Viasat Reviews
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UPDATED 2/22/2023: After four phone calls and being DENIED an address to return my equipment at my own expense because I haven't received their box with a preprinted label, I'm finding that they will charge your card on file for the failure to return the equipment. If you dispute the charge with your credit card company, they send it to a collection agency stating you failed to return the equipment. This is 100% fraud. They refuse to give you a shipping address, refuse to give a tracking number for the box they say they sent by UPS stating they don't have that information but yet, they know the box went out...? How is that possible? All UPS shipments have a tracking number. They tell you to keep calling back to check on the box if you don't get it.
Four phone calls and no box for two accounts I'm trying to close out. I've even read complaints that others have confirmation they sent the equipment back with a UPS tracking number and delivery confirmation, and they deny receiving it and charge their card. If the charge is disputed, they send it to a collection agency. This company should be shut down. I asked about paying the 95.00 for their person to come remove my equipment and was told they only takes the part off of the satellite. I still have to return modem and cables in the "box" that they are mailing to me.
So, there is literally no way out of this situation unless your credit is bad and you don't care about a collection mark on your credit. I have 40 minutes of conversation recorded where I was denied a shipping address by an employee and a supervisor. I was denied a tracking number for the box they say they sent out. I will follow up because I'm sure my credit card will be billed as others have for equipment not returned.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: I cancelled my service on 12/28/2022. I obtained a confirmation number and was told my service would terminate at the end of my billing cycle on 1/23/2023. I was told I'd receive a box with a pre printed shipping label to return my equipment within 7-14 days, and informed if I failed to return equipment within sixty days, I'd be charged for it. I was advised if I didn't receive the box to call back. This raised a red flag, so I asked for the shipping address offering to pay for shipping in case I didn't receive the box. I was told they could not give me an address and the equipment had to be returned in their box with the pre printed label. I was told it would be shipped by UPS and my address was confirmed.
On 1/24/2023, my credit card was billed for another month of service. It was not cancelled on 1/23/2023 as stated. I had not used the service and unplugged it at the time I requested cancellation on 12/28/2022. So, I called on 1/24/2023 and was told that the confirmation of cancellation was in the system, but the order did not get put through and that I would receive a refund on my credit card within 7-14 days. I asked again about the box for equipment return and was assured it would be sent.
As of today, 2/21/2023, I have not received a refund or the box for returning my equipment. I called today and spoke to an agent and finally a supervisor. I recorded the 40 minute conversation. I was denied a shipping address to return my equipment. I was told by the supervisor the box was sent out by UPS on 2/6/2023 after being told it hadn't by the agent, but they could not and absolutely refused to provide me a tracking number. I was told they don't have access to that information. After reading many complaints, I'm finding that the goal is to charge you for failing to return the equipment which consist of around 320.00. I've made a total of 4 phone calls regarding this matter.
My mother passed away on 1/16/2023 and I've also had the same issue trying to return her equipment. Two accounts, two cancellations, no box sent for either account and refusal to give a shipping address to return equipment. This company is absolutely a fraud. Their contract states you can't ship the equipment to any address listed on their website or contract. It MUST be returned in their box that they send to you with a preprinted label. Yet, I'm sure my credit card will be billed for failure to return equipment as others have been from reviews I'm reading. BEWARE of this company. In addition to the internet being slow and just overall horrible, the customer service is an absolute nightmare.

Since we live in a rural area we did not have many choices and had Viasat for four years. Customer service was horrible. When you did get a representative they usually read from a script and they would always try to upsell you in order to solve an issue. I got the best service they had but half the time I was stuck with constant buffering and outages. One time we were down for almost a week and we were never reimbursed. I was always rebooting the device. But the worst was when we finally were able to disconnect this horrible service. We always paid a month in advance.
Our invoice was 324.00. My expectation was they would pro rate the cost and return 26 days on the invoice that WE ALREADY PAID. This is what I get for paying my bill on time. I was told "we cannot do that and will terminate your service at your next invoice and send the boxes for you to return the equipment and if you don't return the equipment within 30 days you will be charged for it. I was a good customer. Always paid on time. I don't understand why they are still in business!! Bad service. Worse business practices. Total bait and switch.
