Hi guys, sorry for the break in replies... Well, it appears that we beat them!!! EON now have control of our supply and we have entered into a very fair 1 year contract with them at a very acceptable rate, I would like to point out that their team were fantastic!!! What we did... We dug our heels in and flatly refused to do business with them as their 'contract' was null and void due to the misselling issue. We closed the bank account that they had the details for. We refused a meter reading or access to the meter. We refused to communicate over the telephone and told them that everything had to be in writing otherwise we would ignore them (funnily enough, not 1 letter other than the complaints procedure letters!!!) We kept a running tally of our costs, including £25 per hour for letter writing and sent this tally with each correspondence (it was at £460 at the end) We thoroughly researched the law including 'unfair contracts act' and 'erroneous transfer act' and anything we could find and quoted this chapter and verse. look at marketing and advertising law on the gov uk website. We had taken an initial approach to taking them to court at our own cost and made it very clear to them in no uncertain terms that we really meant it and would carry it out!!! Informed Watchdog, local papers, Action Fraud, Trading Standards etc. Gues what?... As a 'gesture of goodwill' they gave the supply back!!! (that they had no right to take in the first place) My advice to anyone dealing with these people is GET TOUGH and dont let them bully you. Record absolutely everything, even the slightest details, its all very important. Dont waste your time trying to reason with them on the phone, they are very well trained robots with only 1 script! You will get absolutely nowhere with them and just wind yourself up. Stand your ground with them and make complaints wherever possible about them to the relevant people. Remember, this company is afraid of going to court, use this to your advantage! Together, we can change this and stop other people falling foul of this loophole in the law. I would like to say a huge thanks to all the fab people on here, whose advice has been vital. Good luck to all of you. Jamie

Hi Surfer, Yes, she took a reading from when she moved in, and a photograph but she is refusing to co-operate with BES as she is adamant that she has not got a valid contract with them. 1. She has refused them a meter reading 2. She has cancelled the direct debit and closed the bank account. 3. She has and is continuing to refuse access to fit a smart meter (which she has never agreed to have installed) 4. She has told them that any future correspondence must be in writing and that she is no longer prepared to talk to them on the phone. This is purely due to the fact that any conversations with them on the phone are totally pointless as they do not listen to anything she has to say. Also, so that there is hard, written evidence of anything they say! (Strangely enough though, they have not written to her at all since) The whole matter has been forwarded to both Watchdog and Trading standards now. Quick question... do you know if 'Business protection from misleading marketing regulations 2008' apply here as she is seriously considering taking legal advice and taking them to court. Cheers, Jamie

Well, my friend is now at the final stage of the BES complaints procedure and all she wants now is the deadlock letter as there is no point trying to talk to these people. We have tried to listen to their recording of the alleged agreement and are finding it really hard to make out what the broker is saying but they think it is perfectly audible?!?!? As a gesture of good faith, they have offered to reduce the contract from 4 years to 3 years!!! Would be a lot better if they reduced it to 0 years and said sorry for lying to her and tricking her into a dodgy deal! She has just recieved her first invoice from them for the first months electricity... £250 for running 2 lightbulbs and making the occasional cup of tea for 30 days!!! That is nearly half of her months takings totally mind blowing and baffling, what planet are these nutters from? The next stage is the Ombudsman now, I am in the process of helping her prepare her case now and we seem to have plenty of evidence gathered. I also think I will forward the whole file to BBC Watchdog, Im sure they will find it all very interesting Any advice or help on proceding would be greatly apreciated...

Thanks guys for all your help, certainly lightens the load knowing that we are not alone on this one. COT sounds like a good option if its a last resort, there are options available regarding changing the business, but we think justice is deserved here, cant quite work out how these people sleep at night?, I couldnt treat people like that! but I guess thats because i'm an honest, law abiding citizen. she has made contact with the ombudsman today (awaiting reply), albeit before the 8 weeks deadlock time as criminal activity has occured here, also, as they objected the ET (which we qualify for according to the root causes in the ETCC), have also made contact with the UIA who are requesting copies of evidence. Am also writing a letter to number 10 (for what its worth) and am considering contacting the police as this is fraud! Stage 2 complaints letter should be with them today, so we await their reply!!! And if they are following this thread, then maybe it will give them an insight of what they are doing to ordinary, hard working peoples lives!!! They should be ashamed of themselves and I hope they end up in prison!!!

We have got a recording of the call, all-be-it somewhat edited

Hi, Eon are/were the original supplier and when she found out that she had been conned, she called Eon and told them what happenned and under no circumstances to let bes take the supply, the first objection stood firm but a few days later they sneaked in and took the supply anyway. She called eon and they tried an ET but it seem to have failed. Cant explain how angry this makes me, Would love to see rogue traders chasing pilley down the road with a camera crew!!! what a leech!

Thanks jonesey, thats really kind of you, much apreciated

Hi Jonesey, Thanks for your reply, and your help. Tenancy change has been a consideration as I have offered to put it in my name and my home address then change it back when the dust has settled but would this mean changing the company name? as she has spent a fortune on sign writing on the shop and her van plus all of the printing, stationary, advertising etc. Also, the lease has only just started from 1st feb and is 3 years long, not sure if she can reasign tenancy in the lease terms. Jamie

Hi, I'm a first time user on here, so please bear with me... I am hoping someone might be able to help regarding a matter that a very good friend and client of mine has found herself in. She had the usual telesales hostage taking call that I have read loads about on here where she was tricked and mis-sold into agreeing to a contract without actually realising what was happening. She specifically asked "what if she changed her mind? and were there any cancellation fees?" and she was told "no problem cancelling if she changed her mind and no fees!!!" she also agreed to a 3 year contract as she only has a 3 year lease... later that day, she recieved an email with the t's & c's which now somehow have attracted a £400 cancellation fee and that she is in a 4 year contract!!! (1 year longer than she is in the property)???...??? What I am hoping to find out is... As I was with her when it happenned & as I took the call and suffered the first 5 minutes of the sales pitch before I told them they needed to speak to her, do I qualify as a credible wittness as far as an ombudsman case is concerned? I heard the whole conversation including her asking about cancellation fees and agreeing to a 3 year contract. Also, on 2 occasions she said to the telesales rep that she was talking too fast and couldnt understand what she was saying, And that she had a very hoarse/raspy voice and she wasnt sounding very clear. She is in the process of their complaints procedure (stage 2) which seems to me to be a stalling tactic on their part, and has now got a recording of the 'alleged agreement' which she asked for to be unedited. However, when she listened to it, it sounds well dodgy, you cant understand a word of what the telesales rep is saying, also, at 1 point, you can clearly hear me in the background reading out the postcode of the business to her. and, at the end of the recording, there is a succession of repeats of my friend saying the word 'yes' (6 times, one after the other, must have been left over from their editing process). also, at no point in the recording do they ask if it is a micro business, as it clearly is, only turning over a few hundred pounds a month!!! If that wasnt dodgy enough, when we finished listening to the recording, a new recording started playing from a completely different company that they were hounding, we sat there horrified to hear this poor bloke reading out all of his personal details, incuding bank sort code and account number, full name and address etc. Luckily, this guy is very safe with us as we are very honest people but we are now wondering who could possibly be sitting there with her details??? This surely must contravene the data protection act? she tried to get eon to keep hold of the account before it went 'live' but they sneaked in and took it anyway, eon requested an eroneous transfer but it didnt work Based on what I have said, can anyone advise please as all of this has made her quite ill and I cant just sit by and watch all of her hard work and hard earned cash go to these revolting gutter rats! All the best Jamie