Sudbury Classifieds - PeopleField.org - classifieds housing vehicles and job site


	Your local, Canadian , community classifieds and forums
	Sudbury (Ontario) (change)	Search

nav bar:Classifieds \| Community Directory \| Your Account \| About/Help \| Home General Classifieds (all) .....Local Services▶ Add a Classified FREE Computer Consultant ( all Local Services ) Sudbury Forum Ontario Forum Canadian Forum Poetry Canada PeopleField Support Forum Post a New Topic Tagwall of Posts Random 5 Threads About Us Active and Local Frequent Questions (FAQ) Posting and Use Guidelines Scam Prevention TOS, Editing and Banning Sponsorship Contact / Feedback --- Log In / Register --- It's Free! --- New profile options --- when logged in! --- Click Here! List Directories (all) Travel, Tourism & Accomodation▶ Hot Directory Listings! (ALL) Add your Business, Club or Organization FREE 1 Newest Listings▶ Furnished Private Accomodation Three Oak Resort Sudbury homepage Change City Change Country

New to PeopleField! Want a little info about this site? :: log in
NEW ADDITION: Community Directory - click here to add your business, club or organization!

Forum Index > Provincial > Ontario Forum

Universal Energy Scam: Rates Higher than Local PUC (148 posts)

: <--back : Showing posts 81 to 100 : Next 20--> :
OR jump to page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Report/Tag This Thread!

