Spot

[Frump]

My wife really likes that I have this Spot transceiver and I was concerned about going down on a road where I didn't have cell phone coverage. That was why I got it June of 2014. I have been relatively happy with it, until today. Here is why I'm unhappy.

I went to the spot website to change from monthly to annually billing for it. I assumed my initial contract had run out and I was ready to go annual and get the annual payment discount. There was nothing on their crappy website to allow this so I sent a message to support asking:

Message: How do I switch from monthly billing to annual billing? Is there still a discount if you pay a year in advance?

Here is what they sent me back:
Thank you for contacting SPOT Customer Care.

Unfortunately the only way to switch from a monthly payment service plan to the one payment annual plan is to deactivate the device, which cancels that contract, and reactivate the device with the annual service plan. The renewal date for your service plan is June 21, 2016. If you contact us in May 2016 and request us to schedule your device for deactivation the day before the renewal you will be able to then reactivate your device with a new contract. The system will not allow us to schedule a device for deactivation more than 45 days before the desired deactivation date.
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At that point I'm like WTH? Is that even legal? I never got a notice or anything that they were extending my contract another year before or after the original contract ended. I assumed like with all my other services, that it switched to month-by-month when the original contract (1 year) ran out. They can't even amend it and extend it to change the payment plan?

Now I read in online comments that if you don't cancel your contract near the end of it annually, they shut your service off and charge you for the remainder of it anyways. If you stop payment, they send you to collections?

Is this any way to do business? Has anyone else run into this problem or related problems with them? Just looking for some assistance or input.

[Pirate Gonzo]

I didn't have a similar issue but I have had issues with them. They are not in anyway flexible with the way they do business. I always paid annually and when my credit card expired they canceled my service and deleted everything I had saved in the account rather than just tell me that the card was expired.

I then emailed them asking if they had a different plans for 3 months or a month to month without the contract. I got a generic email back stating no. So I am now signed back up for the annual.

Because I was signed up annually and my card expired they were not able to renew me. If I were month to month they probably would have sent me to collections.

You might have a bit better luck calling but it might be pulling teeth to get someone on the phone that can actually do anything. Their customer care email is as generic as it gets, I doubt anyone actually looks at them, it is probably all automated.

They're lucky the have a halfway decent product because with their business sense they would have been out of business long ago.