Nomad Internet: A Customer Cautionary Tale of Accountability in the Subscription Economy

Like many of us who took to the road during the pandemic, I relied on a variety of services to keep me connected while living and working in an RV. One of those services was Nomad Internet. We initially had a positive experience with their SIM-based internet offering – unlimited data, plug-and-play with my iPad, no modem required. It was convenient, effective, and ideal for working from the Airstream during longer stretches of travel once we moved into the floating home.

So, when we planned another mobile work stint in January of 2024, renewing the service seemed like a no-brainer. Unfortunately, this year it turned into a months-long lesson in how broken customer service and accountability have often become forgotten in today’s technology market.  This especially in an era where subscriptions dominate our lives and access to digital infrastructure is no longer a luxury, but a necessity.

In January 2025, Nomad underwent what appeared to be a change in ownership or management. The details were vague, but things started to go sideways almost immediately. I received a notification about a new SIM upgrade and a revamped customer portal. The new SIM card arrived at the end of January, but I couldn’t log in to the portal to manage my account. Autopay failed silently, and I began receiving delinquent “action required” emails—meanwhile, Nomad kept reassuring users that the portal issues were temporary, even offering a gift certificate to make up for the challenges.

As I continued to receive emails informing me that I wasn’t performing necessary actions in the portal or paying my account, I contacted Nomad via their preferred channels of chat and phone support. Multiple support sessions later, it became clear that conversations weren’t being tracked. Each time I reached out, I had to explain everything from scratch. So, as a tech professional who deals with data security every day, I switched to documenting everything in writing.

By February 19, I had a formal support ticket open. What followed was a level of negligence that moved from frustrating to ethically troubling. The “solution” I received was access credentials to someone else’s account – yes, someone else’s email and password – as a workaround. That alone raised a giant red flag. I refused and again asked to cancel my account, both in writing and via phone. No one could tell me how to cancel. They just kept asking why I wanted to.  In the meantime, my official login and password, still cached in my browser, began to work again and I was able to interact with support in the new portal.  It was obvious to most anyone, that upgrades were happening in the system as time went by, as my autopay with the original process also began to work and my March payment suddenly worked, even though I was still receiving lack of payment for February??

After weeks of circular conversations and ongoing email responses without resolution, I was finally sent a cancellation link on April 17. The instructions required returning a modem to complete – which I had proof via email receipts and my account inventory confirmed didn’t exist.  The official cancellation process could not be completed without the modem model and serial number, which meant I still had an unresolved situation. Both ticket and phone call support staff were unable to respond with a resolution when I raised the discrepancy in the cancellation process.  The last phone call with support promised me resolutions, an email confirmation of my subscription/account cancellation and no more requests for payment or modem.  I’d seen other customers report this promise in complaints though, so I backed everything up, took screenshots, and braced for impact and of course, it also happened to me.

Despite multiple escalations, phone calls, and tickets:

• My account remained open.

• Charges for services I never received still showed as owed.

• All my tickets were closed without resolution.

• I received one automated email stating my case had been escalated to Billing—but no closure, no confirmation, no accountability.

So I acted.

1. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). I quickly discovered I wasn’t alone – dozens of others reported similar horror stories.

2.  I backed up all information from my account and took pictures of all proof of what had transpired.

3. I canceled my credit card after learning many former customers had continued being charged post-cancellation.

4. I filed a dispute with my bank for services not rendered – and won.

5. I opened yet another support ticket demanding my account be closed, and that all previous tickets remain part of the record.

You can read the BBB reviews for yourself here:
🔗 Nomad Internet BBB Reviews

The Moral of More than Just the Story

This isn’t just a personal rant. This is about a growing pattern across industries—companies making it deliberately difficult to cancel services, get support, or hold them accountable when they fail to deliver. It’s not just inconvenient anymore. It’s unethical.  As someone who works in technology, I expect better. I understand that systems break. Portals go down. Transitions happen. But intentional opacity? Dodging responsibility? Sharing someone else’s credentials as a fix? That’s not a service issue. That’s a breach of trust.  We’re living in a time when the average consumer is completely at the mercy of corporations, many of which operate with impunity once they’ve secured your payment method. It’s no longer just “buyer beware”—it’s “buyer be ready to fight.” And frankly, I’m tired of fighting.

What happened to customer service? To integrity? To accountability. At this point, my list of companies I won’t do business with is longer than those I trust. And I know I’m not alone. It’s time to demand better—because the cost of doing nothing is being normalized into silence, even when the service is broken.

Just something to think about this Friday afternoon.