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Signed Contract vs Verbal Contract

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spy1611

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

Hello,

Sorry for such a long post, but I thought the whole story was necessary to explain the timeline. Here are the details to my question with more explanation below:
I want to know if I am able to terminate my contract with my security system company -

On 1/12/18:
Salesman/technician confirmed we had 6 months to decide if we liked the service or not (on video)
Salesman/technician agreed to include the garage controller in the agreed upon price, that a technician could be sent out again because he happened to not have any with him
Salesman/technician advised that if we wanted the agreed upon price we would have to accept the terms that day. That even though he did not have all the products offered, it would have to be today
Salesman/technician installed the products he had, activated the account, and advised that we would be receiving a call to schedule someone to come install the garage controller
I signed the 3 year contract

After the salesman/technician left - in further review of the contract I noticed the garage controller was not listed as one of the items purchased
I called the customer service line to have the issue resolve. Used descriptive terms such as "a device that allows me to open and close the garage door remotely"

On 1/13/18
Spoke with a different customer service representative used the same descriptive terms as before
Customer service rep agreed that the garage controller should have been listed in the contract
Customer service rep scheduled a technician to come on 1/17/18 to install the garage controller

On 1/17/18
The same salesman/technician installed a garage sensor
Salesman/technician confirmed that it was notated on my account to receive a garage controller once in stock

On 1/19/18
I spoke with a different customer service representative that confirmed with the manager of the area that home automation and specifically garage controllers are not available in my area
the customer service rep said that it must have been a miscommunication, that they were probably referring to the garage sensor the entire time
the Customer service rep explained that I was past the 3 day window to cancel and that there would be a termination penalty
He requested he have a chance to review the entire account with the manager of the area and his director and call me back the next day

On 1/20/18
The same customer service representative from 1/19/18 called me back and claimed again that there must have been some miscommunication and that he could not release me from the contract
I tried to reason with him and explain that I was certain I used the descriptive terms to ensure there was no miscommunication. And that I was told by the salesman/technician that we had 6 months
The customer service rep then conferred with the salesman/technician
The customer service rep claimed the salesman/technician was adamant that I was not offered a garage controller and that we were never told about a 6 month guarantee
I tried to reason with him again and explained that why if I was never offered a garage controller did the salesman/technician confirm that the request was on my account even after the sensor was installed. And that if the representative on the 2nd day did not promise to resolve the issue, I would have cancelled the account.
The customer service rep still claimed that he could not release me from contract at this time


I recently signed a contract with a home security system provider. After I rejected the initial price quoted, the salesman/technician asked "what can we do to get your business". Among other things we then negotiated for a lower price and additional product. One such requested product was from their terms a "Garage Controller". A device that allows you to remotely open and close your garage door. We were told he did not have the garage controller with him, but he could install everything else and have a technician come out again to install the garage controller at no additional charge. Concerned that we may never receive the missing product we confirmed with the salesman/technician that we have 6 month money back guarantee if we don't like it. He confirmed and we agreed to allow him to install and start the service.

Within a few hours of the technician/salesman leaving, I noticed that in the contract the garage controller, the item he "did not have with him" was not listed as an item purchased on the contract. I called the customer service line that evening and explained the situation. After having to wait until the next morning for the proper customer service person to be available, I then explained the situation again. At this time the customer service representative over the phone apologized for the situation and agreed that the salesman/technician should have included the item in the initial contract. The rep on the phone then scheduled for a technician to come out and install the missing item.

When the technician/salesman arrived for the second time (it happened to be the same gentleman), now 6 days from the initial install, he explained that there must have been some miscommunication on the end of his customer service rep, because he was sent to install a different product than the one requested. He then explained that the company is out of stock of the garage controllers, but that he will install a different product (a sensor) in the meantime until they receive more garage controllers in stock. He also confirmed that it is already notated on our account to receive said garage controller once in stock.

Waiting two more days I noticed that the charges taken out of my bank account were not the changes we agreed upon. Calling the customer service line again, I wanted to also confirm that it is noted on my account to receive the aforementioned garage controller. At this time the phone representative relayed that the garage controllers I am requesting are not even an option to be installed in my area. That the supporting home automation service, for such an item is not even available where I live. He reached out to the technicians manager and at which time told me that it must have been a miscommunication. That they (the previous phone representatives and the in home salesman/technician) were referring to the sensor the entire time.

Between not having the products I am interested in and the, not even discussed, incorrect charges, I requested that my account be cancelled and I be refunded all the money. At which time the phone rep explained that I had already passed the 3 day no penalty cancellation term, per the contract. That if were to terminate the contract there would be a penalty worth 75% of the 3 year contract. I then tried to reason with him; that why if it was a miscommunication, that when the sensor was already installed, did the technician then confirm that it is notated on my account to receive a garage controller once in stock. He then placed me on hold so he could speak with the technician directly. He then came back and explained that the technician was adamant that I was never offered a garage controller and that he never mentioned a 6 month money back guarantee, therefore he would not be able to release me from the contract without penalty. I tried to reason with him more, that on the phone and with the in home salesman/technician I was certain that due to the fact that I was not sure on the technical term, I described the garage controller as a product which allowed me to open and close the garage door remotely. That he could pull my previous calls, listen to them to ensure that I used those descriptive terms. My reasoning to him was that when I spoke to the representative over the phone after the technician left the first time, if I was not told I would be provided a technician to come back out and install the garage controller, I would have cancelled at that time. At which time I would have been within the 3 days, no matter what the salesman/technician claims about the 6 months guarantee. He still would not release me from contract without penalty.

With all that said, I have on video most of what was discussed with the salesman/technician before we agreed to allow him to install the items in our home. We were out in the garage and not on camera when we discussed the description of what I wanted in a garage controller. But I am fairly certain it will be recorded by the business what my description of a garage controller was when I called on 1/12 and 1/13.
I do however, have on tape the amount agreed upon and the salesman/technician confirming to my question of "and then, 6 months money back if we don't like it, then we don't want to go with it, is that the way it goes?" his response "yeah, if your not happy, even if you don't like me"

What are my options?
Does it matter that I have the recording of what we discussed about the 6 month guarantee?
Does it matter that I would have cancelled on 1/13 if I wasn't under the impression that the issue could be resolved?
Does it matter that I was not given the product that we discussed even though when I signed the contract I did not notice it was not included?

thanks,
 


PayrollHRGuy

Senior Member
I'll be willing to bet that the written contract has some verbiage in it to the effect of "This agreement is the entire agreement and not verbal..."

That is generally going to mean that if isn't in the agreement it means nothing and you signed the agreement.

3 day cooling off period is sort of standard.


I have one question. Why does anyone need an ongoing contract for a garage door?
 

spy1611

Junior Member
I'll be willing to bet that the written contract has some verbiage in it to the effect of "This agreement is the entire agreement and not verbal..."

That is generally going to mean that if isn't in the agreement it means nothing and you signed the agreement.

3 day cooling off period is sort of standard.


I have one question. Why does anyone need an ongoing contract for a garage door?

The contract is for the home automation and the security monitoring system as a whole. The garage door controller was the product we were initially interested in since we had recently been robbed, when someone in our household accidently left the garage door open. It is the product we would have gone with another provider for, if we knew it was not available by them and wasn't not only led to believe that it was a possibility, but was also told we would be receiving one.
 

PayrollHRGuy

Senior Member
One would think that you would have mentioned what the entire service was for in that huge amount of text you posted. But OK.

Does the contract have the verbiage I mentioned?
 

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