Consumer Law, Warranties Bad ISP Costing My Business Money...

[dharvell]

First off, I live in Michigan (just in case this has affect on my claim). I am a sole proprietor - a web design consultant who works from home. As I live in a remote area, satellite internet is my only option (no DSL or cable access). Most of my work is done offline, but all of my research and the finished product (web sites for my clients) are done online. This said, download and upload speeds are both very important to my business.

Since December 2007, I have been struggling with my Satellite Internet Provider with extremely slow speeds. At times, barely faster than dial-up. Other times, so slow that pages refuse to load, at all. This inability to do research, or upload my work, is beginning to cost me clients. In return, my bottom line is being impacted, negatively.

5 months of working with the Satellite Company's customer support has produced no results. I referred my complaint to the BBB. This, too, was met with no results. With nowhere else to turn, I would like to sue the Satellite Company for breach of contract and any other violation of consumer law that may be relevant. However, there is language in the contract stating that they "do not guarantee minimum browsing speeds". This would normally be a problem, except can they go to the point of not being able to guarantee a service I am paying for, at all?

Do you think I have a case, here? Or can this company get away with walking over the consumer, legally, and I am out of luck?

Thank you, in advance...

+dharvell

 

[seniorjudge]

Q: Do you think I have a case, here?

A: If folks could sue and win for lousy internet service or lousy cell phone service, there would be lines at the courthouse several miles long.

 

[dharvell]

A: If folks could sue and win for lousy internet service or lousy cell phone service, there would be lines at the courthouse several miles long.

And though I do not doubt that is true, probably very few people in that line would actually be losing wages due to the poor service. Further, I would seriously doubt that the people in that line would have cared to battle their service provider for FIVE MONTHS trying to get what they are paying for. So, what you're telling me is that Big Company can completely screw over Little Company, driving their wages away with Big Company's bad service, and Little Company can't do a thing about it?

And they say the USA is the land of opportunity. What a crock.

 

[seniorjudge]

Q: So, what you're telling me is that Big Company can completely screw over Little Company, driving their wages away with Big Company's bad service, and Little Company can't do a thing about it?

A: Please feel free to sue them. Post back with results.

 

[dharvell]

If you seriously think there's no legal ground to stand on, then I would hate to waste time and resources in pursuing this. It just seems far fetched to me, though, that US law has nothing to protect small businesses from poor services. At the very least, it would seem that false advertising would come to play ("live the broadband lifestyle" is the exact term used by this company).

Thanks for the reply.

 

[seniorjudge]

If you seriously think there's no legal ground to stand on, then I would hate to waste time and resources in pursuing this.

Good idea.



It just seems far fetched to me, though, that US law has nothing to protect small businesses from poor services. At the very least, it would seem that false advertising would come to play ("live the broadband lifestyle" is the exact term used by this company).

US law does have a protection for you: change providers. It's called capitalism.

 

[dharvell]

US law does have a protection for you: change providers. It's called capitalism.[/QUOTE]

Well, US law fails us, then. If you took the time to read the original question, you would see that I have no other choice of providers. Thanks, also, to the failure of US law, Verizon has LEGALLY shut out all competition from entering the market in which I live. No competition means no fair treatment for consumers. Which puts me in the situation I am in. So, I suppose I am correct in saying, I am screwed and the legal system fails to protect me. Instead, I will continue to lose clients, due to continued poor service and there isn't a thing I can do about it, because of the legal system's lazy approach to situations like this.

So much for your capitalism.

 

[unclemoon]

Fair Access Policy?

I worked from a home office for an internet based company, and because of my location, the only "high speed" internet available was satellite. I found I was subject to the ISP's Fair Access Policy (FAP) often. Using too much bandwidth for the service I was paying for restricted my download speeds for 24 hour periods. Check to see if there's a package that allows for higher bandwidth use before you do anything else.

 

[WebJunkie]

You don't have a whole lot of a claim, but at least it's your fault for living where you do.

Me? I moved to an apt complex, who then later kicked comcast out and brought in this crazy home-brew type dsl provider. I went from ~3mbit to 300kb/s down on a good day. Granted, not as bad as your access, but when the apt complex has forbidden us from sourcing from another provider... Time to move, lordie lordie, is it /ever/ time to move. lol. I would suggest the same to you.