Help! I have been conned into an electric contract

Pudding123

Hello everyone,

Really hoping someone can help...
I have been trying to start a business and I have just gained access to my shop premises to ready it for opening.

whilst elbows deep in paint, my personal mobile rang, i answered to find it was 'electricity registration', i never give out my personal number, i have a spare phone who's number i give out. So i presumed my landlord had been in touch to the electric company to tell them there is a change of hands and that it was a legitimate call.

yes i was stupid and fell for it, i even half knew it whilst i was on the phone, and i am absolutely kicking myself for being such an idiot. But anyhow, the guy told me about the different electricity suppliers rates, giving me prices for about 9 different suppliers including Npower and Eon, and telling me that a company local to me (hull) was actually the cheapest. Opus Energy. The guy asked if i wanted him to sort the switch and i said no thanks but can he send me the information in the post so i can read it and research it myself. He said he couldn't do that but he could go through the information with me over the phone and i said ok. At that point he said he needed to record the call for the company to ensure he is giving me the right information and started spewing all the Ts and Cs. he ept asking me if i understood and i stupidly said yes. Turns out this translates into that i agree to the contract as they have since sent me letters to say they are now my business energy supplier. I found out pretty quickly that this was a con as I got a following 50 other calls claiming 'i need to register my meter' . Opus Energy were nowhere near the cheapest, and they are located in Birmingham not hull and not exactly a local company.

I called hoping could cancel but they said there is no cooling off period.

surely there is something i can do!

thank you for any help

FullForce

Pudding123 wrote: »

Hello everyone,

Really hoping someone can help...
I have been trying to start a business and I have just gained access to my shop premises to ready it for opening.

whilst elbows deep in paint, my personal mobile rang, i answered to find it was 'electricity registration', i never give out my personal number, i have a spare phone who's number i give out. So i presumed my landlord had been in touch to the electric company to tell them there is a change of hands and that it was a legitimate call.

yes i was stupid and fell for it, i even half knew it whilst i was on the phone, and i am absolutely kicking myself for being such an idiot. But anyhow, the guy told me about the different electricity suppliers rates, giving me prices for about 9 different suppliers including Npower and Eon, and telling me that a company local to me (hull) was actually the cheapest. Opus Energy. The guy asked if i wanted him to sort the switch and i said no thanks but can he send me the information in the post so i can read it and research it myself. He said he couldn't do that but he could go through the information with me over the phone and i said ok. At that point he said he needed to record the call for the company to ensure he is giving me the right information and started spewing all the Ts and Cs. he ept asking me if i understood and i stupidly said yes. Turns out this translates into that i agree to the contract as they have since sent me letters to say they are now my business energy supplier. I found out pretty quickly that this was a con as I got a following 50 other calls claiming 'i need to register my meter' . Opus Energy were nowhere near the cheapest, and they are located in Birmingham not hull and not exactly a local company.

I called hoping could cancel but they said there is no cooling off period.

surely there is something i can do!

thank you for any help

If you have any evidence to support your claim you have been conned, then I suggest you discuss this matter with your legal adviser

If, however, as it seems the case, you willingly entered into a contract but have now developed buyers remorse, you are stuffed.

Pudding123

I don't know what evidence i could produce to support my claim. The guy on the phone said that to go ahead with the contract i would have to sign the contract and send it back, because i kept saying i didn't want to go ahead with anything on the phone, perhaps i can request the recording of the phone call but the recording only started half way through.... hence why i feel i should ave been more on the ball and realised there was something fishy about it. I admit i was stupid, but i do not have buyer's remorse.

Robin9

Pudding123 wrote: »

. Opus Energy were nowhere near the cheapest, and they are located in Birmingham not hull and not exactly a local company.

As in the domestic market the bottom line bill is a combination of standing charges and unit rates.

How have you been able to compare the different suppliers ?


PS Opus is Oxford based, not Hull or Birmingham - not that that that makes any difference to cost or service.