THE WORSE INTERNET AND CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!! I lowered my bill because I was paying a high amount for service for almost a year that sucks and did not hold up to their advertising, couldn’t work from home, kids couldn't load homework, and you can’t stream on it. I had the highest package offered knowing my family needed it, WASTE OF MONEY! I lowered the bill, got the same service. 2 months went by with the new payment and they decided to pull the previous amount out of my account, told me their system didn’t recognize the change but did confirm the agent changed my package to lower amount.
I asked for the difference to be refunded back to my account, and was told no! They blamed me and said because I didn’t call before they took I couldn't get the difference back! They did offer 40.00 of the over 100 dollar difference. I will be filing a complaint with the attorney general who handle consumer laws. RUN! You’re better off using your hotspot on your phone. I canceled my service!!!
Our first disappointment was that we could not use our land line with Viasat, as there is a one-half second delay, making conversations impossible. We had to go back to Centurylink, meaning another $50 a month due to Viasat's poor service. Then we found that our cell phone service was the same, a half-second delay, meaning that we we had to turn off wifi assist, using our weak T-Mobile signal for mobile service. Then we found that television service was weak at best, with the spiraling arrow in the middle of the screen that I suggested to them should be their company logo. We do not watch a lot of TV, only turning the set on late in the day and turning it off around 8PM, but still, we get the emails advising us that we have used up our service around the tenth of the month. I refuse to buy more, as it appears to me to be their business plan is to nickel and dime us for more service.
I am not a big NFL fan but was interested in the Bengals-Chiefs game, send so looked forward to watching it, but service was so intermittent that I turned it off and listened to the game on SXM who provides reliable service. I complained to the Better Business Bureau after that, as I suspected their signal was deliberately compromised that night to sell more "high speed" service, making a windfall. They of course, never responded to the complaint.
Some things they cannot control, like weather outages and the fact that geosynchronous satellites are 22,000 miles over the equator, creating a signal delay, meaning they cannot be used for phone service or gaming. Sale people do not tell you that, at least on phone service. But understand that if they can provide "high speed" service to all of us for ten days out of the month, they can provide it for the whole month and choose not to, just to create more revenue. I suspect their internal sales goal is to get $300-$500 out of each customer each month. Cannot wait for Starlink.
I am four months shy from canceling this awful internet service. It costs a fortune for buffering. It is dreadfully aggravating to be out of “high-speed internet” after a few days. It is a rip-off. You would be better off without internet services than throwing your money away on this crap. Viasat does not warrant one star.
BEWARE: A sales person outside of the US sold me ViaSat based on a money back guarantee and promised me speeds that were completely not true. After I called the main company, they told me that what the sales person told me was not true and that they couldn't honor the word of the Sales person. So basically I lost my money and they didn't want to cancel the contract. Very, Very Bad! I do not recommend them and you can't trust anything the sales reps tell you. They don't even work for the company as they are a 3rd party. Stay away! That's my advice.
Due to modern technology with 1080p and 4k you will use all your data(150gb) asap!!! I did not understand how much data is used to run a house with a 23yr, 16, 8, husband and wife. Do not get this they will not let you out the 2yr contract. NO 30 day trial!! I'm not buying more data. throttle speed was around .98mbps down and .2mbps up(after data gone). Very unhappy and canceled!!
I signed up for Viasat home service based on their assurance of quality service. They are the worse I have ever experience, customer service is poor to say the least and when I canceled they tried to con me out of a couple of hundred dollars. I told them when I agreed to the 2 yrs my exact word were, "Yes as long as the quality of service was as stated" - it was not. I also told them that they no longer have direct pay authority, they charged my account anyways which my bank was able to get my money back. Now two years later they have turned it over to collections.
This is the most horrible internet experience I have ever encountered and if I could give negative stars, I would. I signed up for service in June of 2022. The speed was slow and the latency was not working for my home office. I cancelled my service in October of 2022 once I discovered a mobile hotspot was 10x faster and was a much cheaper option. They provided a box for equipment return with an image instruction sheet showing what equipment was to be returned and how to pack it in the box. It could not have been easier to follow. All equipment was packed up and shipped. I paid my last invoice and everything was done.
