Complaints
Customer Complaints Summary
- 47 total complaints in the last 3 years.
- 4 complaints closed in the last 12 months.
If you've experienced an issue
Submit a ComplaintThe complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.
Initial Complaint
Date:03/26/2025
Type:Product IssuesStatus:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
2/19/2025 A C Power Adapter was purchased at Appalachian Wireless Justice Way, Pikeville, KY. The item does not work. We tried to return it but they say it is outside the return timeframe. On 2/18/2025 our community was flooded, several lives were lost, so our thought was helping the community not returning defective product. But when the product was returned they said it was outside the 14 day return policy. They referred me to the Apple Store, they said it was Appalachian Wireless problem not theirs, but if I would give them a credit card to apply the return to they would send me another charger. I do not understand why I have to give them a Credit Card to replace a defective item. I need help getting a refund or a working replacement. I was advised a supervisor would call me back from Appalachian wireless & Apple store..no response yet.Business Response
Date: 04/02/2025
I have received your complaint to the Better Business Bureau. I have reviewed the receipt and documentation pertaining to the AC Power Adapter that was purchased on February 19, 2025. I see the attached receipt outlines our return policy of 14 days. According to the notes on the account, you came back to the store on March 20, 2025, stating the accessory didn’t work. The Sales Associate informed you of our return policy and, because it was an Apple Device, shared that their accessories have a manufacturer’s warranty.
The reason Apple requires a credit card for replacement is to ensure they receive the item back and that the issue is a manufacturing issue. They actually place a hold on the credit card and if they check the item and find that it is a manufacturing issue, they will replace the item and release the hold on your card.
Again, we are thankful for your business and are happy to speak with you anytime. Customer Service is available Monday through Friday from 7a-7p and Saturday from 8a-2p. You can reach us at 800.438.2355.Customer Answer
Date: 04/03/2025
Complaint: ********
I am rejecting this response because: we should not have to pay for their faulty product. Like it or not giving out our credit card will put a hold on our money for whatever time it takes for the company to get the product back and mailing products is VERY SLOW. I realize there is nothing we can do about this thru the BBB so I am considering this ended. Resolved No...both companies, Apple and Appalachian Wireless are being very unfair considering the disasterous flooding that occured during this timeframe. People who were actually suffering had to come first. So yes, we did not get it back within the 14 days, but under the circumstances it is clear Appalachian Wireless is HEARTLESS and do not deserve our business.But we do appreciate the BBB's assistance in this matter.
Sincerely,
****** ****** for **** ******* *****Initial Complaint
Date:07/22/2024
Type:Service or Repair IssuesStatus:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
In my area here in at Melvin,ky we have NO CELL PHONE SERVICE, some have very little and the weeksbury area people have none.i cannot use my cell phone at home, so i have to keep a land line, i am very sickly and must have my phones. We pay for the service to Appalachian wireless every month, and yet we cannot use our phones as others do, unless we drive somewhere for signal, sometimes I get one bar, then nothing. WE PAY EVERY MONTH FOR NO SERVICE. All we need is a Tower put here, close by us, I have talked this forever and everybody up here is having problems, we pay taxes etc, yet nothing for us. My niece is a Doctor, lives up weeksbury, and has to use WiFi calling,,Really<<. She needs her phone at all times,, for emergency calls etc. most people here are old and sickly,, question is ?? When will we Get service, will we still be alive? We are always left out her e, and it’s high time something is done about., there is another tower not too far away, but it does nothing for us here, because the hills block the signal from us, WE NEED A TOWER HERE IN THE MELVIN, WEEKSBURY AREA CLOSER TO US.please help us with this. Thank you.Business Response
Date: 08/01/2024
Please see attached.
