- Report: #1041877
Complaint Review: Birch Communications - Macon, GA 31210 Internet
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Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Birch Communications
4885 Riverside Drive, Macon, GA 31210, Internet, United States of America
Phone:
1-866-252-9216
Web:
www.birch.com
Categories:
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Birch Communications Deceitful claim of entitlement to early termination fee, Internet
I recently switched my local telephone service from Birch to another carrier. A couple weeks later Birch sent me a notice that by leaving them, I had terminated my contract early which generated an early termination fee of $350. The letter stated that "if I would like to reconsider my decision" to call them back.
So I called & asked them send me a copy of whatever they have showing/proving that I agreed to such terms. They played a recording for me that DID take place where I agreed to certain things. The date of the call was Oct. 27, 2010 and the quote from the call was that I "agree to the terms in Birch's master service agreement for a period of 12 months". Obviously today being April 9, 2013 is far, far in excess of that the term of that agreement. But the lady told me that the master service agreement contains an "automatic renewal clause" and because of that, it is still valid so I terminated early.
So I told her I had never seen that & that the lady who called me on Oct. 27, 2010 had not explained this feature to me (both of which are true) and that this is obviously a deceitful practice....and I asked her to waive it. She said she wouldn't and was very argumentative about it with me. She persisted in trying to convince me I had to pay it so when I told I absolutely was not going to pay it, she said "well then, we have nothing left to discuss on the matter" and that she was going to put that in the customer notes. I told her I expected her to ALSO include in the notes why I objected that the automatic renewal was valid - she said she would, but continued to be argumentative to me and I highly doubt she included it.
I will never, EVER do business with this company again & will spend all my days explaining to everybody I know why they shouldn't either.
So I called & asked them send me a copy of whatever they have showing/proving that I agreed to such terms. They played a recording for me that DID take place where I agreed to certain things. The date of the call was Oct. 27, 2010 and the quote from the call was that I "agree to the terms in Birch's master service agreement for a period of 12 months". Obviously today being April 9, 2013 is far, far in excess of that the term of that agreement. But the lady told me that the master service agreement contains an "automatic renewal clause" and because of that, it is still valid so I terminated early.
So I told her I had never seen that & that the lady who called me on Oct. 27, 2010 had not explained this feature to me (both of which are true) and that this is obviously a deceitful practice....and I asked her to waive it. She said she wouldn't and was very argumentative about it with me. She persisted in trying to convince me I had to pay it so when I told I absolutely was not going to pay it, she said "well then, we have nothing left to discuss on the matter" and that she was going to put that in the customer notes. I told her I expected her to ALSO include in the notes why I objected that the automatic renewal was valid - she said she would, but continued to be argumentative to me and I highly doubt she included it.
I will never, EVER do business with this company again & will spend all my days explaining to everybody I know why they shouldn't either.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Ericalwatson32
Houston,Texas,
BIRCH COMMUNICATIONS IS A SCAM!!!!
#2REBUTTAL Owner of company
Thu, August 08, 2013
I am the owner of a very prominent business based in Houston, TX. Birch decided to switch my service without my CONSENT! NOW I GET A RANDOM BILL IN THE MAIL! So, I decided to call them and ask who they are. They told me that an employee...(which was my 21 year old receptionist) and is now an EX employee at my business switched telephone companies, BUT without my consent. It looks like they did some COLD CALLING and talked my employee into giving them personal info. abt our company and decided to take it into their hands to go ahead and switch my provider. Ohhhh no! That will not be tolerated. Not on my clock! NO ONE WILL GET AWAY WITH THAT! So I JUST CALLED THEM! I told them that I had no clue who they were...that I dont want to use them. I have AT&T and they want to charge me $2000 cancellation fee! NO WAY!! I DO NOT THINK SO! They used horrible language with me and said vulgar things to myself and employees. They have a HUGE lawsuite about to hit them really really hard. I NEVER consented for this company to take over my phone and internet service at my business. I dont even know who BIRCH is ! Never heard of the company before. See you in court Birch!