Fast-forward to Monday, January 16th, 2023. I received a phone call from a debt collector saying I had an outstanding balance for non-returned equipment. I immediately disputed that claim and called Viasat to see why my account had been sent to collections in the first place. They informed me that the modem (last item packed at the top of the box, first item to be seen when box was opened) was not returned. I protested and the put my account in as an “ESCALATION” to figure out what happened and why that item did not get scanned back in.
On Thursday, January 19th, 2023, Viasat debited the balance out of my account anyway!!! No phone call, no prior authorization, no contact whatsoever. I called immediately. The customer service operator stated that, since it had already been sent through as a debit, it could not be recalled. My immediate question, why was my account debited BEFORE the outcome of the conclusion of the internal “ESCALATION”? She did not have an answer.
On Monday, January 23rd, 2023, I received yet ANOTHER phone call from a debt collector asking how I wished to take care of the outstanding balance toward this account. I am beyond angry at this point. Save yourself the trouble, get a cellular signal booster for your home and work with a hotspot. My apologies if you see this review on multiple platforms. I plan on posting to as many as I can find.
A customer service rep called me and once I said I was going to think about it they hung up me real quick. Not to mention lied about the service they provided and what was included with their internet. When I called back to speak with someone else, the woman insisted on getting my full name and contact information and I simply had a question. Ridiculous, I will never use this service or recommend. Absolutely horrible!! If there was less than 1 star I would have given it.
After purchasing Viasat I learned just how aggravating it can be to keep paying for Gigabites. No, you don't have to pay for that time if you don't mind a fuzzy picture on your screen, but the catch is paying in increments for more and more - a hassle and much more than the stated price. Then there is the customer service...very friendly people, but the service does not equal the veneer of courtesy. I have been waiting for five months for them to get the return box of the equipment to the right address, and they are now threatening to charge me $300 for not returning the equipment - they won't let you send it in another box. Don't get caught in this trap!
They have the worst internet service you will ever experience. You cannot stream movies as they stop constantly and have poor viewing quality. The service is intermittent and spotty. They are also overpriced! I had to spend almost $300 last month on internet because of their limited data plans. Then in cancelling their horrible service, they are charging me $160 + they want me to go on the roof to remove their equipment or will charge another $100. Do yourself a favor and NEVER use them! Worst experience w/ internet that I have ever had. Use unlimitedville.com. Cheaper and unlimited data w/ no contracts.
I cancelled my service in late November. They are still charging me in January stating they’ve “extended my disconnection” date. I finally had to call and say I needed to remove my payment method and they threatened to cancel my service and send me to collections. The internet was painfully slow and after spending 5 hours on various calls I cannot cancel my service. I would not advise them at all!
1. They use foreign telephone customer service that read from scripts. Most unhelpful.
3. Worst speed ever. I watch MAYBE 12 tv shows a month, and that used 60% of my data???? You have to be kidding me.
4. Installation was a communication nightmare. Took weeks for them to get it installed.
5. Did not get credit when signal was down for several months. Tech removed a part and said it was not needed. WTF. After removing part, it worked just fine.
6. If you like to watch that spinning dial on your TV screen lots, this is the service you want. Even when we DO NOT use all the data, it just spins, and spins, and spins, sometimes for over 2 minutes.
DO NOT RECOMMEND USING THIS SERVICE!!!
I have been using Viasat for over 2 years now (because it's either them or Hughesnet) and started having issues with connectivity so I called customer service and the First Lady I spoke to was great. Tried to help me as much as she could then I spoke with the supervisor on duty and at that point was told flat out to stop using my gaming systems and was also told that the only type of special offers was for new customers only to upgrade so therefore was basically told they don’t care how long I’ve been with the company. If I wanted higher gb then I’d have to pay almost double what I pay now which it would go from 179 to almost 400 a month and even then using my game systems I’d be out of data within a week of my plan refreshing and they no longer have “so called” unlimited plans which were never unlimited to begin with….
When I first got the internet the guy told me that it would work with most games just not games that needed higher speeds like call of duty and games that are full on pvp online games And then tonight 1/1/23 was told by a supervisor to stop using my new ps5 system period 'cause it won’t work with their internet except maybe a week or 2 each month. Absolutely do not use Viasat if you don’t have to…. Still do not understand how this company is associated with the space program but yet can’t do better with internet services for its customers.
