Unexpectedly terrible GAC pocket router experience

Hi all,
I used Reddit and this particular subreddit to gather intel on WiFi routers and ended up selecting Global Advanced Communications: they had great reviews from other travelers and good price. I wanted to share my ongoing experience with them as it may help someone make decisions in similar situations. Here goes the saga.

TL;DR: shipped one router, didn’t work. Shipped another one, didn’t work differently. I made it work by using battery and SIM card of different routers: worked, but GAC got mad. I got pissed; to be continued.

INTRO: PICKING UP AND DIAGNOSING THE ROUTER

My trip to Japan is a multi-city, 3-week itinerary, so I opted for a WiFi router; I went with my partner so I wanted her to be able to use the internet too.

I have made an order online which was convenient and received the confirmation thereafter. I chose to pick up the device in Narita airport where I was supposed to land. When the time approached, they’ve sent me a shipping confirmation saying that my router has been dispatched to Narita and specifying the pickup spot. They dispatched it timely, and the pick up spot’s Google Maps listing said they’d be open after the time I land. All this made me feel confident.

The pick up was smooth, and I decided to open the box with the device right away to get online and figure my logistics. The box contained the device, the charger, and an envelope to send the device back, which is also convenient.
When trying the router I noticed it had low charge, and after 10-20 minutes of usage the router died and wouldn’t turn back on, as well it didn’t react to charging attempts from my power bank and any outlets. By testing the GAC charger with my phone I understood that the router itself was at fault: probably someone just plugged it in and threw into the box to ship without testing.

PART I. REPLACEMENT ONE

I wrote an email to GAC; it was Sunday so they came back to me on Monday and sent the replacement that arrived in two days. They also refunded me a couple of days of service.

I was lucky that my Airbnb host had a WiFi router to she has kindly allowed to take out (thank you Airin!!!) so meanwhile I was able to use internet with a functioning router, NOT by GAC.

As I stayed in Airbnb, GAC couldn’t ship the replacement right to the apartment – I had to go and pick it up in a post office. I was not too excited about it, cause it would take time from my holiday, but I was curious to check the local post office out. The pick up was smooth and post office folks were very helpful and respectful.
Identically to the previous delivery, I decided to open it up right away.

PART II. REPLACEMENT TWO

As you probably guessed from the length of this post, dear reader, the replacement router also didn’t work.

Unlike the previous one, it held the charge OK, but it wouldn’t connect to the internet at all.
Luckily, I still had my host’s router, but the checkout time was approaching as I had to leave to Kyoto. It was weekend when I was taking the trip, and communication with GAC continued after I arrived to Kyoto. GAC doesn’t offer support over the weekend, which is understandable, but I was super annoyed by the perspective of not having connection and translation in a foreign and complex country such as Japan. (Spoiled by tech, I know, but I also like my stuff according to plan).

PART III. HACKING ROUTERS TOGETHER

GAC recommended me various procedures of resetting the 2nd router, including taking the battery and the SIM out. I’ve done all that, still no connection. I was beginning to get impatient cause all that was eating away the time from my holiday and making the trip less convenient due to having to connect to public WiFi spots to check the map. Annoying! I asked GAC if the SIM was active, and they’ve confirmed it was. That was the end of our joint investigation that led to only one possible outcome: replacement number three T_T

But wait… Taking the battery out? I already forgot that some mobile devices used to have replaceable batteries.

This gave me an idea of taking the working SIM from the first router and the battery from the second, placing it into the first router which had earlier successfully connected to the internet. Effectively I was compiling working components of GAC’s broken tech into one piece that would hopefully work…

And voila! It work ed.
I was happy as this headache-provoking crap has ended. I notified GAC to assure they don’t need to send me a third replacement and headed out to see Kyoto’s Gion at sunset. I said I’d let them know how it will perform further.

PART IV. ANGRY GAC (and angry me)

I ignored my email for that evening but enjoyed good connectivity from GAC for the first time, 7 days after I was supposed 5o get it. i checked my inbox back at my stay to find out that GAC was incredibly upset with me swapping SIMs in the routers. They’ve asked me to NOT SWITCH THE SIM CARD (in caps) and repeated it few times, which made me believe it was a big deal. They didn’t explain why, but they insisted that I was renting the items, so I am not allowed to switch the SIM cards

Also they’ve suggested to send me a new router (for the third f***ing time), which would arrive on 8th of march (9 days after my initial pick up).

That was the tipping point for me. Not only they were unable to provide a functioning device in 2 attempts (test before you ship, yo) but also they didn’t explain the reasons. (I assume pure bureaucracy, but happy to comply.)
Also the regular customer should not have to deal with complexity like this, this is expected to just work.

PART V. STATUS FOR TODAY
I think it’s pretty fair to say that they have failed to provide their core advertised service to me, after 2 attempts. They’ve also lost any credibility, and I have no reason to believe their 3rd device won’t be a waste of time (what are the chances, huh).

I’ve proposed that they refund me full period of rental and I ship the devices back to them, or they let me keep devices in current configuration that works, and I make sure that correct SIM card is placed in respective broken router upon return.
Will post here what they’d reply 🙂