Initial Complaint
Date:06/28/2024
Type:Billing IssuesStatus:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
I contacted you guys before over a bill that was supposed to be $160 ended up being $377. Well I paid that bill and told them if they couldn’t give me what that promised I wanted rid of the service well my bill ended still being over $225 the next $233.31 to be exact. I told them that wasn’t what I wanted rid of that service. They sent a payment thru without my permission I was not setup on auto say or anything like that so called to ask them about it only to be bad mouthed by customer service. I asked to speak to a supervisor they told me they couldn’t transfer calls to her. She could only return them. Demanded I pay a check that i absolutely 1000% did not sign or approve. I absolutely did not set up any type of autopay with them. They caused me problems with my bank I didn’t authorize any type of payment to this bunch because I was not paying for a phone service that was a fortune I told everyone of that bunch that at Appalachian WirelessBusiness Response
Date: 07/05/2024
Please see attached.Initial Complaint
Date:06/21/2024
Type:Billing IssuesStatus:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
Pay over $300 a month for phones that constantly drop calls, can’t send messages load anything online without being on wifi. Travel out of state and they just quit working, my wife just had to get a new phone a little OVER A MONTH AGO and it doesn’t work. It will not load, calls drop on it worse than any other AND ITS BRAND NEW! If I’m gonna pay this amount of money it should work at least 85% of the timeBusiness Response
Date: 07/01/2024
Please see attached.Initial Complaint
Date:05/07/2024
Type:Billing IssuesStatus:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
I have been a customer for 4 year and the last 2 years our phones have not been able to load right even with full service. I was told at the store that if I upgraded to newer phones that me and my wife would have better service and the problem would stop. Well, I upgraded both of our phones and the problem is just as bad or worse. When I call they say that the service is fine and to restart my phone. Now I’m stuck in a new contact for 3 years with phone that take wifi to work(which I had to upgrade my wifi at home do to this).Business Response
Date: 05/20/2024
Please see attached.Initial Complaint
Date:05/06/2024
Type:Billing IssuesStatus:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
The date started 03/26/24. The guy working there I’m not certain of his name but I can find out who he is there is an ** ********. When u purchased both iPhone 13’s they were on sake for one penny each and all 3 people working there said my bill would $180 a month but u get a ststement for over $300plus dollars this is utter garbage I’ve tried to talk to themBusiness Response
Date: 05/09/2024
Please see attached.Initial Complaint
Date:03/18/2024
Type:Billing IssuesStatus:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
We purchased a phone and paid the contract out on the old one. I had my bill caught all up after paying $94.13 (what the employee stated my bill was) after asking multiple times if that was all I owed and if I had another bill coming, he says no. Now here I am with a phone bill waiting to be paid of 402.92…..How does it make sense to keep replying to my questioning as “it’s just how the money was posted is why it’s all showed as a large payment” saying I owed a previous bill when I know better. I pay it every single month online. I am highly upset and switching carriers due to this reason. Their employees need to be alert and know how to describe issues if they are going to be selling phones. I even paid $40 extra that day “to get my account all caught up” so he said. The day I purchased I phone I was out a fortune. $40 to catch my account up. Once again as he said. $70 something to hook the phone up and $152 to buy the old phone out.Business Response
Date: 03/25/2024
Please see attached.Initial Complaint
Date:02/07/2024
Type:Service or Repair IssuesStatus:ResolvedMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
Fed Government told wireless carriers to protect customers from spam callers . Appalachian wireless has done nothing but tell customers to put their number on the do not call list which is useless . Other companies offer their users apps to stop the spam , Appalachian wireless needs to start doing something for customers instead of their own bottom line .Business Response
Date: 02/16/2024
Please see attached.Customer Answer
Date: 02/19/2024
Better Business Bureau:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********* and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Sincerely,
****** **********If you are interested in supporting the BBB's free services, please consider giving to BBB's Consumer Education Fund, which provides other services to the community, like Charity Review, Identity Theft Seminars, Free Shred/Recycle Events, Senior Citizen programs, High School and College Programs, and providing information at local community events. Donations can be sent via Venmo to @bbbcefky or mail your donation to BBB Consumer Education Fund, 13104 Eastpoint Park Blvd., Louisville, KY 40223. For more information on these programs, call 800-388-2222. Thank you for your consideration.Initial Complaint
Date:11/29/2023