We moved to a rural area. Viasat was chosen as our provider, as they "offered" speeds needed for gaming. Streaming was possible, much less gaming! A tech came out and "fixed" the problem. Not the case at all! Our ping was about a 65 when we needed around 700. What we were promised. We were immediately charged for a full month. $266 which is absurd because we had to use our hot spots if we even wanted to watch a movie. I called to cancel and was explaining my issue. The supervisor literally hung up on me and noted that I was rude. Are you kidding me? He would not let me speak. He talked over me and would not hear a word I was saying!
I called back and spoke with another supervisor who basically said "Sorry for your luck"! Not only do I have to pay to return this useless modem, but they won't come and pick up their own satellite!! Are you kidding me?! In this economy it's really sickening to promise and not deliver. I am sick to my stomach over this experience. Please don't make the same mistake we did!!
Up until 1.5 mos. ago it worked ok, but slow speeds etc. Now for some reason despite having techs out 3 times & 36 hours on hold w/ Viasat it works approx. 25% of the time now. I have spent hours and hours trying to get it resolved. I will be cancelling soon.
I have been a Viasat customer for about 5 years. I live in rural NC and we have no wired internet or even cell service where we live. For many years I had Hughes Net and then I changed to Viasat. The service from Viasat was about as good as could be expected for standard satellite internet but a couple of months ago, I changed to Starlink and that is where my issues with Viasat arose.
When I left Hughes net, they asked for their router back and I expected that from Viasat. But it turns out that Viasat also wants part of the satellite dish back as well. However the dish was installed where I cannot reach it. And I am disabled and am not able to climb a ladder to get to the part that they want. So I spoke to them and they said that if I did not send that back, I would be billed. Or they could send a technician out to take the part if I paid a fee of $95. My years of faithfully paying the $180 a month fee and the fact that I am disabled did not change any of that. I STRONGLY suggest that anyone considering Viasat think twice. Hughes net has similar service and is easier to work with and more considerate of their customers. Or Starlink may be a good option too. But I would sure avoid Viasat.
What a total waste of money. You pay for a plan and when that runs out no more tv for you. What is the point of paying for internet if you can't stream your TV? When I spoke to a rep at Hulu she said the latency number has to be under 50 to stream and that the internet provider could lower that number. Well of course this crappy company is about money not service. My service lasts about a week before it does nothing but buffers. You pay a monthly charge for 1 week of service. Rip off. I cancelled this service when they didn't want to help with the latency issue. Held hostage by ** internet. Bbb should look into their business.
Long story short as I’m getting tired of typing all this over and over again, I was told by 2 different people on a recorded call that I could use my own modem so I didn’t have to rent theirs every month. After the absolutely terrible and lazy install, I went and picked up my own modem. I hooked it up and it didn’t work. I called them and was then told I couldn’t use my own modem. So already that’s straight-up fraud times two on their part. I called them to come have the dish moved as it was out in the front of my house above my garage, practically in my rain gutter. They gave me a 3-hour window for a couple days later. The person called me with 10 minutes left and said he wasn’t paid so he’s not coming.
After that and many calls back and forth I decided to cancel their services. I was then informed I would have to pay $360 to do so and climb onto my roof to take down their equipment and send it back (liability issue for sending an untrained person onto the roof to dismantle their equipment?) or pay another $95 for them to come get it. I informed them I never was told about that cancellation fee and contract and I never signed anything. I’ve escalated the issue up as far as I could without getting the BBB and a lawyer involved but that is where it’s at now. I absolutely do not recommend this company for any service and they honestly deserve to be shut down after this experience and reading thousands of others similar to mine. Do not use them!
We transferred our internet service to Viasat a few years ago, because they claimed to provide better and faster service than our current provider. We found out quickly that this wasn’t the case. The service wasn’t faster. In fact, at times it was slower connection speeds and we had numerous instances of no service at all. When we tried to cancel due to this, they said we would be charged a termination fee, so we stayed with them until moving out of the area at the end of July, 2022 - at which time we called to terminate our service and paid the termination fee. They mailed us a box to return our equipment. The box we received did not have a return label on it. We’ve reached out to Viasat numerous times over the past few months, in an effort to get the equipment returned.
