$50 charge from spot

[jimh]

I just cancelled my both my Spot and my Globalstar sat phone this past week. The spot seemed to become unreliable and I was never sure if my messages were actually getting through, more and more often they were not. The Sat phone spent most of it's time searching for service even though I usually only tried using while out in the middle of the lake to make sure there was a clear line of sight to the sky with no obstructions. Even then I would usually have to travel sometimes miles on the lake to find a signal only to have the call dropped within the first two minutes. I had 1200 minutes available so I was never concerned about how many minutes I used but after the year I'll bet I used less than 30 minutes. I can tolerate poor service to a certain degree knowing I had chosen the cheapest option out there but when they both went up over 50% in one year it's time to move on. I will be buying the InReach and renting an Iridium phone to try it and see how it performs were the Globalstar phone failed. Hopefully it performs well enough to justify purchasing it as well as I really like the phone option as I'm building my trapping cabin and will be spending even more time in the bush. Peace of mind for the wife at home is a good thing. Jim

[Ry151]

After using spots (gen 1 2 and 3) I switched to inreach and there really is no comparing the two units. If spot is all you can afford than it's better then nothing in my opinion. This year I went back bunching for the summer and was in camp with no cell service. I can leave my inreach against a window and i can send and receive messages with it in the cab and also will also send and receive messages inside my travel trailer

[hunter1947]

I had my spot cost go up 100.00 what a crock I got ahold of them they said they added track back to my account I said I don't want track back they said that's the way it is if you don't want track back then cancel your account I sent a few more messages to them the only good thing that was good for me is they gave me a 30.00 off on my next years payment I need the spot because I am out in the mountains 70% of the time in a calendar year..

[hunter1947]

After using spots (gen 1 2 and 3) I switched to inreach and there really is no comparing the two units. If spot is all you can afford than it's better then nothing in my opinion. This year I went back bunching for the summer and was in camp with no cell service. I can leave my inreach against a window and i can send and receive messages with it in the cab and also will also send and receive messages inside my travel trailer

The inreach is the way to go but little costly for me..

[hunter1947]

I had a friend in my hunting camp this fall the inreach worked very good for him and the good thing is you can pay for 3 months for use or other meaning if you want onley 4 months you pay for the four months the cost is 40.00 a month then when you don't need the insearch the other months you don't pay nothing till you need the inreach again

[gamer]

I received no emails from spot except to say my card was expired so subscription was not renewed. I usually get the $99 rate for my Gen 2. Today i look at my bank accounts and there is a $220 charge on my card?????????
Apparently they no longer offer the $99 package so they kindly just upgraded it without giving me the option to decline.
I just cancelled and got a refund and will not be using Spot again.

I was told because it is a safety device they can not stop the subscription without customers direction. If i was relying on it for safety I would sure as hell be checking its use at home before leaving on a trip and would find out then if it had expired.