Light and gas energy. Archive
61% of consumers ignore if they have linked services in their light or gas contracts, Irache advises to verify that the amounts of energy receipts coincide with what is agreed
61% of consumers do not know whether they have linked services in their light or gas contract, according to a survey in charge of the Irache Navarra Consumer Association. This means that six out of ten people can be paying for more year different amounts, which can reach up to three hundred euros, for services that they will not use.
It is common that with electric or gas supply, the marketer offers us other additional services. These can be very varied, from the attention to blackouts or breakdowns of the electrical system, protection of unemployment or disability payments, appliance repair, annual boiler review or simple breakdown of consumption consumptions for home apparatus, for example.
Up to 300 euros a year
Most of these services are around one hundred euros, some exceed them. People have arrived in Irache who had contracted up to three linked services without knowing it, for which they were paying three hundred euros of more a year.
No transparency
The problem of these services is that they are not always offered with adequate information, but that in many occasions they are included in a disguised way when the supply is hired and, as indicated, sometimes consumers do not even know that they have hired them.
It is necessary that we have expressly accepted these services to include them in the contract. Therefore, when hiring it is always better to go to some office of the energy company and ask for paper conditions. Thus we can carefully verify if we have included some linked service and its conditions. The risk that these services include us without knowing it is greater when hiring telephone, when the consumer cannot take their time to carefully understand all conditions.
Limitations that the consumer does not read
Keep in mind that these linked services have some limitations, which are usually recorded in the small print and that many consumers do not usually read. For example, it is common for the gratuity of the attention to be limited to the displacement of the coach OA the first three hours of work, that the protection of unemployment payments only apply in indefinite contracts or that some repairs are only covered up to 300 euros of cost.
The works are lengthened, the pieces are very expensive
Complaints have been given in Irache about the operation of some of these services. Several consumers have shown their discomfort because, in their opinion, the technicians delayed hours or even days to solve the problem, which meant the consumer having to pay more hours of labor.
There have also been claims because they consider that the pieces that have had to replenish in the repair have billed them at an excessive price, much higher than the real market price. Other times, the protest has to do with the fact that the repair has been defective and the problems have not been solved.
They are not discharged when changing company
On many occasions, when we leave a light company to go to another, we do not give us the loss of the services linked, so they continue to charge us and we realize months later. Although the regulations indicate that when canceling the supply, they should unsubscribe the services linked to it, many companies continue to charge them until the year of validity and others, even, continue to do so after the year until the consumer formally requests the decline. For this issue amounts of hundreds of euros have been paid.
Annual validity, automatic extension, monthly charge
Keep in mind that most of these services have an annual validity, but that automatically extends that the consumer formally communicates that he does not want to continue. Although the duration is annual, sometimes the collection is made month by month.
These linked services are only marketed in the free market, since in the regulated rate they cannot be included.
Review cost and conditions
For all these reasons, Irache recommends reviewing the Light and Gas receipts, to see if the companies are charging linked services that the consumer ignores and in that case assess whether to continue with them or discharge them. On the other hand, when hiring, it is always better to go to a customer service, order the conditions of the offer in writing and be able to verify the cost and conditions of the linked services carefully, to decide whether they are hired or not.
On the other hand, in the case of people who saw how with the house of last Monday a house or appliance was found at home, it may be convenient to review the light contract to see if any linked service can cover the repair.
