Dirty Tricks of the Telecom Industry and How to Avoid Them

Unfortunately 2021 continued to see less scrupulous suppliers taking advantage of customers’ lack of technology knowledge. They exploited them by signing them into deals that were inappropriate and frequently excessively expensive.??All of the below are based on real cases I saw last year:

1.?????A small London charity was being charged twice for their calling package and the wrong price for their broadbands compared to the contract. Net effect they are due a refund of about ￡2k as this had been going on for two years.

2.?????A Kent company had been sold an LG phone system on a 5 year lease. The value of the kit was about ￡4.5k - the total of payments was over ￡21k and then they would not own it.

3.?????A GP practice in the Home counties had been charged for mobiles calls for three years even though their contract clearly said they were included in their SIP channel rental.

4.?????Another GP practice had been told their 3 year old Avaya IP Office had to have an expensive SIP Gateway to use SIP and been sold a 5 year deal on one. ?IP Office was SIP enabled when I was working for them in the noughties.

5.?????A London company had been quoted ￡22,000 in termination fees (ETCs) when if they paid all the remaining rentals it would only have been ￡15,000. I have no problem with ETCs in principle but they should only reflect lost profit. Suppliers can often cancel services with their wholesalers for no penalties.

6.?????A Midlands company with 4 people had been sold a phone system that even on the suppliers web site said was for more than 6 employees. That same supplier lost an ombudsman case on the exact point 3 years ago. They obviously have not learnt their lesson.

7.?????A health practice bought a lease line on a 5 year deal. No problem with the price but their website said there are no install fees on 3 and 5 year deals which is more or the less the norm. They had charged a ￡2,500 install fee and amazingly that was the same figure they got from the Government as a grant for improving connectivity.

8.?????A firm of accountants was sold a phone system designed for 5000 and more users even though they only employed 8 people.?The system price was also vastly inflated over the seven year lease.

9.?????An engineering firm told they needed to upgrade to migrate to SIP even though the old system was SIP ready.?Compounded by the fact that the broadband was too poor to support SIP.

10.??A London based firm found in the small print they were only being loaned the mobile handsets for the duration of the contract.?If they moved elsewhere at the end they had to give them back.

Will this continue?

I expect this to continue in 2022 and can only advise companies not to sign anything until you have carefully reviewed it.?If you are not sure, get someone else to review it, or get lots of quotes.??If a salesperson wants you to sign something there and then, there is problem with, possibly, bad implications for you.?As a guide, here are some key questions to ask:

1.??????How long is the contract?

2.??????Will the prices you are quoting be fixed for the life of the contract?

3.??????Are there are introductory offers that are included in the proposed price?

4.??????Will any charges/services be added during the contract ?

5.??????What will be my total costs over the life of the contract?

6.??????Will I be contracting just with you or will any third parties be involved?

7.??????Can I have an itemised list of equipment being supplied with the capital price (especially if a lease is being proposed)?

8.??????Will I own the equipment at the end of the contract or does it have to be returned?

9.??????If you are using a leasing company are they members of the FLA (Finance Lease Association)

Remember if a deal looks too good to be true, there probably is a catch.