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Coping While Manipulated in Business contracts

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I love roses

Well-Known Member
Internet and bundled TV is handled by a contract company of a parent company. Contract just ended. Been trying to get them to disconnect my service three months. Instead they try to keep me but offer bad deals. I can’t process all their manipulation.They slammed me with a contract without my approval. It took me three months but finally negotiated a decent deal that was similar to what I started with. Was on phone to them last two days. I am exhausted. It is like I Have PTSD just knowing I may have to call them. They talk in circles, don’t speak with accent I can understand. Do not recap all the charges.If I ask them to speak more clearly they talk faster and over pronounce consonants and make it worse. So finally I mocked her back and said, you sound like this, very staccato. Can you just talk with your regular pronounciation but slower? Then she talked like a normal person totally perfectly. I won in the end, ( I think ). But I told them if they couldn’t do better that not only would i cut everything off but that they would never woo me back for any reason. Does anyone cope better dealing with bully companies? What can I do?
 
A little off topic, but I wouldn’t throw PTSD around so lightly. That’s nothing like what you’re describing right now.
 
I love roses said:
Does anyone cope better dealing with bully companies? What can I do?
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On a psychological level? No. Not unless you have an attorney on retainer to bully them with their letterhead on a formal complain in writing. It's always amusing how much you can potentially get out of a lawyer acting in your stead. But then we're also talking about $450 an hour or more. Not an option for most folks.

IMO we're all at the mercy of such companies, depending on how they operate. Where the first thing to consider is whether there are competitors in your area who do not require the signing of a contract. Those are the ones to consider first. Where pricing may be temporary, but the terms will likely be spelled out in terms of how long, and how much prices increase after so much time passes. You don't have to like their pricing and services, but at least you're likely to know where you stand.

However if you opt to go with an entity that requires a contract, you may experience grief not only at the end of the contract, but perhaps during it as well. Especially if you choose to terminate services in whole or in part. And to bear in mind their customer service representatives are likely to be trained to be as cursory as possible. Don't expect them to verbally get down to the fine print of the contract they really don't want you know about. Whatever it takes to get you to commit to contractual terms. After that, it's too late to really negotiate.

About the only thing in general is to force the issue of time. That is, not to commit to anything because someone else is attempting to rush you. Proceed at your own pace regardless of how much pressure they try to apply. Stand your ground as long as you haven't signed anything. That much you can do.
 
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Judge said:
On a psychological level? No. Not unless you have an attorney on retainer to bully them with their letterhead on a formal complain in writing. It's always amusing how much you can potentially get out of a lawyer acting in your stead. But then we're also talking about $450 an hour or more. Not an option for most folks.

IMO we're all at the mercy of such companies, depending on how they operate. Where the first thing to consider is whether there are competitors in your area who do not require the signing of a contract. Those are the ones to consider first. Where pricing may be temporary, but the terms will likely be spelled out in terms of how long, and how much prices increase after so much time passes. You don't have to like their pricing and services, but at least you're likely to know where you stand.

However if you opt to go with an entity that requires a contract, you may experience grief not only at the end of the contract, but perhaps during it as well. Especially if you choose to terminate services in whole or in part. And to bear in mind their customer service representatives are likely to be trained to be as cursory as possible. Don't expect them to verbally get down to the fine print of the contract they really don't want you know about. Whatever it takes to get you to commit to contractual terms. After that, it's too late to really negotiate.

About the only thing in general is to force the issue of time. That is, not to commit to anything because someone else is attempting to rush you. Proceed at your own pace regardless of how much pressure they try to apply. Stand your ground as long as you haven't signed anything. That much you can do.
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They are the only company in my area. I had to resort to threatening to call the Better Business Bureau and other entities and quote each rep by name, date and time. I live in a high poverty area and am on fixed income. I need internet to stay tethered to my church and local events I attend are announced on TV. They do not post them on line. Many people have gone to internet only and use Netflix. But I don't watch TV at all except to find out what events are in my community. I am Isolated. Do not have local family. Having it is not for pleasure. Having it is to stay connected socially. I’m disabled. I can’t afford multimedia for basic service that is higher than a car payment!!!! I can’t be “ at their mercy” because I have no income to cover it and it is my lifeline connection to other humans like you guys and if someone dies in my church or needs help I must have email through internet from my priest. I don’t want internet on a smart phone. It is the same gouging procedure. I like my $15 phone, not a $1,000 phone.So yes, it is distressing!
 
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I love roses said:
They are the only company in my area.
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That's the worst. When they function as a monopoly because in their view they simply can.

Here we have them and their primary competitor. They attack each other every day with television advertising, as if they were running for office.

Of course even their competitor tries to get me to accept low cost two-year deals with much more programming. But at the end of those two years then you have to pay the regular rate and they clean up. So I simply avoid those temptations and stick with basic/expanded cable.

Seems just about everybody is attempting to squeeze more cash out of their customers. Like advertising that Patrick Stewart will be on CBS' pay tv channel. So what? I'm not paying more money to watch select CBS programming. Period.
 
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Actually, In Brownwood Texas Verizon sold them off To Frontier. They slowed everyone’s high speed internet to a crawl and raised the bill. So the City Economic Developement kicked them out of the entire town and brought in another company because they couldn’t do business. That how “ mercy of the company” the company pushed it.
 
Exactly! They have reps in India. They are not a mix of races like a regular call center. they all have Indian names and speak with that accent so the reps are not even US citizens. They are highly educated middle class or better people from india. And the front company is At&T but they contracted off to an Indian Company.Because we let them. So when I get over my trauma because I let my house go to nothing. I’m going to explain the problem to my mayor and my governor. GMAC wants to start offering a service where you can lease your leased car so they can take a cut and charge you more to lease it. Do you want Car companies to start subleasing your personal family car????? Do y’all want me to google and find the link? I saw it on TV. There is not end to what they will do to our country. They are destroying it!
 
Cactus said:
I write to bully companies. I'm much better at writing than I am at talking.
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Can you find Email, snail mail, phone number to Ceo of At&t, Randall L. Stephenson? The gouging company is a contract firm they use called Uverse. He is probably aware how terrible it is but I want to make sure he knows.
 
I love roses said:
And the front company is At&T but they contracted off to an Indian Company.
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Somehow I just knew that name would come up in this thread. :mad:

My least favorite business entity on the planet. The one to avoid if you live here.

They just solicited me again today. Of course I just filed their letter in the trashcan.
 
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I decided not to call him. I found an article where someone called him and they referred him to their legal department and took action against the consumer for making a call to their CEO. We have been having trouble with our towers for phone as well. So i’m just going to mention the issues to City hall and see if they want to negotiate with more companies for our service area.I got my bill lowered for 12 months so hopefully everything will be fine for now.
 
He was actually came from Cingular and they were a great company. All these companies say they can’t make money, that they have to raise prices to cover costs. Maybe because they are siphoning off huge stock pay outs and keeping it broke from the top.
 
I love roses said:
They used to be a decent company. Guess they have greed fever.
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Greed fever. Haha! A lot of that going around these days! But on topic, I went without internet two years. It was peaceful. Hard,but peaceful. If it caused me that stress, I would do it again. Not saying it is a solution, but life is hard enough. I can check email (and Aspie Central!) at the library or public places with wifi on phone
 
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