一起听新闻、学英语-CBC NEWS-Gas Contract Concerns

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New words I learned today: Hefty Bill, costly bill
                                            Sales Tactic: sales strategy

A warning about changing natural gas providers. Hundreds of British Columbias have signed up with new companies without meaning to and now facing hefty bills. Our go public reporter, Kathy Tomlinson has the details.

For months, Samantha Badry didn’t realize she switched to a new gas company charging double the going rate.

“That’s huge money.”

She simply gone on line to enter a contest.

“You enter your address, and you enter your current gas provider which at the time was terasen. And you know I just thought I was entering to win a free TV.”

Click, click, click and she signed up to buy gas from universal energy at a fix rate for 5 years.

“So now I locked into this contract that I can’t get out of.”

She wasn’t read what she was get into.

“I never signed a contract. And what they’ve been telling me over the years is that but I did signed a contract. An online contract.”

The bill still come from her old company, because it’s still delivers the gas. Her fix rate deal so far has cost her $800 over market rates which she still be paying if she hadn’t switched.

“I don’t want to be throwing away money. I definitely don’t want making this company rich. I want my money back and I want out my contract.”

16,000 BC customers have filled disputes over similar contract with several companies. There’ve been complains in other provinces too about door to door sales tactics. A spoke person with the company badry signed up for says unhappy customers should be able to cancel with the penalty like a mortgage. Here in BC though, it’s the provincial regulator that want to allow it. That’s because Terasen the biggest supplier of jacks, it don’t want the sudden cost of providing gas for all those returning customers.

“Terasen buys it’s gas on an annual basis. So by breaking those contract, they could impact portion of the bill, that could impact the gas prices all of our customers.”

“How is this benefiting the consumers”