Poor customer service

[humblegod 3]

I have generally been satisfied with the service provided by AirVPN. So much so that I recently opted for an annual plan instead of paying month-to-month like I had been doing for many months.

 

When doing so, I made one mistake--I did not cancel my recurring monthly subscription in Paypal. Even though I had already paid for an additional year (which started as of the end of the preceding billing cycle), Paypal automatically sent a payment to AirVPN. I will freely admit that this was my mistake, and I have since canceled the recurring monthly payment.

 

The problem is that AirVPN neither extended my subscription by a month nor sent me a refund for the additional month. Once I realized the problem existed, I immediately opened a support ticket, copped to my mistake, and asked for a refund for the monthly payment. I sent my Paypal payment ID # and the approximate time of the transaction. An AirVPN employee promptly responded asking for my Paypal email account "so that we can proceed to locate the payment from inside our account the refund?" So far so good.

 

That was on March 9. After I sent the requested information, I waited over a week before adding another message to the support ticket, politely asking if more information was needed and when I could expect the refund. Several hours later, I received this response: "We apologize for the delay, we assure you that your case will be investigated on the next business day."

 

That was on March 18. No other action was taken in the meantime, and for some reason someone closed my support ticket. Having given AirVPN over a month to rectify this, I sent another message on April 12 asking how things were proceeding. No response.

 

Again, I cop to being responsible for the overpayment by failing to cancel the recurring monthly Paypal payment. But what am I getting for that extra payment? AirVPN has already promised once to refund the money but has taken no action to do so, nor has it even bothered to extend my service by the extra month. Does AirVPN think it is entitled to a free gift? What gives?

 

I want to be happy that I chose to purchase an annual plan with AirVPN. I don't want to have to go to /r/VPN and other boards explaining that AirVPN ignores its customers after promising to address their problems. But until AirVPN does SOMETHING, I'm starting to think that's what may need to happen. And until AirVPN does SOMETHING, I can only advise potential customers to consider this carefully when comparing other VPN providers to this service.

 

Perhaps this post will not be approved by a moderator since I generally don't frequent these boards. But if that's the case, I hope the moderator at least asks someone to do something about my open support ticket. Or maybe, just maybe, I can follow up in a few days with a post explaining how AirVPN finally took action, apologized for its poor customer service, and ultimately reassured me that it values its customers. I hope for the latter outcome.

[Staff 9950]

Hello!

 

The 7 EUR full refund has been sent within the terms prescribed by the ToS. While it's true that we are usually much faster on refund requests and we comply to them in a shorter time than what prescribed on the contract, that's not a strict obligation but a courtesy.

 

Kind regards

[S.O.A. 83]

I don't think poor customer service and AirVPN can go together in the same sentence. 

[XQWeir97 16]

I don't think poor customer service and AirVPN can go together in the same sentence. 

I totally agree. This relatively small company has bent over backwards in order to maintain the strictest of standards, and from my observations, has always striven to meet customers' needs as quickly and thoroughly as possible. I wish more companies had the pride of service and devotion to customer needs as Air.

 

Thank you, AirVpn, for your service to us and for your dedication to your Mission. You are rare in this world today.

 

Laurelli

 

<my rant>

 

Privacy is a right and expectation that the citizens of the world once enjoyed, but took for granted, and have lost. Today we are made to believe that we only need privacy if we are doing something wrong. I do not believe this lie. Today we are told by our governments that we can have no expectations of privacy, for our own "safety" and for "the greater good" of society. Personally, I don't need a big brother to protect me, and I will NEVER choose to surrender my rights and my liberties for so-called safety and security from a boogie man. I will continue to use services, such as AirVpn, in order to exercise my right and expectation of privacy. Would that the sheep would learn.

 

</end rant>

[amnesty 18]

I love AirVPN - their Mission, TOS, Privacy Policy, service, support and our community. the best provider I know of and the only one I would recomend.

That being said, it seems to me like humblegod handled the situation well.

Thumbs up for AirVPN to posting this. For those who are not familiar with this Forum, your first few posts need to be approved by staff.

Unless I am misunderstanding the TOS, the refund should have been done by April 9th. Actually, not really I think the request needs to be a hard copy (mailed within 3 days). So technically, it was a courtiousy but considering what transpired I would've liked a refund as well. I probably have it wrong. It's a little confusing but at least there was a refund.

The fact that the ticket was closed would have bothered me considerably. Perhaps there is some automated process that closes tickets after x number of days?

No one is perfect but this situation seems to have gone down pretty well.

[Staff 9950]

Hello!

 

Tickets without a reply from a customer are closed after 2 days BUT they are not locked, they can be re-opened anytime by the customer himself/herself with a simple reply.

 

Kind regards

[humblegod 3]

I'm surprised to see that there has been activity on this post since the matter was resolved, but since I'm the OP I thought I'd chime in one last time. I received the requested refund very shortly (i.e. within minutes) after the Staff response posted here. I have some minor remaining qualms about how this matter was handled, but I see no need to dwell on it since AirVPN has taken care of my request, largely to my satisfaction. I remain happy with the technical aspects of the service here, I currently have no intention to go elsewhere, and I would still recommend the service to friends.

[Guest JWW]

Yes, the thread is finished really but I just wanted to add my 'penny's worth'. IMHO, to experience bad customer service and an unprofessional attitude, try just about any of the so called 'mainstream' well advertised VPN providers - as I have done. It's cost me both in time and financially and I was actually on the point of giving up when I stumbled upon AirVPN. I spent the first few days throwing all kinds of questions / problems at them and the support team dealt with them all, getting me up and running with good speeds in a way that NO other provider has managed to do. I quickly got the distinct feeling that I was dealing with people who knew what they doing. The client - Eddie - is also a very sophisticated VPN client that offers immense flexibility. Once you get to know and understand it, to 'manipulate' and fine tune your VPN connection to your best advantage it's brilliant. There is a learning curve, as there should be, (and I've learned a lot since joining) but it's worth it.