Watch above: Can your bills be put into someone else’s name without your consent? Edmonton’s Trouble Shooter Julie Matthews makes a surprising discovery.
EDMONTON – An Edmonton man says his utility bills were transferred to another company without his consent.
Roy Schmidt and his family say it was a mix-up involving a door-to-door salesperson selling energy contracts. He now wants others to know just how easily this can happen.
His son Ryan, who lives in one of Roy’s two homes, says he spoke to someone on the phone and signed something, but didn’t believe it to be a contract. Direct Energy disputes that story, saying he stated he was the account holder.
No matter what happened, his dad says his name is the one on the account; we thinks the company should have been verified whether he wanted his services changed to another provider.
The Alberta Utilities Commission only requires the energy provider to provide a side ID or address in order to take over your account. Your old provider doesn’t have to check either.
For example, EPCOR says: “when a customer enters a competitive contract, their new energy provider takes steps to confirm the customer’s information…we simply do not have the resources to confirm every change…if we did, there would be a substantial cost to the ratepayer.”
Schmidt says guidelines need to be changed, before damage is done.
“What if somebody is vindictive? What if an ex-wife or a neighbour gets upset and says ‘I’m calling from this address and I want to switch it over to another utility?'”
With files from Julie Matthews, Global News
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