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From: Kim Boyce & Eric Thoman (no email)
Date: Mon Oct 01 2007 - 14:52:05 EDT
Mike wrote:
IMPORTANT: Your Globalstar phone may need additional time to register
successfully if you have moved 500 miles since you last used it. We
suggest leaving it outside powered up with the antenna rotated out for
atleast 20 minutes before making calls.
Reply:
Hah! I got a kick out of this. You might need to leave it outside for a
lot longer than that before it will work <g>. For three years we were
Globalstar fans. We used our phone daily all over the PNW, including
Alaska, for business and pleasure. The rates were good the data speed was
good enough for email and we rarely dropped a call. That all changed in the
Spring of 2006. As luck would have it we needed it more than ever.
Globalstar had just announced a new Alaska gateway and customer service
blamed that for the problems and repeatedly assured us that it would
improve. And, be better than ever! It never did.
By the end of the summer season we had a $600 bill that we thought was
attributable mostly to dropped and incomplete calls. In addition to the
cost and inconvenience we were certain that we had lost business. So, we
refused to pay. Globalstar continued to tell us that the problem was
temporary, or worse, that it was our equipment. For several months during
our off season I observed how often the phone was online (it is right next
to my computer). Very rarely did it have a bird in Seattle! As many of you
know, next came the IPO and the subsequent disclosure to the SEC that the
satellites were failing. That was followed by shareholder lawsuits. We
continued to be billed so we filed suit in Small Claims Court before they
sent us to collection.
We sent letters offering a reasonable settlement and finally received a call
from their General Counsel a couple of days prior to the trial. His only
offer was to "walk away." So we went to trial. Globalstar sent Donnie
Hatch, Distribution Manager Northwest & Alaska., who also would not
compromise. He asked why we had not called him previously. We had never
heard of him nor had any customer service person mentioned his name. What
would he have done? He would not say exactly.
The Judge had never heard of Globalstar so it took a little educating. But
once he understood that the case was about a telecommunications company
making big promises about reliability (see Globalstar marketing) and dropped
calls we were sure he was going to rule in our favor. He would not listen
for one minute about the limitations of liability clause in the "so called"
contract. However, he did not rule in our favor on the Consumer Protections
Act claim which would have tripled our damages. The bottom line is that we
were relieved of our $600 obligation and we were awarded $500 for our
inconvenience and additional funds for court costs. Washington is not a
punitive damages state.
Not a big deal but very satisfying. On the way out of the door I said to
Mr. Hatch, "What do we do now?"... meaning when do I get my money. He said
non-responsively: "I recommend that you get an Iridium phone." Kim and I
just looked at each other and shrugged. So, that's what he thinks of his
product.
When I bump into a salesman at a show or in the marina I still occasionally
ask what is going on lately with the service and the company. The buzz is
that no one is selling Globalstar, Sea Tel recently dropped them, and many
do not expect them to return. Time will tell.
Thanks for listening....
Eric Thoman
Abyssinia
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