We were told several times that they were going to mail a new box, which we never received. We also told Viasat representatives several times that we were concerned that they were going to charge us for equipment that we'd been desperately trying to return. On October 28, 2022, they attempted to withdraw $315.39 from our account for the equipment. We sent an email the same day, again requesting that they resolve the situation. We received confirmation that they had received the email and would respond within 48 hours. To date, we’ve gotten no response to the email requesting resolution. We also wrote a review on their Facebook page hoping this would elicit a response. They deleted the comment and blocked us from further comments on the page.
We noticed that there were many comments almost identical to ours. Most of those were deleted as well. We did have the opportunity to screenshot multiple other comments from customers that have had the same experiences as us. Some returned equipment and were still charged. Many complaining of no response from Customer Service. A couple of days ago we received a letter from a collection agency demanding payment. We’ve done everything we could to return their equipment and feel their business practices are fraudulent and predatory, preying on people that they feel can do nothing to stop them.
Before signing up for Viasat, I asked the rep via text about the latency I could expect since that would determine my ability to stream programming. He told me no latency. I signed up and have been unable to stream adequately before and after they throttle me each month. Ran a speed check and it's okay, but the latency is ridiculously high, no wonder I can't stream. Stay away!
Terrible service! Costing me $184.58 internet per month. More than most companies or states. They take advantage that they are the only ones out here. High speed for only 12 days :-( They did not actually say there was an amount. Lies and Greed! Customer service is awful and to cancel they want me to pay $15 per month for a year and a half. Swindlers. This had been a horrible experience. My first and last with Viasat! Who’s running this company? Do they even know what’s happening at the lower levels?
I canceled service with them due to a separation from my husband and they charged me an early disconnection fee that I paid. Then they told me I would receive an equipment box to send back the equipment, but I was told that the piece on the actual satellite dish that they install would be retrieved by one of their technicians in the area, no problem.
I moved away and sent back the equipment with the box they gave me and now months later they charged my account stating I never returned the equipment and that their notes on the account say I told them I'm not responsible for the equipment and don't have to return it, which is an outright lie! I returned what they told me to return and now they are changing their words, saying I had to remove the piece of their satellite dish and send back as well. I can't reach the satellite and I don't know how to remove anything from it. I told them that's not my job and they said they would send someone out to remove it.
They have the worst customer service I've ever had to deal with and do not care about their customers. The supervisor I spoke with this morning by the name of Alain and wouldn't give me his last name or his boss's name until he finally told me. He was very dismissive of me. I paid them a lot of money when I had service with them and their service was horrible! I paid for the highest tier in order to work from home and I had to end up driving back into the office over an hour away during the pandemic.
This company has caused me so much stress and it's been several months since they last threatened to charge me for the equipment that I already returned! I have already put a complaint in with the BBB and of course Viasat told them I was rightfully being charged back then too, but they never charged me. Months later I wake up today to a $267 from them. How dare they do this to me when I did what they told me to do and returned the equipment in the box provided.
My ViaSat modem died so I call for a service appointment; this is after I spent an hour talking to technical support who finally agreed the modem stopped working. The service call was scheduled for within five days. On the fifth day, their field technical sent me a text stating that he doesn't have any equipment and would have to reschedule for another 5-day wait; silly of me to think a satellite internet company would have a spare modem around somewhere. I called Viasat to confirm this and said that I have no scheduled date for a service call. At this point, I am trying to restrain myself from pulling out the remaining few hairs on my head.
As it stands now, they have no equipment available and it's undermined when they will have the equipment and subsequently provide me with a service call. Fortunately, I recently received my Starlink package which works wonderfully, not even a hiccup setting it up. So whenever ViaSat has availability to service my location, I will use them as a backup ISP. But if you are searching for a new ISP provider, STAY AWAY FROM VIASAT!
I would give 0 stars for this review but the system will not take it. So they automatically get 1 star. Let me explain how these crooks do business. First, I've been a customer of Viasat for over 6 years. I've been on auto pay since the beginning so I've never had a past due bill. Beware, should you ever need to cancel their service, you must do it prior to your billing date. They will not disconnect your service in the middle of the month, unless you are past due. I called to cancel service because I have no use for it anymore now that my employer will no longer let me work from home.