Type:Product IssuesStatus:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
I have power of attorney of a family member ***** **** who is elderly with dementia. The business discontinued service on 3G phones and continued to bill ** **** until I discovered the situation. I repeatedly tried to contact business to voice my complaint but was repeatedly transferred to a voicemail, left msg but never returned phone call for a couple months. Finally talked to gentleman, voiced my complaint and ask for refund for months paid with no service but was told NO. I feel business new before discontinuing 3G service to customers that most customers that still had 3G were the elderly and would not understand the need to update phones. I am asking for refund for my family member and for an investigation to be conducted into Appalachian Wireless to see why and how many of the elderly were charged for service they never provided and why a stop billing program was not installed in their computer system. I feel they knew this would happen and intentionally never attempted to prevent the issue. Thank youBusiness Response
Date: 12/07/2023
Our Customer Service Supervisor has been in contact with this customer and the issue is resolved.Initial Complaint
Date:11/14/2023
Type:Billing IssuesStatus:AnsweredMore info
Complaint statuses
- Resolved:
- The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
- Unresolved:
- The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
- Answered:
- The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
- Unanswered:
- The business failed to respond to the dispute.
- Unpursuable:
- BBB is unable to locate the business.
Apparently Appalachian Wireless charges you for data that is being used while you are asleep, or at home using wifi. My recent bill is $387.62 when it is regularly $185. They sent me a text saying my husband and I used 100% of our data from November 7-12, 2023. 8gb in less than 5 days!! When I called them to talk to them about it, they just told me that we used it and there wasn't anything they could do about it. I told them that when it said we used the biggest part of our data that we were both home and our phones were connected to wifi, and no we do not have wifi assist on or we did not have our hotspot on. Also, it said it was used at 3 am & 5am, which we are asleep. In all the years we have used them, we have never even came close to using this much data in such a short period of time. I think it is ridiculous that they rip people off and we're just stuck paying it.Business Response
Date: 11/20/2023
We are showing the cell number with the most data used was ************. Our system is showing this is a Galaxy S9+. The Samsung devices have several options to assist you with monitoring data usage on your device. First, you will want to check to ensure switch to Mobile Data is turned off. You can do this by going to Settings>Connections>Wi-Fi>Tap More Icon (3 Dots top right)>Intelligent Wi-Fi> Switch to mobile data (toggle off). Some additional monitoring available is setting a data warning, limiting mobile data usage, and setting your usage on your phone to start over when your bill cycle starts over. I have included some additional information on these features below.
START BILLING CYCLE ON: similar to Reset Statistics on the iPhone, will sync the phone up to the customer’s billing cycle to better track data usage; the difference is they just set it once, and it will sync up automatically each month. (The usage won’t be 100% synced, but it will be close)
Settings>Connections>Data Usage>Mobile Data Usage>Select Cogwheel top right >Start Billing Cycle On (Select the first day of the billing cycle according to the customer’s market)
SET DATA WARNING: Customers can set phones to alert them when they have used a certain amount of data.
Settings>Connections>Data Usage>Mobile Data Usage>Select Cogwheel top right >Set data warning (toggle on)>Data Warning (Select GB amount)
LIMIT MOBILE DATA USAGE This setting automatically turns off mobile data connection when the phone reaches the GB usage you select.
Settings>Connections>Data Usage>Mobile Data Usage>Select Cogwheel top right>Limit mobile data usage (Toggle On); below that, you will select Data Limit, then select the GB amount that, once reached, will trigger this setting to disable all mobile data.
If you have any questions on any of these features, please call Customer Service, and they can answer any questions you have. We can do a one-time courtesy re-rate on your data usage that caused the large bill on your account. I have assigned the re-rate to Customer Service, and the credit will be issued to the account by Friday, November 25, 2023.
If I can be of further assistance, please let me know.
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