ComplaintsforEstech Systems, Inc. (ESI)

• Initial Complaint

  08/01/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. We signed with ESI and were told we would receive reliable service and that we could modify our service at anytime with no issues. Not true at all. Our office had constant call quality issues, specifically: regularly dropped phone calls, low call quality where the caller cannot hear us and we cannot hear them, and lastly when another call would come in, it would interrupt the current call. This was a daily occurrence on all phones that negatively impacted our business operations. I called and emailed on numerous occasions, even went so far as to email the specific time, date and caller phone number of the dropped calls so they could retrace the issue. The phones were constantly software reset but the issues didnt resolve. We were not able to run our business with the constant calls dropping and the caller not able to hear us or we hear them as well as the interrupted call when another caller came in.On 3/18/24, *** sent out a survey asking for feedback on recommending their company. I answered the survey honestly and gave a 0 recommendation. I provided many examples of the call service and quality issues we faced. Nothing was done or changed after that survey and we did not have an on-site visit as we were informed. ESI did not provide the phones (we purchased them), nothing was installed at our office, there is zero hardware, and there is nothing that is an outstanding cost to ESI; so needless to say, I was alarmed when I received an invoice with an Early Termination Fee of $6,156.56. I disputed the *** with a detailed account of the service and quality call issues and the request was denied and I was told to negotiate with the collection agency. The invoice was not even past due - this company needs to be stopped. ESI did not provide reliable service as promised. I was retaliated because of the survey feedback that was supposed to be used a tool to improve their company. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, DO NOT SIGN WITH ***!!!

  Business response

  08/07/2024

  This was our note to ****** in regards to this issue:  Thank you once again for taking the time to discuss your experiences with our services. As I mentioned, *** has been providing phone services and equipment to mission-critical clients, including Emergency Hospitals, County Offices, and School Districts, for over 30 years. We pride ourselves on delivering reliable business phone systems and are deeply sorry for any unintended issues you encountered.
  
  You informed me about purchasing an *** phone system from **** Communications, which included SIP trunks for dial tone services. Unfortunately, the system did not meet your expectations, resulting in call quality issues such as distorted conversations, interrupted speech, and dropped calls. Despite bringing these issues to ****** attention, their service efforts did not lead to measurable improvements. In the spring of 2024, you responded to the Bi-Yearly *** Customer Survey with a "0" rating, which prompted an inquiry from ***. The *** Representative took your information and dispatched the **** partner, but the issues persisted, leading you to seek and implement a new communication solution for your business. You have requested *** to release you from the Service Agreement early, without penalties.
  
  As I mentioned, this experience is not typical for our customers or partners. I will follow up with the ****************** teams to understand what went wrong. A key point of improvement will be ensuring that *** tickets remain open until we know your issues are fully resolved, which could have prevented this situation.
  
  Without delving too deeply, it appears the problem was likely not with the Services or Equipment themselves. Call quality challenges are often linked to Network Optimization, and the Call Waiting interruption you described is a simple feature toggle. Coupled with the inadequate response from our Partner, this situation resulted in a less-than-desirable Customer Experience.
  
  If you accept this response to your case, we will zero out your invoice and release you from any further agreement. Once again, I apologize for your experience and hope you would consider *** for your future needs.

   

  And here was ******'s response.   She should be withdrawing the complaint if she hasn't already.  

  Hi ****,
  
  
  Yes, I accept your response to close out this issue.  
  
  
  Thank you,
  ******

  Customer response

  08/07/2024

  I have reviewed the business response and accept this resolution. 

• Initial Complaint

  06/10/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We signed a 5-year contract with ESI for phone service for several of our businesses located in ***** and **** on October 27, 2021 (Account Number: ******. *** promised to provide reliable communication systems and exceptional customer experience. They have done neither. The contract we signed with *** gives you 30 days to cancel or terminate the contract penalty-free. If something goes wrong AFTER the first 30 days, which is what happened to us, you are stuck with them for the rest of the term (4 years and 11 months!) and they dont respond when you try to contact them for technical support. Once they get you to sign the contract, you are basically on your own.We have had routing issues since before I started working here. That was one of my first big tasks (03/2023). The mystery phone numbers that we were being charged for were noticed and brought to ESI's attention 09/2023. I thought we had a final resolution in 02/2024, but when we went to port to another provider found out that the issue was not resolved, but instead was actually worse. I was told by the other provider that we had phone numbers on our bill that we didn't even have in our admin portal(software). I brought this up to ESI and I was told that it has been that way since we started. Also, our Idaho phone is not working and ESI is non-responsive (since Feb 2024). ESI couldn't give us a consolidated bill or overview of our account (e.g. how many phones, locations, total costs, etc.). This has been a project for the past 6 months. We have also had issues with routing and charging for phone numbers not used - we have 40+ numbers and ESI has not been helpful to know which ones are valid or being used.

