Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Element Mobile Pays Up

We thought the bad news about Element Mobile had settled down a year ago, but it seems they angered enough customers to get the wheels of government to act.  Bad service wasn't enough, Element sent the affected customers to bill collectors and dinged everybody's credit report.  Such heavy-handed actions don't sit well with us and we think Element got off easy.

MADISON, Wis. (WSAU) - A Wisconsin Rapids cell phone provider has agreed to repay customers who complained about service coverage and early termination fees.
Element Mobile will pay $248,000 under a settlement announced Wednesday by the state consumer protection department.
“Element Mobile had a rocky start, but we hope this settlement allows the company to move forward, become a strong Wisconsin business, and provide quality services to its customers," said Sandy Chalmers, the state's trade and consumer protection division administrator.
The state recorded 671 complaints against Element Mobile in 2011. Most of the complaints came between January and March of last year after Element took over service from Verizon, which had bought Alltel Wireless but abandoned the area.
“Element Mobile regrets any problems incurred by customers during the switchover period,” said Element chief operations officer Jerry Wilke. “We worked with the state to make sure anyone deserving reimbursement receives it.”
Element will repay or waive fees for customers who paid an early termination fee or who experienced service outages or interruptions. Element has also agreed to stop collection efforts on unpaid customers' bills it had sent to collection agencies. The company will also contact the nation's three credit reporting bureaus to have any negative credit information removed from customers' credit reports.
The state will contact affected customers within a few weeks with questionnaires to figure out how much they may be owed. Within four months of submitting the questionnaire, eligible consumers will receive releases from Element Mobile. These releases must be returned within 30 days in order to receive the adjustment.
Wilke says Element has since invested in new towers and equipment to improve coverage and signal quality and created a customer service management system to ensure higher service quality.

Source: WSAU Radio

2 comments:

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Really Mobile element has also agreed to stop collection efforts on unpaid customers' bills or the company will contact to the customer directly...