Element Mobile, is there a future?

Acquisitions and buyouts happen frequently in the telecom markets. Large companies such as AT&T and Verizon absorb smaller local companies, and even larger regional companies, all in an effort to gain larger market share in targeted areas. Such was the case with Verizon's recent purchase of Alltel.
But, what happens when a small, local telcom refuses to support the buyout, and attempts to branch out on their own?
Welcome to Element Mobile. Element is actually a subdivision of local wireline service provider Solarus, based out of Wisconsin rapids, WI. during the Verizon buyout of Alltel, Solarus made the decision to hold onto their handful of cellular towers that were leased to Alltel, and form theirown cellular provider.
Now, there's nothing wrong with expanding into new markets. As a business, they should work hard towards building and growing to stay viable. What happened, and is continuing with Element Mobile, is a customer relations nightmare.
One of the most important components during a buyout or changeover is communication with the customers. Without the money of the patrons, you have no business. Solarus seems to have forgotten that little detail. In the months leading up to the change-over, they were still allowing new contracts to be signed under the Alltel name, and sold devices to customers that would not work on the new network after the change.
The fix for this problem? Offer them free exchanges on handsets. This would normally be acceptable, aside from the fact that the devices being offered in most cases were not of the same quality or technological level as the devices the customers had paid for.
Another problem lies in the small list of available devices, including non-smartphone handsets. Several people on "dumb" phones are being told they would have to take one of the smartphone offerings, and pay for a data plan they simply didn't want or need. Can you imagine an elderly individual who has finally got used to a simple device being told they now have to operate a Blackberry?
Aside from the device issues, there have also been several problems with service failure across the area. Customers are losing service for days and even weeks at a time, with little resolution coming from the swamped customer service center. Element Mobile representatives are advising customers who are having issue that they could be without service for 1-2 weeks, and nothing is being mentioned about credit for down time. Could you imagine being wihtout service for 2 weeks, while paying for it?
The biggest insult to injury seems to be that Element Mobile seems to still want to hold customers to an early termination fee, carried over from the Alltel contracts. I'm no lawyer, but I would imagine that forcing a customer to continue paying for service that can't be provided would be grounds for waiving that fee. Since there was little communication to anybody that Element was replacing Alltel, customers signed contracts assuming they would continue to have the fantastic service Alltel provided.
This whole ordeal has led to several complaints to state Attorney General's office, FCC, better Business Bureau, and a large following on a Facebook page called Dump element Mobile. Can this customer relations disaster be recovered, or are we looking at the Katrina of the cellular market?

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Hello Everyone, and Welcome!

Hello hello!

I just wanted to drop a quick post regarding myself, and the scope of this blog. I'm a truck driver, former IT and networking geek, and avid fan of journalism. I'm also a complete tech fanatic!

My main love affair has fallen to cellular smartphone technology, netbooks, and tablet computing. From iOS to Android, Blackberry to Windows Mobile, I love it all.

My aim is to provide up-to-date and comprehensive news regarding the cellular industry and community. For the time being, most of my reviews and previews will focus around GSM technology and AT&T, since they are what I use. I will also do my best to cover other events and interesting tidbits as I am able.

Also, I'm located in rural Wisconsin, which presents some interesting experiences in cellular licensing and carrier competition. I'm at ground-zero for the Element Mobile situation, as well as right between several cellular license borders.

I will attempt to do mostly video, and follow up with written articles, and perhaps an audio podcast as well.

If there is anything you would like to see me cover, please email me, with Cell Phone Geek in the subject line. The address is hitekaudiocomp@gmail.com

Thank You Everyone!

Rob Milton

Cell Phone Geek