  Business response

  06/26/2024

  Our VP, ************************* spoke with them and they have agreed to drop the complaint in return for us eliminating our ETF fees.   *******************

  Customer response

  06/27/2024

  Please cancel our complaint against ESI Estech.  We have spoken with them and they have agreed to eliminate the fees for cancellation if we take down the complaint.  Please remove it asap.  Kind regards, Storage Corner *****

  Business response

  06/27/2024

  Attached is the email from our customer stating that they had withdrawn the complaint a few weeks ago.  Can you please **** this complaint resolved?   Thank you so much,

  *******************

   

• Initial Complaint

  11/08/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On or about April 8, 2022, I signed a 5-year agreement with ESI. At the time of the signing, the agent who signed me up stated that I could add lines or downsize my line without penalty. However, in September of 2023, I decided that I no longer wanted to use ESI as my primary phone line for my business. I contacted ESI and was told that I could only remove four lines or remove the call recording, but I could not do both. This is a direct contradiction of what I was told at the time of signing. When I signed up for ESI service, call recording was not a part of the original agreement. I added that service later. At no point was I ever told I would not be able to cancel the service. Lastly, when I contacted ESI to decrease my phone lines, I was sent a ************* Agreement in September 2023. I have never seen the ************* Agreement. I only saw the quote agreement that I signed, which is attached. I want to resolve this matter with ESI by only having two to three phone lines.

• Initial Complaint

  11/08/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We signed up with ESI in July-ish 2022. We were given quotes of a lower cost for what we were paying for with the phone system we were previously with. The phone systems did not work right from the beginning. We had the technicans from Birdseye (a partnered company) they had to make adjustments because the phones would not connect properly to the internet. Even after they came out we had to submit numerous tickets for numerous different connection issues, dropped calls, phones not ringing, and other phone issues. We also had extensions that either could not send out text messages or when they did send out messages the message would send 3-6 times. Therefore making the texting service obsolete. They had a ticket open for that as well. Then we were told that through the text system that all of the agents would be able to see all the messages being sent to the clients, because that is what our other servicer provided. We ****** this issue up and they told us they could not even accomodate that but they would get the technicans involved in that ticket as well. Mind you they NEVER followed up with us on any of these issues. If our management team was not emailing them every day or every other day we did not get any responses. As a matter of fact when we cancelled service we had not even heard from any one on any of the open tickets we had for over 2 weeks (possibly longer). Now they want us to pay almost a $5000 cancellation fee when we already was being billed almost $100 per month over what our orginial contract stated, did not get any of the features that we were promised, and never got resolutions to any of the tickets that were opened for almost a year.

  Customer response

  11/26/2023

  They have successfully resolved the matter.  I would like to withdrawl the complaint.

  Business response

  11/28/2023

  Thanks for the update that this issue has been resolved to the customer's satisfaction.  That makes me truly happy - and grateful.   Thank you.  

• Initial Complaint

  11/29/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We signed up with ESI and quickly realized that they overpromised and under-delivered. All the features promised were not accurate, could not transfer within the office, crappy phone connections. We quickly abandoned the service and now they are trying to sue us for the remaining UNUSED contract. We asked for the service to be canceled for months with no response and a push around to various people ********* We offered them their phones back because they were useless to us and they denied our offer. RUN FROM THIS COMPANY, HORRIBLE SERVICE AND THEN THEY SCAM AND HOLD YOU TO A CONTRACT FOR A SERVICE YOU'RE NOT USING.

  Business response

  03/08/2023

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/12/13) */ Contact Name and Title: **** ******* ; Director Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX ***** Contact Email: ********@esi-estech.com In response to BBB CASE#: XXXXXXXX We apologize for the overall frustrations in this matter. Our ticket records do not indicate the scenario the customer is describing, however there may be added unseen interactions with a local ESI Partner. ESI provides many solutions, from SIP Trunk dial tone services to a hosted CloudPBX. In early January, the services were confirmed to be active and your training completed. We would have been glad to assist with transition to a more suitable solution if you were unhappy or having issues with what was deployed. In this situation, the customer choose to break the signed Agreement and change services without notifying ESI, making it difficult for ESI to rectify any outstanding issues that may have existed. Additionally, the customer offered to send several devices back to ESI in lieu of any fees associated with early termination. These phones would be considered "used" once they have been at the Customer Premise outside any Trial periods and any prescribed value would not offset said fees. In the spirit of Customer Service, we are going to release further collections activities on the account at the request of this former client. Best Regards, **** ******* Director; Support Services Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2022/12/15) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.)

• Initial Complaint

  06/01/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  After nearly 10 years of being a client, we had to cancel because the service no longer met our remote work force needs. We were told we would have a termination fee, and asked for an appeal based on the length of tenure and the changing needs of our business. We were told our request would be handled by the appeals department. No response was received for 6 weeks. We moved forward with new phone solution and then were sent a bill for nearly $4,000. I have reached out to our account representative 8 times. I have contacted billing 3 times - including leaving messages for the Controller and Collections Specialist. NO RESPONSES HAVE BEEN RECEIVED. I have now been notified that my bill was sent to collections despite being just 30 days past due, in dispute, and with no effort to discuss despite nearly a dozen efforts!

  Business response

  07/06/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/06/06) */ Providing an update on this inquiry; we are currently initiating discussions directly with the consumer regarding the terms and conditions of this Services Agreement. We are now awaiting a response from this consumer. Consumer Response /* (2000, 7, 2022/06/07) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) They finally called back and responded with a settlement offer.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