Complaints

The 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:10/02/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  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 canceled my service with Appalachian Wireless in Feb of 2023. The person cancelling my account over the phone said that I might get another bill but if not I was good to go as I had paid in full. I never got another bill & even tried to log into my account on their online portal just to make sure I didn't owe anything else, however my account had been deleted only 1 day after cancelling my service. Months later in July I got a letter that just said they hoped to clear up any balance that I still owed. As far as I was concerned, I didn't owe any balance, & was going to disregard the letter. I decided to call instead. I was sure my account had been paid so I decided that it would be best to just tell them that, it was probably just an error on their end. I instead reach someone insisting that I owe almost 100$ to them & she mentioned something of a pay-off fee for the phone I had financed through them & paid off. I told her I was unaware of any cancelation fees at the time of cancelling & that nobody had ever told me that this fee would apply. She said I was the second person that day with the same concern. I told her that it sounded like an issue that they were having communicating effectively with their customers. She then began telling me how the months are billed retroactively & that I owed for the month of February regardless of fees. I told her that I had paid my balance in full on the phone & that I never received a single bill to show that I owed anything else. I asked her why I never received anything & why was my online portal access revoked the next day. She said that was an issue with the online portal that they had asked to be fixed & asked me if I was a paperless customer, which I was since they offered a discount for paperless. She said that would be the problem since bills do not going out to paperless customers. I told her I didn't know what I was paying for without a bill & wouldn't pay. No bill was ever sent to me & now I'm in collections for 130$

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/30/2023

  I am in receipt of your complaint to the Better Business Bureau.  After researching your account, I found that you disconnected your account on February 28, 2023.  I found the recorded call where you called in and spoke with a representative in our Special Services Department.  The representative discussed the installments that remained on one line, and you stated you were aware of the charges.  The agent also discussed that your online account would no longer work after the disconnect.  It does appear before disconnect that you were enrolled in auto-pay and suppressed the invoice to receive a discount on your lines.  I apologize that you didn’t receive a final invoice because you requested the suppression of your invoice to receive the discount. Our collections department did reach out by phone and email once the account was assigned to their department.  
  
  We are happy to send you any copies of contracts or invoices you may need and will also work with you to establish a payment agreement on the balance.  If you want to discuss the account further, contact our Collections Department at 800.438.2355 ext. 675.
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/28/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  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 PAY ALMOST 250.00 PER MONTH FOR 2 PHONES AND WE HAVE HAD ABSOLUTELY NO SERVICE FOR A MONTH NOW. I'M EXPECTED TO PAY MY BILL BUT I HAVE NOTHING IN RETURN. MY DAUGHTER HAD CAR TROUBLE AND COULD NOT EVEN GET A CALL OR TEXT OUT FOR HELP. WE HAVE NO BARS OR "SOS" AT ALL TIMES. WHEN I CALL 611 FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE IT WON'T EVEN GO THROUGH. WHEN I TEXT, I GET AN AUTOMATIC MESSAGE RESPONSE THAT SAYS "YOU CURRENTLY CANNOT SEND TEXT MESSAGES." THEY SENT OUT A BLANKET TEXT TO ALL CUSTOMERS SAYING CHANGE OVER TO WIFI CALLING TO BE ABLE TO CALL. NO, I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO DRIVE TO MCDONALDS OR WALMART TO GET ON THEIR WIFI TO MAKE A CALL OR TEXT. I SHOULD BE ABLE TO CALL FOR HELP IF I'M SITTING IN MY HOME OR SITTING ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. THIS IS BEYOND DANGEROUS!!!! PLUS THEY ARE TAKING MONEY WITHOUT PROVIDING SERVICE!! JUST SEARCH FACEBOOK FOR "APPALACHIAN WIRELESS POSTS", YOU WILL SEE HUNDREDS OF POSTS WITH COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS BUSINESS JUST OVER THE PAST MONTH (JULY/AUGUST 2023). THANK YOU AND I LOOK FORWARD TO A REMEDY TO THIS DANGEROUS AND FRAUDULENT SITUATION.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/01/2023

  Please see attached.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/28/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  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.

