Our gas contract should have ended in June 2007, but we found out it’s not that easy to end. Although we did return their "form" clearly marked "Declined" before their deadline, for some reason "they did not receive it". I had no idea they were so dishonest that I should have sent it by registered mail.
I should have known this would happen. We had been hounded for several months by calls to renew our contract, both before and after I had mailed their “declined” form back. They don’t take NO for an answer. We asked several times that they not call again, that we are not changing our decision, but they kept calling and we had to ignore the phone. When we realized the calling had stopped, we thought they had accepted our decision and were done with them.
We did not notice in July 2007, that a new rate of .439 cents (double the original rate) had come in effect. Our bills are low in the summer and, furthermore, Direct Energy had told us our contract was ending in November of 2007. And those statements are not clear. When we finally realized in March 2008 that they were still acting as our supplier and charging us double for it, we first contacted Enbridge and had their name removed. It's still too soon to be sure, but I hope we are done with them.
We are now trying to collect the overpaid difference which is a minimum of $400 in excessive gas charges to date. They gave us a claim number but nothing else was happening. Two days ago, we filed a complaint online with the Ontario Energy Board. Then Direct Energy called this morning to say they had not received the Form we had “declined” and would not refund us. I am not surprised about this.
I hope the OEB can do something about this malpractice. It's not just about the money; it's the deceptive, callous, dishonest way they operate. When a contract expires and you’ve already told them a dozen times you don’t want to renew it, it should end. Expired means it no longer exist! Period. We will never sign up with a marketer again.
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