Net1 Econec VISP America
Internet service doesn't pay employees Offers customers poor service

My father (VP of Operations) and fiance (Network Administrator) had been employed by Econec (formerly Net1 inc.) for 3 1/2 years. For most of the 3 years neither of them got paid on "payday" as would be expected. The company name mysteriously had to be changed every so often which was obviously bothersome.

I was employed by Econec back in May of '03 as a Sales Executive, which I knew within days was a bad decision. From the beginning I noticed employee information was not being properly recorded, like pay, federal, state, and unemployment taxes, health insurance deductions from pay, YTD totals, and pay advances (from all the times the owner just couldnt pay us at all).

I was promised commission for sales made which I never recieved either. After a few months passed I was promoted to Technical Support Supervisor, got a *small* pay raise, and just tried to ignore the constant aggravation of every payroll check bouncing.

After being employed by Econec approximately 5 months I began to notice other issues. The internet access customers' payments are rarely posted correctly, making it seem the customer owes more, and most of the time the company gets away with their money-no questions asked by the customer.

The company scams every high-paying company who walks through their doors needing service with made up fees like licenses that do not exist, and expenses that make no sense to a computer literate individual etc. Some companies paid in advance for domain names that the company let expire knowingly and did not return their money. Every service provided to a company is overcharged to the point of idiocracy.

Some companies never receive the services they paid for at all. I was even told to lie on many occasions and tell potential customers the company offered services that were not available at all just to get their money. The situation had progressed to a point where I was asked to lie to a creditor and pretend to be the owners' mortgage holder to help the owners credibility for a business loan (which I did not do).

Right before Halloween the company name changed again to VISPAmerica and Econec was purchased and dissolved. At this time the real problems began. More and more payroll checks were bouncing. The company owed too many bills that couldn't be paid because the owner uses the company money for his own personal use. Eventually, none of the employees were receiving checkstubs, and payroll advances were given and taken on a regular basis with no record keeping for accuracy. The employees were paid sometimes a much as a week and a half past the regulated payroll date.

Right before Thanksgiving internet access customers' service started getting cut off and on to the point the customers were irate. They were made to pay for the access, even though they had no service a majority of the time. The owner called local clients begging for upfront payment of services to be rendered in the future that were not even able to be offered. Employees' payroll checks were ALWAYS late at this point, and ALWAYS bounced. The employees were under heightened stress due to disgruntled customers, making matters worse.

Right after Thanksgiving the accountant was fired for no reason (which the owner owes 20,000), at which time we were informed all the payroll taxes (federal, state, and medicare) were not being paid to the government, but being kept by the owner and spent at his personal leisure. The company taxes weren't even filed for the last two years. Less than a week after Thanksgiving all 3 of us (me, my father, and my fiance) were laid off (although we were told we were fired) for NO REASON. Our termination letters say cutbacks in expenses, and that we are to return when they are able to pay us (and as I said, we were told we were fired). I was on sick leave from maxifacial surgery at the time I was fired. When I was fired I obviously applied for unemployment immediately. I was then informed there is no government record of me ever being employed by Econec or VISPAmerica preventing me from obtaining unemployment.

All the other employees that quit or got fired are having the same issues. They can't get unemployment because only some of their time with the company was filed, their last checks are shorted for advances never received, and some including me were paid at an entirely different rate than the company agreed to. To sum this up, I along with others are left with no job right before the christmas holidays, and there is no justification as to why. There is no justification considering the company has already hired more people than they let go of, but we are laid off? We can't even get unemployment, while the company owners' family and himself are living it up on our tax money we earned and it seems nobody cares. I, and many others have reported this to various government officials and haven't gotten any help, or even concern. It seems VISPAmericas' motto would be "the better the job you do the less your appreciated".

Company: Net1 Econec VISP America
Country: USA
State: Alabama
City: Brewton
Address: Douglas Ave
Phone: 2518679400

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