I attempted to cancel in the middle of my billing cycle, and they refuse to disconnect and prorate the "pre-paid" month. They said it's in the fine print of the disconnection disclosure. I asked why they did not disclose this when I agreed to my contract and again said, because it's part of the disconnection disclosure. I asked for persons in higher positions that could make that decision, and wasn't able to get above manager level. I find this business practice extremely poor, unclear, and dishonest. I pray this eventually lands in court with a class action law firm. I would love to be part of that.
Without hesitation, I would recommend never placing your account on auto pay. The service is ok when comparing satellite internet service. It's slow - like all of them. The only one that's much faster and has no data caps is Starlink by SpaceX. Oh and Starlink only charges you for what you order. Disconnect whenever you want. Furthermore. I've been on a Viasat plan for years now that they no longer offer. It was to be a locked in price. Although they did honor that, my speeds dropped in the last two years. After several calls to Viasat about the lower speeds, I was told that my speeds are being throttled back because they want me to go on a new plan ($80.00 more a month to get the same speed and data I'm currently locked in to receive). Again - not very honest.
In conclusion, if you can't get any other internet, I guess this company will do in a pinch - but you better be careful cause this company has very slippery hands and will put it to you the first chance they get. If you're looking for fair internet service with a high price and shady customer service - this company is for you. If you're looking for exceptional satellite speeds at a reasonable price with excellent customer service, you should reach out and check Starlink. Even their RV service is faster and currently available without a wait, not to mention for just $10/month you can take the service with you wherever you go.
On the initial call the representative stated that it would be $69.99 for the internet service and failed to mention that this was only a 3 month promo and after it would cost $99.99 per month! Then they charged me for Phone service and easy care plan that I had not asked for or been made aware of which added another $30 to the monthly bill. For a spotty service that caps you at 60GB and gives you lower speed after, it's horrible and the only thing keeping me is the 2 year contract cancelation penalty!
Had Viasat installed in the second week of July. Day after it Was installed I called them because of the slow speeds and not being able to connect and when it did all it did was buffer see a few seconds back to buffering. In three days 60 gig was used and we never was able to get a usable connection. My son had to get a hotel room in order to work because you wasn't able to get a continuous connection to work from our house while visiting. Customer service is a the worst. They cannot deliver what they promise.
Don't waste your money or time on their internet services because it does not work as promised. They lock you out of your payment method so you cannot change it so they can charge your card for the first month's bill (117.21) and then another 323.18 with no bill or explanation. I called billing and asked for a copy of the bill and was told after 45 minutes on the phone that management approved my request for a copy of the bill but it would still take 7 to 14 days to email a copy of that 323.18 bill. They are a scam and customer service is a joke. Wish I would have researched them on this site and the BBB first.
I purchased the system in October of 2020. Did not do a lease, which I am now regretting. Paid about $95/month after all charges for the most basic Bronze plan. Speeds are amazingly slow at all times, anytime of the month. Most of the time we can barely stream, lots of loading. That is on a good day. We've used this service both for business (I'm an engineer) and streaming. Decided to switch to a cellular-based hotspot. The difference is incredible and it costs roughly 1/3 the price as Viasat. Here is why they are only getting 1 star: When I cancelled, they want me to return all the equipment I supposedly "purchased" or pay $300 which was how much I purchased everything for!!!! What??? And, $60 cancellation fee... What? I don't even have a contract because I paid for my service.
Clincher is they offered $50 off for 12 months when I tried to cancel... I refused. Then, they asked if I wanted to "hibernate" my account for $10/month. What?!?! Absolute ripoff in my opinion. I should have gone with HughesNet or any other service. Big NOTE: My Verizon hotspot will work pretty much anywhere there is some type of cell signal. Even 1 bar works. And they have antennas to help get a better signal.
ViaSat promises you the best thing since the slice of bread up front but the delivery of service, quality of product and overall speeds for the price is absolute **. Don't even think about signing up. This company is doomed.
Viasat Company Information
- Company Name:
- Viasat
- Formerly Named:
- Exede
- Website:
- www.exede.com
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