packrat67
New Member Registered	I sincerely wish you all the best....I know what you're going through and if I was closer to your area (I'm in Timmins), I'd be there for sure. This Universal Gouger has to be stopped, or at least brought down quite a few knotches. Tell me, if a company really believes they are on the up and up, why would they make it impossible to get out of the deal. Every store in North America offers that option.....these are the worst creeps in the world.....SLAM YOUR DOOR AS SOON AS YOU HAVE ONE IN YOUR FACE!!!!
quote / posted 11 October 2007 3:13 PM
packrat67
New Member Registered	I sincerely wish you all the best....I know what you're going through and if I was closer to your area (I'm in Timmins), I'd be there for sure. This Universal Gouger has to be stopped, or at least brought down quite a few knotches. Tell me, if a company really believes they are on the up and up, why would they make it impossible to get out of the deal. Every store in North America offers that option.....these are the worst creeps in the world.....SLAM YOUR DOOR AS SOON AS YOU HAVE ONE IN YOUR FACE!!!!
quote / posted 11 October 2007 3:17 PM
packrat67
New Member Registered	I am in the same boat...but have had them for 1 1/2 years and just got out by pretending I moved and putting my hydro in another name. I received my August hydro bill.....$459.72 for one month, and I don't have air conditioning. That was the final straw. Besides dying or falling off the face of the planet, they make you feel like they have you by the you-know-whats. The thing is, the hydro bill has always been in my name, but my husband signed up with them, so his name is on the contract. Go figure how that would be binding. Once you break your contract, either by moving or some other circumstance, they send you threatening letters that say if you don't contact them within a certain amount of time, they will forward your account info to their legal department, and you will be responsible for their costs of any litigation. Yeah, I'm sure this scares alot of people into getting in touch with them. I recently moved and thought that I would be done with them....not the case. After freaking out over my last bill and calling Ontario Hydro (Hydro One Networks), I explained my situation. I asked what my electricity charge only would have been if I didn't have Universal Gouger....she told me the info I needed to figure it out....Hydro One rates are 5.3 cents/KWH for the first 600kwh, anything over 600, the rate is 6.2 cents. So I did the math.....my electricity charge (no debt retirement charge or transportation charge, just straight electricity), had I not been with Universal Gouger would have been $160.21........my charge with Universal Gouger was $280.71. Now you tell me how it is that they didn't break the terms of the contract when they didn't save me all of this money that they professed they were going to save me when they came to my door? They charged me 10.4 cents/KWH. So last month, I called Hydro One again, and they were very sympathetic....I did a disconnect, paid a $31.00 charge, and put the bill in a different name so it would appear like there is a new owner. WELL WELL WELL, guess who called today.....(11days later), Universal Gouger. I have spoke to a lawyer already and thankfully since the name of my husband has never appeared on the hydro bill, and he is the one who signed the contract, I am good to go. Their next phone call or letter to me will have them being advised that they are harassing me and I will bring a lawsuit against them. However, there are thousands out there (I know of 7 alone just where I work), who feel or are trapped. If enough people did this (change the name on the bill), Universal Gouger wouldn't have a hope in hell. Oh, and don't even bother calling the Ontario Energy Board, what a waste of our tax dollars that is, I can't even believe people get paid to say "I can't help you, you're stuck". Bull, our government needs to step in and kick these morons to the curb. I tell everyone I know, DO NOT LET THEM IN YOUR HOME!!!!! They are very very bossy, will demand to see your energy bill, etc. Pick up the phone, and in front of their mini manipulators, dial 911, or pretend to, and say you have someone harassing you at your door, trying to get in. Believe me, they will go. Please please please pass this on to everyone you know....we have to get these companies out of here!!!!!
quote / posted 11 October 2007 3:31 PM
bigtrout
Active Member Registered	Be careful as when you are married, you are both in responsible for the contract. I tried the same thing, told them we are getting divorced and they stuck it to me. So I paid the $781 cancellation fee.......... we signed a contract.......sucks to be us......... never again and hopefully I helped one person, it was well worth it! Best of luck and keep us posted on your cancelation!!! G DOG quoting: packrat67 I am in the same boat...but have had them for 1 1/2 years and just got out by pretending I moved and putting my hydro in another name. I received my August hydro bill.....