I usually refrain from ranting and offering personal/professional opinions in my weekly blog post, however, today I am very angry at the sharp practices of some Telecoms, and a few IT companies who sell telephony ...
The client had a telephone system installed in 2017 and, as some companies do, took out a lease agreement to finance the purchase. Just to put into context, this is for a six handset deal. So, what's the problem you may ask?
The original system was a traditional type with on-premises hardware controller and handsets. The new system is VoIP so has no on-site controller, just IP phones connected to broadband. In fact, the telco company in question has seen fit to install and charge for two fibre-to-the-cabinet internet connections. Let me tell you now, there's no need for it One is plenty for the type of organisation the company is.
Firstly, this is a not-for-profit organisation and they were duped (in my personal/professional opinion) into signing a seven-year (84 months) agreement. The problem has arisen when the telecoms company in question offered an upgrade to the system in 2019. This meant that the balance of the original agreement (circa £14K) was bolted onto a new 84-month agreement.
The new equipment supplied is way over the top for the requirements and now the monthly lease cost is circa £650.00 per month plus VAT. Let's work this out then. So, far, the organisation will have paid £31K +VAT by year 4 and by year 7, a grand total of £54,600 plus VAT which is a staggering £65,520.00 for six handsets! This figure includes the circa £14K from the original lease pay-off.
I'm not going to mince my words as what makes this situation worse is that their outsourced IT company are milking it as well. Aside from offering support on a fixed basis of 3-hours a month for around £120.00 +VAT (£40.00 per hour), with everything over that on a chargeable hourly basis. This is for six desk-top PCs and three laptops.
I have clients who pay £150.00 per month for eight users and have unlimited monthly support. Frankly, people can run their businesses as they see fit and is their prerogative as to how much they charge customers so once again, it comes down to 'what are you getting for your money?'
I can safely say, the more mis-selling I come across, the more I gain customers by giving the right consultancy advice and helping to switch providers. Before you look at Leasing hardware, ask for the purchase price and do the maths or get some business asset advice from an asset management company
My business is built on integrity and my (very apt) tagline is: "There are a lot of cowboys out there, so please call the Indian!".
If you feel inspired to find out more then do call me on 07555 807700 or leave a comment below and I'll be in touch as soon as I can.