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Commercial energy firms supplying domestic users
Hi,
I'm new to the forum and just wanted to see if anyone could offer some advice on a problem I am currently having.
Basically I was contacted a few weeks back by an energy broking firm called Commercial Power who claimed to be able to save me 30% on my electricity bills. .
Anyway, having stupidly agreed to this over the telephone I entered into a verbal contract with a company called Bizz Energy who are a commercial energy supplier. Something I should just say at this point is that I am actually a domestic user. Commercial Power got my contact from the yellow pages where I have a listing for a business that I am currently in the process of setting up. This however is not a registered business it is simply a business name associated with the residential address I currently occupy. This fact was mentioned to the brokers who said that it did not matter.
A week or so on I realised what a huge mistake I had made after discovering the rates I was paying with my existing supplier were less than half what were quoted to me by CP therefore I felt that I had been badly mislead by the sales represenative who told me that switching to Bizz would save me 30% when in fact moving to them actually more than doubled my rates!
I'm trying not to waffle here but basically I am trying to find out if any rules have been broken here. Bizz Energy claim that they are entitled to supply domestic users with commericial supplies though as my property is not offically recognised as a business address, does this claim hold any water? Furthermore Bizz energy have told me that if I wish to terminate the contract I would be subjected to a termination fee and no cooling off period is available as consumer rights do not apply to what is technically a business to business transaction. I have contacted Energywatch who have been very helpful though at this stage they are limited in what they can do for me as the transfer from my old company to Bizz is still in process and I do not yet have an account number.
Does anybody know where I might stand legally here? If I refuse to pay a termination fee can Bizz prevent me from switching back to my old (or any other supplier)??
Any advice on this would be very much appreciated.
I'm new to the forum and just wanted to see if anyone could offer some advice on a problem I am currently having.
Basically I was contacted a few weeks back by an energy broking firm called Commercial Power who claimed to be able to save me 30% on my electricity bills. .
Anyway, having stupidly agreed to this over the telephone I entered into a verbal contract with a company called Bizz Energy who are a commercial energy supplier. Something I should just say at this point is that I am actually a domestic user. Commercial Power got my contact from the yellow pages where I have a listing for a business that I am currently in the process of setting up. This however is not a registered business it is simply a business name associated with the residential address I currently occupy. This fact was mentioned to the brokers who said that it did not matter.
A week or so on I realised what a huge mistake I had made after discovering the rates I was paying with my existing supplier were less than half what were quoted to me by CP therefore I felt that I had been badly mislead by the sales represenative who told me that switching to Bizz would save me 30% when in fact moving to them actually more than doubled my rates!
I'm trying not to waffle here but basically I am trying to find out if any rules have been broken here. Bizz Energy claim that they are entitled to supply domestic users with commericial supplies though as my property is not offically recognised as a business address, does this claim hold any water? Furthermore Bizz energy have told me that if I wish to terminate the contract I would be subjected to a termination fee and no cooling off period is available as consumer rights do not apply to what is technically a business to business transaction. I have contacted Energywatch who have been very helpful though at this stage they are limited in what they can do for me as the transfer from my old company to Bizz is still in process and I do not yet have an account number.
Does anybody know where I might stand legally here? If I refuse to pay a termination fee can Bizz prevent me from switching back to my old (or any other supplier)??
Any advice on this would be very much appreciated.
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Comments
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If you were given misleading sales information, you should be able to make a complaint. If they don't investigate it properly, speak to energywatch.
Yes, bizzenergy can supply domestic customers. However you have to be treated by the rules governing domestic customers, so you would be entitled to a seven day cooling off period from when you receive your contract, unless you agreed to waive your cool-off right.
If the contract was done legitametly, then you couldn't complain about the termination fee, however if it wasn't then they should return you to your previous supplier backdated to the date they took over.0 -
Interesting. Misleading information was given to me although by the brokers and not Bizz Energy. The switch over was sold to me on their statement that moving would save me 30% on my bills. The sales rep even told me that they could see what I was already paying and that the Bizz rates were far cheaper! Obviously it should have been my responsibilty to verify that against what I was paying however having just moved into the property I had no paperwork to check it against but as it turned out I was lied to given that the Biz rates were more than double!
On the subject of the termination fee. I have not yet received anything in the post and on speaking to Bizz Energy's pathetic customer services department they do not even as yet have my details on record so it looks as if the handover still hasn't been processed. I am sure that this was not mentioned in the verbal contract and have requested a copy of the phone conversation to verify this. As a domestic user I am also pleased to hear that I am entitled to be treated as such even though technically this was a b2b transaction and also do not recall waiving my right to this in the verbal agreement. Once again I will be able to verify this once i receive a copy of the conversation.0 -
It depends if you agreed it as a business contract or a domestic - if you stated you were domestic then you should be governed by the same rules. However if you agreed the contract under the name of your business it may be a bit of a grey area, I'd recommend speaking to energywatch not to make a complaint at this stage but to get some advice as they will have more expertise in this area than me
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I wouldn't speak to Energywatch, we have a complaint against BE through their misselling and Energywatch basically shrugged it off.
We are going to trading standards!0 -
How are you getting on with Bizz energy? I am having the same problem. We just set up our business and my wife was conned into this but she was under the impresion they were our current supplier and gave all the details asked for. I have recieved the recording but the start of the conversation is missing and they don't seem to want to supply the full recording. Tried energywatch and they were usless. I have not yet paid the bill I have recieved from Bizz as I can't afford them.0
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I've recieved a letter from Bizz saying that they have sent me the part of the conversation that is needed to make the contract legally binding. Does anyone know if they can mislead the customer then cut that part out of the conversation? It is very evident on the recording the the start has been cut and they even admit to it in the letter. If they could do this then anyone can phone up mislead you then begin the recording once they have wone you over.0
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No developments on my side at the moment other than to say looks like i'm in the clear as the information they had for my property at the time of the contract was entirely inaccurate. They have the wrong address and wrong serial number for the meter as well as the MPAN electricity supply number therefore no approach was ever made to my existing supplier. Somehow though the bills are still finding their way to me which I am now just ignoring. Energywatch were being quite helpful but it's all gone a bit quiet on that front too and the last time I phoned the case had been closed as all corresopndance Bizz had sent to me had apparently been returned. Funny how the bills still got here though!0
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