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"BEWARE OPT-OUT" on by canonF1vet
Pros: There are none.
Cons: Opt-out plans with complex burdens on user to opt out.
Summary: Read the other users' reviews... they touch on what I'm seeing in the contract. I did NOT sign on. I've been stuck several times with only this option, and whereas I could have benefited from having access, I was not about to spend the next few months of my life trying to opt out (IN WRITING) of the programs (INCLUDING the short-term special). READ THE TERMS & CONDITIONS! (The editors here apparently never did.) I'd like to report them to the attorney general in every state they're scamming in. (Plus Delaware and LA, their states of incorporation and listed address... surprised California hasn't done something about them, at least.) When I read the postings of others here, about all the additional charges (and when I consider what any of our time is worth, to try to deal with opting out when you want to... which you surely will!)... I think it'd be a better investment to just sign up with an airline's president's club or whatever, even four a couple of hundred bucks, if they have wi-fi... than to get in bed with these slimeballs. I'd also like to find the time to contact the various airport administrators and let them know what a slippery outfit they've been suckered into partnering with.
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"Beware of Boingo - unpleasent scam" on by HalKrist
Pros: Boingo gets you online
Cons: Charges extreme, unannounced fees - even in places w. free internet
Summary: I made the mistake of signing up with Boingo at an airport in the Midwest on my way to Europe, end of August 07. The guy on the phone, who signed me up, promised that the $ 9.95 was a one time charge for a month and thus the only fee that I would be charged. I did not need to call back to close the account. One call, one fee = thirty days wireless access in airports and hotels, where I was going, (Boston, Denmark, Poland, Iceland) I asked this twice at least, going through my destinations, and the guy got irritated for my repeated questions. I was going to be traveling for a month so this was totally perfect. I asked him to send me an email regarding this arrangement we did and he apologized, saying he didn’t have access to email. (Should have been my clue)
Then I got back from my trip and got charged an additional $ 31 and $ 43 on my credit card in the two following monthly statements, so I called them up.
Then all was of course different. I was supposed to have canceled the account and there are apparently some “prime” charges at certain airports, even the ones with a free wireless on the side (turned out to be all the places I visited, of course). I got into an argument with these guys with my Bank of America rep. on the phone. They offered me a discount, which was not valid in a second phone call, but promised that they had closed the account as of the previous day, (when the first phone call took place).
Now, looking at my statement at the end of January 08 I find Boingo charges for nearly $ 22. - every month since this irritating exchange took place. So I call my B of A, which gives me the runaround to tell me in a second phone call, that I have to talk to Boingo again. Again I am given "Please wait while I talk to my supervisor," treatment, which is standard with them. I waited some 3-4 minutes until, the slow speaking, drawn out preamble, overly "courteous" phone answering expert lady, got back and told me that her supervisor was not available and asked if she should inform "her" (the supervisor) that I had called and ask “her” to get back to me? I interrupted her lengthy, drawn out, courteous to a fault speech, and told her that she, and this Boingo scam, was way over my patience limit and I was not waiting any more since I had decided to report this to the FBI... Then, suddenly, her supervisor was on another call and would be available after that.
I decided to wait.
He, (the supervisor) got to me within seconds and promised to delete the charges for 3 months within 2-3 business days. He promised to send me an email within 2 hours, pertaining to our conversation, which has not happened (3 hours later).
Boingo wireless is in my experience a crooked company. It is set up as a scam and its employees seem to be trained to that effect. I ended up having to pay around $ 85. for 3-4 hours on line.
I will never again buy anything from them nor any other company affiliated with them. Also: if an IT company cannot send me a confirmation email, they don’t intend to honor our deal, therefore I can’t do business with them.
Beware of Boingo!!
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"Boingo is a scam!" on by jennifuz19
Pros: when I WANTED to use the service, it worked fine
Cons: everytime you turn your laptop on near a boingo service, they charge your credit card!
Summary: I had originally signed up for Boingo at an airport on a long layover with no free wireless internet. It was $7.95 for a 24 hour period and I had to use my credit card to sign up. Well, the next time I was at an airport, I turned my computer on and in searching for wireless connections, it automatically defaulted to boingo and with no confirmation, or "are you sure you want to proceed" kind of thing, just charged my credit card.. and again on my way home, so I had a charge for $15.90 that was never authorized by me. I called the company after I got the charge and they wouldnt remove it, of course. If I knew I had to pay for it, I would have not accepted it, I just thought my laptop had a free wireless internet connection, as some airports do offer this service. The service worked fine for the most part, the one time I KNEW I was using it, it had logged out on me once, but I was able to sign right back in and get back online. If you use this program, make sure you delete it after you are finished or they'll charge your credit card over and over!
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"Do not use their service!" on by zeroa2001
Pros: none (I wanted to give them a rating of 0 but the minimal allowed is 1)
Cons: totally unethical
Summary: I signed up for a one-time Boingo AsYouGo wireless service in an airport. Their advertisement says
"Don't travel much? Get a Boingo AsYouGo account for just $7.95 per Connect Day for locations within the U.S. & Canada and $9.95 internationally. A Connect Day includes unlimited access in any location for 24 hours. No monthly fees apply."
It made me believe that I could use their service in any participating airport for free in a 24-hour period. I authorized a payment of $7.95 on my credit card. Later on (occurred in less than 10 hours), I used their wireless service in another two airports. For the last two wireless connections, I did not authorize any charge on my credit card, nor did I receive any warning regarding the charge. It turned out Boingo made two more charges automatically on my credit card. I contacted Boingo's customer service. Their excuse is that in their ads "unlimited access in any location for 24 hours" means "only the first location" and refused to refund me. I filed a complaint to BBB and would never use their service again. -
"It's allright as long as you don't want to unsubscribe." on by varnav
Pros: Well, I must admit that this service works. In almost every McDonalds, Starbucks or Airport you open your laptop - and have the internet.
Cons: Scam-like billing model.
Summary: Surprise! They automatically subscribe you to their services and bill you every month. There is also a chance to encounter "Premium" spot - with per-minute billing.
It's not so easy to stop your subscription. You can't do that online - they want you to call them by phone.
Boingo Wireless user reviews
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