[Australia] Scam Question: What do Electricity providers need to switch you over to them?

Question

I was almost sent over to another Electricity provider through a door-to-door salesman who said he was with the electricity company I'm with now and offered a discount after I gave him information. I looked up my current provider's site while I was giving information to someone on the phone, when I found a warning to not deal with door to door people as they were with another company. I stopped immediately and had the salesman give me all the papers he had my information on (which I didn't sign) and he left. 

Question is, is it legally enough for the scammers to switch me over to their company with the information I gave on the phone (name, address, phone number, pension card number, etc.) without me having signed anything? 

Thanks!

? · Accepted Answer

It happened to me, I was switched over, and I did not even see a door to door sales person.

The only information they had was my address, they did not even know my name, they made one up.

The first thing I knew about it was a letter from my existing supplier, saying sorry you are leaving us.

After many phone calls and letters, I got switched back to my original supplier about 3 months later.

The only good news about this, was that I did not pay for my gas and electricity with the new supplier, they waived the charges, as they did not have a valid contract, so I saved about AU$400.

So to answer your question, no it is not legal to switch someone over with the information they have, and it does need YOUR signature on the contract, not a forged signature. 

It might be illegal but they still do it.  BTW I live in the UK, so its not just Aus that suffers from this.

Trending News

[Australia] Scam Question: What do Electricity providers need to switch you over to them?

1 Answer