  My family and I currently have cell phone service with Appalachian Wireless and have for many years. In January of 2023 they shut down their 3G service and it was replaced with 5G service. Since the change over we no longer get service in areas we use to and as of lately can’t get service anywhere at all hardly. We were asked to bring our devices to have the SIM cards changed and we did that helped for a month or so now we are back to no service. I was told we needed to upgrade our devices my phone is a little more than a year old and I am still under contract for 2 more years. We pay Appalachian Wireless $164 a month to have to use WiFi though our internet provider to make phone calls. My family and I are not the only ones having this issue every one in our area is and some of which have newer devices than ours. In today’s economy it’s hard to go out and buy new phones when the changes were forced up on us by our provider. This has been a on going issue since January I have been polite and respectful with hopes the service would get better but it does not. I have asked if there are plans for new towers and was told yes but none would be beneficial to me. I asked about discounts do to no service I was told no discounts would be given. But enough is enough when you can’t use the service. A Appalachian wireless employee told me they have known this was coming for years and the corporate did nothing to get a start on fixing the issue. Many lawsuits have been and will be filed on this issue so fix it already. Until you do we only have service about 30% of the time so we should only be required to pay 30% of bill I live 2 mile from Appalachian tower and can’t get service at home. Ridiculous

  

  Business Response

  Date: 09/01/2023

  Please see attached

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/04/2023

  Type:Billing Issues
  Status:

  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 had my data plan on my cell phone increased to unlimited and put back to its previous data plan inside of 1 billing cycle it should have changed the bill around $80 per billing cycle but they billed me an additional $160 making my bill $344 where it was $180 when I asked how they got to this they said the where prorating the bill they billed me for 6/16/23 to 8/14/23 for data and the bill was due on 8/3/23 they can't explain how they are prorating the bill to me because they are billing me for the next month even though I told them to change it from unlimited on 7/15/23 the last day of the billing cycle they increased it in. I expect to be billed again for the 7/16/23 to 8/14/23 cycle for my data plan. They are calling it prorating but they are just billing for the next month and billing for it again on the next billing cycle I know this will be hard to understand reading I can better explain it on the phone I would like advice on what kind of action I can take if for nothing else to dissolve our agreement they said there going to prorate my next bill because I changed the data plan back to the Lower amount this bill was almost double I'm afraid to see the next

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/11/2023

  Please see attached.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/04/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  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 have always had good service with appalachain wireless. When the switch to 5G accured, we were left with no service where we used to receive full bars. When calling customer service, we are dismissed and told there is nothing to be done to fix the service issues. I use my phone for work and can no longer do that.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/11/2023

  I have received the complaint but the phone number provided in the complaint is missing a digit.  In order to further research this account I will need the complete phone number associated with the account.

  Please respond to the complaint with that information and I will update the ticket.

  Thanks

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/12/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  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.

  My family and I currently have cell phone service with Appalachian Wireless and have for many years. In January of 2023 they shut down their 3G service and it was replaced with 5G service. Since the change over we no longer get service in areas we use to and as of lately can’t get service anywhere at all hardly. We were asked to bring our devices to have the SIM cards changed and we did that helped for a month or so now we are back to no service. I was told we needed to upgrade our devices my phone is a little more than an year old and I am still under contract for 2 more years. We pay Appalachian Wireless $164 a month to have to use WiFi though our internet provider to make phone calls. My family and I are not the only ones having this issue every one in our area is and some of which have newer devices than ours. In today’s economy it’s hard to go out and buy new phones when the changes were forced up on us by our provider. This has been a on going issue since January I have been polite and respectful with hopes the service would get better but it does not. I have asked if there are plans for new towers and was told yes but none would be beneficial to me. I asked about discounts do to no service I was told no discounts would be given. But enough is enough when you can’t use the service. I am afraid to spend the extra money to get new/newer devices because they can’t promise I won’t have the same issue. I see no point in signing 2 more contracts that I can’t get out of for new devices that will not work either. I have exhausted all my resources to try to resolve this issue but things just aren’t getting any better just worse.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/17/2023

  Please see attached.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 07/17/2023

  
  ********** 20309652
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I up hold the end of my bargain by paying my bill monthly. I do understand the shutdown that took place and why but that’s not the question. Are they planning on replacing the towers they shut down for the 5G to improve service? Why should I have to pay $168 a month for cell service to turn around and use my internet I pay $120 a month for? The WiFi calling may help at home but it doesn’t help our service at work, at the store, or on the road. My husband uses his phone for work as he owns his company. I do understand the upgrading of the devices but why should I upgrade our devices when the only places we can get service is at home or with Wi-Fi? I wouldn’t mind the upgrade if I was assured I would have service. Why would I want to go deeper in debt sign new contracts or buy new phones when I can’t use the ones I have anywhere else other than where I can connect to WiFi? I can’t even use my IPhone 13 away from Wi-Fi without dropping calls and it’s up to date with all the current software. Why should I have to pay them more on a contract for them to give less service?

