Cancel a Pitney Bowes Lease

You might want to cancel your Pitney Bowes contract because you’ve found a different vendor or because you are unhappy with their service. To cancel, find your lease agreement and read it so you understand your rights and responsibilities. You can easily cancel by calling a toll-free number and speaking to a customer service representative. If you’ve had continuing, serious problems with Pitney Bowes, consider whether you need to take legal action.

Steps

Reading Your Lease Agreement

1. Find your contract. You need to understand the consequences of cancelling your lease agreement, so read it. If you can’t find your copy, then call Pitney Bowes at 1-800-732-7222, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 8:00 pm.
   • You’ll need your Pitney Bowes Account Number or Customer Account Number to give to the representative.
2. Read how to cancel the contract. Pitney Bowes’ contracts generally cover both equipment and service. There might be different rules governing how you can cancel your equipment lease or your service agreement. Read your lease agreement closely.
   • Show the contract to your Choose a Business Attorney if you don’t understand the legalese.
3. Decide if you want to purchase the equipment. Pitney Bowes generally allows you to purchase the equipment “as is, where is” before your lease ends. You’ll end up paying the fair market value for the equipment.
   • This might be a good deal if you liked the equipment.

Cancelling Your Lease

1. Get organized. Pitney Bowes lets you cancel your equipment lease 90 days before your lease term ends. You can also cancel the service 60 days before your service contract expires. These deadlines might sneak up on you, so pay attention to when your lease ends.
   • If you don’t cancel in time, then the equipment lease will be renewed on a month-to-month basis.
   • Your service contract, however, might be automatically renewed for a full year.
2. Call to cancel. Call toll-free 1-800-732-7222 and say “cancel” to bypass all of the options. You’ll need to provide your 10-digit account number, which you can find at the top of your invoice.
3. Pay a termination fee to cancel early. You might not want to wait for the end of your lease before cancelling. You can terminate early, but you’ll need to pay a sum of money. Call the same toll-free number and say “cancel.”
   • If you’re terminating the account early, a client support representative will analyze your account and give you a settlement quote. This is basically an early termination fee to get out of your contract early.
4. Assess the equipment. You must return the equipment in its original condition, though it can show reasonable wear and tear. Look to see if everything is in good working order. If not, you may end up having to buy the equipment from Pitney Bowes.
5. Return the equipment. Pitney Bowes will tell you how to pack and return their equipment. Generally, you’ll return the equipment to a service center identified by Pitney Bowes or return the equipment in a shipping box with a label the company provides you.

Considering Legal Action

1. Assess the seriousness of the problem. You don’t need to uphold your end of a contract if Pitney Bowes commits a serious violation (called a “material breach”). Assess whether the breach is sufficiently serious to let you cancel the contract early.
   • For example, billing you a wrong amount but then fixing the problem isn’t a serious breach.
   • However, malfunctioning equipment might be costing your business money, especially if Pitney Bowes doesn’t show up to fix it.
   • If you can’t distinguish whether a breach is serious, contact your business lawyer.
2. Document your problems. The key is paperwork: you need to document problems as thoroughly as possible to show a judge. Consider the following problems and the evidence you will need:
   • If the equipment isn’t working, write down the dates and times. Use your smart phone to take a short video of the problem.
   • If you’re billed a wrong amount, hold onto your invoices and highlight the information that is wrong.
   • If Pitney Bowes never services the equipment, write down the dates and times you contact them to request service. Hold onto all email communications.
   • If Pitney Bowes is costing you money, document the amount. Keep communications from clients who cancel their services.
3. Write Pitney Bowes a letter. You can cancel a contract with Pitney Bowes if they have breached your contract. In your letter, explain in detail what they have done or failed to do. Include dates.
   • Also tell them how to fix the breach. For example, if the equipment doesn’t work, give Pitney Bowes a deadline for coming to your place of business and fixing the problem.
   • Avoid inflammatory language. Instead, remain neutral but factual.
   • Send the letter certified mail, return receipt requested. Find the address on your monthly statement or invoice.
4. Consider a lawsuit. Ideally, Pitney Bowes will fix the problems. However, you can always sue if they don’t. Talk with your lawyer about how much you can sue for. If you have a small sum of money, then you might be able to sue in small claims court.
   • Also discuss whether suing is worth it. It might be better to just pay the early termination fee and cut your losses.
   • Check whether your lease has a provision requiring you to submit to arbitration or mediation instead of suing in court. Because you signed the lease agreement, these provisions are legal and you must abide by them.

Sources and Citations

See also

• Apply for HUD Housing
• Apply for Section 8 Housing
• Apply for Section 8 Housing in Dallas County, Texas