Verizon(for business)

[momofrose]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

Our company has been using Verizon (for business) for the last two years - the phone bills are VERY high (we have unlimited calling for 5 of the 8 lines). In any case - we were approached by Cavalier and their proposal is very enticing.

When I phoned Verizon asking then to lower their rates based on comparison shopping, I was advised that we had a three year term contract. I was shocked - I had no idea.

When I asked for a copy of the contract I was told that there was no contract - that it was a verbal agreement. I then checked with my finance manager to see if anything was denoted on the bills that related to a three year term agreement - nothing does. I phoned Verizon back and advised them that we have no record of any agreement and are thinking of switching carriers. With that I was told that if we (our company) switched before November 2010, would then be retro-billed at a higher rate of $.31 per line per month for the last 24 months (month to month rate) vs $.23 that we had been billed under a three year term agreement. I was then advised that the fact that we have and had a $.23 per line rate denotes a three year agreement.

When pressed further, I now find out that the person who's name Verizon has as agreeing to a three year term is an outside consultant that we used two years ago for various functions. he was never an employee nor did he have authority to act as such.

So - now my question is - being that the agreement they have is between them and a person that was not an employee of our company - can the contract be null and voided? Also - do I have a leg to stand on with regard to the retro billing they want to hit us for?

Thanks for any insight.

D"

 

[racer72]

When pressed further, I now find out that the person who's name Verizon has as agreeing to a three year term is an outside consultant that we used two years ago for various functions.

How much did this outside consultant cost? Anything above a penny made him an "employee" and by paying this person you may have accepted conditions of his services which included the cell phone service. You need to look at the contract you signed with this consultant and see what you agreed to.

 

[momofrose]

How is he an employee when he was issued at 1099?

 

[Zigner]

How much did this outside consultant cost? Anything above a penny made him an "employee" and by paying this person you may have accepted conditions of his services which included the cell phone service. You need to look at the contract you signed with this consultant and see what you agreed to.

Racer -

We've hired many outside consultants that were not employees. Can you clarify this?

 

[Adalaide78]

Forget the was or wasn't an employee stuff for a minute. You hired a consultant for "various functions." At any time was one of this consultant's functions to deal with Verizon in any way?

 

[momofrose]

I guess in a way - yes - we were moving offices at the time and part of his job was to coordinate the move. Apparently he agreed to something that we did not know about (3 year term). So we are stuck?

 

[Adalaide78]

I can't be sure, but it's possible. Verizon may have renegotiated any contract you had with them previously when service was moved, or if it was new service set up at that time a contract would have been a requirement for them to start providing service. If you aren't facing any fees just for the termination of service, going back to the beginning of the contract and charging the standard rate instead of the rate you got in exchange for the contract does sound normal. Regardless of the number of lines a business has, AT&T will assign a specific rep to each company or use an area rep for small companies, find out if Verizon does this as well. If you can get a single point of contact with them it will help you out tremendously to find out exactly how you ended up in this situation. That information may help you get out of it.

 

[momofrose]

Thanks

We have asked Verizon to come out and have a meeting with us - but believe it or not- they do not "do that". they have freelancers that come out but (per Verizon) - they will not have the info on our account as Verizon would.

I was told that I have to deal with Verizon (if I choose to) only by phone and emails.

I understand what you mean about the retro $$ - I guess what sticks in my craw is that we had no idea we were paying a three year term rate and feel it is unfair for them to back charge us now. The rate we had was what I thought was a month to month.

My other point is that there i nothing on any of their bills (invoices) that denote that the rate we were being billed was a contractual rate. How do I really know that this back charge is valid?

thanks again!

 

[Adalaide78]

Once the initial contract is negotiated there is no obligation for a company to inticate in an ongoing basis the terms of the contract. It's unfortunate that Verizon does not assign liasons as single contact points with their customers. You could try talking to them about cutting back your service, maybe dropping a few lines and see if that would be within the terms of the contract. If the offer by another company is really great it may be worth the money to just go ahead and switch. I would go through all of your bills and find out exactly how much it would cost you to cancel then decide if it is worth it or not. It could come down to being as simple as how much you'll save vs. the cost of switching. Also find out if they offer 2 year contracts and how much you would have paid with that since it looks like you'd be at the end of that now. Maybe you can negotiate a lower fee for termination of service this way.

 

[racer72]

Racer -

We've hired many outside consultants that were not employees. Can you clarify this?

That is why I posted the word as "employee" in quotes. Would a better word have been agent? It does appear the OP "hired" the consultant to do work for her and for the past 2 years accepted the results of the consultants work. That is also why I questioned the OP about a contract that specified what the consultant could and couldn't do.