AT&T signed my business up for a two year contract without my consent. Now they're claiming a verbal agreement with big disconnect charges.

A little bit of preface: I own and operate a small business in North Atlanta with approximately 30 employees. We are in the service industry but I won't specify the exact industry for privacy reasons.

The Story: Earlier this year, I received a letter from AT&T (my phone and internet provider) letting me know that my contract was about to be up. That same week, I got a phone call from a representative at AT&T claiming to be my new account manager. Let's call him Mr. V.

Mr. V explained that our previous contract was a discounted bundle and was no longer available. I found this difficult to believe as we were already paying a high rate- $260 a month for three phone lines and slow internet (20 Mb/s). Unfortunately AT&T had a monopoly in our area so I had no choice. I bit at Mr. V's offer and he offered to call me back.

When we spoke again that week, Mr. V told me about a new "All for Less" plan. He said I would have to agree to a verbal commitment over the phone which I did. At that point, he faxed me the paperwork for this new contract. According to this plan, I would get:

• Two business lines for $135 per month
• A new router for $10 per month
• And Uverse Internet for $65

For a grand total of $210 per month

Mr V. lets me know that the promotion would start immediately but processing would take a month or two to show up on my bill. To sweeten the deal, he even promised a $100 reward card and $99 rebate. Great I thought....

Fast forward to the summer and I still haven't seen any changes on my bill. In fact my bill has actually gone up to close to $300. Naturally I decided to give Mr. V a call to get to the bottom of this. Mr V lets me know that the discounts could not be processed. Apparently there was a problem bundling the phone lines and the internet. I was upset that he had never called to let me know this information and that my bill was now higher than when we began in the first place! He noted my displeasure and promised to call me back with a different plan.

Instead I receive a fax later that week from AT&T signing me up for a new two year contract! Mr. V claims that he got a second verbal agreement but this was definitely not the case. In my rage, I began calling other providers in the area. Thankfully, Charter Spectrum is now available and agreed to service my location.

Currently AT&T has sent us a huge bill to cancel this two year contract that was never agreed to. Mr. V is sticking to his story and AT&T has refused our dispute. We have been customers with AT&T for almost twenty years but instead they take the side of a new account manager trying to earn a quick buck. They claim they're getting ready to send the bill to collections.

What is my legal recourse in this matter? Does a verbal agreement hold water if the first contract was broken? Can I request proof of a second verbal agreement?

Any ideas?