$459.72 for one month, and I don't have air conditioning. That was the final straw. Besides dying or falling off the face of the planet, they make you feel like they have you by the you-know-whats. The thing is, the hydro bill has always been in my name, but my husband signed up with them, so his name is on the contract. Go figure how that would be binding. Once you break your contract, either by moving or some other circumstance, they send you threatening letters that say if you don't contact them within a certain amount of time, they will forward your account info to their legal department, and you will be responsible for their costs of any litigation. Yeah, I'm sure this scares alot of people into getting in touch with them. I recently moved and thought that I would be done with them....not the case. After freaking out over my last bill and calling Ontario Hydro (Hydro One Networks), I explained my situation. I asked what my electricity charge only would have been if I didn't have Universal Gouger....she told me the info I needed to figure it out....Hydro One rates are 5.3 cents/KWH for the first 600kwh, anything over 600, the rate is 6.2 cents. So I did the math.....my electricity charge (no debt retirement charge or transportation charge, just straight electricity), had I not been with Universal Gouger would have been $160.21........my charge with Universal Gouger was $280.71. Now you tell me how it is that they didn't break the terms of the contract when they didn't save me all of this money that they professed they were going to save me when they came to my door? They charged me 10.4 cents/KWH. So last month, I called Hydro One again, and they were very sympathetic....I did a disconnect, paid a $31.00 charge, and put the bill in a different name so it would appear like there is a new owner. WELL WELL WELL, guess who called today.....(11days later), Universal Gouger. I have spoke to a lawyer already and thankfully since the name of my husband has never appeared on the hydro bill, and he is the one who signed the contract, I am good to go. Their next phone call or letter to me will have them being advised that they are harassing me and I will bring a lawsuit against them. However, there are thousands out there (I know of 7 alone just where I work), who feel or are trapped. If enough people did this (change the name on the bill), Universal Gouger wouldn't have a hope in hell. Oh, and don't even bother calling the Ontario Energy Board, what a waste of our tax dollars that is, I can't even believe people get paid to say "I can't help you, you're stuck". Bull, our government needs to step in and kick these morons to the curb. I tell everyone I know, DO NOT LET THEM IN YOUR HOME!!!!! They are very very bossy, will demand to see your energy bill, etc. Pick up the phone, and in front of their mini manipulators, dial 911, or pretend to, and say you have someone harassing you at your door, trying to get in. Believe me, they will go. Please please please pass this on to everyone you know....we have to get these companies out of here!!!!!
quote / posted 11 October 2007 9:44 PM
skrewedover
New Member Registered	Ok so I am sooo relieved to find other complaints about Universal Power! My boyfriend and I had moved out into our first apartment in May 2006. About a month after we moved in a lady came to our door and immediatley said "I am not here to try and sell you something stupid". We were just like "um ok?" She then asked to see our last hydro bill (also our first ever), we asked why and she explained that all she wanted to do was make sure we were protected against and price hikes in the near future (within 5 years). She then imformed us that we were not protected ...what a suprise...she then went on to explain that in the next 5 years hydro rates are going to be raised 100%. We were like "oh shit thats not cool!" So she went on again to explain what Universal power could offer us and blah blah blah. We thought it sounded good but we had many many doubts. We live by that saying "if it seems too good to be true, it probably is." So we told her that we weren't sure and we'd like to discuss it just the two of us (my boyfriend and I) in private. She said that was a good idea. She said "oh I can come back in 10 mins". We said no we needed a few days becasue we had just moved out on our own and were fresh at this and wanted to check with our parents since they have more experience in this and could give us advice. She said alright and then gave us a bright yellow card with a circled phone number on it and said if that if we don't call within 10 days to confirm then they will not send the application form that my boyfriend filled out (they said to fill out just so they already have his name and info so they don't need to go through it again) through and we will not be signed up. Well we never called because we were pretty sure it was a scam. However somehow we did get signed up. So since about July 06 we have bene trying to cancel. It is now October 12 2007. Everytime we call we get some foriegn person, a different one every time, that tells us a different story everytime. So about an hour ago we called and they are now sending a tape recording of the verbal confirmation, which they told us they'd do last sept. and never did. So we know they wont send it this time. My question is. Where to we go from here? what can we do? This is so wrong. PLEASE ANYBODY WITH ANY HELP TO OFFER CONTACT ME!!! E-mail me at needle-icious@hotmail.com Thank you for reading my story!
quote / posted 12 October 2007 9:56 AM
UECmess
New Member Registered	Well Well here I thought I was the only one. I'll admit It sounded good at the time. They had came to my place of business and had talked me into signing up for my home my rental shop store and the building I owned up till a couple weeks back before I finall sold it. When I sold the building where my second location store from was ran out of I had forgotten all about the contract. I had a year earlier closed my other store front location for lack of business. We were finally very happy that we finally sold our business and then low and behold we got a call today approximately 11 days after Union Gas notified UEC that we had discontinued the natural gas service , she wanted my new address as I told her we no longer owned the property thus discontinuing gas service. When I told her I wasn't going to give her my address she said she was sending my file to a collection agency and mentioned nothing of fees but only said we had a contract for 5 yrs. So with me not owning the building break our contract. Should I perhaps ask for the confirmation recording? Lynn
quote / posted 13 October 2007 8:46 PM
dollface
