Relias

Deceptive trade practice
We were informed that we are signing a price guarantee and we can terminate after a year.
Like every small business the Coronavirus pandemic has severely hurt our company. Business cannot go on as usual.
Before we entered a contract with Relias, we were quite clear that we did not agree to a 5 year agreement. If Relias insisted on a long term contract, we would not do business with them otherwise. We were assured by the company representative that the agreement was a mere price guarantee. We have taken the representative's words as a verbal binding agreement.
Tough times seem to bring out the worse in people.
Upon informing Relias that we would like to terminate our relationship with them because the Coronavirus pandemic, the billing department demanded that our company pay for the remainder of 7 year contract as a buy out price.
This Coronavirus pandemic, ravaged our company. The statement of this Relias representative felt like a vulture feasting on every last morsel meat of our company.
Our complaint mirrors a recent case presented to the Revdex.com against Relias (deceptive trade practices). We have been victims of a bait and switch scam. If our company is not willing to agree to a 5 year contract, there is no logical reason for us to agree to a 7 year contract.
We have been victims of a bait and switch scheme. Relias claims that their document gives them the right to collect their money. A deceptive trade practice is an illegal act. An illegal act in non-binding under the law. No contract no matter how well it is written is above the law.
We are a mom and pop company. We are no match for company with 10,000 clients and an army of lawyers. My wife and I have come to the Revdex.com to ask for help against ***. (How many of these 10,000 clients are truly aware that they are chained to a 7 year contract?)
If not for this Coronavirus outbreak, we would not have unearthed the unethical practices of Relias.
The Coronavirus pandemic has brought out some heartwarming stories that is humbling for anyone to hear. Unfortunately, Relias has shown the ugly hidden side of humanity, no one should see.

Relias is refusing to modify our contract to accommodate our business's needs, insisting we must use services we do not need for a period of 7 years.
I am a Board Certified and Licensed Applied Behavior Analyst by trade. I founded Innovative Autism Connections, LLC (IAC) in the Fall of 2017 in an effort to
provide children and families who have been effected by an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis who live throughout the state of MA with evidenced based in-home applied behavior analysis (ABA) based treatment services. When I initially founded IAC, and well before I had any clients or staff, I contacted Relias in pursuit of online training services for my (future) staff. The Relias sales representative with whom I spoke to, who was well aware that I was just starting a new business did not tell me that I would be unable to decrease my subscription for a period of 7 years. I received an email from Relias which attached only a two-page ordering document. This document (which I signed) spells out the cost of an "annual" subscription, for 51 users. It did not say that I could not end or modify my subscription at any time.

Over the next few months, I progressively increased IAC's subscription by sending an email to our Relias account representative (between April 2018 and June 2019, I increased our subscription levels 9 times, from 51 users to 142 users). Each time, Relias agreed, and sent me a revised bill for an increased cost for an annual subscription. Relias increased IAC's "per user" fee twice since 2017.
On October 24, 2019, I notified Relias that IAC was changing its training method and therefore requested that IAC's subscription be reduced from 142 to 10 users, effective as of January 1, 2020 (i.e., more than 60 days later). My October 24th, 2019 email to Relias also included two additional questions regarding two additional matters/issues, including a credit card processing fee that Relias had been charging IAC, without my prior knowledge or approval. Relias has categorically refused to decrease our subscription level as requested. Shockingly, I learned for the first time that the two-page ordering document I signed back in October of 2017 had included an 8-point link to a separate, 24-page "Master Services Agreement" However, the links within the two-page document did not work when I clicked on them.

According to Relias, the MSA prohibits IAC from terminating its contract with Relias OR from reducing our number of users, for a 7-year period (i.e. another 5 years). Therefore, according to Relias, the moment IAC increased its user levels, in early 2018, we were stuck with that number until 10/31/2024, unless our company goes bankrupt (although Relias reserved the right to increase our fees, which it has done twice now). This is completely unacceptable. I feel that Relias' business methods are unfair and deceptive. The company is trying to impose contractual terms on my business that are completely one-sided and were buried in an attachment that was not brought to my attention when I signed the contract (which was ambiguous in describing an annual subscription).

Relias has proved unwilling to work with my company to find a reasonable solution. After Relias' initial response, I engaged counsel to try to resolve the matter. Unfortunately negotiations with Relias' counsel proved unsuccessful. Note that the online training my staff received from Relias was not customized for my company, so Relias incurred no extra costs in providing this online training to my staff.