Agreeing to switch to BG over the phone..?

ferry

Just wondered where we stand on this.
We had a call from BG to ask if we would consider changing our electricity supplier to them.They spoke to my wife who confirmed that she would need to discuss this with me before committing.
today,we've received a letter stating that we've entered a contract "as agreed over the telephone" and "how delighted they are that we've agreed to tranfer supplier-we now need to make sure you understand that you've entered a contract" etc.
The letter actually sounds like we've now been left with no choice but to now switch.
It has the quote "As agreed over the telephone" typed into where we would sign on the declaration.
Admittedly we may well switch,but are they able to do this.?
Surely there can't be a standing contract unless we sign something..?

Any advice appreciated
Terry

wowsavings

You have a cooling off period by law anyway, so you can call them and say you do not wish to continue until you have had a chance to check the best deal for yourself.

ferry

I will call them anyway,but surely a verbal converstion is not authority to make the switch without actually signing anything..?

tripled

The calls are recorded, there is a legal verbal script that they have to read and your wife would have had to agree to. If they didn't read it or your wife didn't agree to it then don't just cancel, make a complaint. They will then cancel the sale, listen to the call and if the agent was in the wrong they will be told. If the agent receives repeated complaints which are upheld they get the boot.

wills34

This would be classed as a verbal contract. The sales advisor would read a validation at the end of call to verify this. If they did not do this it would be classed as mis-selling, if they did it is completely legal and is standard practice. They are required by law to give you a minimum of a 7 day cooling off period. British Gas only give you this minimum cancellation period

broxis11

wills34 wrote:

This would be classed as a verbal contract. The sales advisor would read a validation at the end of call to verify this. If they did not do this it would be classed as mis-selling, if they did it is completely legal and is standard practice. They are required by law to give you a minimum of a 7 day cooling off period. British Gas only give you this minimum cancellation period

They actually get more than 7 days to cancel, it is 7 days after the customer receives the acceptance of the contract, in other words the welcome letter that the op has described.

It is normally closer to a fortnight the customer has to cancel.

masonic

broxis11 wrote:

They actually get more than 7 days to cancel, it is 7 days after the customer receives the acceptance of the contract, in other words the welcome letter that the op has described.

It is normally closer to a fortnight the customer has to cancel.

When I (attempted) to switch over to BG last summer, I received a follow-up call from them the day after I applied where they said they could fast-track my switch. Unknown to me, this meant that I had unwittingly waived the cooling-off period altogether. That was a real problem to me when I received my welcome pack, realised I had been put on the wrong tariff and couldn't cancel. I obviously complained, but to no avail. Fortunately, I was able to go to the comparison sites the same day and switch again so that I was only on that tariff for a week or two.