Boingo Wireless is a private American company that provides wireless communication services, specifically Wi-Fi. ..

Though signup is seamless, canceling the service requires a call into customer retention.

Wikipedia

In the past, traveling in North America, I have used Boingo. And enjoyed the service. It works well … though I often cannot find one of their Boingo hotspots when I need one.

A sales rep talked me into subscribing again for my Summer trip to Europe. It was very reasonably priced:

July – CAD$23.82

August – CAD$22.17

But when I got home and checked my online bank statement, here’s what I had been charged for September:

What’s with that?

I’ll blog first, ask questions later. And update this post with their response.

=== UPDATE

David Almaraz from Boingo got back to me right away.

He says I have a Boingo AsYouGo plan, “Wi-Fi for the next 24 hours at each hotspot for $19.95.”

I signed up over the phone with a rep that recommended a monthly fee plan that included Europe. At least, that’s what I recall. Boingo sent me no email confirmation.

As you know, I would never sign up for a $20 / hook-up fee. It was a mistake on their part. Or an accident on my part.

My advice to the World Wide Web is to be very, very careful about charges if you sign on with Boingo. They are not very transparent about charges.

I will not use Boingo again.

==== second update:

Lauren Sanyal from Boingo followed up:

The last thing we ever want is for our customers to be unhappy. We focus on outstanding customer service every day, and we appreciate the opportunity to attempt to make things right! To be absolutely clear, I will try to explain what happened.

It looks like, on May 25, 2008, you signed up for our Boingo Unlimited monthly subscription plan for $9.95 USD for the first three months and $21.95 USD per month thereafter. On September 11, 2008, you contacted Customer Care and changed your plan to Boingo AsYouGo. The Boingo AsYouGo description states: “Enjoy Boingo Wi-Fi for the next 24 hours at this hotspot for just $7.95 USD. Future connections will be billed at just $7.95 USD per connection at individual hotspots within North and South America, $9.95 USD per connection at individual hotspots in Asia/Pacific, and $19.95 USD per connection at individual hotspots in Europe, Middle East, and Africa.” Since you changed your plan over the phone, this may not have been made explicitly clear.

Instead of changing your plan to a global subscription, which would have been more appropriate given your travel plans, the Customer Care agent you spoke with switched your account to Boingo AsYouGo. I’m sorry to hear that you were given the impression that you would receive one month of global Wi-Fi access for $19.95 USD per month. In fact, the price you were quoted is the cost of one AsYouGo connect in Europe. Our global subscription plan, Boingo Global, provides 2,000 minutes of Wi-Fi access across the globe for $59 USD per month.

I sincerely regret that you had a confusing experience with us as a result. Also, we’re so sorry to hear that you feel we weren’t being straight with you; we work hard to be transparent and forthright with our customers. If you’d like to view your receipts and usage online, please visit https://my.boingo.com to access your account anytime.

As a courtesy, we have refunded $99.75 USD to your account. Quick note – since you created your Boingo account in the US, I have been discussing these charges in USD. However, your refund will appear in CAD on your bank statement. I sincerely hope you’ll give us another chance. Finally, if there’s anything else we can do to help you reach a satisfactory resolution, please let me know.

That is fantastic customer service, so far as I’m concerned.

Suddenly I am a huge fan of Boingo. And will give the service another try on my Fall travels.

Certainly there was some confusion:

“On September 11, 2008, you contacted Customer Care”

I was traveling in Spain on that date. My laptop in Glasgow.

Certainly it was not me that contacted Customer Care.

hmmm