A friendly employee answers the phone and makes a favorable offer for an electricity or gas supply contract. Many people are currently paying attention to favorable contract conditions. “In our experience, dubious providers use unannounced telephone calls to foist contracts on consumers with conditions that were not agreed upon,” warns Carina Habeck, energy law expert at VZSH. During the phone call, some consumers agree to the apparently favorable conditions. However, instead of the tariff previously discussed on the phone, they receive a contract confirmation, often with higher prices. The consumer never agreed to this content of the contract. Under these circumstances, no valid contract was concluded. Contract contents may be discussed over the telephone. However, the contract is only effective if the written confirmation corresponds to the content discussed on the telephone.
reject the conclusion of the contract
If consumers receive a contract confirmation with different content, even though a cheaper offer was discussed in advance over the phone, the energy law expert advises the following: “In such cases, consumers should object to the conclusion of a contract in writing as quickly as possible and point out that a contract does not exist under the stated conditions. On our homepage, consumers will find a corresponding sample letter that they can use to communicate with the provider. The same applies to consumers who only requested information material but received a contract confirmation.
Inform your previous supplier and ask them to reinstate you
Some time after the phone call, consumers also receive confirmation of cancellation from their previous supplier, even though they have not ordered cancellation. In principle, however, the new supplier needs authorization from the consumer in order to be able to terminate the contract on his behalf. “In this case, consumers should inform their previous supplier that the new supplier was not instructed to terminate and that termination of the contract was not desired. At the same time, they can ask for the contract to be reinstated. However, there is no legal obligation to restart,” said Habeck.
Prevention: Do not give out personal information over the phone
“Whether on the phone or at the front door, we recommend that consumers: under no circumstances reveal meter numbers, meter readings, IBAN or other personal information in sales conversations. “Using this data, dubious energy suppliers can deregister the meter from the network operator and register as a new supplier,” warns Habeck.
More information can be found here .
You can find a corresponding sample letter to support communication with energy suppliers here .
Source:
Schleswig-Holstein consumer advice center
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