New Member Registered	Universal Power showed up at our door twice in one day. Once in the afternoon and once at 8:00 in the evening. The person at the door was very pushy and persuasive and indicated he was with the Halton Hills Hydro company and he was there to look at our bills to see if we were being charged properly and there were no errors on our bill. My wife proceeded to dig a bill out, but we did not show it to the person at the door, as I noticed that he had a nametag on which said Universal Power. A complete misrepresentation and lies, to start things up. I asked him why he needed the bill and why he had indicated that he was with Halton Hills Hydro, and he proceeded to lay an incomprehensible sales pitch on me about the rising price of energy and how their plan was going to save us indescribable amounts of money. Having gone through a similar experience with another company, which we were able to get out of, we naturally were quite wary about signing a contract which he kept pushing in our face. I told him that I was more comfortable in reading the brochure first, get informed and then make a decision. He would have none of it. It was sign now, and then have the opportunity to withdraw the application within 10 days or lose the opportunity to get out of the contract by investigating and approaching them for their "deal" later. This smelled worse than a can of bad meat. It is an obvious scam, he had no ready answers as to why we could not have a brochure but instead suggested that if we were not ready to sign a contract that minute were "wasting his time" and that he had to move on. So we told him to move on, which he didnt do, instead he opened up a weathered leather case filled with old newspaper clippings (2005 and 06) and began to go through highlighted portions of how energy prices were going to skyrocket. And then wave this contract in our faces and strongly suggest we sign this without the opportunity to look at a brochure or read any further, related to the locked in rates on gas and power they were offering. This was after about the 3rd time I had suggested we would like to look it over, think about it, and that we werent interested in the "deal" at this time. I'm a businessman myself, and I could smell this scam a mile away, in particular when one will not leave your doorstep and I have a sign on my door, "no soliciting or vendors" and they still ring your doorbell twice in one day. These guys are scammers, theives and underhanded. Dont be fooled by the strong arm tactics or the suggestion you aren't thinking clearly because you dont understand their "logic". Kick them to the curb. Thats all I can say. The funny thing is he warned me about other "scammers" who were sinister and selling deals which could not match his...
quote / posted 05 November 2007 7:00 PM
Sange
New Member Registered	Hi every one, thanks for all the info. Today a rep for the Universal power came to my door and before you know it he had me signed up for what I thought was an application form only. When he left within a minute a non english speaking woman called me to inquire about his performance. He left me the brochure and copies of the application forms. I then decided to check this company out and I found your forum. After reading the horror stories I realized that I made a Huge mistake. I immediately called them and was told that my application was not uploaded into their system as yet so they could not cancel the contract, that I should call back in 5-7 days. I called again and was told that the application was the actual contract and to call back in 7-10 days. Or wait for the confirmation call and tell the rep to cancel the contract at that time. However I sent an email advising them to cancel the said contract. They replied that they have received and acknowleded the email. However I read the blog that the former employee wrote above, and I called again and the rep preceeded to tell me to wait 5-7days for my application to be uploaded in her system before she can cancel it. I advised her that I am aware that she can cancel the contract before that time, she asked me if I had already received the call today from a rep checking on the preformance of their sales rep, I said yes, and she said that she will be able to track my application then. I gave her the application # and she veriify the info on the application and provided me with a cancellation # and I then asked her for her full name which she provided. I did send another email asking for a written confirmation(via email) re the cancellation. I will be calling my service provider tomorrow to advise that under no circumstances are they to transfer my account to these people. I am hoping that this is the end. Did anyone follow this route?? I did this within 3 hours of the rep being at my door.PS I got my written cancellation (via email) along with my cancellation # @9:31pm Nov 7/2007 approx 6 hours after my application was processed. [This post edited by Sange on 07 November 2007 ]
quote / posted 07 November 2007 7:03 PM
bigtrout
Active Member Registered	I am sooooooooooo happy to hear a success story! Way to go, way to give us hope! Scary that this is making me happy! Remember........ Universal Energy is EVIL!
quote / posted 08 November 2007 6:22 AM
nadjam
