E4b

[Deleted User] · 5 May 2008 at 3:19PM

having bought an ongoing business on 16/02/08 i was informed by the previous occupants that they had written to e4b and told them about the sale and that they did not wish to renew the contract which was due to end 10/03/08. proceeded to change supplier but this was stopped by e4b who stated that the contract was with the property not the tenant and i could not cancel. i knew that the previous tenant had paid e4b a fee to get out of the last six weeks so assumed i was not in a contract. although e4b insisted i was they are still charging me out of contract rates until i either sign up with them or change supplier. cannot change supplier as they keep saying i am under contract with them. catch 22. ombudsman no use and so far energywatch have been unable to get me changed. any suggestions?

Waterwalker · 6 May 2008 at 11:34PM

Hello Collo224,
Sorry to hear you have this problem. As you have not actually signed a piece of paper that ties you to pay E4B and you where not the owner who made the agreement I would stop paying them, I cancelled my DD in December, I have tried to resolve the issue on two occassions, they are not even interested, I have complaints logged with Energy watch and the Office of Fair Trading.
I believe you can also place a strong complaint with your Local council Trading standards Officer, who have quite a few powers.

I strongley suggest you read the thread "BEWARE E4B" you are not on your own and other people will give you support as much as possible.

I think most of your problam will be how much paperwork you can get hold of to show a judge, should it get to that stage.
Before your power can be shut off you have to be given the chance to defend yourself (with or without a solicitor) in Court. The only way a Judge will sign a disconnection notice is if you are trading insolventley. If you have acted resonable to resolve the issue and put money away in an account that you can show the judge you are not just avoiding payment. Your grounds are resonable.
As I said I stopped my DD after my years contract, I have been threatened ever since, but no-one has appeared at my door. I think this company are going to go bust, if they did not have extreme extended credit terms from thier suppliers they would be insolvant. You can buy a full credit report on any company from various sources, its quite amazing how these thieves are still doing business.
search for thread "BEWARE E4B" and reply, the bad publicity they are getting through Unethical, Unfair Trading Practices is very bad for them.

lordie · 7 May 2008 at 10:02AM

collo224 wrote: »

having bought an ongoing business on 16/02/08 i was informed by the previous occupants that they had written to e4b and told them about the sale and that they did not wish to renew the contract which was due to end 10/03/08. proceeded to change supplier but this was stopped by e4b who stated that the contract was with the property not the tenant and i could not cancel. i knew that the previous tenant had paid e4b a fee to get out of the last six weeks so assumed i was not in a contract. although e4b insisted i was they are still charging me out of contract rates until i either sign up with them or change supplier. cannot change supplier as they keep saying i am under contract with them. catch 22. ombudsman no use and so far energywatch have been unable to get me changed. any suggestions?

Hi Collo,

Welcome to the hell that is being an E4B customer. You have definately come to the right place for advice about this.
Firstly, fear not. You are currently in what is called a "deemed contract". This means that although they can and will stiff you for as much as they can initially, you do have the right to cancel this contract as soon as you agree the transfer of supply to another company. This is advice from Energywatch....

http://energywatch-bus.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/energywatch_bus.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=3600

If you require further information regarding avoiding being trapped into a hugely expensive E4B contract, have a look at this.....

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=8918513

Dessert_Silver · 12 May 2008 at 6:12PM

Hi All
I found your thread on Google. I wud like to join any gang of discontent with E4B.
I'd never heard of "roll-over" till I called an alternative supplier & Energywatch.
I was unaware that Contract Law had been changed for businesses concerned with Gas & Electricity.
Does anyone know how or when the law changed? Can anyone quote statute or case law on which these "roll-over" contracts are allowed?
So far E4B have not replied to: 1 phone call, 4 emails + 1 fax.
So far I haven't stopped my DD which inexplicably jumped 80% whilst I was still waiting & requesting a renewal invitation. I found on searching my file that I'd been deceived by their letter "Prices Fixed for 2 years". I agree with you all that these people should not be in business, they're dishonest yet skirt on the edge of the law. I wonder if some kind of "class" (joint) action could be initiated against them. Clearly, Energywatch, are no good yet they do say they are accumulating complaints with a view to lobbying Dept of Industry/Energy. But when?

lordie · 12 May 2008 at 7:02PM

Dessert_Silver wrote: »

Hi All
I found your thread on Google. I wud like to join any gang of discontent with E4B.
I'd never heard of "roll-over" till I called an alternative supplier & Energywatch.
I was unaware that Contract Law had been changed for businesses concerned with Gas & Electricity.
Does anyone know how or when the law changed? Can anyone quote statute or case law on which these "roll-over" contracts are allowed?
So far E4B have not replied to: 1 phone call, 4 emails + 1 fax.
So far I haven't stopped my DD which inexplicably jumped 80% whilst I was still waiting & requesting a renewal invitation. I found on searching my file that I'd been deceived by their letter "Prices Fixed for 2 years". I agree with you all that these people should not be in business, they're dishonest yet skirt on the edge of the law. I wonder if some kind of "class" (joint) action could be initiated against them. Clearly, Energywatch, are no good yet they do say they are accumulating complaints with a view to lobbying Dept of Industry/Energy. But when?

Hi Dessert Silver,
I will try to help you but will need more information about your contract. Can you tell me your renewal date and if you received a renewal notification including your new tariff? If you did receive a notification, what was the date you got it?

