck. You've been warned.
>
>
>