FullForce

Pudding123 wrote: »

I don't know what evidence i could produce to support my claim. The guy on the phone said that to go ahead with the contract i would have to sign the contract and send it back, because i kept saying i didn't want to go ahead with anything on the phone, perhaps i can request the recording of the phone call but the recording only started half way through.... hence why i feel i should ave been more on the ball and realised there was something fishy about it. I admit i was stupid, but i do not have buyer's remorse.

In law, it is for the claimant to prove their case.
Think about how you could do this, but as I suggested earlier, a discussion with your legal adviser would be wise.

Lynn_Opus

Hi Pudding123,
I'm sorry to hear that you have had a poor sales experience, and I would like to help sort this out. Our offices are based in Oxford, Northampton and Cardiff, but we are owned by Drax Group which is based in Selby. Perhaps that is why the energy broker suggested we are your local supplier?

At any rate, could you contact the Opus Energy Customer Care team on 0800 630 0841? I will forward along this complaint to them, so they will be aware of the situation when you phone in. We take all miss-selling complaints seriously and would be happy to investigate further. I'm sure we can find a resolution to your concerns.

Thanks,
Lynn Morrison
Director, Opus Energy

AndyPK

certainly for domestic, you have a 14 day cooling off period where you can cancel

Pudding123

Thanks, Sorry my bad i don't know where i got Birmingham from. My point was that it wasn't a local Hull company like the guy told me on the phone. And i know that the location of a company doesn't affect the price but it was an extra positive to me that i was supporting a local company.

As i didn't know that i had joined with Opus i contacted a few different energy companies including the existing supplier (Npower) to request prices. I quickly realised the prices the guy had given me over the phone were wrong. I believe Opus rates are around 30p S/Charge per day, and 17p p/kWh.

This is a completely new learning curve for me as i have never had much to do with electric companies in the past and always had a top up meter.

And as i have learn't there is no cooling off period for business electric.

I will be in contact with Opus again and be requesting the phone call recording.

Thanks to everyone who has helped.

Carrot007

Pudding123 wrote: »

Thanks, Sorry my bad i don't know where i got Birmingham from. My point was that it wasn't a local Hull company like the guy told me on the phone. And i know that the location of a company doesn't affect the price but it was an extra positive to me that i was supporting a local company.

As i didn't know that i had joined with Opus i contacted a few different energy companies including the existing supplier (Npower) to request prices. I quickly realised the prices the guy had given me over the phone were wrong. I believe Opus rates are around 30p S/Charge per day, and 17p p/kWh.

This is a completely new learning curve for me as i have never had much to do with electric companies in the past and always had a top up meter.

And as i have learn't there is no cooling off period for business electric.

I will be in contact with Opus again and be requesting the phone call recording.

Thanks to everyone who has helped.

I suspect your problem will be you are not in contract with opus and they cannot do anything.

You are contracted though a dodgy broker, who has upped the costs to line his pockets rather than charge a fee. Unfortunatly on the business side of things this is allowed.

humbugg_2

Lynn_Opus wrote: »

Hi Pudding123,
I'm sorry to hear that you have had a poor sales experience, and I would like to help sort this out. Our offices are based in Oxford, Northampton and Cardiff, but we are owned by Drax Group which is based in Selby. Perhaps that is why the energy broker suggested we are your local supplier?

At any rate, could you contact the Opus Energy Customer Care team on 0800 630 0841? I will forward along this complaint to them, so they will be aware of the situation when you phone in. We take all miss-selling complaints seriously and would be happy to investigate further. I'm sure we can find a resolution to your concerns.

Thanks,
Lynn Morrison
Director, Opus Energy

Sorry, but if your a Director, why are you not listed as such at companies house.
I only ask as Haven Power are linked to Drax as well, and they disregarded the law as well. (yes ombudsman did have to correct them and yes they did back out of the court case I started)

To the OP, apply to who ever you select, and if and when opus dispute it, raise as complaint to get evidence of contract, then do a Subject access report to get the recording.

Good luck, power suppliers are a law unto themselves.

[Deleted User]

humbugg wrote: »

Sorry, but if your a Director, why are you not listed as such at companies house...

Many companies, often larger ones, give their senior managers the job title of 'Director' even though they are not registered as a company director under the terms of the Companies Act 2006.