Softcom Internet Communications, Inc.

Where to start.  Well I can start by saying this customer was released from her contract prior to this complaint, and was not required to pay any amount to get out of her contract.  Additionally the following is pertinent to this complaint:1)  The customer never called technical...

support relating to a service issue2)  The customer was given a $15 per month discount on her account for committing to a 1 year contract.3)  In the state of California a contract with terms of 1 year or less does not have to be in writing.Although this customer did not warrant to be released from her contract, I dissolved the contract to promote good will towards the customer, it is often customary for the customer to go back and pay the $15 discount (per month) if they want to break the contract, that would have amounted to well over $100, completely waived.I consider this issue to be resolved.Regards,[redacted]Chief Operating Officer / Softcom Internet Communications

Review: Dear Sir / Madam:I'm writing this complaint in an attempt to collect an overpayment to Softcom Internet Communications for services not received from 2006 to 2013.Softcom received a yearly service fee of about $161.40 from March 2006 through March 2013. I've been using [redacted] services vice Softcom Broadband services. Total paid to Softcom was $1,291.20. The only services that I received from Softcom was email services in the amount of $60.00 per year for 5 email addresses. Email services provided by softcom was $60 x 8 = $480 dollars.Softcom is refusing to refund the difference of the refund in the amount of $811.20.Desired Settlement: Please refund the monies overpaid to Softcom for Broadband services not used.

Business

Response:

To whom it may concern,

I have read the complaint of Mr. [redacted] and have reviewed his account in detail. Mr. [redacted] has been a dialup customer of Softcom's for quite some time. How our dialup service works, is that every year we evaluation the required amount of dialup ports to purchase from our distributor based on our customer base at the time. Some of our customers purchase our dialup service strictly as a backup to their broadband accounts and others use our dialup access as their primary source of Internet service. Mr. [redacted] purchased our dialup service and until recently never contacted our company to setup his service as "email only", which only provides email accounts and does not provide access to the Internet. Softcom provides 3 types of dialup services; monthly, quarterly and annually. Mr. [redacted] subscribed to an annual account, and by doing so received a discount on his service. Softcom DOES NOT auto-renew our accounts. Every year, approximately a month prior to Mr. [redacted]'s account expiration date, Softcom sent him a paper bill, which very blatently described the service being provided and the dollar amount due if he wished to continue such service. Every year Mr. [redacted] sent Softcom a check for the service stated on his account. Softcom has been paying for ports for several years for Mr. [redacted], meeting our obligation to him and the service he purchased from us. Softcom does not meter or track customers usage, and such it makes no difference to us if Mr. [redacted] was using the dialup portion of his service 0.00 hours a month or 720 hours per month; the port he contracted with us was available for him to access the Internet per his contractual arrangement with us. If Mr. [redacted] had any concerns he had many options; disregard the bill and his service after a period would have been canceled or he could have contacted our customer service department in many ways, all of which are clearly stated on Softcom's invoice. None of these remedies were chosen. We value Mr. [redacted] as a customer, as we do all our customers. Currenly Mr. [redacted] has an email only account with us at a rate of $60 per year. Unfortunately, due to the above mentioned reasons, we are unable to provide Mr. [redacted] a refund for services rendered.

Regards,

Chief Operating Officer

Softcom Internet Communications