Opus Energy Scam with Brokers - Caution!

sjane85

We moved into our new businesses premises and the previous owner said she used Opus Energy and said she had passed them our details and they would call, but after hearing nothing i called myself and they said it is all fine they had my details and the account is still active so we just left it at that assuming we had the same tariffs etc and it would just continue the same.
The next day i registered the business as a limited company and the phone did not stop ringing, every call was answered and it was an Indian gentleman saying it was "Opus Energy", i told him we are already with Opus energy and did not need his help but he would not take no for an answer, he would say "we are Opus Energy your energy supplier", i just assumed it was a cold caller to take us away from them, but the guy would call and call non-stop all day, this went on for over a week by the same guy, he would call back as soon as we ended the call non-stop nearly all day every day and even at night (approx. 40 to 50 calls per day).

I called Opus Energy up again and they said it was a broker and not to worry i am already with them and they would be contacting me soon,

The calls from the Indian gentleman continued to carry on (we didn't have caller id so every call got answered), then in between those calls an English gentleman called and said he was from Opus Energy and he was returning my call as he needed my bank details and he could make the cold calls stop, i assumed this guy was legit as he said my D.O.B so i agreed, he then transferred me to somebody else and then somebody else, i could not keep up with what they were saying as they spoke so fast it was unreal, the only things i could make out was when they asked for my bank details which they slowed down on when talking and then they went all hyper speed talking again.

Did the calls stop no they didn't, i then called Opus Energy again to complain and told them the same story, i said it must be something to do with their company as they keep saying they are Opus Energy, they are not saying British Gas or any other company, they are insisting they are Opus Energy, she said ignore the calls and i said i was told they would stop as i have given my bank details, she said not to worry my account was safe and would not be switched,

The very next day the calls stopped. Then 2 months later i noticed a huge direct debit from my account for over £1100 for gas, for just 5 weeks, (the previous owner was paying around £250 for 5 weeks) i called up as this must be an error, they told me it is not an error i said it must be as we have had a full new eco heating system fitted with 2 x small 30kw combi boilers and that the gas was off for 1 week so how can this be so high, surely a fault with the meter, i then hear i am not on the same tariff and that i was joined by a broker and agreed to a contract, i stated i had not joined by a broker and they stated they have a voice recording and it is binding.

I told them if they have a voice recording then i was conned into believing the call was Opus Energy as every call said they are Opus Energy, she said there is nothing they can do, she said the recording says the operator said the company is "energy save or something", i stated that the calls are transferred around with the original first calls claiming to be Opus Energy so this is trickery.

I am posting this a WARNING to other new businesses not to get caught out.

I have also contact the Ombudsman, Ofgem and will be contacting my solicitor, i have also sent e-mailed detailed complaints to Opus Energy.

No bills have been received from Opus Energy to myself , it was only during that last call they told me to open an online account to see the bill in detail, they are not even interested in the gas consumption being nearly 5 times that of the previous owner, and best of all they told me my Gas Kwh price is 5.4p which is insane as i can get much lower than that.

Don't let Opus Energy catch you out they have more love for their con artist brokers than their customers

agrinnall

This would be better placed in Praise, Vent & Warnings; there is no Consumer Rights issue as the OP is not a consumer.

OPUS_Energy

Hello,

We're sorry to hear that this has been your experience of Opus Energy. We would like to help resolve the issues raised in your post.

Could you please email your account information and a summary of your experience to operationsdirector@opusenergy.com with the subject line "Money Savings Expert Forum? This can then be picked up by one of our senior Customer Service representatives who will investigate this.

Thank you,

Conor

RebeccaRoo_2

I read your warning too late!!

I recently expanded my business by opening a new shop and was immediately inundated with calls from brokers trying to sell me energy. It was a complete eye opener to me as I had never experienced anything like it before. I had a million things to do with my new shop but had to spend time answering nuisance calls. I lost important calls for new customers as I wasn’t able to answer my phone

So when I spoke to someone on Tuesday 4th September, who reassured me that he wasn’t a broker and he could make the calls stop by give me completely independent advice on the best energy provider top with sign up with. He told me he worked at The Central Registrations Office. His number was 01273 917938. He mentioned several companies including British Gas and Empower but his tone lifted when he mentioned Opus Energy. Unlike the others they would provide me with a smart meter free of charge, they had 60% renewable energy and offered me the cheapest deal. When I asked how they compared to other companies with lesser emphasis on renewable that might be cheaper he told me there wasn’t any.
He knew that I had a new business and that I was stressed and loosing customers so I agreed to sign up. He spoke very very quickly through the sign up process and we joked about it not making sense as he spoke so quickly. I responded positively in all the important places as i knew this was the way of moving the process forward .

He then told me that I would get another call from Opus themselves to legitimise the process.

This call, as far as I can remember was much the same as the last apart from the threat at the end of the call. He told me not to speak to anyone else, not to accept and other deals or that I would incur high cancellation fees from Opus At this point I became very mistrusting

The calls did continue from other brokers and I continued to loose work for not being able to actually answer my phone

I then called Opus themselves. They told me that they never deal with brokers and that the call I had received, which I believed was from them, wasn’t actually them and that they hadn’t called me at all. I told him I had been mislead and lied to and that I wasn’t at all happy. He denied any knowledge and denied any responsibility. He wanted to process my account quickly and told me that my concerns would be dealt with once my account was set up. I explained that I didn’t want to be tied into this deal, and wanted my concerns addressed before I moved forward. He was blunt, unhelpful and told me that Im stuck with the deal that I had agreed to and the that phone conversation with the broker was legally binding!
Despite asking numerous time how “my concerns would be dealt with” he wouldn’t give me a reasonable explanation. I told him that I wasn’t interested in merely receiving an apology and that I wanted a reasonable rate of electricity

I googled a company, Business Energy Claims and spoke to a helpful man called Calan Thompson who let me know I certainly had a case, that I had been mis sold energy at double the usual rate and they could help but would take 35% of the savings. He told me that Opus were legal obliged to give me the number of the broker thatI had dealt with.

So I called Opus once more. I asked for the brokers name and I also asked for a copy of the agreement. After 20 minutes or so of them denying dealing with or having any knowledge of a brokers, they eventually gave me the name of the broker that was on my account. He was in fact from The Utility Group BPP, not from The Central Registrations Office as I’d been told. The promised to email the agreement to me but I didn’t received anything

I called CAB who will report my case to the Trading Standards, and advised me to call The Ombudsman, who I spoke to on Tuesday 18th September. They advised me to put my concerns in writing and and snd them to Opus to give them the opportunity to right the disgusting way I have been treated and lied to.