No fancy smancy internet service for me way out here on the prairie. No sir-eee. Dial-up only, slower 'n molassas in winter. Until one day, I get a postcard in the mail touting fast internet service virtually anywhere via WildBlue Communications. The ad draws me in... High speed internet, always on, no second phone line, blah, blah, blah. YIPPEE! No mention of an FAP. What's an FAP? Something very important, but, more on THAT later... For now, it seems I can be up to speed with the 'rest of the world'. Right?
Wrong.
I sign up for their $50/mo. (cheapest) service. Pretty soon the dish is on the roof and our home looks as though it's been propelled into the 21st century. Everything is great... For a while. Then, LAG! What's up with this? A few days, it clears up. Then a while later, LAG again. WHAT? There are no clouds... Which by the way, the briefest whisp of a cloud can knock me offline for a bit... But that's expected. It happens on occasion with our DirecTv. Although not quite as bad as WildBlue.
Finally, after months of occasional hit and miss lag-time, I call WildBlue customer service. Seems there is an FAP I'm in violation of. An FAP? Never heard of that before. Hmmm... It's a Fair Access Policy. And I violated it??? I'm no outlaw! Oh yes, very fine print in the contract. Can't use the internet too much for gaming, browsing social network sites, or do much for music or video downloads. If I use more than my 'fair share' of the internet (who exactly figures that one out?) then I am punished by having access slowed down to a snail's pace. Make that, a snail with a broken leg, even. ;)
What to do, what to do? Well, seems WildBlue has a solution to this little problem of over-using my 'fair' share. Purchase their upgrade. Upgrade to $80/mo. And I will (according to the CSR) find it virtually impossible to go over my fair limit. The catch? Another yearly contract. I clarify... NO MORE LAG at that PRICE and with the UPGRADE? I am assured it would be nearly IMPOSSIBLE for me to overuse my FAP time if I agree to upgrade. After all, I've already bought the satellite dish, and it's nicely installed. So, at the rate of an additional $30/mo, I agree... Silly me...
I'm now 3 months into a 12 month contract with WildBlue. And I have had LAG for the past 3 weeks. Once again, I'm sat in the corner by WildBlue, punished for using the net too much.
So... I like to play word games online, I am a hapless victim of Word Riot addiction. Nevermind Word Whomp, Qwerty, and Tumble Bees. I like to pull up my MySpace to listen to the music while I play online or as I am sorting through things trying to downsize (throw away!) some of my junk and organize my home. My son is a RuneScape addict. He often plays when I'm not online.
For $80 a month, wouldn't ya think we could be online 24/7 if we wanted? Not that we are. I've been gone on vacation the past 2 weeks. I also work a full-time job. I'm soon to be a student again. I'm a reader. I DO have other activities besides the 'net. How on earth does WildBlue figure that I'm online too much... Enough to where they deem it necessary to scale back my usage... Even after I pay them $80 a month for service. Yet at the moment, my speed is MUCH slower than my $14 a month dial-up ever was.
Okay, Wild Blue, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I am sufficiently shamed, to the tune of $80 a month for the next 9 months. I shoulda' just dropped the service, instead, idiot that I am, I just threw good money after bad. Same problems, higher price.
To cancel? The $80 monthly fee X remaining 9 months on contract. That's $720, payable upon cancellation. No, I'll keep the so-called service if I have to pay for it anyway. Kinda burns to be 'contracted' into paying $80 a month for pokey and sometimes non-existant service, however.
It does go without saying that in 9 months, I'm wavin' bye bye to Blue...
The point of all this?
If you're considering WildBlue, read ALL the fine print. Do not trust you are dealing with a forthright business. To be such an important part of their service, the Fair Access Policy should be immediately disclosed to prospective customers. WildBlue was not forthcoming with regard to their Fair Access Policy upon my sign-up. It likely was in the original contract and likely was even on their website back then. However, I am here to say FAP information was not EASILY noticable nor was it EVER mentioned verbally when I called to set up WildBlue service. (Other's mention a 'welcome pack' WildBlue claims to send out. I personally did not receive any WildBlue welcome package.)
My opinion. WildBlue is a company to avoid, or at minimum, research in-depth prior to contracting with them. I have read reviews and policies of their major competitor. The competitor also has a FAP. Perhaps not quite so stringent, and their FAP information is rather up-front on their website. WildBlue should be so straightforward...
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