All righty then.
If you are looking for a sunshiny type blog entry, this SO is not it!
It is, however, a "BUYER BEWARE" blog entry for anybody who uses eFAX service.
A little background:
I purchased eFAX service a year ago or so....at the time I was living in the Pittsburgh PA area and working for Howard Hanna. The short version of the story is I never got the chance to use their service as we ended up moving to Gainesville FL before business picked up enough for me to actually avail myself of the eFAX service.
Fast forward to December 2008, when I got my FL real estate license and began working for Coldwell Banker M.M. Parrish Realtors....a WONDERFUL company which provides oodles of support to its associates, including paid eFAX service.
Now, if I was an organized sort, I would have called eFAX to cancel. However, I am more of a reactionary bill payer and pay bills as they come in as opposed to going out on my own looking for bills to pay.
Today, when I sat down to pay my bills, I noticed a charge for $169.50 on my credit card for eFAX service. I called them up and told them I had to cancel the service and learned that service cancellations were handled through their webpage. Here is what happened next:
Welcome to chat.
The session has been accepted.
{Beth C.} Hello, Coleen. Welcome to j2 Global online support. I am Beth, your online Live Support Representative. How are you doing today?
{Coleen DeGroff} OK
{Coleen DeGroff} I need to cancel my eFAX.
{Beth C.} I am sorry to hear that you wish to cancel your account. Could you please provide me with your Fax number and PIN for verification?
{Coleen DeGroff} Actually, I don't know what my fax # is as I never used it. I moved to Florida before I got a chance to.
I can give you my credit card #. Would that work?
{Beth C.} Since you do not have Fax number and PIN, could you please provide me the e-mail address with which you registered for the service and the last 4 digits of your credit card number for verification?
{Coleen DeGroff} If I remember correctly, I registered for the service with my work email at the time: XXXXXXXXXXXXX.
Last 4 digits of credit card number XXXX
{Beth C.} Thank you for providing the information.
{Beth C.} Coleen, for your reference, I have sent a welcome letter containing your eFax number and PIN to your email address which you have registered with our services.
{Beth C.} Please give me a moment while I go through your records. In the meantime, please type the corresponding number to your reason for cancellation:
1) Moving to another provider
2) Bought a Fax machine
3) Business or role changed
4) Short term project completed
5) Financial reasons
6) Problems with Billing
7) Dissatisfied with Quality of service
8) Too Costly
{Coleen DeGroff} Beth, that email address has been shut down as I no longer work there.
You can send email to XXXXXXXX instead
{Coleen DeGroff} 3
{Beth C.} Coleen, to send email to XXXXXXX, I need to update your account with the new email address and delete the old one. Would you like me to update your new email address.
{Beth C.} ?
{Beth C.} With the help of new email, you would be able to send and receive faxes at your new email address.
{Coleen DeGroff} Yes.
Please make sure you input it correctly:
degroffc1@msn.com (that's a "ONE" in the email address, not the letter L)
{Beth C.} I appreciate your valuable feedback.
{Beth C.} Sure.
{Beth C.} Coleen, as per our records you have paid the annual fee for this year and I suggest that you to keep the account for at least this annual billing cycle for which you have already paid. You still have plenty of months left in the annual billing cycle to get over, I suggest you to make use of our service for the period you have paid for and then get back to us. Usage charges only for sending faxes will be applicable if any.
{Beth C.} If however, you still feel that you do not have any use for our services by the end of the annual billing cycle, then you can always contact us back anytime. I would suggest you to mark the planner which will help you to get back to us on time if you do not wish to continue after this billing cycle.
{Coleen DeGroff} Beth, I never received notification that eFAX was being renewed. I need this charge removed from my credit card.
{Beth C.} Coleen, I am sorry, as per records your account is not applicable for the refund of annual fee that is the reason we are suggesting you to keep your account untill the current billing cycle and then you would just need to contact us once anytime before the end of your annual billing cycle to confirm, as there is no obligation to continue.
{Coleen DeGroff} That is not acceptable. Please let me speak to your manager.
{Beth C.} If you have any issues regarding billing you could contact our billing department at 1-323-817-3205. They are available 24*7.
{Beth C.} When you dial the number please do not select any option. Please wait for Customer Support personnel to pick up the call.
{Beth C.} Would you like me to keep your account active so that you can speak to Billing Department?
{Coleen DeGroff} Whatever you need to do so I can speak to Billing Department.
FYI, I am now a realtor in Florida, and my company (Coldwell Banker MM Parrish) pays for my eFAX. I will pass this information along to them regarding your shady business practices, and urge them to look into another efax service for our company.
Also, as soon as I finish with your Billing Department, I will be posting this notice about your company's usurious practices onto my blog at ActiveRain. I am sure the 100,000+ realtors who subscribe to that service will be interested to hear my story.
**Loooooooong pause here…..then****
{Beth C.} We apologize for the inconvenience.
{Beth C.} Coleen, could you please confirm, shall I keep your account active or close?
{Coleen DeGroff} As soon as you remove the charge for $169.50 you may close my account.
{Beth C.} I am sorry, Coleen. as informed above, your account is not applicable for refund, however, I would still suggest you to speak to billing department at above mentioned number.
{Coleen DeGroff} Please provide me with your last name, as well as the first and last name of your manager, and the first and last name and direct phone number for the Manager of the Billing Department.
{Beth C.} Coleen, my name is Beth XXXXXX. You can speak to our billing representative on phone and he will be able to provide you other information. You can also speak to supervisor on phone.
{Beth C.} Would you like to have any other assistance?
**At this point Beth C "hung up" and I was in dead air in Internet-Land.****
So I called the phone number that Beh had (*cough*) helpfully provided before she cut me loose into the ether.
I talked to a lovely woman in India. She was very polite, and over the course of another 10 minutes or so, including several "on hold" periods, Nischelle P. let me know that there was no way for me to be refunded the money, as it is company policy to screw their customers (I haven't found that exact language in the fine print yet, but I'll keep looking).
Nischele said she would be happy to let me speak with her supervisor, named Gary P., who would, she ever so politely informed me, tell me the exact same thing. Always one up for more financial abuse and humiliation, I happily agreed to speak with Gary P....who, it turns out, also has a letter for a last name. And no phone number either. Apparently unreachable management is another company policy.
Still, I was up for another beating, so I waited for Nischele P. to transfer my call to Gary P.
I'm guessing that Gary P. doesn't exist, because after 15 minutes or so I was still on hold. Even though the soundtrack wa quite soothing -- no doubt eFAX decided to spend my $169.50 on entertainment for the masses -- I knew if I stayed on hold one second longer my head would explode.
So. I hung up.
I guess I'll be kissing my $169.50 goodbye, but believe me when I tell you I will be using my google skills to figure out what single lettered last name executive runs this company so that I can send them a letter of discontent.
In the meantime, I thought I'd give all of you a heads up.
And if anybody has any suggestions/words of solace/etc to share, I'd greatly appreciate it.
Thank you for indulging me in my rant.
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