Complaint Review: New York State Energy Savings Corp. - Just Energy

So one afternoon a guy comes knocking on my apartment building's door. I open it and I immediately recognize him as "just another energy salesman". Still, he isn't responsible for his company making him interrupt my afternoon, so I listen to his pitch for a minute.

I listen to his whole "the market is going up and prices are crazy bla bla" story, and I try and dodge out with the usual "oh no I don't do that kind of thing."

He tells me that I can lock my natural gas prices at $.20 per therm, and if the markets gets cheaper, prices also go down. THAT part caught my attention. I currently pay $.45 per therm, so hey, this might actually be worth it! Right?

So, I ask him to explain a little more. He tells me I can cancel within 30 days free of charge, that I can also buy my electricity through their locked price (also lower than what I am paying) and that there is no extra paperwork. The only catch is that it is a 5 year contract, BUT if I were to move to another area (I will be) the coverage travels with me.

I tell him I'm on-board and we spend a few minutes quickly filling out paperwork, pushing signatures on me and calling his company to confirm. I ask him again the prices, he says $.20 per therm for my contract.

So after he leaves, I take a look at the carbon copy's of the paperwork he gave me. Turns out, I had signed up for a contract which put my therm price at $1.23 per therm. WHAT?? What happened to $.20 per therm!? What he had been showing me is a table with a section called "PRICE", under which was $.20. What he should have been showing me was a section called "MY PRICE" under which was $1.23 per therm.

I don't think that he gets many people to sign up, because I also noticed he never had me sign off on sections which authorized either my gas or electric plan to be priced through them. So I guess, if it comes down to it, I only really ever authorized that I understand their terms of agreement section.

So needless to say, I look for the HOW TO CANCEL section. I read and find out that I ACTUALLY only hve 3 business days to cancel after the date of the contract, which he also never filled out.

The 30 day cancellation option only comes into effect AFTER it appears on your bill, and even then, it may take 1-3 months for it to be removed, during which you are obligated to pay their prices still.

I call up the customer service and speak with a representative about my situation. This is the only part of this scam that I am actually pleased with. The agent told me that the salesperson was wrong to tell me that the price was $.20 per therm, and that that is actually what THEY (the company) pay for it in bulk. He agreed that it would not make much sense to purchase gas or electric through them.

He told me that my application had not even been registered into the system since it had literally happened 20 minutes prior, and that he would put a stop on my account even before it went through at the end of the day. All very pleasant. Gave him my info, he entered it into the system. Cancellation confirmed! I received his name and a cancellation confirmation number, should any problems arise. I will call back tomorrow to ensure that my account was never established.

TL;DR They told me it was .$20 per therm, pushed it on me, sounded good, I signed up. Was actually $1.23 per therm. Friendly customer service during cancellation, which seemed to cancel without a hitch.

ForBonusScore
Oswego, New York
U.S.A.