AirNet LLC Stinks

AirNet LLC  is a WISP out of China Spring, Texas. Their motto on the business card I have is: “Like The Air, You Need Us!” And let me tell ya, from my experience that is exactly how they acted. Like I needed them.

I have established this site to share the worst billing experience I have ever encountered with any company. That company is AirNet LLC. Here you will find proof that AirNet LLC was incapable of correcting phantom billing errors on my account, refused to accept their own invoices as proof of their mistakes and responded with as much arrogance as the motto on their business card indicates they have.

I urge anyone doing business with AirNet LLC to keep all invoices, envelopes showing post marks, emails, dates of phone calls and who you talked to, cancelled checks, banks statements and any other correspondence with AirNet LLC. While it might not do you any good in dealing with AirNet LLC, as it did not with me, it will surely give you some ground to stand on should any issues end up in court.

!! This site is currently under construction !!

For those who cannot wait for further information to be posted, please contact me here. I will provide you with my invoices, AirNet LLC’s internal documentation on my account and correspondence with AirNet LLC via email.

In February of 2012 I decided to take the plunge and try AirNet LLC as my WISP. The install charge was pretty steep at $150 but I had high hopes that this would be a good experience and I wouldn’t need to change internet providers for a long time. After an initial problem delivering the speeds claimed I settled on a slower plan that was attainable at the time (Perhaps they have fixed this problem by now). AirNet LLC was very reasonable during this time and waived the charges during that initial week.

My troubles with billing began shortly thereafter in mid to late April. I received several calls about some confusion on my account. On each call the lady explained that I had double paid for the month of April. I assured her that I had not as I keep pretty good records. Eventually, to solve the “problem” that they were having, AirNet LLC advised me that the charges for May would be waived due to my double payment in April. Again I told her I had not double paid and am more than happy to pay. But AirNet LLC insisted on waiving the charges so I accepted, and who wouldn’t? Here is the invoice for May. Please note that it is for zero dollars.

Between the end of May and the beginning of September I received numerous phone calls from AirNet LLC stating that I was late with my payments. I explained to them that I was not late and reminded them of the situation which eventually led to the zero dollar invoice for May. Each time AirNet LLC assured me that the issue was taken care of. The last call I received for that particular error was late August. AirNet LLC had a new person in the office and she noticed that my account was “a mess”. After explaining the month of May yet again I was assured that everything was OK.

At this point there was absolutely no indication on paper that my account was delinquent. Every invoice that I received from AirNet LLC showed that my account was in good standing. If I had in fact been late with my payments shouldn’t my invoices reflect this by showing a previous balance still due? None of them did, according to my invoices everything was fine. But I was about to find out that AirNet LLC felt as though I had been a month behind since May and they had had enough.

Here is where an actual problem arises, and had this been the only problem you would not be reading this.

On the tails of a two to three day internet outage just days prior, my internet access was again out by midday September 19th. I decided to give them a day to fix the problem and called the following day when service had still not been restored. I left a message on their machine inquiring when service would be restored. Sometime later AirNet LLC returned my call and informed me that they had disconnected all non-paying customers. Service would be restored once my account was current. She inquired if I had paid for September yet and I stated that I was sure I had. I tried explaining yet again that this is probably just a remnant of the previous billing error from April/May. She stated again that once I am current my service will be restored as I am months behind. At this point I stated that the billing errors were getting ridiculous and I would like to cancel my account. She said OK. (AirNet LLC claims that I was extremely rude during this phone call but that is absolutely false. At no point did I raise my voice or speak rudely. Stating that constant billing errors are getting ridiculous is a valid complaint and is in no way rude.)

Following the call from AirNet, I called home to have my wife check our bill database for September. AirNet LLC was scheduled for payment but showed that it had not been paid. And then I remembered. By the end of the first week in September I had not yet received an invoice from AirNet LLC and due to the recent phone call and new personnel at AirNet LLC I hesitated on sending the payment without an invoice. As I typically received invoices after the first of the month not having one by the 7th of September did not seem out of the ordinary. So, this is the part of the story that puts me at a disadvantage because I was actually late with the September payment. This is AirNet LLC’s gotcha. They take the stance that a late payment in September stands as proof that I was a reoccurring bill ditcher and good riddance if I wanted to cancel my service. Now I maintain that had I not received call after call accusing me of being late when I had not, the bill would have been paid without an invoice as I frequently do. Furthermore, a note found in the October invoice reminding all customers to pay their bills on time suggests to me that there were many September invoice issues. I would be curious to see how many others did not receive an invoice in September. As I stated earlier had this been the only problem with my account this situation would have never escalated.

Shortly after the call home, AirNet LLC called me back. During this phone call I certainly had a tone with AirNet LLC however I never raised my voice or spoke poorly to them. Once I had all the pieces line up with this situation I was very aggravated with them.  AirNet LLC requested a time to pick up their equipment. I stated that I was not ready to schedule a time as I was very irritated with them and I hung up. (AirNet LLC again claims that I was extremely rude and abusive during this phone call. Rude? I don’t think so. Questioning whether or not I lease equipment is not rude, but I certainly had a tone and I did hang up on her. So, maybe rude by hanging up. *By the way AirNet LLC confirmed that I did not lease equipment. So my questioning of that fact during the call was justified.)

The next day I email the owner of AirNet LLC explaining my dissatisfaction with AirNet LLC. He responded with utter arrogance and dismissed me as being a problem customer who was months behind on payments. If you care to read the email trail it is located here. I do not feel my initial email was out of line however the owners response and mine following quickly degraded.

Filing a complaint with the BBB yielded no reasonable results as AirNet LLC insisted up to the last moment that I owed for August and September. Then perhaps AirNet LLC finally thoroughly looked at my case and decided that I only owed for 21 days in September. Which was still incorrect. Despite AirNet LLC being unable to send a correct September invoice, on October 4th I sent payment for 16 days of service in September. They have yet to cash the check.

Invoice and payment history for my account can be found here. This documentation supports fully my complaint against AirNet LLC. The correspondence between the owner of AirNet LLC and I can be found here.  In it you will find that my side of the story is unwavering.

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