Is Viasat wrongly charging you an equipment return fee? FairShake can help.
This can happen if you forget to return the equipment, but also for reasons like the company losing your modem, or claiming the power cord is damaged. We can help you avoid equipment return fees from ViaSat.
You have to return the equipment from ViaSat because you technically rent it from the company during the course of your Internet contract. Every month you pay a small fee which represents your rental fee for the equipment.
When you close your account for whatever reason, change your account, or disconnect your service, you have to return your ViaSat modem, the power cord, and the TRIA (Transmit and Receive Integrated Assembly) off the dish assembly outside. The only thing you don’t need to return are the mounting brackets.
ViaSat gives you 30 days from the time you cancel your account and initiate the return to send back all equipment.
If you don’t return the equipment, or ViaSat doesn’t receive it within 30 calendar days, they will charge you for each missing item, lost item, or damaged item.
According to the company help section, you will be charged for damaged equipment whether it was damaged by you or an “act of God”. An act of God is defined as something outside of your control where no one is responsible such as an earthquake, tornado, or flood, so rest assured that if a natural disaster hits your home, you still have to pay for the damaged equipment.
If you return the equipment but it doesn’t make it within the 30 day limit, you will still be charged. The company will purportedly refund the charges once they receive the equipment, assuming they don’t claim it was lost or damaged.
When you change your plan you have to speak with a ViaSat agent to move your service, change your plan, or disconnect your service. This agent will give you either a recovery box with instructions for packaging your equipment and shipping it through UPS or a letter from UPS telling you to take your equipment to a nearby store where they will package it for you and return it.
Your only option is to use UPS to ship your equipment so make sure that you get delivery confirmation and you take pictures of it before it is packaged by the company if you go this route.
Before you return your equipment by mail it’s always in your best interest to document it beforehand. You want to take pictures from multiple angles with a phone or camera that has a time and date stamp so that you can confirm the condition in which all of your equipment was before it was sent.
You can also take pictures of things like the packaging so that you know exactly what it looks like and what condition it was in before it went out. If a package gets physically damaged on its way to the company, having the documentation can really help you avoid bogus fees.
What’s more, taking lots of pictures while you are shipping or once the item has been taken by someone at the UPS facility can help you document the condition of your equipment before you return it on the off chance that the company tries to fight you and say that it was damaged.
Even if you properly document your equipment and you return it the right way with the receipt or delivery confirmation, you might find that your account still has an equipment charge. Frequently companies *lose* your equipment and try to charge you. That’s something FairShake can help with! We have helped many customers who are facing unwarranted accusations and bogus equipment return fees, and we get results.
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