New Member Registered	Message for Sange.... I am a "success story" as BigTrout calls it. I did what you did, however, I did it all on day 9, rather than on the 1st day. They made their call to me on a Thursday evening looking for the "confirmation of the information". I told them at that time that I hadn't had time yet to review the paperwork (which I had signed at the door) and I needed the weekend to review. They agreed and said they would call me on Monday evening. That's when I did my research and found this chain too. I immediately sent them an e-mail telling them I didn't want to sign with them (I copied the Ombudsman at Enbridge). Since it was after hours, I couldn't call them. I did call them the next day and they verbally gave me a cancellation number. The next day, I wrote a letter and faxed it to them, and I called Enbridge to see if they could stop UE from switching me over. Enbridge indicated that they would not be able to help, if I had indeed signed a contract. After that, Universal Energy sent me a cancellation letter, and about two months later, they mailed my original Enbridge bill back to me. I have checked my Enbridge statements a couple of times, and see nothing on there to indicate that I was switched over (thankfully!). That was 5 months ago. I am like many many other people on this board. I am an intelligent adult and wonder how on earth I could have been taken in by them. I know the importance of reading paperwork over before signing, and I still wonder how I got "duped" by them. All I can say is thank God that I managed to do what needed to be done before the contract became legally binding. My wish for others is that they are able to learn from all of our experiences on this board and not get caught in an expensive contract. I know for myself, having been almost caught, that I definitely will not sign a contract again before checking it out. You should be fine, if you have the cancellation number. I would keep on top of them for the next several days and check your bills religiously for a while. You did the right thing by calling and researching right away. Good Luck.
quote / posted 08 November 2007 11:58 AM
Sange
New Member Registered	Message for nadjam... After I received the cancellation # via the email I sent them another email thanking them for their prompt attention to this matter and I would also like for them to return my copy of my Hydro bill, also I wanted them to confirm that no one from their office will be contacting me to confirm the now defunct application/contract. Well I got an email from their chief operating officer advising me to please accept this letter as confirmation of cancellation of the said contract the email was accompanied with his signature!!! Also I sent a registered letter today that cost me $9.43 (probably well spent) to reaffim that I do not have a contract with their company at this time or in the future. Hopefully this is the end of it. I too do not know how I could of been duped so easily. I am a retired Bell Canada Mgr for 30+ years handling billing and customer complaints. You would of thought that warning bells should of been going off. My neighbour is in the same situation and I will be advising her on what steps needs to be taken, she is a senior as well. I also contacted Oshawa Hydro and they advised that they would not be able to help either, same reasons as Enbridge. Good luck to all. The information on this forum helped alot.
quote / posted 08 November 2007 7:41 PM
pplflduser
New Member Registered	I'm another person who got burned by these people. Was busy with a newborn in my hand when i answered the door, they told me they were only coming by today and that I HAVE TO give them my power bill so that i could be "protected". I started running all across the house looking for an old copy of my bill. Two people had showed up at my door.. first was a girl (Natalie C....) and then an Afghani guy who started small talk with me about Indian movies. Stupid as I was, I was rushed and was pressured but I didnt look up my own current rates and felt they were doing me a favour. Well, now -- a couple of months later -- I come across this board and realize what a mistake I made. I have not received my first bill but I just sent in a cancellation request by email yesterday. Now, for those of you who own a modest-sized townhouse, how much did you have to pay for your cancellation fee if you cancelled in the first month of the contract???
quote / posted 13 November 2007 7:35 AM
bigtrout
Active Member Registered	you will pay about 76% more. I can use my rates as an example: I am paying 5.5 and you will be paying about 9,6. so if your bill is 200...expect to pay about $352.00. I had to pay $831 in early cancelation fees................. good luck!
quote / posted 13 November 2007 9:22 PM
pplflduser
New Member Registered	I thought the first bill will be based on the "special" 6.99 rate till end of December? I was paying 5.2 cents/kWh before. My last hydro bill (before Uni Gouger) was about $200 for the 2 months.
quote / posted 14 November 2007 11:19 PM
hatethesejerks
New Member Registered	Wow! I have been trying to get these people off my back since July 2007. While I am relieved to read these posts and know that I'm not alone, it also makes me even more infuriated to know that they have been doing this for so long. (And apparently in so many different cities... I am in Vaughan, Ontario). Luckily for me, I decided to read the fine print and realized that their rates are higher than my current ones, so when they called me back, I gave them a big fat no (though the guy argued with me for quite awhile and acted like I was stupid). I've just learned from reading these posts that they have this phone call recorded somewhere. I will DEFINITELY get them to send it to me if something goes wrong... The thing is, even though I said no after the phone call, I STILL got enrolled and have now had their stupid plan on my latest bills. What a rip off!!! I called them immediately. I was surprised that the woman was actually helpful (Indira). She put me on hold for a long time and when she finally came back she said that they 'had made a mistake' and that they did have record of me cancelling. She said it was a mistake that I was enrolled anyway (though now I don't believe her about that!!!!). So I got a letter from them on November 7 saying "we are pleased to advise you that, as a customer service gesture, we have accepted your request to cancel our supply..." (A 'gesture'?!? Accepted my 'request'??? Boy, how nice of them.> ) The question I have now is what happens to my bills? The lady at OES (Indira) told me that I should call them once my bills are back to normal so I could get a 'refund'. I still don't know exactly what this refund will be. Should I be asking them for my actual Enbridge bills from the last few months? Do they have these? (I am still a bit confused about how this all works...and the people at PowerStream were not very helpful either). Technically, OES has admitted that they made an error in enrolling me, so I really don't want to pay these rates on the most recent bills that arrived (which are like $100 more than normal, btw!). Can anyone give any advice? My email address is sfahlman@rogers.com. Good luck to all, and I hope more people find these posts!!!
