Energy broker disputes

Tinfox2

Buisness Reduction Services ( NW)

I am seeking help and wondering if anyone has experienced or resolved a dispute with Buisness Reduction Services ( NW) and PreAction resolution reached,  acting on their behalf . 
 At 0717 I had a cold call from a private number . I had just recieved keys to begin work setting up my first hair salon . At this point no lease signed and no one knew apart from my partner and landlord . This cold caller , Michelle , was not in any way transparent . She made out she was from an official body trying to sort out my switch over for the premises.  She knew everything,  my landlords supplier , that there was no gas in the building . She was extremely pushy . At this time in the morning , I was extremely busy and uneasy / baffled , however , been as she was an  official utility person ( not !) I presumed my landlord had passed details on ( he hadn't ) .
To my shame , she sorted out a cheaper provider a Yorkshire energy company and wanted me to sign online and set it up . I even said " I don't want to do this , i am nervous,  because of scammers " she just replied " oh , bless you " . So I signed . At NO point did she say she was a broker , even when I questioned " I don't understand , who are you " 
 After the call , I contacted my bank straight away , googled the companies and waited until Yorkshire energy were open . Now my phone blew up , with non stop brokers . At this point I realised , she was a broker . Yorkshire energy I rang serval times and they said I was tied in and to ring the broker back . It was a private number call so Yorkshire energy gave me a number . No surprise , that came up as Spam and would not connect . 
 As it happened during my complaints to Yorkshire energy , the previous supplier would not release the meter as my landlord had an outstanding balance on it . Happy days , Yorkshire could not honour the contract .
 Fast forward 3 weeks and happy days over ,I am being bombarded with heavy , e mails , phone calls from PreAction Resolution . Highly stressful !!!! They want me to pay the brokers commission or take me to crown court . I have complained as advised by citizens advice to BRS , to get a deadlock letter and then I can complain to DRO . But this PreAction is not happy with that , they hound me with legal , lengthy , threatening e mails , then try to ring me . I will not answer , because my phone says spam ( and after the last cold call that did not end well )
The first e mail i had off them I used chatgpt to help me respond , because I went onto shock . She even had a go at me in her reply . So apparently BRS can get legal aid from PreAction Resoloution  but a hairdresser is not allowed to Google or chat gpt my rights ? 
Can anyone please help / advise , this situation is so stressful .

Tinfox2

I am seeking help and wondering if anyone has experienced or resolved a dispute with Buisness Reduction Services ( NW) and PreAction resolution reached,  acting on their behalf . 
 At 0717 I had a cold call from a private number . I had just recieved keys to begin work setting up my first hair salon . At this point no lease signed and no one knew apart from my partner and landlord . This cold caller , Michelle , was not in any way transparent . She made out she was from an official body trying to sort out my switch over for the premises.  She knew everything,  my landlords supplier , that there was no gas in the building . She was extremely pushy . At this time in the morning , I was extremely busy and uneasy / baffled , however , been as she was an  official utility person ( not !) I presumed my landlord had passed details on ( he hadn't ) .
To my shame , she sorted out a cheaper provider a Yorkshire energy company and wanted me to sign online and set it up . I even said " I don't want to do this , i am nervous,  because of scammers " she just replied " oh , bless you " . So I signed . At NO point did she say she was a broker , even when I questioned " I don't understand , who are you " 
 After the call , I contacted my bank straight away , googled the companies and waited until Yorkshire energy were open . Now my phone blew up , with non stop brokers . At this point I realised , she was a broker . Yorkshire energy I rang serval times and they said I was tied in and to ring the broker back . It was a private number call so Yorkshire energy gave me a number . No surprise , that came up as Spam and would not connect . 
 As it happened during my complaints to Yorkshire energy , the previous supplier would not release the meter as my landlord had an outstanding balance on it . Happy days , Yorkshire could not honour the contract .
 Fast forward 3 weeks and happy days over ,I am being bombarded with heavy , e mails , phone calls from PreAction Resolution . Highly stressful !!!! They want me to pay the brokers commission or take me to crown court . I have complained as advised by citizens advice to BRS , to get a deadlock letter and then I can complain to DRO . But this PreAction is not happy with that , they hound me with legal , lengthy , threatening e mails , then try to ring me . I will not answer , because my phone says spam ( and after the last cold call that did not end well )
The first e mail i had off them I used chatgpt to help me respond , because I went onto shock . She even had a go at me in her reply . So apparently BRS can get legal aid from PreAction Resoloution  but a hairdresser is not allowed to Google or chat gpt my rights ? 
Can anyone please help / advise , this situation is so stressful .

PHK

This doesn't seem to be a Consumer Rights issue. You would be better posting in the small business forum. 

It would be good to reformat your post to make it easier to read, stick to the facts and major points. 

MeteredOut

Reformatted courtesy of ChatGPT - i told it not to change any words but have not checked it.

I am seeking help and wondering if anyone has experienced or resolved a dispute with Buisness Reduction Services (NW) and PreAction Resolution reached, acting on their behalf.