  
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *****

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/25/2023

  Please see attachment.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/07/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  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.

  Appalachian Wireless was changing to 5G and my husband needed a new phone as his would not be working come first of this year. So he took my phone and I got a new Samsung S22. Appalachian Wireless failed to tell us that the new Samsung S22 would not work until the first of January 2023. When questioned about this they said someone was supposed to tell you. No one did. This is July 2023 and the Samsung phones still do not work. Cannot get calls at home or text messages. They have not resolved this and I need to be able to use my phone for calls and texting. Most of the time there is a no service sign on my phone. I am totally disgusted with Appalachian Wireless. I had supported them for years and told people how good they were but now regret that totally. They should have to replace these phones at no cost if they are not going to work!

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/17/2023

  We have spoken with this customer and this has been resolved.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/05/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  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 signed a three year contract in December with Appalachian Wireless and had great service at the time. Our service now is horrible. The company wants us to depend on Wi-Fi calling instead of using towers. They state it’s due to 3g being turned off but other cell phone carriers doesn’t seem to be having that issue. I just feel that if we have to pay for a full service we should be getting full service. It makes it worse when you are into a contract and they will charge you to get out of it.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/06/2023

  Please see attached

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/05/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  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.

  For the past several months I have been paying over $400 a month for a phone service that I can not use. My phone stays in SOS mode all the time and I never have service. I have been forced to switch over to WiFi calling in order to call out on my phone. Ever since Appalachian wireless took their 3G and switched to 5G these issues have been going on. I have talked to the company several times regarding the issue and we could never get to a resolution. I do believe that Appalachian wireless should have to reduce a lot of customers bills because we as customers has had issues since the day they made their switch.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/06/2023

  Please see attached.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/31/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  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.

  Ongoing cellphone contract and since January 2023 ( when 3G service ended) they no longer provide the same service. they have offered no reasonable solutions for my significant serve reduction and no fee reduction, etc in monthly contract fee. I have contacted them twice and was told there’s “nothing they could do” I have tried all their suggested fixes for this situation but none have resolved or improved my service. I continue to pay my usual contract fee and often overage due to their lack of coverage. They get my monthly fee and overage fee.. they have no incentive to correct my (and many others) disruption of service.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 06/05/2023

  Please see attached

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/07/2023

   
  Complaint: ********  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  I have done the wi fi calling and it has been ineffective in this situation.  When using wifi calling, our voices are unable to be understood due to excessive break up or sounding like poor audio automated voices.   I was told to utilize airplane mode on my phone so the towers would not be used during calls in an attempt to improve cell service. All places do not have wifi and I am unable to make or complete calls that in the past I could always do. I was also told to be sure all updates on my device is current and to turn my phone off an on to allow updates.  This has also been ineffective..   I can not make or complete calls on route 460 to south US 23 which is necessary due to my employment. The Ivel office, when contacted in May 2023, informed me that AW was looking at installing new towers over the next 1-2 years and in the meantime, there are no plans to help me or current customers during this time.   When I asked to speak to a manager about this situation, I was advised that I could speak to someone else but was they would tell me the exact same information and I was discouraged at the lack of concern and felt as if I had wasted my time as well as my money. I have been an AW customer for many years and until now have been satisfied with my service.  Now, I pay close to $300 each month for cell service through your company for less than half the service I have been accustomed to having. When I inquired about some type of compensation for the lack of service now provided, I was told there no plans to compensate the customers due to the diminished coverage.   My job requires me to have coverage at home and on the road and I have no foreseeable solution with this per your staff.  I would like to be compensated or released from my contract so I can seek another carrier that can accommodate my needs. 
  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *******

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/11/2023

  We have discussed this with *** *** **** ******* and this can now be closed.  

  Thanks