quote / posted 20 November 2007 12:32 PM
hatethesejerks
New Member Registered	By the way, it looks like they have been at it for a really long time. In 2003 they got sued for forging signatures! Seems that this is how the whole follow-up phone call thing began... http://www.ontariotenants.ca/electricity/articles/2003/ts-03f21.phtml
quote / posted 20 November 2007 12:48 PM
iansm
New Member Registered	Has anything happened by way of an update to going to court regarding the Universwal Energy complaints. We are also in the midst of one and have raised the fact that this is a much bigger issue than the OEB realize. We are in discussions with the OEB about the numerous complaints. We are also looking at other avenues of redress including: - Seperate legal action - Toronto Star - Local MPP Would appreciate any updates on this topic.
quote / posted 23 November 2007 11:00 AM
peebles
New Member Registered	Grr, just when things were starting to look up for me, I came home after a long day at work and some guy appears on my driveway asking to see my Union Gas bills. He was a seemingly-crazed Eastern-European guy named Vyacheslav and there was something not quite right about the way he was talking. He claimed to work for Union Gas, but he had an ID tag which said he worked for Summitt Energy/Reliance. I told him that I didn't have any bills around to show him (I was lying), but he was talking to me about price protection plans, and yada yada yada. So because the fixed rate didn't seem so bad, and I believe that the rates are going to be going up quite a bit in the coming years, I was a bit interested, and he said that someone would call me and discuss the issues further if I signed the registration form, to which there was no obligation since he said that I could change my mind when they call me back. The only thing is that once I put my initials on the form, he kind of turned around and did something weird with the binder.. I noticed later that he put a checkmark on the box for the Electricity price protection plan as well, where the rates are pretty much double what I'm paying now. I didn't notice it until I looked at it later. I am so pissed off. Since he didn't get any of my account numbers, am I in the clear? He does have my address and I gave him my cell phone number. Is there any kind of an underhanded way in which they can obtain my Union Gas/Burlington Hydro account numbers and have them switched over? Should I be calling these jerks the first thing on Monday morning and tell them that I am not at all interested? What would be my best plan of action within the first ten days of signing this thing?
quote / posted 24 November 2007 12:32 AM
iansm
New Member Registered	To Peebles: Definitely call and cancel; you won't regret it. Otherwise you'll be spending a lot of time and anxiety over it. I have poured through all the email postings from at least different sites and the overwhelming responses are negative. All the negatives are to do with a few rather than many themes. Much of the complaint about these kind of companies is to do with the tactics they use and the pressure that they put on individuals. Like many of the respondents, I was originally told that it was only an application I was signing and I had the opportunity to cancel it if I didn't like it. The difficulty is that the default position seems to be signing you up and then having to fight to put it right. You are actually much better off by cancelling it as soon as you can, recording that you have done that, asking for confirmation of your cancelation and I would probably go one step further. Send a copy of your cancellation instructions o them in writing; mail it with guaranteed delivery to them AND SEND A COPY OF YOUR CANCELLATION instruction to your current provider with the notation that you have cancelled your request and you are not authorizing them to swith your energy supplier.
quote / posted 24 November 2007 8:46 AM
bigtrout
Active Member Registered	Stay away from my house......... Man... they showed up at my house......... I am inpressed how fast I can slam the door!
quote / posted 29 November 2007 10:25 AM

: <--back : Showing posts 81 to 100 : Next 20--> :
OR jump to page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

RECENT CLASSIFIEDS ColdFusion (CFMX) by Adobe Experts :

with active, local and relevent Sudbury classified ads

Featured Classifieds (more)

NEWEST FEATURED AD:
Would you like to Earn Extra Income Helping People Get Well?

Party Supplies For All Types of Parties

High Income Opportunity for Phone Pros

Holistic Health & Wellness Lifestyle Expos Across Canada

Charms For Croc Shoes

What does active and local mean?
Change City / Change Country
Sudbury Home Page

Have questions? Fill in a form and we'll email or phone you back!

Add a classified
Add a business/club/organization
Add a forum topic


	PeopleField.org is a free service! Click to join and post your services and used goods today! top :: contact links :: built with Lopedia Portal :: Terms of Service :: Scam Prevention :: copyright 2001 - 2008 home / Sudbury :: LOG IN :: Change City / Change Country

Sudbury Ontario Classifieds / Canadian Classified Ads / PeopleField.org