At 07:17 I had a cold call from a private number. I had just received keys to begin work setting up my first hair salon. At this point no lease signed and no one knew apart from my partner and landlord. This cold caller, Michelle, was not in any way transparent. She made out she was from an official body trying to sort out my switch over for the premises.

She knew everything — my landlord’s supplier, that there was no gas in the building. She was extremely pushy. At this time in the morning, I was extremely busy and uneasy/baffled, however, being as she was an official utility person (not!) I presumed my landlord had passed details on (he hadn’t).

To my shame, she sorted out a cheaper provider, a Yorkshire energy company, and wanted me to sign online and set it up. I even said, "I don't want to do this, I am nervous, because of scammers." She just replied, "Oh, bless you." So I signed. At NO point did she say she was a broker, even when I questioned, "I don't understand, who are you?"

After the call, I contacted my bank straight away, googled the companies, and waited until Yorkshire Energy were open. Now my phone blew up with non-stop brokers. At this point I realised she was a broker. Yorkshire Energy I rang several times and they said I was tied in and to ring the broker back. It was a private number call, so Yorkshire Energy gave me a number. No surprise, that came up as Spam and would not connect.

As it happened during my complaints to Yorkshire Energy, the previous supplier would not release the meter as my landlord had an outstanding balance on it. Happy days — Yorkshire could not honour the contract.

Fast forward 3 weeks and happy days over, I am being bombarded with heavy emails, phone calls from PreAction Resolution. Highly stressful!!!! They want me to pay the broker’s commission or take me to crown court. I have complained as advised by Citizens Advice to BRS, to get a deadlock letter and then I can complain to DRO. But this PreAction is not happy with that — they hound me with legal, lengthy, threatening emails, then try to ring me. I will not answer, because my phone says spam (and after the last cold call that did not end well).

The first email I had off them I used ChatGPT to help me respond, because I went into shock. She even had a go at me in her reply. So apparently BRS can get legal aid from PreAction Resolution but a hairdresser is not allowed to Google or ChatGPT my rights?

Can anyone please help/advise, this situation is so stressful.

martindow

MeteredOut said:

Reformatted courtesy of ChatGPT - i told it not to change any words but have not checked it.

I think it would be wise for you to read through it to check that everything there is correct.  ChatGPT is quite capable of 'hallucinating' and including errors and inventions of its own.

I've no knowledge to be able to help you, I'm afraid, but I think you probably need to cut out some of it so that the main points are clearer to understand.  It is certainly better now it is in paragraphs!

Vienss

That sounds incredibly stressful — you’re absolutely right to be cautious. Unfortunately, Business Reduction Services (NW) and similar brokers have been reported for aggressive, misleading cold-calls. You did the right thing contacting Citizens Advice and requesting a deadlock letter to escalate to the Energy Ombudsman (DRO). Continue keeping written records of all calls and emails; don’t respond by phone. PreAction Resolution cannot take you to Crown Court for a civil contract dispute — that’s intimidation. Block their numbers, report harassment to Action Fraud, and consider emailing tradingstandards@ your local council with full documentation.

stressedoutdotcom

I cannot believe I am reading this.  We have almost identical issues with these crooks.  Have ongoing complaints with both Business Reduction Services and Yorkshire Gas N Power.  We have reported to Action Fraud, Trading Standards, The DRO and from Monday we are starting our journey with the Ombudsman.  Each blame each other for the issue.  BRS are aggressive bullies and need to be dealt with legally if you look on truspilot these are not isolated incidents they have form for it.  We are also making an appointment with a solicitors to stop this.  We contacted YGP as soon as we received an email from them and told them we had not agreed any contract with them and told them to stop everything,  The day after they set an account it and have been hounding our daughter for upfront charges despite us emailed them and BRS Daily and the amount of calls i am loosing count.  

No one seems to be stopping or helping us out .  How can a broker set up an account with an energy provider legally and charging the customer £550 per contract ie 1 gas 1 electric who in their right mind would sign up for that.  We have asked the broker for recordings of conversations and they say they cant provide them YGP say they have to and told us to ask for a SAR (Subject Access Request) which will show us all they have on the matter.  They are ignoring this request and hoping we will go away but i will not stop until the criminals are brought to justice.

I will keep you updated and please do the same .

Tinfox2

So , update .

I have looked on trustpilot and Google and it is the same story,  again and again.  

It is incredibly stressful , I agree . 

So , today , I did get a voice recording from Pre Action Resolution,  which surprised me . I am very glad they have sent this . This totally proves I was mis sold . At NO point does Michelle ( BRS ) disclose that she is a broker or commission involved . As you stated , who in their right mind would go along with that deal . 

 Even though,  I have asked for a deadlock lock letter , Pre Action Resolution are still hounding me for money . Again , this is not how it should work legally . It needs to be paused , then once I have the deadlock letter it can go to the Ombudsman .

How are you getting on ? I think I need to report them to fraud tomorrow also . It is a total scam .