Dessert_Silver · 13 May 2008 at 9:29AM

Renewal date 19/3/08
"Energy rates fixed for 24 mths" letter dated 15/1/08, rec'd 18/1/08.
Regret I only read the headline, as above.
I didn't notice it was a renewal offer, nor realise there was anything on the back. Nor did I read any small print cos I assumed it was a circular ad blurb.
Had the letter been entitle in bold " Contract Renewal Offer" then I would have studied it.
I feel deceived.

lordie · 13 May 2008 at 1:16PM

Dessert_Silver wrote: »

Renewal date 19/3/08
"Energy rates fixed for 24 mths" letter dated 15/1/08, rec'd 18/1/08.
Regret I only read the headline, as above.
I didn't notice it was a renewal offer, nor realise there was anything on the back. Nor did I read any small print cos I assumed it was a circular ad blurb.
Had the letter been entitle in bold " Contract Renewal Offer" then I would have studied it.
I feel deceived.

My advice is to contact E4B and say that you have not received their contract renewal letter. You therefore assumed that they would charge you at your initial contracted rate until they contacted you. You only found out about their hugely inflated 2nd and 3rd year rates when your DD increased alarmingly.
I managed to get out of an Npower rollover contract by saying that I had not received any letters telling me of an increase in price. They argued that as they had sent it in the post, I MUST have received it. I argued that post does get lost from time to time and that with something as important as a contract renewal letter with higher tariffs, they should either send it recorded delivery, or at the least, phone you up to make sure you received it and are happy to pay the new rates. They threatened me with legal action. I said go ahead. They then backed down and allowed me to transfer to another supplier. Unfortunately in my case, that happened to be E4B. Talk about "out of the frying pan..."

Waterwalker · 14 May 2008 at 12:02AM

Dessert_Silver wrote: »

Renewal date 19/3/08
"Energy rates fixed for 24 mths" letter dated 15/1/08, rec'd 18/1/08.
Regret I only read the headline, as above.
I didn't notice it was a renewal offer, nor realise there was anything on the back. Nor did I read any small print cos I assumed it was a circular ad blurb.
Had the letter been entitle in bold " Contract Renewal Offer" then I would have studied it.
I feel deceived.

Hello Dessert Silver;
Sorry to hear of another victim in this position. If you are good at reading legal buff, you have three main arrears I know about :-
Anti-Competition act, Unfair terms act, Mis-representation of sale, & maybe case law roll-over.
I doubt you can get away from the roll over if you have willingly used thier service even for a few days after the initial renewal date. But I doubt they can make the 'two year' bit stick as it states in thier T & C's for multipuls of initial term, I assume one year is what you signed.
My personal stance was to cancel my DD immediately and have not renewed or made any payment as they are in breach of thier own contract terms. I am waiting for them to take me to court, the longer they wait the more it costs them.
You can give notice of termination at any time and ask another supplier to take over supply, that at least shows you are not happy with them as your supplier. If they object, they HAVE to give a detailed reason, if they do not give a detailed reason they are going against the terms of licence given to them by the secatary of state, and we can apply for thier licence to be revoked. They are then also breaking Anti-Competition law which if the OFT get off thier backsides can fine them 10% of turnover.

I take it you read all the other thread "BEWARE E4B CONTRACT".

There are quite a few people who are putting cases together and the first one taken to court will get support from the others. I do not know of any judge in he country who would ignore a couple of hundered names on a petition, and Energy watch have more than 200 complaints.

I am in contact with Lordi and a few others, you can send a personal message via this site if you want to get together and help each other.

supplier_help_for_all · 12 September 2008 at 3:12PM

Hello I can offer assistance to anybody with a supplier (Electricity) contract issue. I know the E4B Company and would be willing to help in any way.

If you have any questions please contact me on [EMAIL="supplierhelpforall@googlemail.com"]supplierhelpforall@googlemail.com[/EMAIL] and I will post all queries and assistance on this site.

fatlad1971 · 18 September 2008 at 6:12PM

Hi all,
I am an energy broker working within the SME sector , without saying too much and avoiding the possibility of being sued i would like to offer some advice . Many business customers have had massive problems with regards to communication and renewal offers with E4B. I would avoid at all costs using this supplier due to these issues.With regards to the first post on this thread what E4B are telling you is !!!!!!!! . A business energy contract is between two businesses ( you and energy supplier) and is only enforceable while you are occupying the premises named on the contract. Any new owner or tenant is free to find a alternative supplier.If you change premises or change trading status you need a new contract.
I am not on here touting for business as i have more than enough but would advise business customers using a professional utility brokering or consultancy company. Like all industries there are good and bad so make sure your consultant is a member of the UIA
http://www.uia.org.uk/
good luck

Comms · 9 October 2008 at 5:26PM

We are the Utilities Intermediairies Association (UIA) a young, not for profit Trade Association, in being to enhance the reputation of energy brokers/consultants/advisors; or in other words Third party intermediaires (Tpis), within the industrial & commecrial sector of the energy market. All of our FULL members sign to a Code of Practice (CoP) incorpoating an independent Redress Scheme which is there to protect the consumer. The code was written with input/comment from Ofgem, Berr, energywatch, suppliers and Tpis and encourages fair and ethical practice at all times and in all dealings with the consumer.

In addition to representing its Tpi members, the UIA also liaises with suppliers and energy related bodies (both governement and non-government), troubleshooting where possible and as required. Fees for Tpis are weighted so "too expensive" is not really an excuse for non-membership. If you already use a Tpi ask them if they are members and if not why not! If you are looking for a Tpi then by visiting our website you can see overviews for the various companies listed and link to their websites for furuther information if you wish.

Everything about the UIA its Code of Practice and Redress Scheme can be accessed at www.uia.org.uk

E4b

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