length of time companies must keep verbal contracts for?

burntbreadman

The contract is a recent contract and is just 3 or so months old.
It wasn't till the first bill come and I was asked how come there were charges for phone call when there should be inclusIve minutes.

As mentioned before the reason why the written contract was contested was because. Firstly there is no one literate enought to understand the contract fully at the business address. And secondly the contract is so vague to begin with with no detail on the pricing etc.
The only thing it states is the products name and term time.
In fact in reading it over to someone who is literate. Had it not been for the (min 24 months line written in the small print)
It could easily be an invoice for a Tv rather than a contract.

It just feels that Bt have taken advantage by using deceit knowing full well that no one would be able to contest against the written contract before the cooling off period expires.

Now I need to get my parents to ring and sort out a three ways call. Not being the account holder I can't speak on their behalf unless it's done in this manner.

wealdroam

burntbreadman wrote: »

Now I need to get my parents to ring and sort out a three ways call. Not being the account holder I can't speak on their behalf unless it's done in this manner.

Sounds like you need to get some sort of Power of Attorney in place sometime soon.

Now I am not saying your parents can't manage their affairs, just that you have mentioned their literacy or difficulty of understanding in every post you have made.

Remember, once they cannot understand the process, it is too late to get a P of A.

InsideInsurance

wealdroam wrote: »

Sounds like you need to get some sort of Power of Attorney in place sometime soon.

Now I am not saying your parents can't manage their affairs, just that you have mentioned their literacy or difficulty of understanding in every post you have made.

And yet this is for a business

For a single company its probably easier the parents just either giving third party authorisation or saying that their son is part of the business and authorised to deal with it

wealdroam

InsideInsurance wrote: »

And yet this is for a business

For a single company its probably easier the parents just either giving third party authorisation or saying that their son is part of the business and authorised to deal with it

Yes, of course.

LilElvis

HappyMJ wrote: »

Read the written contract. The written contract trumps any verbal contract.

No it doesn't.

I have this issue pretty much every time I renew my Orange contract. We agree a plan, price per month, duration of the contract and the phone upgrade over the phone. When the written contract comes in the post I find that the 'loyalty discount' which brings the list price down to the agreed monthly price is only going to be applied for part of the contract eg 15 out of 18 months. I call up, they apologise and send me a revised contract with the discount being given over the full term.

The written contract is memorialising in writing what was verbally agreed - the seller cannot unilaterally change it.

burntbreadman

wealdroam wrote: »

Sounds like you need to get sthe sort of Power of Attorney in place sometime soon.

Remember, once they cannot understand the process, it is too late to get a P of A.

The understanding aspect comes down to the fact that they were never educated in English, and all their understanding is self taught. They are capable of making their own decisions, it's just from time to time, certain words phrases or legal terms can cause some confusion. They just wanted my help in setting it up just to make sure they weren't pushed into getting something they didnt want (but it appears I haven't been successful !)

They actually called previously to set it up on their own . But the agent they spoke to didnt help by speaking slower (despite asking them to) or by using simple terms and phrases.
In fact when I spoke to the same agent, I had to ask multiple time during the call to repeats things. During the important aspects such as the break down of costs, additional charges, term time etc He had a habit of not only speeding up the pace he talked but also mumbled.

When I think about it all the warning sign were there in the call.
Bt have 4 zone pricing policy, where there are 2 price brackets.
He said my parents were in the more expensive bracket, but he will speak to a manager to get a discount for being a customer for 30 odd years.

It worked out slightly more expensive than the cheaper bracket. When I asked him what determines the zone they resided in, he was evasive.
It wasn't till I pushed for an answer he began to explain in a mumbled fashion.
When he mentioned the cheaper zone are for areas where there are competitors
who use their line such as talk talk; I interjected.
Saying that talk talk is available in the area, there is a carphone warehouse literally 50m away selling talk talk.
He asked me to hold while he checks. He came back with the answer just because they are selling it doesn't mean that I can receive it.
In the end I said can we think about it, where he replied I won't be able to offer the same deal. I responded but if I go to carphone ware house and find out we can receive their service; if I were to call Bt back I would get a better deal regardless due to the zone were in.
At the time I felt he was trying to convince me that we were in the higher price bracket to put extra shine on the deal...using underhanded tactics.
He then ask me to hold the line, and came back with a deal which under cuts the lower price bracket by a small amount.
At this point during the calls he makes a clear break down on what my parents would be paying. Clear enough that he asks my mum directly "does that sound ok?"
My mum agrees at the time fully understanding the cost and term involved as do I.
Neither of us had any reason to doubt that my parents were being signed up to something different.
The paper contract/letter to confirm the call was received the following week.
With just the product name and term time. I'm guessing if I was living at home and read it; I still wouldn't have contested.


Sorry for being so long winded but I felt that a bit more backstory might explain thing a bit clearer

bod1467

Sounds very like a bait-and-switch so the agent could make a bigger commission. BT almost certainly will have the phone call recorded.

burntbreadman

A update.
My mum called up to say that they have been charged incorrectly. Before she could ask them to call me, they said give them 7 days to look into it.
7 days has passed and she called up again to ask to speak to me due to me dealing with the contract to begin with.
They refused to call me at all despite my mum asking them to.

Due to the lanuguage barrier I don't know what they offered.
It seams they admitted their mistake and the charges for free calls will be refunded.
However the old line rental charges will be charged still (despite me negotiating a better deal) for this quarter, with the new cheaper charges taking place the following quarter.

I asked my mum to call them again to call me to confirm but she's all flustered by it all that she "can't be bothered"

Im unhappy that they kept her on the old price plan for another quarter and the fact they refused to call me. Also annoyed no real form of compensation was offered.

I guess I got to wait 3 months for the new bill to appears to see it everything is correct.
Thanks for the help