Forgery of contract documents and signatures and Early Termination Fees
Complaint
C-Citman
Country: United States
Beware of Comcast and Comcast Business!
Last year I leased a small office space to conduct some work and found I was limited to only two Internet providers: AT&T and Comcast. I started with AT&T but I soon found out that they couldn't service the address so I then proceeded to contact Comcast business. I explained to the sales rep that I had a one-year lease on the building and didn’t want any long-term contracts. I just needed Internet connectivity at the address and could commit to one year.
They told me it was no problem, but that I should sign up for not only cable Internet but also TV and a phone line in order to keep the costs down. I told them I didn’t need anything but Internet and was told, I didn’t have to use the other services but to get a reasonable rate that I had to sign up for them as well. I reluctantly agreed and the service was installed.
I only had minimal issues with the quality of service, no major complaints other than a few outages during the past nine months which I dealt with accordingly.
At the end of last month, I decided to discontinue use of the office and began disassembling my workspace. Knowing that I was only nine months into a one-year deal with Comcast I fully expected to pay for a few extra months of service when I disconnected the Internet.
I called Comcast customer care and explained the situation; that I was discontinuing the use of the space and wished to terminate the Internet service. I was told that’s no problem but I would have to sign a voluntary disconnection document which they would send me via e-mail. Shortly after the call, I received an e-mail from Comcast for the disconnection and a little bit later in the evening, I sat down at the computer to take care of the paperwork. When I looked at the document I just about fell out of my chair! The early termination fee listed for the account was $1,216.94. This couldn’t be right - - I only had 3 months of $91.00 left to pay, so I decided to call them back the next day and sort out this mistake.
After being transferred multiple times I ended up with an agent in the “retention department”. Although this person was very friendly, she insisted that I had a 36-month contract for the Internet service. I disagreed and explained to her that there is no way I would agree to a 36-month contract on a space that I leased for 1 year. She insisted that is what was “on her computer”. I was starting to get upset at this point, but I told her that I never signed any kind of contract especially not a 36 month one. I told her I expected to pay for a few extra months but that was it – maybe $200-$300 at most. After a bit of back and forth, I finally asked her to escalate the call to her supervisor. She replied that she was the supervisor and there was nobody else to talk to about this and that I will have to either pay the early termination fee, ride out the rest of the 36-month contract or get someone to take over the contract. I lost it at this point and told her that I most definitely am not paying them for any more than what I agreed to (1-year) and that I’d like to see some sort of proof that I have a contract with them for 36-months.
The rep said she would send me the contract (which she did) showing that I was indeed in a contract term of 36-month. What she sent me is simply unbelievable. Comcast has a document that states there is a 36-month agreement at the service address, but my name is nowhere to be found in the document. Furthermore, only my last name is printed (two times in a row) at the bottom of the document with a signature that isn’t mine. My correct name is missing, my signature is missing and I never agreed to such a contract with this company.
I replied back to the rep two weeks ago stating all of this. I returned the equipment to Comcast via UPS (with a tracking number). I also made sure my account was paid to the current date. In my e-mail to the rep I told her that the document she sent was proof that I did NOT have a contract with them for the 36-month term because my name does not appear on the document nor does my signature. I asked that the account be closed and I told them that I was done with them.
Today, I received another bill from Comcast business, and I am assuming they are ignoring my communication to them regarding forged document they sent me as proof. I am not paying this amount or any other amount they decide to bill me and I am trying to figure out my next steps—considering there really is NO contract I don’t believe I owe them anything at this point.
I am convinced the sales rep forged my name (incorrectly) on the paperwork for this account—not sure what to do except document this experience but I can only spend so much time. I suppose if it comes down to getting lawyers involved Comcast doesn’t have any proof but my time is valuable and retaining an attorney for something like this would take money upfront.
Last year I leased a small office space to conduct some work and found I was limited to only two Internet providers: AT&T and Comcast. I started with AT&T but I soon found out that they couldn't service the address so I then proceeded to contact Comcast business. I explained to the sales rep that I had a one-year lease on the building and didn’t want any long-term contracts. I just needed Internet connectivity at the address and could commit to one year.
They told me it was no problem, but that I should sign up for not only cable Internet but also TV and a phone line in order to keep the costs down. I told them I didn’t need anything but Internet and was told, I didn’t have to use the other services but to get a reasonable rate that I had to sign up for them as well. I reluctantly agreed and the service was installed.
I only had minimal issues with the quality of service, no major complaints other than a few outages during the past nine months which I dealt with accordingly.
At the end of last month, I decided to discontinue use of the office and began disassembling my workspace. Knowing that I was only nine months into a one-year deal with Comcast I fully expected to pay for a few extra months of service when I disconnected the Internet.
I called Comcast customer care and explained the situation; that I was discontinuing the use of the space and wished to terminate the Internet service. I was told that’s no problem but I would have to sign a voluntary disconnection document which they would send me via e-mail. Shortly after the call, I received an e-mail from Comcast for the disconnection and a little bit later in the evening, I sat down at the computer to take care of the paperwork. When I looked at the document I just about fell out of my chair! The early termination fee listed for the account was $1,216.94. This couldn’t be right - - I only had 3 months of $91.00 left to pay, so I decided to call them back the next day and sort out this mistake.
After being transferred multiple times I ended up with an agent in the “retention department”. Although this person was very friendly, she insisted that I had a 36-month contract for the Internet service. I disagreed and explained to her that there is no way I would agree to a 36-month contract on a space that I leased for 1 year. She insisted that is what was “on her computer”. I was starting to get upset at this point, but I told her that I never signed any kind of contract especially not a 36 month one. I told her I expected to pay for a few extra months but that was it – maybe $200-$300 at most. After a bit of back and forth, I finally asked her to escalate the call to her supervisor. She replied that she was the supervisor and there was nobody else to talk to about this and that I will have to either pay the early termination fee, ride out the rest of the 36-month contract or get someone to take over the contract. I lost it at this point and told her that I most definitely am not paying them for any more than what I agreed to (1-year) and that I’d like to see some sort of proof that I have a contract with them for 36-months.
The rep said she would send me the contract (which she did) showing that I was indeed in a contract term of 36-month. What she sent me is simply unbelievable. Comcast has a document that states there is a 36-month agreement at the service address, but my name is nowhere to be found in the document. Furthermore, only my last name is printed (two times in a row) at the bottom of the document with a signature that isn’t mine. My correct name is missing, my signature is missing and I never agreed to such a contract with this company.
I replied back to the rep two weeks ago stating all of this. I returned the equipment to Comcast via UPS (with a tracking number). I also made sure my account was paid to the current date. In my e-mail to the rep I told her that the document she sent was proof that I did NOT have a contract with them for the 36-month term because my name does not appear on the document nor does my signature. I asked that the account be closed and I told them that I was done with them.
Today, I received another bill from Comcast business, and I am assuming they are ignoring my communication to them regarding forged document they sent me as proof. I am not paying this amount or any other amount they decide to bill me and I am trying to figure out my next steps—considering there really is NO contract I don’t believe I owe them anything at this point.
I am convinced the sales rep forged my name (incorrectly) on the paperwork for this account—not sure what to do except document this experience but I can only spend so much time. I suppose if it comes down to getting lawyers involved Comcast doesn’t have any proof but my time is valuable and retaining an attorney for something like this would take money upfront.
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