Norvergence ripoff Misrepresentation of equipment lease as a service didn't pay any of our bills Newark New Jersey

Norvergence is one of the top rip offs of the year. In an industry known for its' unethical business dealings, this one has to take the cake, at least for this 2004.

Our company was visited by two Norvergence sales people on more than one occassion. Touting that they could provide us with high speed Internet in this rural area void of DSL or cable, while at the same time saving us 40% off our overall communications cost.

They would combine our Internet, phone, and cellular services all into one bill with free equipment upgrades on all services. Managment jumped at the idea without hesitation. Then waited for a few months before we got any services. Now I wish we had waited more patiently instead of calling to find out when we would be hooked up.

As it turns out all they did was change our local, long distance, and cellular bills into their name and didn't pay any of them. Once we got our first bill we realized that we indeed were paying for the equipment, to the tune of $250/month for the next 5 years. After three months and selling our equipment lease to two different leasing companies, they went out of business.

This past week after being aware of their chapter 7 for over a week, I got a bill from SBC, our local provider stating that we owe them $510 for the past 3 months service. Now we paid double for our phone service during that time and are on the hook for equipment that no one else can use. It's virtually obsolete & other companies are afraid it is proprietary & won't let us use it for their service.

The leasing companies all want to sit on their hands & cry like they have done nothing wrong. I asked them what they paid for my lease, with no response. I asked them to let me buy out the lease. They claim that there is a buy out after the 5 years are up. Thanks for letting me buy out after paying 10X the amount for obsolete equipment.

As for the Norvergence, it's a long line to wait for repayment for those 3 months service. I want to see justice in the long term incarceration of Thomas & Peter Salvano, the schisters who started this whole mess. I don't care if it is in a golf course jail.

My lease is now through IFC Credit Corp located in Morton Grove, IL. They will not get another dime from me, no matter what legal fuss they make. It is their responsibility to do the research necessary when buying leases. I can't see any court letting them get rich off such a scam, especially after it is over and everyone knows it is a scam. Who would buy such a lease without some sort of collateral? Did they think the collateral was this worthless Adtran or me as a customer? Too bad they will get neither.

I made a good faith effort & offered to give what they paid for my lease and they treated me as if I'd already defaulted on real usable equipment. Go ahead play it tough IFC but remember when you decide to harass me that I gave you a chance to come out of this virtually unscathed.

John
bowling green, Missouri
U.S.A.